Azerbaijan International

Autumn 2003 (11.3)

Great Discoveries - Not Just in the Past

"Over the years, I've become conscious that the process of discovery occurs instantaneously like a sudden flash. Of course, discovery is the culmination of immense pre-paration with the synthesis of both conscious and unconscious thought. It occurs when the mind and memory have accumulated an enormous quantity of fragmented knowledge and then instantly, somehow, everything falls into place. It happens spontaneously. You can't predict the moment it will take place. It suddenly dawns on you that you know something that no one else in the world has ever known before. What can I say? Nothing can compare with the profound exhilaration of that moment."

"I'm convinced that the epoch of great discoveries lies ahead. It is not confined to the past. The fact that something doesn't exist today doesn't mean that this has always been the case. It just means that we must set our hearts and minds to discover it."

Zaza Alexidze is Director of the Institute of Manuscripts in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the decipherer of the Caucasian Albanian written script which dates to the 5th century and which was the forerunner of the language spoken by the Udi people who live primarily in Azerbaijan today.

1 Comparing Ancient Albanian with Contemporary Udi - Zaza Alexidze
2 Caucasian Albanian Alphabet: Ancient Script Discovered in the Ashes - Zaza Alexidze and Betty Blair
3 Quick Facts: Caucasian Albanian Script - Alexidze and Blair
4 Albanian Script: How Its Secrets Were Revealed? - Alexidze and Blair
5 Zaza Alexidze. Decipherer: Glimpses of Childhood - Blair
6 Caucasian Albanian Script: Significance of Dechipherment - Alexidze
7 Udins Today: Ancestors of the Caucasian Albanians - Zurab Konanchev


From Azerbaijan International (11.3) Autumn 2003.
© Azerbaijan International 2003.

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