Ust’-Uba (A-89)

Description

In the Altai region, one inscription was found by V. V. Čertov in 2007. It is situated on the left bank of the river Katun, near the tourist center “Blue Katun”, 1,4km higher the place where the river Uba confluxes with a snall stream without name (Čertov 2007). It is situated on the right bank of the river Ust’-Uba, on a rock surface having the height of 2,5 m, inclined to the river at 10–15 degrees. Thanks this incline, the inscription is sheltered from rain and snow. The stone is limestone, in this case it is very solid, without any traces of destruction. According to archeologists, the inscription consists of two signs carved horizontally (r², t¹), one can suppose that the inscription says är atï ‘his heroic name’. the dating can be made according to the typical writing of the character t in the form of a house which is met in Yenisei inscriptions, but is not encountered among the Orkhon ones. The conclusion is that the sign is typical fort he Yenisei writing that is connected with the time of the Kyrgyz Khaganate, who came to Mountainous Altai between 840 and the XI century. This is the most northern inscription among all the Old Turkic inscriptions that we know in the Mountainous Altai.