The Development of Literacy in the Caucasian Territories (DeLiCaTe)
While Armenians and Georgians have steadily developed their written heritage up to this day, the literacy of the Caucasian Albanians ended with the Arab conquest in the 8th century. Only a few specimens of their language have survived, mostly as palimpsests. Similarly, only limited numbers of original Armenian and Georgian texts from the 5th–10th centuries have been preserved, also mostly as palimpsests. Over the past 20 years, major progress has been made in analysing these documents, providing new insights into their historical development. Led by Jost Gippert, DeLiCaTe is the first comprehensive project studying literacy development in the Southern Caucasus, employing an interdisciplinary approach.
