Ak-Ulen Inscriptions of the 16th—17th Centuries In 1937, historian B. M. Zima, who led the archaeological expedition of the Kyrgyz Pedagogical Institute, discovered a collection of stones with Buddhist formulas in the Ak-Ulen area. All stones with such inscriptions were collected and transported to Frunze, where they were kept in the historical-archaeological cabinet of the pedagogical institute. In 1939, the stones were donated to the State Hermitage through A. N. Bernshtam. These monuments
Two Buddhist Inscriptions near the Village of Saruu 33 km south of the village of Saruu in the Jety-Oguz district of the Issyk-Kul region, deep in the Juu-Ku gorge, there is a large stone with a six-line inscription carved in Tibetan script. 15 meters to the north, there is another stone with a similar inscription consisting of three lines. The inscription (which we refer to as the small one) is made in larger letters (Table XXIV, Fig. 1.2) According to local residents, in the same gorge, 27
Light Blue Stone from the Lake In 1973, during an expedition on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, in the village of Chon-Sary-Oy, we encountered yet another monument of Arabic writing. This is a light blue river boulder, used as a qayrak without special processing. According to teacher K. Musamoldoев, the stone was extracted from the lake several years ago. The inscription on it is made on both sides, extending to the side edges, but the text is poorly visible. Subsequently, the monument
Tombstones with Arabic Inscriptions In the first half of the 1980s, reports began to appear in literature about the discovery of tombstones with Arabic inscriptions on the northern shore of Issyk-Kul, near the Kungey-Ak-Suu River. Scholars and travelers wrote about these monuments. Currently, the location of almost all the kairaks from this area is unknown. According to some data, part of them was taken to Verny (now Almaty), Przhevalsk, and Russia as early as the late 19th century. More than
INSCRIPTION ON THE STONE FROM THE TOSOR GORGE On the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, rock inscriptions in Arabic are rarely found. Until now, only one such inscription was known on a huge stone in the area of Chalkan, on the right bank of the Ton River. We learned about another rock inscription in September 1985. This monument was discovered in the Tosor Gorge of the Jeti-Oguz District of the Issyk-Kul Region. The stone with the inscription is located high in the mountains, not far from the
Kayraks of the Burana Settlement In the second issue of "Epigraphy of Kyrgyzstan," we published five kayraks from the Burana settlement with Arabic inscriptions. We know that at least 10 kayraks have been found in the area of the Burana settlement. Four kayraks were published by V.N. Nastich. We are publishing two kayraks from the settlement, which are also in the collections of the historical museum of Frunze. The inscriptions for publication were provided by D.F. Vinnik. We
MONUMENT AT THE GUMBAZ IMAM-ATA Near the village of Ak-Suu in the Jangi-Dzhoy district of the Osh region, there is a gumbaz, known to the locals as Imam-Ata. Based on the construction technique and the material from which it is made, the gumbaz can be classified as a monument of late medieval architecture. The building is small, and the dome is partially damaged. Inside the gumbaz, there are several kairaks, one of which has an Arabic inscription written in the suls script and consisting of
MONUMENT FROM KOK-TALGY-ATA The inscription on the kairak, located in the territory of Tajik-Kishlak, near the village of Yangi-Naukat, by the road leading from Iski-Naukat. An oval stone of smoky color, of regular shape. The lower part is broken off, likely intentionally. On the front side, there is an inscription of 11 lines, and on the side edge — a short inscription of two lines. The size of the stone is 95X38X20 cm. The monument was photographed and stamped by us in 1974. Several years
Kaïraks from Sahaba-Mazara In the second issue of "Epigraphy of Kyrgyzstan," we published 43 kaïraks from Yangy-Naukat. Many small and poorly preserved inscriptions remained unpublished. During a visit to Sahaba-Mazara in 1984, several kaïraks previously published were not found on site, but new stones with inscriptions were discovered. A detailed inventory of the kaïraks at Sahaba-Mazara is yet to be carried out. In this publication, several kaïraks photographed by us in the 1970s
Stones from the Village of Yangy-Naukat Near the village of Yangy-Naukat (collective farm "Madanijat") in the Nookat district, at the collective farm's dacha, there is a monument known as Tash-Ustun. Here, under a large limestone gravestone (?), lie four stones with inscriptions, of which only two are fairly well preserved. The third stone has only traces of Arabic letters, while the text on the fourth stone is severely damaged due to chips and breaks. No signs of graves are
