Gatsi and Gaim

According to medieval Georgian chronicles, Gatsi ( Georgian გაცი ) and Gaim (გაიმ; or Ga , გა) were a pair of gods in a pre-Christian pantheon in ancient Iberia , later Kartlien . The Georgian hagiography The Life of St. Nino tells that on her arrival in the city of Mtskheta , the saint saw the two gods standing on the sides of the idol of the main god Armazi : “There was another idol, made of gold, with the face of a man . His name was Gatsi and to the left was a silver idol with a human face whose name was Gaim. ”Another passage in the Chronicle reports that Gatsi and Ga (im) were worshiped for ruling over“ all secrets / riddles ” .

Unfortunately, besides these Georgian annals, there are no complementary contemporary and archaeological finds. Both deities came with the legendary ruler Azo from his homeland Arian-Kartli . Possibly they can be thought of as versions of the Phrygian deities Attis and Cybele .

Individual evidence

↑ "there stood another image, made of gold, with the face of a man. Its name was Gatsi, and on the left of it was a silver idol with a human face, the name of which was Gaim." David Marshall Lang : Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, selected and translated from the original texts. London : Allen & Unwin 1956: 24.
↑ "all of mysteries." Giorgi Melikishvili & al .: საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები ( Studies on the History of Georgia , Georgian), Vol. 1. Tbilisi: Sabch'ota Sakartvelo 1970.
↑ Mikheil Tsereteli , 1935; quoted in Cyril Toumanoff : Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Georgetown University Press 1967: 90, n.124.

[1] "there stood another image, made of gold, with the face of a man. Its name was Gatsi, and on the left of it was a silver idol with a human face, the name of which was Gaim." David Marshall Lang : Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, selected and translated from the original texts. London : Allen & Unwin 1956: 24.

[2] "all of mysteries." Giorgi Melikishvili & al .: საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები ( Studies on the History of Georgia , Georgian), Vol. 1. Tbilisi: Sabch'ota Sakartvelo 1970.

[Toumanoff-3] Mikheil Tsereteli , 1935; quoted in Cyril Toumanoff : Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Georgetown University Press 1967: 90, n.124.