THE EVIDENCE OF THE PREACHING OF THE APOSTOL ANDREA IN THE GEORGIAN COUNTRY

Abstract

The paper aims to show two important facts to make sure the preaching of St. Andrea in Georgia.
According the historical sourcies, Aramean speaking St. Andrea while wandering in Georgia with the not hand made icon of the Virgin, stoped in the village sakrisi (in georgian means the wind), near th pagan temple, where, according the historical source, stood two idols of the Apollo and Artemis. He preached the Christianity there and with the force of the icon of Virgin he resurected the dead son of the head of the region of Samcxe.
After this event, the name of the village sakrisi was changed with sosangeti.
The name of this populated area sosangeti, in the Greek sourcies is named as susania, which comes from name of the flower Lily, borowwed from (Aramean form šoošanna/šwšanna). As it is known , the lily a symbol of the virginity, for the Christians symbolises the spiritual world of the Virgin Mary.
As we think,the toponym sosangeti mentioned in the georgian cronicle, comes from the middle Persian, but his etonym might be the composit sōsangeti and is given in the dictionaris with the component of the supposed composit sōsan [MacKenzie, 1986, p. 75] and gyty [gētīy] * [MacKenzie,, 1986, p. 36; Farevashi, 2001, p. 220; Skærvø, 2007, p. 14]. So, we can say, that the meaning of sosangeti> *sōsangeti is the area of “sosana /lily. As it is known, the apostols were sent by Christ to tell to the pagan people the existence of the unknown world-the Heaven.
Thus, the area of sosana could be the name of the pure place, the place without the evil, the death and the sin. It is clear, that the place were is the not hand made icon of Virgin and the death was banished, is a place full with grace.
As I suppose, the toponym sosangeti denotes the place of the miracle of the icon of the Virgin and the toponym formed on the base of the pure, white lily/ sossana.
The name of the place sakrisi were stood the the temple of the Artemis Changes by the devoted people into the sosangeti the area of the symbol of the Virgin and the Greeks name it as susania.
We constat, that the name of the place where was seen the force of the Virgin, shows that in Georgia the terminology conected with the Christian sacramental knowlidge, was introduced from the Aramean world by the person preached the
Christianity.
At the same time, it is important to say, that for the Christians, the subject with the imige of the saint, which connects mindly to the God, the icon (in georgian Khati), absolutly unknown to the pagan Georgian world, in Aramean khati, means my sister. It seems, that that the term khati (icon) is the determinant word of the Saint represented on the icon, becouse the icon itself is a subject full with grace and the nature of the Saint.
To name the Virgin as a my sister, could be alowed by a person, which was wery close to her, who respected the Virgin, who followed the Christianity and belonged to the first Christians. Such persons maight be the apostols, which spoke in Aramean language.
All above told, is coresponding to the St. Andrea, who, according the Georgian church tradition , came to Georgia with the icon of the Virgin.
So, we think, that the name of the icon (khati), which conects mindly the person with the God, was introduced in the Georgian world by the Aramean speaking person and named my sister the term he named the Virgin,so the lexeme khati was known in Georgia from the period, when the icon of Virgin appeared in Georgia.
We consat, that the fact, that the subject conecting mindly the person with the saint in Georgia was named by the determinate word of the Virgin – khati, it is clear, that the first icon in georgia was the icon of Virgin Mary.
Doubtless, while preaching in Georgia, St. Andrea named the place connected with the miracle of the icon of Virgin as sosangeti, the toponym /formed on the base of the pure white flower Lily /sosana and the fact, that the subject with the
image of saint named as khati, makes clear the historical fact of the preaching of St. Andrea in Georgia in the period of Apostols.