Bir el Qutt inscriptions

The Bir el Qutt inscriptions^[a] (Georgian: ბირ ელ ქუტის წარწერები, romanized: bir el kut'is ts'arts'erebi) are four Old Georgian Byzantine mosaic inscriptions in the Asomtavruli script. They were excavated at a Saint Theodore Tiron Georgian Orthodox monastery in 1952 by Italian archaeologist Virgilio Canio Corbo near Bir el Qutt,^[b] in the Judaean Desert, 6 km (3.7 mi) south-east of Jerusalem and 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Bethlehem.

The complex was built of reddish limestone. The excavations has also revealed a monastery which produced wine and olive oil. Georgian inscriptions were found on a mosaic floor decorated with geometrical and floral patterns. The first two inscriptions are dated AD 430, while the last two AD 532. The excavations of Bir el Qutt conditioned discovery of inscriptions where only one has survived completely while others lack parts of the mosaic that suffered significant damage. The inscriptions in memoriam mention Peter the Iberian alongside his father, and also Bacurius the Iberian who is thought to be a possible maternal great-uncle or grandfather of Peter. Peter reputedly was the founder or the renovator of the monastery. Peter's aristocratic descent would allow him easy access to various persons of power and prestige in Constantinople, Jerusalem and other places, to actively develop Georgian monastic establishments. At the end of the eighth century the monastery was completely abandoned.

So far, the first two carvings alongside the Georgian graffiti of Nazareth and Sinai are the oldest extant Georgian inscriptions. The inscriptions are kept at the museum of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Inscription 2 mentioning Peter the Iberian is currently missing and is deemed to be lost.