Khevisberi

Khevisberi (Georgian: ხევისბერი; lit. "an elder of the gorge") secular and ecclesiastical ruler of a Khevi (adminisrative unit) in the Eastern Georgian highlands. He is an elderly man who follows a monk-like life. Khevisberi performs different rituals and ceremonies and supervises brewing of the sacred beer.

Historically, Georgian highlander patriarchal communities enjoyed a degree of autonomy, who were not accepting local lords; they were rather electing their leaders or Khevisberi who functioned as a judge, priest and military leader and council of elders and submitted themselves only to the monarch (see List of the Kings of Georgia).

the khevisberi, far more than any distant priest or power, who directed the spiritual, ritual and moral affairs of the mountains. He was and is elected by his peers, not on the basis of age or wealth, but for his deeper qualities [specialized ritual, mythological, and esoteric knowledge inherited from his ancestors]. Sometimes his office is given to him in dreams. He decides on all questions of law, presides over festivals and sacred ceremonies; he, alone, approaches the shrine and undertakes the sacrifice and in so doing brings peace to the dead and placates the deities.