NATIONAL IDENTITY AND GEORGIAN UNITY IN THE 8TH-9TH CENTURIES

Hagiographic literature is of great importance in terms of the study of national identity. The work – Life of Gregory of Khantsta – written by Giorgi Merchule, contains important information for the analysis of the history of the Georgian Church and the political and socio-economic situation in Georgia in the 8th-9th centuries. The Life of Gregory of Khantsta occupies an important place in studying various aspects of this chronological section. Before moving directly to the discussion of the burden of the national idea in the 8th-9th centuries and how the author assesses the national selfconsciousness, we consider it inevitably necessary to describe the political or socioeconomic situation in Georgia of that historical period.