Section 03: The Georgian Life of Nino

The developed layer of the tradition — the Georgian texts that name the captive Nino and elaborate her into the apostle of the Life of St. Nino. The first file describes those texts: The Conversion of Kartli (Mokʻcʻevay Kʻartʻlisay), preserved in the Shatberdi Codex of 973 and the later Chelishi manuscript and reworked by Leonti Mroveli in the eleventh century; their structure, recensions, and contested dating; the composite, deathbed-narrated form of the Life; and the central addition, the vision of the Theotokos who commissions Nino with the grapevine cross. The second file follows the mission narrative — the journey by way of Armenia, the arrival at Mtskheta, the healings, the idol-storm, and the conversion of Queen Nana.

Tradition: Georgian Orthodox / Pan-Orthodox

Contents

File Topic
The Developed Hagiography The named Nino; the texts (Conversion of Kartli / Mokʻcʻevay Kʻartʻlisay; the Life of St. Nino), their Shatberdi and Chelishi witnesses and the Leonti Mroveli recension; the contested dating; the composite deathbed form; the vision of the Theotokos and the grapevine cross
Miracles and the Mission The journey from Jerusalem by way of Armenia (the Rhipsime-martyr synchronism, flagged as legendary); arrival at Mtskheta amid the Armazi festival; the garden, the gardener’s family, and the healings; the destruction of the idols; the healing and conversion of Queen Nana

How to Use

  • Read The Developed Hagiography to understand the texts of the later layer — what they are, when they were written, how they are built, and what they add to Rufinus.
  • Read Miracles and the Mission for the narrative content of the developed Life — the itinerary and deeds, with their legendary and synchronistic elements marked.
  • The king’s conversion, the climax of the mission, has its own section: Section 04.

Cross-References