Section 04: The Conversion of King Mirian

The conversion of King Mirian III, the founding theophany of Georgian Christianity, and its fruit in the establishment of the faith. The first file tells the conversion in both layers — Rufinus’s unnamed king lost in midday darkness who prays to “the God of the captive,” and the developed Georgian version that names the king Mirian III, sets the hunt on Mt. Thoti, gives the darkness as an eclipse, and makes his prayer one to “the God of Nino” — and lays out the genuinely contested dating. The second file follows the political fruit: Christianity as the state religion of Kartli, the embassy to Constantine for clergy, and Iberia’s place among the earliest Christian kingdoms.

Tradition: Georgian Orthodox / Pan-Orthodox

Contents

File Topic
The Darkness and the Prayer King Mirian III; the hunt; the sudden darkness on Mt. Thoti; the prayer to “the God of Nino”; the return of light and the king’s conversion; the queen-before-king order; the contested dating of the conversion (the spread of proposed years)
Christianity as State Religion The establishment of Christianity as the religion of Kartli; the embassy to Constantine for clergy (the firmest dating anchor); Iberia among the earliest Christian kingdoms, after Armenia and within Constantine’s reign; the character of the establishment

How to Use

  • Read The Darkness and the Prayer for the conversion narrative in both layers and for the dating dispute, which is the single most contested historical question about St. Nino.
  • Read Christianity as State Religion for what the conversion produced: a Christian kingdom, an embassy to the emperor, and a place among the first Christian states.
  • The church that grew from this establishment is the subject of Section 07.

Cross-References