Freemasonry
The degrees of freemasonry retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, Journeyman or fellow, and Master Mason. These are the degrees offered by Craft Freemasonry, members of these organisations are known as Freemasons or Masons. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, the basic, local organisational unit of Freemasonry is the Lodge. The Lodges are usually supervised and governed at the level by a Grand Lodge or Grand Orient. There is no international, worldwide Grand Lodge that supervises all of Freemasonry, each Grand Lodge is independent, modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups. Continental Freemasonry is now the term for the liberal jurisdictions who have removed some, or all. The Masonic Lodge is the organisational unit of Freemasonry. The Lodge meets regularly to conduct the formal business of any small organisation. In addition to business, the meeting may perform a ceremony to confer a Masonic degree or receive a lecture, at the conclusion of the meeting, the Lodge might adjourn for a formal dinner, or festive board, sometimes involving toasting and song.
The bulk of Masonic ritual consists of degree ceremonies, candidates for Freemasonry are progressively initiated into Freemasonry, first in the degree of Entered Apprentice. Some time later, in a ceremony, they will be passed to the degree of Fellowcraft. In all of ceremonies, the candidate is entrusted with passwords, signs. Another ceremony is the installation of the Master and officers of the Lodge. In some jurisdictions Installed Master is valued as a separate rank, in other jurisdictions, the grade is not recognised, and no inner ceremony conveys new secrets during the installation of a new Master of the Lodge. Most Lodges have some sort of calendar, allowing Masons. Often coupled with events is the obligation placed on every Mason to contribute to charity. This occurs at both Lodge and Grand Lodge level, Masonic charities contribute to many fields from education to disaster relief. These private local Lodges form the backbone of Freemasonry, and a Freemason will necessarily have been initiated into one of these, there exist specialist Lodges where Masons meet to celebrate anything from sport to Masonic research
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious order founded as a military order in the 12th century in Acre. Purely religious since 1929, it still confers limited honorary knighthoods, the order was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Formed in the year 1190 in Acre, in the Levant, after Christian forces were defeated in the Middle East, the Order moved to Transylvania in 1211 to help defend the South-Eastern borders of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Kipchaks. Starting from there, the Order created the independent Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, adding continuously the conquered Prussians territory, the Order theoretically lost its main purpose in Europe with the Christianization of Lithuania. However, it initiated numerous campaigns against its Christian neighbours, the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Novgorod Republic. The Teutonic Knights had an economic base, and so hired mercenaries from throughout Europe to augment their feudal levies.
In 1410, a Polish-Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power at the Battle of Grunwald, the capital of the Teutonic Knights was successfully defended in the following Siege of Marienburg and the Order was saved from collapse. In 1515, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I made an alliance with Sigismund I of Poland-Lithuania. Thereafter, the empire did not support the Order against Poland, in 1525, Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg resigned and converted to Lutheranism, becoming Duke of Prussia as a vassal of Poland. Soon after, the Order lost Livonia and its holdings in the Protestant areas of Germany, the Order did keep its considerable holdings in Catholic areas of Germany until 1809, when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered its dissolution and the Order lost its last secular holdings. However, the Order continued to exist as a charitable and ceremonial body and it was outlawed by Adolf Hitler in 1938, but re-established in 1945. Today it operates primarily with charitable aims in Central Europe, the Knights wore white surcoats with a black cross.
A cross pattée was sometimes used as their coat of arms, the motto of the Order was, Wehren, Heilen. The full name of the Order in German is Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem or in Latin Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum, the term Teutonic refers to the German origins of the order in Latin. It is commonly known in German as the Deutscher Orden, historically as Deutscher Ritterorden, Deutschherrenorden, Deutschritterorden or Die Herren im weißen Mantel. However, based on the model of the Knights Templar, it was transformed into an order in 1198. It received papal orders for crusades to take and hold Jerusalem for Christianity, during the rule of Grand Master Hermann von Salza the Order changed from being a hospice brotherhood for pilgrims to primarily a military order. The Order was founded in Acre, and the Knights purchased Montfort, northeast of Acre, the Order had a castle at Amouda in Armenia Minor
Lindau Gospels
The upper cover is late Carolingian work of about 880, and the text of the gospel book itself was written and decorated at the Abbey of Saint Gall around the same time, or slightly later. The lower or back cover is older than the text and presumably added from another book and it was perhaps originally a front cover. A few Irish cumdachs or metal book-shrines or reliquaries for books have survived, which show broadly comparable styles, the St Cuthbert Gospel, a decorated leather binding thought to date from around 700, is the earliest intact European binding. The design centres on a cross pattée, that is, a cross with curving, spreading members, the spaces between the members of the cross are filled with chip-carved interlace including snake-like beasts and a central stud set with a gem. Each arm of the cross has a figure of Christ with a cruciform halo, what distinguishes the cover from the few other surviving pieces of Insular metalwork is the extensive use of enamel, which it is thought may have been learned from north Italy.
