Christianization of Iberia

The Christianization of Iberia (Georgian: ქართლის გაქრისტიანება, romanized: kartlis gakrist'ianeba) refers to the spread of Christianity in the early 4th century as a result of the preaching of Saint Nino in the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli, known as Iberia in classical antiquity. The then-pagan king of Iberia Mirian III declared Christianity to be the kingdom's state religion. According to Roman historian Sozomen, this led the king's "large and warlike barbarian nation to confess Christ and renounce the religion of their fathers", as the polytheistic Georgians had long-established anthropomorphic idols, known as the "Gods of Kartli". The king would become the main sponsor, architect, initiator and an organizing power of all building processes.

Per Socrates of Constantinople, the "Iberians first embraced the Christian faith" alongside the Abyssinians, present day Ethiopians but the exact date of the event is still debated. The kings of Georgia and Armenia were among the first monarchs anywhere in the world to convert to the Christian faith. Prior to the escalation of the Armeno-Georgian ecclesiastical rivalry and the Christological controversies, their Caucasian Christianity was extraordinarily inclusive, pluralistic and flexible that only saw the rigid ecclesiological hierarchies established much later, particularly as "national" churches crystallised from the 6th century. Despite the tremendous diversity of the region, the Christianization process was a pan-regional and a cross-cultural phenomenon in the Caucasus, Eurasia's most energetic and cosmopolitan zones throughout the late antiquity, hard enough to place Georgians and Armenians unequivocally within any one major civilization.

The Jews of Mtskheta, the royal capital of Kartli which played a significant role in the Christianization of the kingdom, gave a strong impetus to the deepening of ties between the Georgian monarchy and the Holy Land, leading to an increasing presence of Georgians in Palestine. This is confirmed by the activities of Peter the Iberian and other pilgrims, as well as the oldest attested Georgian Bir el Qutt inscriptions found in the Judaean Desert and the Georgian graffiti of Nazareth and Sinai.

Iberia was a factor in a competitive diplomacy of the Roman and Sasanian Empires, and on occasion became a major player in proxy wars between the two empires. The kingdom shared many institutions and concepts with the neighbouring Iranians, had been physically connected to the "Iranian Commonwealth" since the Achaemenid period through commerce, war or marriage. Its adoption of Christianity meant that King Mirian III made a cultural and historical choice with profound international implications, though his decision was not tied with Roman diplomatic initiatives. Iberia, architecturally and artistically rooted in Achaemenid culture, from its Hellenistic-era establishment to the conversion of the crown, embarked on a new multi-phased process that took centuries to complete, encompassing the entire 5th, 6th and early 7th centuries, resulting in the emergence of a strong Georgian identity.

On the eve of the historic Christianization, the king and the queen were quickly acculturated Georgianized foreigners, the physical fusion of Iranian and Greek cultures. Saint Nino was also a foreigner, as were the first two chief bishops of Kartli, who were Greeks sent by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. It was only in the first half of the 6th century that native Georgians permanently seized the highest ecclesiastical posts. Nevertheless, outsiders such as Greeks, Iranians, Armenians and Syrians continued to play a prominent role in the administration of the Georgian church.

Even though Iberia officially embraced Christianity in the early 4th century, the Georgian Orthodox Church claims apostolic origin and regards Andrew the Apostle as the founder of the Georgian church. This is also supported by some Byzantine sources. Ephrem Mtsire (11th century) later explained Saint Nino's role as Iberia's necessary "second Christening". Archaeological artefacts confirm the spread of Christianity before the conversion of King Mirian in the 4th century. Some of the third-century burials in Georgia include Christian objects such as signet rings with a cross and ichthys or anchor and fish, clearly attesting their Christian affiliation. These may mean that the upper-class Iberians had embraced Christianity much earlier than its "official Christianization" date.

According to The Georgian Chronicles and the chronicle Conversion of Kartli, a Cappadocian woman Nino converted Queen Nana and later King Mirian III to Christianity, which led to the Christianization of the entire kingdom of Kartli and its people. The Greco-Roman historians Tyrannius Rufinus, Gelasius of Caesarea, Gelasius of Cyzicus, Theodoret, Socrates of Constantinople and Sozomen all have similar narratives of the Georgian tradition. The only major thing that differs in these Greco-Roman accounts from the Georgian tradition is Nino being an unnamed Roman captive who was brought to Iberia. According to Georgian sources, Nino was a daughter of Zabilon and Susana, a family endowed with a direct but unlikely link to Jerusalem. Once, when she went to Jerusalem to see her father, she asked if anyone knew where the Seamless Robe of Jesus was located. She was told that it was kept "in the eastern city of Mtskheta, a country of Kartli [i.e. Iberia]." She decided to go to Iberia and eventually reached the mountains of Javakheti in June, after four months of travel. She stayed for two days at the Paravani Lake and then continued her journey towards the royal city of Mtskheta. When she reached the capital, she found herself at the pagan holiday held for the god Armazi, with King Mirian taking part in the ceremony. Nino, shocked by the event, started to pray, resulting in "severe wind" that destroyed the pagan statue. Later, she was approached by the attendants of Queen Nana, who was suffering from a grave illness. She was asked to cure the queen. The queen was healed immediately, and Nino converted the queen to Christianity. Hearing about the queen's healing, the king was "very surprised". He initially opposed his wife's new religion until he, too, encountered a miracle one day while hunting, riding and "looking over Uplistsikhe" through the woods of Tkhoti mountain when he suddenly was surrounded by the threatening darkness of a solar eclipse.

და დაშთა მეფე მარტო, და იარებოდა მთათა და მაღნართა შეშინებული და შეძრწუნებული. დადგა ერთსა ადგილსა და წარეწირა სასოება ცხოვრებისა მისისა. და ვითარცა მოეგო თავსა თჳსსა ცნობასა, და განიზრახვიდა ესრეთ გულსა თჳსსა: "აჰა ესე რა, ვხადე ღმერთთა ჩემთა და არა ვპოვე ჩემ ზედა ლხინება. აწ, რომელსა იგი ქადაგებს ნინო ჯუარსა და ჯუარცმულსა და ჰყოფს კურნებასა, მისითა მოსავობითა, არამცა ძალ ედვაა ჴსნა ჩემი ამის ჭირისაგან? რამეთუ ვარ მე ცოცხლივ ჯოჯოხეთსა შინა და არა უწყი, თუ ყოვლისა ქუეყანისათჳს იქმნა დაქცევა ესე, ანუ თუ ჩემთჳს ოდენ იქმნა. აწ, თუ ოდენ ჩემთჳს არს ჭირი ესე, ღმერთო ნინოსო, განმინათლე ბნელი ესე და მიჩუენე საყოფელი ჩემი და აღვიარო სახელი შენი, და აღვმართო ძელი ჯუარისა და თაყუანისვცე მას და აღვაშენო სახლი სალოცველად ჩემდა, და ვიყო მორჩილ ნინოსა სჯულსა ზედა ჰრომთასა.
And the king got alone, and he walked over the hills and woods scared and terrified. He stood at one place and became desperate over his life. And when he recovered his consciousness, and decided to his heart: "So this is it, I had my god and found no joy. Let the one preached by Nino, the cross and the one that was crucified and does the healing, by his glory – isn't he powerful enough to save me from this trouble? As I am lively into a hell and I don't know, how the whole world was this destroyed, or is it just for me. Let, if this is only for me to be in trouble like this, O God of Nino, enlighten the darkness and show me the place of mine and I will recognize your name, and will erect a pillar of Cross and will respect it and will build a house for me to pray, and will be obedient to Nino's faith of Rome.