church. Excavations revealed that the church represented two different periods of use, with two different corresponding floor levels of the
chancel area. A chancel (the altar area, where the priest officiates) only slightly elevated in comparison to the
nave reflects a diophysite view on the nature of Christ (
Jesus is seen as equally divine and human at the same time), while a higher elevation of the chancel is typical of
Monophysitism (
Christ is seen as purely divine). The officiating priest is seen as the representative of Jesus, and the
Christological approach reflects on the priest's degree of proximity to the worshippers. In Kish, the floor level of the chancel was raised during a second period of use from a mere 30-40 cm to about one meter (100 cm) above that of the nave. According to Storfjell, the architecture of the apse of the original church in Kish suggests a diophysite Christology, and since the Georgian Church was the only diophysite church existing in the Caucasus in the late medieval period, it seems reasonable to suggest that the Kish church was initially built as a Georgian church and was later taken over by monophysites. At the time, the monophysite doctrine was represented in the region by two Churches: the Armenian and the Caucasus Albanian Church, the latter having adopted Monophysitism during the eighth century. Storfjell posits that the rising of the chancel floor to 1 meter above the nave floor level took place in the 17th century, while under the control of the Caucasus Albanian Church. ==Gallery==