Composed between 1909 and 1918, the work was partly staged in 1913 and first premiered in its present-day form on 21 February 1919 at the Georgian National Opera Theater in Tbilisi.

[1] When opera was first introduced in present-day Georgia during the 1840s, the performances were held in Italian and other Western European languages traditionally dominating the operatic art.

This was not without controversy, as not all Russians were enthusiastic about Georgian contributions to the city's cultural development; some objected to Georgian-language works and had them moved to different days, rather than precede regular opera performances as it was done up to that point.

This was followed by a more fully developed opera in several acts, Christine, composed by Revaz Dimitris dze Gogniashvili/Prince Gogniev (1893 – 1967).

Paliashvili's Abesalom da Eteri was in comparison a high point of the Georgian operatic movement in the waning years of the Russian Empire.

As a testament to this status, for the past several decades Abesalom da Eteri has traditionally been the opening performance of the season at the Georgian National Opera Theater.

Eter starts to feel unwell but King Abio tries to keep the guests entertained and asks Marekh to sing.

To get rid of Murman, Abesalom sends him off to find the elixir of life with the pretext that perhaps that will bring his strength back.