Georgia prepares to include third item in UNESCO list

/By AzerNews/

 By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The ancient Georgian alphabet has been granted the national status of cultural heritage in Georgia and now the government wants it to gain worldwide recognition.

Three types of Georgian scripts were officially presented at the UNESCO Intangible Heritage nomination on March 30, according to Georgia’s Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection.

Georgians are extremely proud of their unique writing system, which is comprised of 33 characters. It is the only alphabet in the world that is pronounced exactly the same way it is written. Moreover, all letters are unicameral, and no distinction is made in between upper and lower case.

Today there are three types of Georgian scripts: asomtavruli (capitals), nuskhuri (lower case), and Mkhedruli, which is used today in modern Georgian language (the cursive script).

The first scripts are more historic and are used together as upper and lower case in the writings of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Together this writing is called khutsuri (priests' alphabet).

In addition, the Georgian alphabet has been named among the top five most beautiful alphabets in the world by an international travel website, Matador Network.

Scholars believe that the Georgian alphabet was created in the 4th century BC, or at in the early 5th century BC.

Georgian Polyphonic Singing and Georgian Winemaking in Kvevri which uses the unique clay jars are already in the UNECSO Intangible Heritage List.