Some of the enamels are in a style of sunk enamel only found here, the original book covered was slightly smaller, and parts of the borders, which do not match each other, were added to bring it up to the new size. Inside the border there are four plaques in the showing the Four Evangelists with their symbols. Around the central topaz are four monograms, IHS, XPS, DNS, the upper cover is very lavishly studded with large gems, and uses low repoussé relief. The composition centres on a cross, but here a whole Crucifixion scene with a figure of Jesus on the cross and much smaller ones of the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist. Each of these is in a compartment below the arms of the cross, paired with iconographically unusual female figures, all eight figures are represented crouching or sideways, or hovering horizontally in the case of the angels and below clusters of gems. More usually they are to either side of the cross-shaft, or at the ends of the arms, Sol here lacks his usual rays, suggesting an eclipse is represented, following the Gospels.
The border contains most of the gems, held in typically Carolingian plant motif settings, the cover of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, which can be precisely dated to 870, is probably a product of the same workshop, though there are differences of style. This workshop is associated with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles II and its location remains uncertain and much discussed, but Saint-Denis Abbey outside Paris is one leading possibility. The Arnulf Ciborium, now in the Munich Residenz, is the major work in the group. Recent scholars tend to group the Lindau Gospels and the Arnulf Ciborium in closer relation to other than the Codex Aureus to either. The text is the Four Gospels preceded by the Epistle of S, the style of illumination lacks the Insular elements of that work. Six or seven scribes worked on the text, one shared with the Folchard Psalter, the illuminations, unlike the covers, entirely lack human figures. The two pages imitating textiles interest scholars because many carpet pages, as their name suggests, may do the same, in both cases the idea may have been the emulation of a textile shroud or cover, such as those used to wrap relics
Rudolf Koch
Rudolf Koch was a German type designer. He was a master of lettering, typography, commonly known for his typefaces created for the Klingspor Type Foundry, his most widely used typefaces include Neuland and Kabel. Between 1897 and 1906 he worked for businesses in the book trade in Leipzig. In 1906 Koch began working for the Rudhard Type foundry in Offenbach, other notable designers who worked for the foundry include Otto Eckmann and Peter Behrens. Koch was deeply spiritual and a devout Lutheran, spending much of his working on religious publications and manuscripts. Koch viewed the alphabet as humanitys ultimate achievement and he died prematurely of a heart attack in 1934, aged 59. The teachings of Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement are evident in Koch’s use of hand-lettering and wood-cutting techniques, at the same time, his book illustrations are evocative of Art Nouveau. Koch prized craftsmanship in his design and printing methods, a principle deeply rooted in the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Koch lectured at the Arts and Crafts School in Offenbach, in 1918, after World War I, he opened a workshop training students in typography, wood-cutting, and other crafts. Best known for his talent he built upon the calligraphic tradition by creating an original. Known for his ideology, he wrote in Der Deutsche. I hated anything that was foreign, and even as I was growing up I felt this was a sign of true loyalty, Koch frequently defended Germanic blackletter script in the journals and publications he contributed to. He held exhibitions with his group Offenbach Schreiber, which promoted hand lettering and calligraphy, kochs dedication to Gothic script may have limited his recognition in English-speaking countries. Koch wrote a book containing 493 old-world symbols and runes entitled The Book of Signs, kochs first non-blackletter typeface was the delicate roman Koch-Antiqua, a display face with a low x-height. Its oblique features inline capitals in the sizes, an idea inspired by the traditions of blackletter capitals.
Koch designed the Neuland typeface in 1923, taking a more experimental turn, the typeface counterpoints his preferred traditional style with a more contemporary feel. Dr Klingspor called it “unbearably ugly”, despite its commercial success. Koch introduced his first sans-serif typeface, Kabel, in 1927, the differences between the two typefaces are most noticeable in Kabels far-reaching terminal on the ‘a’ and the ‘e, as well as the slanted crossbar and the loop of the ‘g’
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or as decoration. National flags are patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original, flags are used in messaging, advertising, or for other decorative purposes. The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin word vexillum, due to the use of flags by military units, flag is used as the name of some military units. A flag is equivalent to a brigade in Arab countries, and in Spain, in antiquity, field signs or standards were used in warfare that can be categorized as vexilloid or flag-like. During the High Middle Ages flags came to be used primarily as a device in battle. Already during the medieval period, and increasingly during the Late Middle Ages. Regimental flags for individual units became commonplace during the Early Modern period, flags became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals, International maritime signal flags.
