International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Eka Dughashvili 
Korneli Kekelidze National Centre of Manuscripts, Tbilisi, Georgia; 
[e-mail]
On the One Aspect of the Old Georgian Translation Technique 
(As Exemplified by the Old Georgian Translations of the Byzantine 
Hymnography)
The emergence and historical development of old Georgian hymnography occurred in parallel 
with the Byzantine and it implied creation of both translated and original works. At different 
historical stages it demonstrated certain differences from the Greek original.
The present paper deals with only some aspects of the relation of Georgian translated 
hymnography with the Greek original – questions linked with assignment of 
ekhoses
and the 
translation method. These questions were of equal relevance at various stages of historical 
development of Georgian chanting culture, but their solution manifested different creative 
approaches of hymnographers and ( 
xelovantmtavari
)master composers.
The origin and historical development of the Old Georgian hymnography followed in the wake 
of the Byzantine and involved creation of both, translated and original hymnody. At different stages 
of history, compared with the Greek original it showed certain differences in terms of Georgian 
translation method or musical consistent patterns.
In the 
‘Iadgar’
(a collection of hymns) of Mikael Modrekili (978-988), the only surviving Tao-
Klardjetian collection of liturgics and hymnography, dynamic equivalent type translations from 
Byzantine authors (John of Damascus, Cosmas of Jerusalem, Germanus of Constantinople, Joseph 
the Hymnographer) are confirmed; in terms of Echos, different chant repertories show different 
approaches of hymnographers, namely: in the hymns performed during the Lord’s and the Great 
Feasts, adequacy to the Greek original is observed, while the chant repertory of the Great Week 
shows more freedom in this respect (indications to Echos do not always follow the Greek original). 
Later on, with amplification of Hellenophile trends, within the hymnographic school of Holy 
Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos (X-XI c.) itself, growing importance of the Greek original 
manuscript clearly reveals in terms of fidelity of translation and Echos, while in the works of the 
representatives of the Black Mountain Hellenophile trend (XI-XII c.) it is set as a pre-requisite 
and reveals to some extent in translations of formal equivalent type, in the accuracy of Echos and 
allowance for all attributes of the original manuscript. As for the tunes of the chants, at the historical 
stages discussed by us (X-XI c.) they must have been distinguished for their originality, which is 
clearly evidenced in the liturgical manuscripts (
‘ttveni’, ‘Paracliton’
) of the Holy Monastery of Iviron 
on Mount Athos, and the recently found postscripts of wills (colophons).

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