Thirteen Assyrian Fathers

St. David of Gareja, an 18th-century miniature.

The Thirteen Assyrian Fathers (Georgian: ათცამმეტი ასურელი მამანი, romanized: attsammet'i asureli mamani) were, according to Georgian church tradition, a group of monastic missionaries who arrived from Mesopotamia to Georgia to strengthen Christianity in the country in the 6th century. They are credited by the Georgian church historians with the foundation of several monasteries and hermitages and initiation of the ascetic movement in Georgia.[1][2]

  1. ^ Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts, p. 321. Peeters Publishers, ISBN 90-429-1318-5
  2. ^ Lang, David Marshall (1956), Lives and Legends of the Georgian Saints, pp. 81-83. London: Allen & Unwin