One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolize a nation or country, some national flags have been particularly inspirational to other nations, countries, or subnational entities in the design of their own flags. Some prominent examples include, The flag of Denmark, the Dannebrog, is attested in 1478, the flag of the Netherlands is the oldest tricolour. Its three colours of red and blue go back to Charlemagnes time, the 9th century, the coastal region of what today is the Netherlands was known for its cloth in these colours. Maps from the early 16th century already put flags in these colours next to this region, a century before that, during the 15th century, the three colours were mentioned as the coastal signals for this area, with the three bands straight or diagonal, single or doubled. As state flag it first appeared around 1572 as the Princes Flag in orange–white–blue, soon the more famous red–white–blue began appearing, becoming the prevalent version from around 1630. Orange made a comeback during the war of the late 18th century.
During World War II the pro-Nazi NSB used it, any symbolism has been added to the three colours, although the orange comes from the House of Orange-Nassau. This use of orange comes from Nassau, which today uses orange-blue, not from Orange, the usual way to show the link with the House of Orange-Nassau is the orange pennant above the red-white-blue. It is said that the Dutch Tricolour has inspired many flags but most notably those of Russia, New York City, the national flag of France was designed in 1794. As a forerunner of revolution, Frances tricolour flag style has been adopted by other nations, Italy, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico. The Union Flag of the United Kingdom is the most commonly used, british colonies typically flew a flag based on one of the ensigns based on this flag, and many former colonies have retained the design to acknowledge their cultural history
Monarch
A monarch is the sovereign head of state in a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state, alternatively, an individual may become monarch by conquest, acclamation or a combination of means. A monarch usually reigns for life or until abdication, if a young child is crowned the monarch, a regent is often appointed to govern until the monarch reaches the requisite adult age to rule. A monarch can reign in multiple monarchies simultaneously, for example, the monarchy of Canada and the monarchy of the United Kingdom are separate states, but they share the same monarch through personal union. Monarchs, as such, bear a variety of titles — king or queen, prince or princess, emperor or empress, duke or grand duke, Prince is sometimes used as a generic term to refer to any monarch regardless of title, especially in older texts. A king can be a husband and a queen can be a kings wife. If both people in a reign, neither person is generally considered to be a consort.
Monarchy is political or sociocultural in nature, and is associated with hereditary rule. Most monarchs, both historically and in the present day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, agnatic seniority, Salic law, etc. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch, historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In recent centuries, many states have abolished the monarchy and become republics, advocacy of government by a republic is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchy is called monarchism. A principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of national leadership. In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure real leadership does not depend on the monarch, a form of government may in fact be hereditary without being considered monarchy, such as a family dictatorship.
Monarchies take a variety of forms, such as the two co-princes of Andorra, positions held simultaneously by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgel and the elected President of France. Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the position for five years at a time, hereditary succession within one patrilineal family has been most common, with preference for children over siblings, sons over daughters. Other European realms practice one form or another of primogeniture, whereunder a lord was succeeded by his eldest son or, if he had none, by his brother, the system of tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight to ability and merit. The Salic law, practiced in France and in the Italian territories of the House of Savoy, in most fiefs, in the event of the demise of all legitimate male members of the patrilineage, a female of the family could succeed. Spain today continues this model of succession law, in the form of cognatic primogeniture, in more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus, is the best-known symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix and to the general family of cross symbols. The basic forms of the cross are the Latin cross and the Greek cross, with variants used in heraldry. The cross-shaped sign, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly predates the introduction of Christianity, in both East and West and it goes back to a very remote period of human civilization. It is supposed to have used not just for its ornamental value. It may have represented the apparatus used in kindling fire, and thus as the symbol of sacred fire or as a symbol of the sun, denoting its daily rotation. It has interpreted as the mystic representation of lightning or of the god of the tempest, or the emblem of the Aryan pantheon. Another associated symbol is the cross used in ancient Egypt. It was often depicted in the hands of the goddess Sekhmet, Egyptian Christians adopted it as the emblem of the cross.
Yet another Egyptian symbol is the nfr - meaning, beauty or perfect, in the Bronze Age a representation of the cross as conceived in Christian art appeared, and the form was popularised. The more precise characterization coincided with a general change in customs. The cross came into use in forms on many objects, cinctures, earthenware fragments. De Mortillet believed that use of the sign was not merely ornamental. In the proto-Etruscan cemetery of Golasecca every tomb has a vase with a cross engraved on it, true crosses of more or less artistic design have been found in Tiryns, at Mycenæ, in Crete, and on a fibula from Vulci. According to Swami Vivekananda the Christian cross is the Shivalinga converted into a cross, according to W. E. Vine, the cross was used by worshipers of Tammuz, an Ancient Near East deity of Babylonian origin who had the cross-shaped taw as his symbol. In which there was not only a straight and erected piece of Wood fixed in the Earth, but a transverse Beam fastned unto that towards the top thereof.
