Tuekta III (A-52)

The village Tuekta, also in the Ongudaj District, has become known as one of centers of Old Turkic Runic only recently.          At present, we know five Old Turkic Runic inscriptions found in the vicinity of the village Tuekta. The inscription Tuekta I on a silver jug was found there in 1935 during the diggings of a kurgan. In 1989, two more inscriptions (Tuekta II and III) were discovered on a rock containing also numerous graffiti of the Old Turkic time. In 2006, close to that rock, another inscription consisting of 3 lines was found on a separately standing rock (Tuekta IV). And, finally, in 2008, the inscription Tuekta V was found on a rock in the vicinity of the kurgan where the silver vessel was situated, also accompanied by graffiti. Thus, at present, the village of Tuekta can be considered one of the most important centers of Old Turkic Runic in Mountainous Altay, along with Bičiktu-Boom, Kalbak-Taš and Möndür-Sokkon.

Tuekta II (A-51) and Tuekta III (A-52)

The inscriptions Tuekta II and III are situated on one of the rocks of a mountain ridge to the South-East from the village Tuekta. The vertical surface of the rock contains beside the two Runic inscriptions also graffiti of the Old Turkic time. The inscriptions and the graffiti form a beautiful composition and, taken together, are a masterpiece of the Old Turkic art. The rock with the inscriptions and the graffiti was discovered in 1989 by Miklaševič, E. A. (Martynov & Miklaševič 1995).

On the rock, we see very thin, practically invisible, carved lines depicting a rider holding a bow and ready to shoot; several dogs that are chasing running animals, with their tongues stuck out; another hunter with a bow is on foot and is aiming at the running animals: he has just shot an arrow at the deer, the arrow is sticking in the deer’s back. The ancient artist has shown various details of the men’s clothes and armament. Miklaševič was able to copy more details of the composition: a flying swan met by an arrow and a third hunter, but we could not see them clearly: the surface of the stone has been damaged. However, even the preserved part of the whole picture impress by its well balanced composition, realistic forms and a dynamic character.

The inscription Tuekta III

This is a vertical inscription consisting of 9 runes. Runes number 3 and 4 are hardly seen. The length of the inscription is 10 cm; the height of the sighs varies from 2 to 3 cm.

Our interpretation

Runic transliteration: 

Latin transliteration: y² l² g ü A m/b²(?) t² d² I

Transcription:                                     y(ä)lgü a (a)m t(e)di/ y(ä)lgü a b(i)t(i)di

Translation:                                        ‘The man who was going to gallop said,

‘(Attack) now!’ / The man who was going to gallop wrote (this).’

Comments

The inscription is read from right to left and from bottom to top. It is written in the classic Runic orthography.

2. The 6^th sign is not quite clear. It could be either 𐰋 b² (in a somewhat unusual corned form) or 𐰢 m. In the first case we have an interpretation y(ä)lgü a (a)m t(e)di ‘The man who was going to gallop said, ‘(Attack) now!’’ We prefer the second interpretation which was proposed to us during this symposium by Arslan Abdulla: y(ä)lgü a b(i)t(i)di ‘The man who was going to gallop wrote (this).’

3. The function of the fifth character 𐰁 A is not quite clear. It could be the first character of the word am ‘now’ in the case of the first interpretation. However, the first characters a and ä were not written in the Runic orthography. We can suppose that either this rule was violated here, or that the sign serves as a word divider which is often the case in Altay Runic. In case the second interpretation is correct, it must be a word divider.

4. The inscription illustrates the picture. It refers to the fact that the one of the hunters was the author of the inscriptions.