Georgia and U.S. to renovate ancient Jewish cemetery in Akhaltsikhe
Some of the tombs in the Akhaltsikhe cemetery have inscriptions in Ladino.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMikheil Batiashvili, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, and Paul Packer, Chairman of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, sign a Memorandum of Understanding in Tiblisi this week(photo credit: GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT)
The United States and Georgia will partner to renovate the ancient Jewish cemetery of Akhaltsikhe, which houses tombs dating back to the 17th century.This was decided during a meeting this past week between Georgian Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Mikheil Batiashvili, and Paul Packer, Chairman of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. The two signed a Memorandum of Understanding which envisages the launch of a mechanism for further collaboration in the cultural field.During the meeting, Batiashvili highlighted that the US as one of Georgia’s key strategic partners and noted that the two countries have close partnerships when it comes to education.Some of the tombs in the Akhaltsikhe cemetery have inscriptions in Ladino, leading scholars to believe that some of the Jews of the city arrived from the Ottoman Empire and originally came from the Iberian Peninsula.
