XXXI Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 23–25 июня 2021 г. Т. 1

Россия и Восток. К 100-летию политических и культурных связей новейшего времени. Т. 1 165 Источниковедение и историография народов Кавказа It is noteworthy that the Eristavi of Racha 1 wore cloth helmets. The most notice- able are with feathers. It is hard to say what purpose the feathers served. In general, the feathers have been shown solely to give a sense of decoration of the headdress. Neither the Persians nor the Arabs wore such headdress.” 2 It should also be noted that the shape of the headdress worn by Vachia and Giorgi I in the “Madrid Skylitzes” corresponds to the following statement of Vakhushti Batonishvili 3 : “In the time when one king ruled the country, they wore a different type of hat: an elongated headgear made of fur, pointed upwards” 4 In order to study the subject of interest to us, great importance is attached to the scene of the coronation of Demetrius I of Georgia (1125–1156), King of Svaneti 5 , as portrayed in the fresco of the Church of Matskhvarishi (Illustration 6). Besides the king, the fresco includes important illustrations of two men standing below who are holding the monarch’s sword. Their attire, in particular the pointed hats not seen in any other Georgian frescoes or other visual materials, is the subject of interest to us (the crown of King Demetrius is not the subject of our interest at this time, and is indeed a separate topic of discussion). These hats are long, in the shape of a cone, with a turban-like strip of cloth at the base (Illustration 7). The headdresses in this fresco of 1140, remind us of the Ebstorf Map, created in 1234 (Illustration 8), which depicts the Caucasus, includ- ing Georgia and its inhabitants. 6 After studying this document, historian Alexander Tvaradze came to the conclusion that the exit of Derbend depicted on the map was guarded by Georgians. It is noteworthy that before the creation of the Ebstorf map, several Western European sources confirm the existence of high-pointed hats in Georgia. Such a reference was made, for example, by an anonymous author of the late twelfth century. However, the main source in this regard was made by the German pilgrim Titmar, whose reference dates back to about 1217. 7 In the XII–XIII centuries, the headdresses popular in Georgia were significantly lower than those worn by the persons depicted in the fresco at Matskhvarishi. The 1 Highland area in western Georgia. 2 Javakhishvili I. Mentioned work. P. 44–45. 3 (Vakhushti ) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (batonishvili), geographer, his- torian and cartographer. 4 Batonishvili V. Description of the Kingdom of Georgia. The text is based on all the main manuscripts established by S. Kaukhchishvili. Collection: “Life of Kartli” Vol. IV. Tbilisi, 1973. P. 45. 5 Highland area in western Georgia. 6 TvaradzeA. Georgia and the Caucasus in European Sources Based on Historiographical and Cartographic Materials of the XII–XVI Centuries. Tbilisi, 2004. P. 236–238. 7 Tvaradze A. Mentioned Work. P. 236–238