The autograph of
The Conversion of Kartli (CoK) has not survived and until recently there were only two manuscripts which have been extensively studied. These are the codices of Shatberdi and Chelishi. The Shatberdi Codex, the oldest of the extant CoK manuscripts, was copied in 973 under the supervision of the monk John at the Georgian monastery of
Shatberdi in what is now northeastern
Turkey. It was discovered in 1888 and published in 1890 by the Georgian scholar
Ekvtime Taqaishvili. The second variant, Chelishi Codex, so named after a
monastery in Georgia where it was found in 1903, was copied in the 14th or 15th century. Following the 1975 fire at
Saint Catherine's Monastery on
Mount Sinai in
Egypt, at least two hitherto unknown variants of CoK were discovered among a large number of Georgian manuscripts mainly dated to the 9th/10th century. They have not yet been completely studied, though. For all its contradictions – the elements of folklore, and religious reminiscences –
The Conversion of Kartli is an essential historical source. It further possesses a detailed relative and absolute chronology, unparallel in hagiographic and patristic literature of Georgia. The noticeable influence of CoK on subsequent Georgian historical works proves the crucial role this work played in establishing a sense of Christian identity of medieval Georgia. == Component texts ==