The Adishi Bible was stored in this defense tower

Bauchi Qaldani enters his defense tower, where the Adishi Bible had been kept; copyright Keith Kenney, 2012

The first Georgian-language bible, called the Adysch Gospels, dates from 897. It is called the Adishi Bible because it was stored in one of the village’s defense towers. Mari Papidze and I interviewed the tower’s owner, Bauchi Qaldani. To get an interesting backdrop for our video we asked Bauchi’s sons if they thought their father, 92, would be willing to climb to the top of the tower. One said yes; the other no; Bauchi said yes. So we followed Bauchi up the narrow space lit only by a couple of 1-inch-wide slit windows. First we climbed via a ladder made of small branches, and, on the next stage, we climbed via a log with notches for footholds. At the top, Bauchi crouched against one of the tower’s stonewalls, and I sat on the timber-littered floor cradling the camcorder.

The medieval manuscript was hand-copied by monks living in a monastery in what had been southwestern Georgia but is now located in northeastern Turkey. The bible was moved during “King” Tamar’s lifetime (1184 to 1213). I wrote “King” because Tamar was the first woman to rule Georgia, and out of respect for her power and achievements, medieval Georgians give Tamar the title King. During her empire-expanding, but enemy-creating reign, King Tamar had many important relics sent to Adishi and other remote villages in Svaneti for safekeeping. Tamar knew that no invader had yet conquered the mountain-dwelling, very tough Svan people (and the Svans remain unconquered even today).

When Georgia was a republic in the Soviet Union, the medieval text had been kept in an Adishi church. Communists, however, forced priests to leave Georgia’s churches, so the Adishi Bible had to be stored elsewhere. Since Bauchi’s grandfather was the oldest member of the village, the Adishi Bible was  put in his grandfather’s defense tower.

Sometime during this period, a German accompanied by a member of a Svan family asked to see the ancient manuscript. Adishi residents showed their respect to the Svan family by letting the two see the bible. The next morning, however, residents found that the German and the bible were gone. Adishi residents organized a chase and caught the German in nearby Ipari. I am surprised that the locals didn’t immediately kill the thief; they simply recovered their bible and returned to Adishi. Upon arriving home, however, Adishi residents discovered that one page (or four, or five, or nine—stories vary) was missing. I haven’t confirmed this fact yet, but a missing page is supposedly kept in Germany at a Leipzig University museum.

In modern times, the Adishi Bible was relocated to a museum in Mestia, but since this museum is currently under construction, the bible is currently kept in a Svan’s home. Adishi residents would like the bible to return to Adishi. Perhaps if they can convert a defense tower into a museum and provide proper storage conditions, the Mestia museum will return the Adishi bible to Adishi.