Georgia is a country where women's secular and religious activities would never be strange and unprecedented. But also this is a country where women are considered impure for ritual purposes, not allowed even to come...Georgia is a country where women's secular and religious activities would never be strange and unprecedented. But also this is a country where women are considered impure for ritual purposes, not allowed even to come too close to the shrines or conduct liturgy; where participation in main shrine rituals or slaughter of sacrifice was and is strictly forbidden. However, there are remarkable exceptions that are shown in the article. Women's shrines are found almost in all regions of Georgia, but according to our field works and other ethnographic data their presence is remarkably obvious in Khevi, mountainous region of East Georgia. The study of the subject brought us to a conclusion that women in Khevi might have more rights in conducting religious rituals at shrines than in other Eastern Georgia's highland regions. It may be conditioned by St. Ninos's strong connection with the region.展开更多
文摘Georgia is a country where women's secular and religious activities would never be strange and unprecedented. But also this is a country where women are considered impure for ritual purposes, not allowed even to come too close to the shrines or conduct liturgy; where participation in main shrine rituals or slaughter of sacrifice was and is strictly forbidden. However, there are remarkable exceptions that are shown in the article. Women's shrines are found almost in all regions of Georgia, but according to our field works and other ethnographic data their presence is remarkably obvious in Khevi, mountainous region of East Georgia. The study of the subject brought us to a conclusion that women in Khevi might have more rights in conducting religious rituals at shrines than in other Eastern Georgia's highland regions. It may be conditioned by St. Ninos's strong connection with the region.