Since 1952, an archaeological expedition led by Germane Gobejishvili has been excavating the Bril hoard from Racha, a historical province of Georgia, at the source of the Rioni River. The excavated material is stored in the archives of the Museum of History of Georgia and is known as the “Brili Treasure“. The materials of the expedition have not been published. Only recently we have learnt sensational facts from Professor Malkhaz Baramidze, the only living participant of the expedition.
“It is surprising that a very large number of Egyptian articles are recorded at the “Bril burials“. Beads of blue glass with fluted surface are found in very large numbers. The fact is that it is Egyptian and nothing like it was produced anywhere else. Cobalt is not used anywhere else in processing techniques. We cannot find Egyptian beads elsewhere in Georgia. Neither on the plains nor in the mountains. What is the scale of these beads, I will cite one fact - in 1961 in burial number six a bead was