20 марта 2016г.
All ethnic groups and people of the world have always had rituals, customs, cult practice and memorial culture connected with a funeral. The cult service of mourning and funeral traditions describe ethnic psychology and consciousness. The same can be said about the nation's material and spiritual culture. It can be noted that the purpose of the tomb is much beyond the practical purposes in Georgia and is of deep symbolic significance. The study of inscriptions on grave boulders and stones, will give us a lot of new materials about human daily life, our country's history, economic, political and cultural life, about individual and society's attitudes with each other, public attitudes, their happiness or misfortune.
There are a lot of researches about funeral folklore and traditions, but in complex (ethnographic, epigraphic, linguistic, folklore terms), in Georgia almost has not been studied the modern tradition of arranging graves, epitaph, funeral folklore preserved on tombstone, language peculiarities, different types of calligraphy, font writing and written language.
This time we took for the analyzes scientific group and individual expeditions graves Inscription obtained while scientific group and individual expeditions in different regions and tried to find out, what had been changed in the epitaph in the content and external view since 20th century to the present.
Epitaph mostly was written by a narrator, rhymester or a family member. They are continued the way to present in the written form, what in old Georgia was performing by a person called "voice weeping", "the bard of mourning", "Lamentations honored.
Still in the 10-15 years ago while field expeditions in the villages we have met people in with poetic talent, whom the relatives of the dead applied to write the epitaph for his deceased. Sometimes they were offered without paying familiar and beloved families to write a mourning poem, which often was used as an epitaph. Mostly these poems were read in deceased farewell speech. (Wishing farewell were saying mourning poems or crying in the yard)
At the end of the last century we often meet "poetic" Epitaph on graves, which were created to express the mourning and demonstrate the values of the deceased. According to the content they can be divided into the following groups:
Praising of the deceased: Carlo, you were so kind, always looking for the friend, nobody can see the man helping in suffering and joy like you‖…
The sorrow of relatives over the death of the deceased - - ―I can‘t follow the path of the life, however, so craving the presence with you; I have broken my ladder of life on my twenty eight footstep, "You was not a simple, you have been man's genius, we will not forget your name, as long as we are alive‖…
The cause of death – ―this tragic case had closed your heart, let be cursed the man whose fault it was‖ Why you fall out with nature, it did not want the death, the hooligan driver had taken your soul by force‖…
Life History- ―you were born unhappy, but thanks to your good talent you had not stayed behind neither in study nor in the life‖…
Georgian self consciousness characteristic, none forgetting the dead, everyone from his traditional mentioning by everyone: Farewell my brothers and sisters, don‘t forget me, the native land of my country you save my grave‖
In (20th) century are often met inscriptions on grave stones, but it feels like a kind, social or age differentiation.
Most of the poetic epitaphs are met on the graves of workers and peasants, as well on the graves of the dead youth; but was very rare on officials‘ and peoples graves with high education and old people too. Here are mostly found the inscription with content: name and surname of the deceased date of birth and death and who dedicated a stone...
However, rarely, but still, in several places we met epitaph with lines of the famous poems in it;Eg .: Samegrelo village. Lia: "I am not lying in the grave, I have to stand here as a guard"(Ir. Abashidze, to "Captain Bukhaidze"),Kutaisi, Sapichkhia cemetery: ― here was a good man, let the God bless forever‖ (Folk, "Arsena verse"),Svaneti, Lentekhi region village. Zhakhunderi: "Life must be just like a storm, death look like thunder, have the enemy and loving, but don‘t be ashamed with anyone‖ (T. Charkseliani) ...
If in the early centuries religious epitaph on the grave was an ordinary moment,in the 20th century within some obvious reasons, is almost was eliminated. (Prohibition of religion, persecution of believers and the clergy)
Today the Church does not consider acceptable mourning epitaphs. According to Church teaching: "If relatives want to write the epitaph, then instead of invented phrases it is better to use the words of scriptural or the prayers, (http://orthodox.ge/).Therefore today, especially, on the graves of the faithful we often meet the clippings from the Psalms and the prayer. (on Liturgy the 9 bliss refrain) Gospel of Luke - Luke 23, 39-43).
The result of a long and difficult process of community development is, that in Georgia were taken as sister and brother not only the children of the parents, but relative and the friend as well… Therefore, this part of the family and social etiquette in appeal is seen family, social situation created by a biological-genetic code and relationship between the people with mentioned terms
(mentioned picture is with an epitaph from Psalm 19, 8-9)
The situation differs on the graves of public figures,
here again we come across as an epitaph for the dead written in lines (Eg. TemurChalabashvili ‗epitaph on the tomb of the actor Qafianidze -"they could not dance you on a royal court, could not change you the time, you are the lion roaring of the fate of our country‖ also
from the creation
of the deceased, Eg.: poet Terentigraneli: "not a life, not a death, but something
else."
Georgia's first president, the national hero, writer,
publicist, ZviadGamsakhurdia: "Georgia's way - the way of Christ, the thorny path to crucifixion and inevitable resurrection!‖...
Clippings from famous
poems ZurabGorgiladze‘s tomb in Batumi ―you may be arrogance, you have been so real adzharian‖
Next to epitaph on public figures' graves sometimes there is only a name in large letters, the surname only with small letters, or only name inscription is found, Ilia, Akaki, Vazha ... The tradition
still continues today, OtiaIoseliani's tomb, Writer
‗s yard, Tskaltubo
region village. Gvishtipi.
Here we note that as far as strange it is the same goes for the so-called
Thieves in law graves. Here are only given names carved in capital
letters.Eg. "Gorilla", "kvezho"
"Tvaleba", "malenki" ... Hardly can come across birth and death dates.
If we look at the chronology of the Graves epitaph, clearly
can see that they are rare today. Since the 20th century
to the present day, despite the age-differentiation, has increased the cemeteries without any epitaph, there are only name, surname, birth and death dates are carved.
It has gone in the past
the voice of weeping, in the cities on the funeral everyone try to avoid the weeping. Modern gravestones are empty of emotion, as if only old stones have
suffered of human sorrow.
