Georgia, The Reason Travel Was Invented? (part one of two)

    A Georgian myth claims that Georgia was the land that God reserved for himself because of its natural beauty and abundant productivity.  Mankind seems to agree with this statement as he has been traveling there since the dawn of time and perhaps this region is the very reason for the concept of travel itself.  Historical vignettes may supply us with proof.

Dmanisi, Georgia (Authors collection, copyright 2014)

    As early as 1.8 million years ago, Georgia was attracting visitors.  A group of Hominids that we call Homo Erectus were the first human species to migrate out of Africa.  Since 2005, five skulls have been discovered near the Georgian town of Dimanisi - all within a 9.2 square metre area (~100 feet squared).  Because these skulls differ greatly, it is theorised that they represent a cross section of the species, in general, and are forcing scientists to re-evaluate the existing theories.  The most recent skull has a brain cavity about half the size of modern humans and a large face; if these were fragments, they would be categorised as different species.  The difficulty for scientists is that they were found together, a long way from Africa and within a 9.2 square metre area.  Scientists are now theorising that this species was more diverse than previously thought and the findings in Dimanisi may lead to grouping all homo fossils dated 1.8 to 1.5 million years old into a new, Homo Erectus family.

View from near Amirani’s(Prometheus’) prison on Mt. Kazbeg (Author's collection, Copyright 2014

More recently, on the summit of Mt. Kazbegi (5,054m), Amirani - we call him Prometheus - was imprisoned for giving fir to humans.  An added punishment was that an eagle would peck out his liver all day and over night, it would grow back.  The question is, Why in Georgia?  Was that because it was close to God's home?  Where better to keep an eye on a recalcitrant child than your backyard?

    It seems that before the dawn of time, before we were even ourselves, we were attracted to the bounty that is Georgia; the land that God reserved for himself and hasn't strayed too far from since.