It is generally recognised that Georgia is one of the oldest countries
of the Christian world regarding the tradition of the movements of the
Mandylion and Keramion. This tradition must have emerged not later than
1054, when the Mandylion was in Constantinople, according the Georgian
sources.
The first mention of the transposition of the acheropite (the Mandylion)
from Hierapolis to Georgia by the apostle Andrew is around the 12th-13th
centuries. Its the well-known image of Anchi. The inscription as its triptych
does not however mention Andrew, and dates the event of the move (Edesse
to Konstantinople to Anchi) to the time of Leon of Isauria.
The second mention dates the second quarter of the 13th century (the
canticles of Arsène, son of Boulmaisim, and of Saba). Anthoni of
Martkopi brought the Keramion of Edesse to Georgia. According to Arsène
this event placed Georgia equal to Byzantium, because the cloth (the Mandylion)
remained in Constantinople and the baked earth tablet ( the Keramion) appeard
in Kartli. It was studied in more detail during 17th and 18th centuries
(Life of Anthony of Martkopi, the Charter of the Churches). It appears
that in Martkopi Monastery there existed a tradition of the disappearance
of the image in the cause of Tamerlane’s invasions.
In the oldest (10th century) edition of the Lives of the Syrian Fathers,
recently discovered Mount Sinai, in the monastery of
St Catherine, more data concerning the Mandylion and Keramion can be found,
hitherto unknown to science: among the Syrian Fathers who came to Georgia
in the 6th century, Anthony is not mentioned, but the servant-monk and
deacon of the image (the Mandylion) was Theodosios of Urhai (later of Rekha),
and the servant end censer of the image (the Keramion) of Heirapolis was
Ezderios of Nabuk (later of Samthavisi). They constructed the Churches
of Rekha and of Samthavisi, and, nostalgic for the acheropites, they decorated
them with similar images. The angels sent by the Saviour fulfilled their
desire. This appears to be the origin of the traditions, according to which
the Mandylion and the Keramion were transported to Georgia, and which is
linked to one of the Syrian Fathers (Anthony of Martkopi).