Bar-Burgazy I (A-18)
Description
The inscription on a stele from grey slate is situated on the left bank of the river Bar-Burgazy, in the ravine Ak-Koby, 35km to the South-East of the village of Kosh-Agach. It was discovered by the archeologist V.D. Kubarev in 1968 году, it was studied by E.M. Toshchakova in 1969, V.M. Nadeljaev in 1970, D.G. Savinov in 1971. Later the inscription wass studied by D.D: Vasil’ev in 1983, I.V. Kormushin in 1992, Kyzlasov I.L. (in 1994 and 2003), Nevskaya I.A. and Tybykova L.N. in 2003–2006, M. Erdal in 2006.
The height of the stele is 1,93m. The width of the sides of the stele get narrower to the top: the western side from 48cm to 44cm, the eastern one from 44cm to 42cm; the width of the southern side is 22cm, the northern side gets wider from 20cm to 23cm.
The text is situated along the left edge of the western side of the stele; it is one vertical line. It begins 1,18m from the earth surface and has the length of 48cm; it consists of 38 signs. The height of the signs is from 1,4cm to 2,5cm, the text is cut with bright and deep scratches.
Reading of V.M. Nadeljaev
Transcription: Öŋimä (~öŋä), sizimä Kitäz adïrtï. Käküjdä, kišiŋä adïrïltïm. K(?) …š.
Translation: Fromm y friends ( ~ from the friends), from you, my (people) [I] was separated by Kitez. I parted with you, Keküya, with yur people.. К(?) … š. (Nadeljaev 1973)
Comments of the authors
It is not clear why the author translates öŋimä as friend. The word öŋ meant in Old Turkic: 1) the front part, 2) colour, complexion, 3) empty, uninhabited (Clauson). DTS gives the following meanings of the word, distinguishing 4 homonyms: 1) colour, colouring, complexion; 2) front (the meaning that has developed the meaning ‘East’); 3) snow storm; 4) earlier, before. Besides, there are 2 verbs öŋ: 1) to lose colour, get white; 2) to attempt (to kill somebody). The meaning ‘friend’ is not documented.
Reading of D.D. Vasil’ev
Transcription: Ör2ä: s2izimä ik2i t2i z adr2t2 i k2[ö]k2 ü……jid2ä : k2isiŋä adїr2їl2t2m
Translation: Örä separated both branches (of the family) from you. The Sky … I parted from the people. (Vasil’ev 1978)
Comments of the authors
1. Örä is impossible as there is no r2.
2. Tiz should have been written with I.
Reading of I.L. Kyzlasov
Transliteration: ö(ü)ŋä(a):s²(š²)zmä(a):ki(ï)t²zd¹r²t²i(ï):kkü(ö)j²d²ä(a):ki(ï)š²ŋä(a):d¹r²l²t²m
Transcription: oŋa (e)s(i)z(i)m-ä (i)kit (a)z (a)d(ï)rtï (a)q qujda kiš (i)ŋä (a)d(ï)r(ï)lt(ï)m
Translation: From my king, oh sorrow, [I] was parted by the deathly greed, from my wife in white women’s quarters I parted.
(Kyzlasov 2002: 36)
Comments of the authors
1. oŋa is not in accord with the classic runic orthography as there is the character ö(ü).
2. oŋ is the Turkic form of the Chinese title wang, that refers only to persons of Chinese origin.
3. The word ikit does not exist. There is a word igid ‘lie, untrue, false’ (Clauson). The forms igit and ikit in DTS can be explained by the fact that in the Arabic writing k and g are not distinguished, besides, t and d are often mixed up in the writing, i.e. ikit can be a false reading of the word igid. The runic script distinguishes both k and g, and t and d. Thus, the reading (i)kit (a)z ‘deathly greed’ is not possible.
Reading of L.N. Tybykova, I.A. Nevskaya and M. Erdal
Runic transliteration:
Transliteration:
Ü m/nt A : s2 z m A : k2 I t2 z d1 r2 t2 I : k2 k2 Ü y2 d2 A k2 I š1 ŋ2 A d1 r2 l2 t2 m
Transcription:
üntä : (ä)s(i)z(i)mä : (ä)ki (a)t (a)zd(u)rtï : küydä k(i)š(i)(ŋ>m)ä (a)dr(ï)lt(ï)m
Translation:
‘Shout (wail, mourn)! With my wife, – oh, grief to me! – [I have parted]. Two horses were slaughtered and fried! I parted with my wife.’
Comments
1. We suppose that the second sign is nt, which gives us the word üntä ‘Cry! Sob!’ in the Imterative mood. However, our reading is not the ultimate one.
2. The sequence of signов s2 z m A means definitely (ä)s(i)z(i)mä ‘Oh, my grief!’, Which is very often met in epitaphs.
3. at azdurtı is problematic since we have a t2 used in words with front vowels what makes the reading at less likely. It is better to read (ä)ki t2z (a)d(ï)rtï, where we have a rare verb (a)d(ï)r- ‘to divide’ encountered also in E28,8 bizni ärklig adïrtï ‘Erklig separated us’ (Kormushin 2008: 119–120). Nevertheless, k2 I t2 z d1 r2 t2 I can be read as (ä)ki (a)t (a)zd(u)rtï in spite of the fact that we have front t2 and r2. They are apparently used also in words with back vowels (probably, in the context of the vowel ï), as the word (a)dr(ï)lt(ï)m in the end of the inscription shows; this word can be read with certainty as the verb with the meaning ‘to part, to get separated’ in spite of the front r2, l2, t2. This verb is also very frequent in epitaphs. äki täzdürti ‘he twice made (the enemy) flee’.
4. For the sequence k2 k2 Ü y2 d2 A k2 I š ŋ2 A (signs 19–29) we propose the reading küydä k(i)š(i)(ŋ>m)ä. k(i)š(i)mä is especially problematic here, as we have not m, but ŋ2. k2 I š ŋ2 A is considered by us to be a wrong writing of k(i)š(i)mä, otherwise the sentence makes no sense: k(i)š(i)ŋä (a)dr(ï)lt(ï)m would be‘I parted with your wife’.
5. There are 2 signs k2, divided by the split in the stone. We presume that the scribe could not go on writing the word because of the errors in the stone, therefore he started the word again. However, we cannot exclude the possibility to read these two signs as the name of a well-known location käküy, as Nadeljaev proposed: käküy-dä would then mean ‘in Käküy’.
The same segment allows the reading küydäki k(ä)küydäki (ä)š(i)ŋä or küydä k(ä)küydä kiš(i)ŋä, where küy means ‘female quarters’, äš is ‘friend, comrade’ (DTS), in Yenisei epitaphs also ‘wife, spouse’ (Kormushin 2008: 266).