Epigraphic Monuments of Arabic Writing in Kyrgyzstan Epigraphic monuments of Arabic writing have been found in both southern and northern Kyrgyzstan (see the map-scheme below). Mostly, these are gravestones (kairaks), varying in shape and size. Visitor inscriptions have also been discovered on rocks and stones. According to our estimates, there are about 350 monuments with texts in Arabic on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. If we add Arabic inscriptions on various buildings, objects found during
Kok-Dzhar Monument In 1986, we became acquainted with another Nestorian monument, stored in the history classroom of the secondary school in the village of Kok-Dzhar, Alamedin district. This school is located not far from the settlement of Kara-Dzhigach, which allows us to assume that the stone was found in the same fields where similar monuments were discovered. The small stone is gray with a greenish tint and has an irregular shape. The inscription and the cross are carved clearly, but the
Burana Monuments MONUMENT NO. 1 Round, disc-shaped, gray stone measuring 30x35 cm. An unusual large cross, deeply carved by impact method. In its center, within the circle, there is another small cross. The monument was found approximately 800 m south of the Burana Tower by archaeologist M. Kubatbekov in 1979. It is currently stored at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR. A pencil rubbing on paper was made by us in 1979. Published for the first time (Table
Monuments from the vicinity of the village of Kara-Dzhigach History teacher and local historian Y. N. Golendukhin found several stones with Nestorian inscriptions in the territory of the village of Kara-Dzhigach (now the Aala-Too state farm) in the Alamudun district. However, due to his unexpected death, the exact location of these stones remains unknown to us. All these monuments were entrusted to us for further research during Y. N. Golendukhin's lifetime. They consist of small stones
Findings of Nestorion Epitaphs Syrian and Syro-Turkic Nestorion epitaphs form the most numerous group of epigraphic monuments in the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Currently, about 700 such monuments are known. The overwhelming majority of them were found in the late 19th century. Unfortunately, only a small part of these epitaphs has survived to this day. They are kept in the State Hermitage, in museums in Almaty, Frunze, Tashkent, and some other cities. A significant portion of the epitaphs has
Ancient Turkic inscription on a stone portrait Among the finds made in recent years, a particular interest is aroused by the image of a male face on stone, on the chin of which an inscription consisting of seven letters is carved. The monument was discovered by teacher V. D. Serdyukov on the territory of the dairy farm of the Lenin collective farm, located on the western outskirts of the city of Talas. The stone lay near a destroyed burial mound on the bank of a ditch. Unfortunately, no
Discovery of Ancient Turkic Rock Inscriptions in the Kuru-Bakayyr Gorge In the autumn of 1981, a joint expedition of the Institutes of History and Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Kirghiz SSR discovered previously unknown ancient Turkic rock inscriptions in the Kuru-Bakayyr gorge, in the western part of the Talas Valley, approximately 15 km south of the village of Bakayyr. As one ascends the gorge, it becomes apparent that the right side is rocky. In some places, there
Large Boulder with Runic Inscriptions In 1962, archaeologist D. F. Vinnik discovered another large boulder with runic inscriptions in the same area of the Talas Valley where ancient Turkic inscriptions on boulders had previously been found. The stone was transported to Frunze, to the historical museum. In the upper, flatter part of the stone, there is a poorly preserved inscription. To this day, it remains unreadable. As can be seen from the drawing (fig. 3, 4), some letters have a distinctive
The Fourth Talas Monument In the summer of 1982, on Lenin Street (formerly Zhany-Chek) at the 1st section of the "40 Years of October" state farm, near the barn of the dairy farm, a boulder with an ancient Turkic runic inscription was discovered while leveling a pit. The stone had apparently been lying with the inscription facing down for a long time. As previously noted, between 1896 and 1898, in the vicinity of the village of Dmitrievskoye (now the city of Talas), local historian
The Kyrgyz are one of the ancient peoples of Central Asia. Together with other Turkic peoples and tribes, they used ancient Turkic runic writing during the early medieval period, which was replaced by Old Uyghur script in the 10th-11th centuries. The runic monuments are unique texts that have preserved many common features of the dialects of the tribes living in the areas where this script was used. As early as the late 17th century, Russian cartographer, geographer, and historian of Siberia,