A symbol similar to the cross, the staurogram, was used to abbreviate the Greek word for cross in very early New Testament manuscripts such as P66, P45 and P75, the extensive adoption of the cross as Christian iconographic symbol arose from the 4th century. Another early depictions of the cross as a Christian symbol is the Alexamenos graffito. e, in his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross
Denis of Portugal
Denis, called the Farmer King and the Poet King, was King of Portugal and the Algarve. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his wife, Beatrice of Castile. His marriage to Elizabeth of Aragon, who was canonised as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was arranged in 1281 when she was 10 years old. He worked to reorganise his countrys economy and gave an impetus to Portuguese agriculture and he ordered the planting of a large pine forest near Leiria to prevent the soil degradation that threatened the region and as a source of raw materials for the construction of the royal ships. He was known for his poetry, which constitutes a major contribution to the development of Portuguese as a literary language and his policies encouraged economic development with the creation of numerous towns and trade fairs. In 1289 Denis had signed an agreement with Pope Nicholas IV, the new order was designed to be a continuation of the Order of the Temple. Denis negotiated with Clements successor, John XXII, for recognition of the new order and its right to inherit the Templar assets, during Denis reign, Lisbon became one of Europes centres of culture and learning.
The first university in Portugal, called the Estudo Geral, was founded with his signing of the document Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis in Leiria on 3 March 1290. Lectures in the arts, civil law, canon law, and medicine were given, and on 15 February 1309, the granted the university a charter. The university was moved between Lisbon and Coimbra several times, and finally installed permanently in Coimbra in 1537 by order of King John III and he patronised troubadours, and wrote lyric poetry in the troubadour tradition himself. His best-known work is the Cantigas de Amigo, a collection of songs as well as satirical songs. These poems are found in the order in the two previously known codices. As heir-apparent to the throne, Infante Denis was summoned by his father Afonso III to share governmental responsibilities. The country was again in conflict with the Catholic Church at the time, Afonso having been excommunicated in 1277, the church was favorably inclined to reach an agreement with the new monarch upon his accession to the throne.
The next year he took steps against ecclesiastical power when he promulgated amortisation laws. These prohibited the church and religious orders from buying lands, several years he issued another decree forbidding them to inherit the estates of recruits to the orders. In 1288, Denis managed to persuade Pope Nicholas IV to issue a papal Bull that separated the Order of Santiago in Portugal from that in Castile, to which it had been subordinate. With the extinction of the Knights Templar, he was able to transfer their assets in the country to the Order of Christ, Denis was essentially an administrator and not a warrior king
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or flower-de-luce is a stylized lily that is used as a decorative design or symbol. Many of the saints are depicted with a lily, most prominently St. Joseph. The fleur-de-lis is represented in Unicode at U+269C in the Miscellaneous Symbols block and it remains an enduring symbol of France that appears on French postage stamps, although it has never been adopted officially by any of the French republics. According to French historian Georges Duby, the three represent the medieval social classes, those who worked, those who fought. It is unclear where the fleur-de-lis originated, among the Egyptians, Persians and Greeks, this arabesque evoked warrior-like power. In France it is used in city emblems like in the coat of arms of the city of Lille, Saint-Denis, Clermont-Ferrand, Boulogne-Billancourt. The fleur-de-lis was the symbol of Île-de-France, the core of the French kingdom, many of the current departments use the ancient symbol on their coats to express this heritage. In Italy, the fleur de lis, called giglio is mainly known as the crest of the city of Florence, in the Florentine fleurs-de-lis, the stamens are always posed between the petals.
This heraldic charge is known as the Florentine lily to distinguish it from the conventional design. As an emblem of the city, it is found in icons of Zenobius, its first bishop. Several towns subjugated by Florence or founded within the territory of the Florentine Republic adopted a variation of the Florentine lily in their crests, often without the stamens. The heraldic fleur-de-lis is still widespread, among the cities which use it as a symbol are some whose names echo the word lily, for example, Finland. This is called canting arms in heraldic terminology, other European examples of municipal coats-of-arms bearing the fleur-de-lis include Lincoln in England, Morcín in Spain, Wiesbaden in Germany, Skierniewice in Poland and Jurbarkas in Lithuania. The Swiss municipality of Schlieren and the Estonian municipality of Jõelähtme have a fleur-de-lis on their coats, in Malta, the town of Santa Venera has three red fleurs-de-lis on its flag and coat of arms. Another suburb which developed around the area known as Fleur-de-Lys.
