Historical and cultural significance of ancient Turkic rune inscriptions (epitaphs)

Ancient Turkic epitaphs, rune inscriptions on memorial stones, are a major source to study history and culture of medieval nomads of Central Asia and South Siberia. They were already used to extract mythological and epic plots, ancient Turkics conceptions of space and time, data for reconstruction of ancient Turkic religion etc. Thus paleoethnographic information practically remained out of eyeshot of the researchers. In hired the system analysis of these data distributed on three semantic blocks is first given. Block 1 is "Biography and lifetime activity of a hero". It contains materials of biographic character, his "heroic deeds" and number of killed enemies, social status and measure of lifetime public importance of a hero. Block 2 is "Realities and values of the environment". It contains data about the amount of hero's fellow-fighters, enumerated different valuables got as a contribution and spoils of war, the significance of a banner and belt is emphasized as markers of imperious function of a hero-leader of Ancient Turkic military. In the inscriptions are also domestic economic data about an amount and pasture methods of cattle, locations of stands, construction of yurtas, as well about value secondary occupations (such as battues as a rehearsal of a real battle), mining, and building of fortifications. Block 3 is "Subjects of transition and symbolical denotation of the culture". It presents various information about causes of hero's death, the system of values, he possessed and did not "enjoy" in his lifetime, also talked about some customs, related to worship of the dead and about "mourning" that is expressed on behalf of hero by his next kinsfolk there are three basic symbolical denotations of the culture, those are a war-horse, oblational stones called balbals and a vessel on a breast of all Ancient Turkic stone monuments, as a symbol of further revival. All of them have immediate correspondence in archaeological materials. The notions about the other world are some kind hazy, and the best expressed in the idiom "Woe to me, I have gone to the Golden Steppe". The culture of the ancient Turkics as reconstructed by Ancient Turkic Rune inscriptions-epitaphs was bright and original, and in its main features is drawn together with the ethnographic culture of contemporary cattle breeding people of the Sayan-Altay region, but it looks more hard, saturated and archaic. The Ancient Turkic epitaphs set on conspicuous places supposed well literacy of those, whom they were addressed to. The monuments passes to its and future generations the certain vision of the world, required way of life, all system of public (state) values. Quite obviously, that such kind of memory assisted maintenance of many, including heroic, traditions in the culture of Turkic nomads of later time.

Keywords

Authors

References