Man in tiger skin

Vepkhistkhaosani, an epic poem which in English is called The Knight in the Panther's Skin, is a literary masterpiece of world significance written by the 12th-century Georgian writer, poet and statesman, Shota Rustaveli. It was written during the period known as the Golden Age, a time when the country was ruled with tremendous intellectual openness by a woman – Queen Tamar. It is an epic imbued with humanist ideals, telling a story of love, friendship, courage and bravery. It is filled with aphorisms, rich poetic imagery, and carries universal, timeless values.

Today, the poem has been translated into more than fifty languages, and the collection of one hundred and sixty-two preserved manuscripts, the oldest of which dates back to the early 16th century, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.