Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University presented new publications on the second day of Frankfurt Book Fair. The Knight in the Panthers Skin by Shota Rustaveli, a Book of Wisdom and Lies by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani and the Epic of Gilgamesh translated in German by Mikhako Tsereteli, Georgian-Hittite Dictionary, and Short Summer Night (Georgian translation of Sumerian, Akkadian and Hittite prayers and hymns) were presented by TSU Professors Nino Samsonia and Irine Tatishvili.
Prof. Nino Samsonia spoke about Mikhako Tsereteli’s significant role in science and literature and noted that “he is one of the three translator-deciphers of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Only the world elite universities have deciphered the Epic of Gilgamesh. Moreover, Mikhako Tsereteli is the author of very high-level translations of The Knight in the Panthers Skin and a Book of Wisdom and Lies that has been acknowledged by a lot of German and Georgian scientists.”
Prof. Irine Tatishvili said that the Georgian-Hittite Dictionary had been published in Poland specifically for Frankfurt Book Fair. “I have been working on this translation since 2006. This book is very important for me and I dedicated a great part of my life to it. Foreign colleagues are showing great interest towards the book, because they familiarize themselves with Georgian equivalents through Hittite language,” she noted.
On the second day of Frankfurt Book Fair, the guests viewed the translations of homiletic monuments. TSU scientist, Sopio Sarjveladze spoke about Homiletics, which emerged in Georgia after the country converted to Christianity and further developed in the 10th-11th centuries. In that period, Euthymius the Athonite and Ephrem Mtsire (or Ephraim the Lesser) began to translate the homilies by John Chrysostom and the Cappadocian Fathers. The TSU scientist’s public lecture was just about Euthymius the Athonite and his translation method.
Sopio Sarjveladze also presented the old Georgian documented dictionary, covering the Georgian language of 5th-12th centuries. “This book is a documented dictionary of old Georgian language and Zurab Sarjveladze worked on it till the end of his life. Now, we got an opportunity to release it. The book provides definitions of about 35 000 words and each lexeme is accompanied by examples from old Georgian language sources,” Sarjveladze added.
