Khuapi Lapidary Inscription (Supplementary Analysis of Paleographic Signs and Title)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a supplementary analysis of a lapidary inscription from Khuapi in order to determine its dating and the identity of a person (or persons) mentioned in the inscription. The inscription created and discovered in Abkhazia, one the coastal regions of Georgia, still remains on the occupied territory. Thus, I have scrutinized the inscription only by means of photographs. I studied the slab, the inscription engraved on it and the history of its study. There are three attributions: Leo Shervashidze and Lia Akhaladze consider that the inscription refers to Giorgi II Leonid and his daughter Gurandukht; to Valeri Silogava, it is Giorgi III Bagratid; however, Teimuraz Barnaveli states that the inscription refers to Giorgi I of the Bagratid dynasty, the Byzantine Emperor Basil I, and Catholicos Melchisedek. I have investigated all three arguments, the paleographic signs of the inscription, and the reliability of reference and non-reference to the official title as a chronological marker. I have refuted Barnaveli’s version (as non-relevant with respect to the preserved fragments of the inscription). Moreover, I claim that Silogava’s version is not reliable (based on the paleographic analysis). Besides, I virtually exclude reading the name of Gurandukht in the inscription (which, in its turn, would date the inscription to the reign of her father – Giorgi II Leonid). According to the paleographic analysis of epigraphic sources, I conclude that the monarch mentioned in the inscription is either Giorgi II Leonid or Giorgi I Bagratid.