The coat of arms of the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia contained six fleurs-de-lis, understood as the native Bosnian or Golden Lily and this emblem was revived in 1992 as a national symbol of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was the flag of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1998. The state insignia were changed in 1999, the former flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina contains a fleur-de-lis alongside the Croatian chequy. Fleurs appear in the flags and arms of cantons, cities
Imperial State Crown
The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the monarch. It has existed in various forms since the 15th century, the current version was made in 1937 and is worn by the monarch after a coronation ceremony and during his or her speech at the annual State Opening of Parliament. It contains 2,901 precious stones, including Cullinan II – the second-largest clear cut diamond in the world. St Edwards Crown, used to crown English monarchs, was considered to be a relic, kept in the saints shrine at Westminster Abbey. The Tudor Crown had more pearls and jewels than its predecessor, and the centre petals of each of the fleurs-de-lis had images of Christ. The crown weighed 3.3 kg and was set with 168 pearls,58 rubies,28 diamonds,19 sapphires and 2 emeralds. Following the abolition of the monarchy and the execution of Charles I in 1649, upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a new state crown was made for Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner.
About 10 versions of the crown have existed since the restoration, the one made for Queen Victoria in 1838 is the basis for todays crown. At the State Opening of Parliament in 1845, the Duke of Argyll was carrying the crown before Queen Victoria when it fell off the cushion, Victoria wrote in her diary, it was all crushed and squashed like a pudding that had sat down. The gems in the crown were remounted for the coronation of George VI in 1937 by Garrard & Co, the crown was adjusted for Queen Elizabeth IIs coronation in 1953, with the head size reduced and the arches lowered by 25 mm to give it a more feminine appearance. The Imperial State Crown is 31.5 cm tall and weighs 1.06 kg and its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. The frame is made of gold and platinum, and decorated with 2,868 diamonds,273 pearls,17 sapphires,11 emeralds, and 5 rubies. In 1909, the 104-carat Stuart Sapphire, set in the front of the crown, was moved to the back, three of the pearls belonged to Elizabeth I. The crown is worn by the monarch on leaving Westminster Abbey at the end of his or her coronation ceremony and it is worn at the annual State Opening of Parliament.
When not in use, it is on display with the rest of the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. Kenneth J. Mears, Simon Thurley, Claire Murphy, the Imperial State Crown at the Royal Collection. The Crown Jewels at the Royal Family website
Candelabra
A candelabrum /ˌkændəlˈɑːbrəm, -æbrəm/, sometimes called a candle tree, is a candle holder with multiple arms. In modern usage the plural form candelabra is frequently used in the singular sense, likewise and candelabras are preferred over candelabrums as the plural form. In Judaism and the Philippine church Iglesia ni Cristo, the menorah is a kind of candelabrum. In the United States and Canada, the plural term candelabra is a nickname for radio masts, baltimores TV stations, WMAR-TV, WBAL-TV, and WJZ-TV in 1959 built the world’s first three-antenna candelabra tower,730 feet tall
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi, Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres, and its 2016 population is about 3.72 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy, during the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century, a unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under hegemony of various powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire. Russian rule over Georgia was eventually acknowledged in various treaties with Iran. Since the establishment of the modern Georgian republic in April 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil, the countrys Western orientation soon led to the worsening of relations with Russia, culminating in the brief Russo-Georgian War in August 2008.
Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and it contains two de facto independent regions and South Ossetia, which gained limited international recognition after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Georgia and a part of the international community consider the regions to be part of Georgias sovereign territory under Russian military occupation. Georgia probably stems from the Persian designation of the Georgians – gurğān, in the 11th and 12th centuries adapted via Syriac gurz-ān/gurz-iyān, starting with the Persian word gurğ/gurğān, the word was adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. This term itself might have established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near-Caspian region. The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi, the medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos, a great-grandson of Japheth. However, scholars agree that the word is derived from the Karts, the name Sakartvelo consists of two parts.
Its root, kartvel-i, specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli, ancient Greeks and Romans referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians. Today the full, official name of the country is Georgia, before the 1995 constitution came into force the countrys name was the Republic of Georgia. The territory of modern-day Georgia was inhabited by Homo erectus since the Paleolithic Era, the proto-Georgian tribes first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. The earliest evidence of wine to date has found in Georgia. In fact, early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, the classical period saw the rise of a number of early Georgian states, the principal of which was Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east
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