Mikheil Abramishvili

Born and educated in Tbilisi (Georgia) Mikheil Abramishvili has been the director of the Tbilisi Archaeological Museum (now part of the Georgian National Museum) for the last 20 years. Apart from his full time involvement in practical archaeology excavating sites in Tbilisi, ranging from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period, Mikheil Abramishvili's research interests comprise the development of ancient metallurgy, trade relations and religious beliefs in the Old World. As a Fulbright scholar at ISAW, he will be focusing on the Bronze Age relations between the South Caucasus, the Near East and the Aegean. These cross-cultural issues have been partially addressed during his scholarship visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2005-06), the German Archaeological Institute departments in Berlin (2006) and Athens (2005), and the University of Oxford (1996). Although his current work is mainly based on archaeological evidence, it also integrates religious studies, mythology, historical records and comparative linguistics.