Editing Tamar of Georgia (section)

=== Culture ===
[[File:Descent into Hell. John the Evangelist. Vani Gospels A-1335, 210v, 12th c.jpg|thumb|A folio from the [[Vani Gospels]] manuscript, copied at the behest of Queen Tamar.]]
With this prosperity came an outburst of the distinct Georgian culture, emerging from the amalgam of [[Christianity|Christian]], secular, as well as Byzantine and Iranian influences.<ref>{{harvnb|Suny|1994|pp=38–39}}.</ref> Despite this, the Georgians continued to identify with the Byzantine West, rather than Islamic East, with the Georgian monarchy seeking to underscore its association with Christianity and present its position as [[Divine right of kings|God-given]].<ref name="Suny-39" /> It was in that period that the canon of Georgian Orthodox architecture was redesigned and a series of large-scale domed cathedrals were built. The Byzantine-derived expression of royal power was modified in various ways to bolster Tamar's unprecedented position as a woman ruling in her own right. The five extant monumental church portraits of the queen are clearly modeled on Byzantine imagery, but also highlight specifically Georgian themes and Persian-type ideals of female beauty.<ref>{{harvnb|Eastmond|1998|pp=94, 108–110}}.</ref> Despite Georgia's Byzantine-leaning culture, the country's intimate trade connections with the Middle East is evidenced on contemporary Georgian coinage, whose legends were composed in Georgian and [[Arabic]]. A series of coins minted in circa 1200 in the name of Queen Tamar depicted a local variant of the Byzantine [[obverse and reverse|obverse]] and an Arabic inscription on the [[obverse and reverse|reverse]] proclaiming Tamar as the "Champion of the Messiah".<ref>{{harvnb|Rapp|1993|pp=309–330}}.</ref>

The contemporary Georgian chronicles enshrined Christian morality and patristic literature continued to flourish, but it had, by that time, lost its earlier dominant position to secular literature, which was highly original, even though it developed close contact with neighboring cultures. The trend culminated in [[Shota Rustaveli]]'s [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''[[The Knight in the Panther's Skin]]'' (''Vepkhistq'aosani''), which celebrates the ideals of an "[[Chivalry|Age of Chivalry]]" and is revered in Georgia as the greatest achievement of native literature.<ref name="Suny-39" /><ref name="Eastmond-96" /><ref>{{harvnb|Rayfield|1994|pp=73–83}}.</ref>