In the afternoon, after seeing the Prometheus Cave, I paid a visit to the Kutaisi State Historical Museum. It’s located in an old bank building on Alexander Pushkin Street, in the centre of Kutaisi’s Old Town.
It has an old -fashioned design, with vitrines along the walls and minimalist labels. The large central space allows for innovative travelling exhibits, however.
This museum has a rich collection of two of my favourite kinds of artifacts: antique weapons and rare books. Here are a few of the things I saw.
Bronze dagger, 6th-4th century BCE.
All the artifacts come from Kutaisi and the surrounding parts of western Georgia.
These bronze buckles are dated to between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE, but the nearly identical ones I saw at Rabati Castle were dated to between the 2nd and 4th century CE.Arrow- and spearheads, medieval Icon of Saint George, silver and gems, 11th century.Gelati Gospels, 12th century. According to a pamphlet I bought there, the museum owns 700 manuscript books.Gospels printed in Tbilisi, 1799.Inlaid sword hilt, 18th century.Hilt of a yataghan, a Turkish-style sword with a sickle shape. 18th century.Labrys and scimitar, 18th centuryA priest’s embroidered cuffs, 19th century.
Kartvelian Adventures 