Abstract
Changes in human behavior, perceptions, and impulses are considered to be essential parts of the civilization process. Suitable for civilization is development of scientific knowledge, religious ideas and customs, female and male lifestyles, and forms of legal punishment. The notion of civilization is “national” in itself, but at the same time, the notion pushes national differences between peoples to the background, because, on the one hand, the emphasis is on what is common or should be common to people and, on the other hand, on the self-knowledge of different peoples whose national boundaries are quite firm, as evidenced by millennia. The Caucasus had close cultural ties with ancient Near East from olden times. The onset of metal working gave impetus to the migration of people in general, which put on the agenda the definition of human rights and freedoms and creation of a codified system of laws caused by this necessity.
TopLiterature Review
The basic material for the present work was a supplemented edition of “The Laws of The Hittites” translated from the Hittite cuneiform script by H. Hoffner. Hittite laws contain unique information about free man and woman, slave marriage, family life mode, dowry, wages, property rights, blood, and sexual crimes.
To compare the above laws, I took into account the 1990 critical edition of the Georgian translations of the Old Testament books. I researched the episodes from the Book of Deuteronomy that are similar to the sexual crimes recorded in the Hittite laws, and which confirm my views on the existence of social institutions.
In the working process S. Makalatia's monograph “Pshavi”, published in 1985, was also taken into consideration. The author discusses several issues, such as social life, and differentiation of public life from the 19th century when the emergence of a layer of wealthy shepherds was followed by the disintegration of the old communal system; the Khevisberi institute, which was in charge of community affairs. This could have been revenge, the expulsion of criminals from the community, hearing a case and assessment of blood, and murder caused by denunciation. In the monograph, the author describes in detail the Pshavian customs related to marriage and abduction of a woman.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Civilization: Is introduced in the 18th century to denote a certain style of historical development. Its introduction is associated with the names of Boulanger and Holbach. The main features of civilization were the emergence of writing and cities, the creation of the state, and technical and technological progress. Civilization is a cultural-historical system defined in time and space, which is characterized by a relative uniformity of spiritual, socio-political, and economic life. It is determined by the existence of common features of objective nature such as language, history, religion, morals, and institutions.
Circassians: Their self-name is Adyghe. They live in Karachay-Cherkessia (Russian Federation). The term “Circassian” is derived from the ethnonym “Kerket”, which the ancient Greeks used to refer to the Adyghe population of the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. The Circassians are Sunni Muslims by faith.
Abkhazians: A small group of people living in the Northwestern part of Georgia. Their self-name is Apsua. The Abkhazians are linguistically related to the North Caucasian Adyghe but have more in common culturally and anthropologically with the Georgians since these two peoples are closely related to each other in terms of culture and history.
Svans: Live in the highest mountainous part of Georgia. Initially, the Svans lived in a wider area, namely on the territory of Abkhazia. They had close ties with the highlanders of the North Caucasus as well. The Svans played an important political role in the life of Georgia in the Middle Ages.
Human Rights: The concept of fundamental rights as a natural right is ancient. According to John Locke, fundamental rights are universal, early-state rights. Locke distinguished three property rights: Life, Liberty, and Estate. He noted that every human being is free from birth and has the same rights as other human beings. The state is responsible to protect these rights. In case of their restriction, the citizen has the right to resist, which should be reflected in the public contract.
Hittites: Ethnos of Indo-European origin appeared in Central Anatolia at the beginning of the II millennium B.C. The founder of the kingdom is considered to be Labarna (16th century BC). The Hittites reached the pinnacle of power in the era of the New Kingdom. They bordered Assyria and Babylon in the upper reaches of the Euphrates, Egypt in Syria, and the Achaeans on the West coast of Asia Minor and in Cyprus The northern frontier, where the Hittites fought defensive battles with the Kaskians remained unchanged. The Hittites failed to get the exit to the Black Sea. Egyptian sources attribute the collapse of the Hittite Empire (1200 BC) to the “peoples of the sea.”
Caucasus: Is located between the Black and Caspian Seas. The northern boundary is considered to be the Kuma–Manych depression and the lower flow of the river Don, to the south, is bordered by Turkey and Iran. The Caucasus is not only a geographical but also a historical-cultural region. About 50 ethnicities live in the Caucasus, all of whom have created an original culture. Integration of the Caucasus and its native ethnos into a single historical-cultural region is conditioned by common anthropological type, the similarity of material culture, and elements of economic life mode. There was great unity in the sphere of spiritual culture, etiquette, and mentality.
Khevsureti: A historical-ethnographic region in northeastern Georgia. Historically, Georgian highlander communities enjoyed a degree of autonomy. Khevsurs Never accepted local lords. They only elected their leader Khevisberi, elder and council of elders, and submitted themselves to the monarch. They were warriors with traditional Georgian qualities of courage, openness and honesty, independence, and love of freedom.
Pshavi: A highland region in Eastern Georgia. The Kist-Chechens came to Georgia by northern routes through the Pshavi Caucasus. Therefore, the Pshavi ravine was of great importance for the defense of the Kakheti Kingdom. The Pshavians were good warriors. There was commune governance in Pshavi; it was ruled by Khevisberi ( lit., “an elder of the gorge”/cult servant). Khevisberi was not hereditary, he was elected by the will of the icon; nor could he be dismissed.