Rouran epochGöktürk epochUyghur epochKirghiz epoch
RouranFirst GöktürkTang ruleSecond GöktürkUyghurKirghizHunsWestern GöktürkTürgeshKarlukKhazar
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After 1990, Mongolian archaeologists found about ten new texts in the Old Turkic script. By the year 2000 some fifty-six runiform texts were known in Mongolia.[1] The report does not say how the count was made, or whether single lines count as texts.[1] The same report lists thirteen of the new finds.[2] The report gives no readings, apart from the translation of one text from Del Uul.

The Altai

Seven texts of one line each come from the province of Bayan-Ölgii in the Mongolian Altai. They were found between 1990 and 1995.[3] The finds bear the place names Ereen Harganat, Zurh Uul, Zuun Oroy, Olon Nuur, Deluun, Baga Oigor and Har Magnay.[2] Most of the lines can be read. The stone of Deluun is so worn that some of its strokes are gone, and it is hard to read.[4]

Del Uul

Four texts stand on the rocks of Del Uul in the province of Dund Govi. Three of one line each were found in 1992, and one of four lines in 1997.[2] The study gives a translation of the text of four lines. It reads that “our wise elder brother and we did not receive the title irkin”.[4] The finder thinks the lines may have been cut in the years when the Göktürks were subject to the Tang, about 630 to 680.[4] He bases the guess on the form of the letters and signs and on the wording, and he gives no transcription of the Turkic text.[4] On the rank, see Irkin.

Ikh Bichigt

On a rock at Ikh Bichigt in Govi-Ugtaal stand one runiform line and two words in Uyghur script. Beside them are three tamgas.[4] The finder names them as the ibex tamga of the Ashina, the tamga of the monument of Tonyukuk, and a hook tamga that occurs at Ongin and on other monuments.[4] The runiform and the Uyghur text were written at different times. The Uyghur line shows a script of the time after the change from Sogdian to Uyghur writing.[4] It is the second stone known to carry runiform and Uyghur script together. The first stands at Doloodoy, near Ulaangom in the province of Uvs.[4] For the tamga as a mark of a house, see Tamga.

Tsetsuuhey

In September 1999 a joint Mongolian-Japanese team found, at a site with a tortoise stone, a field of balbal stones and a tower, a vessel described as porcelain. It bears four runiform letters, which spell the word ilig, “realm”.[5] The report dates the tower to the sixth to eighth century. It takes the word as a sign that the vessel belongs to the Göktürk age.[5] The report does not date the vessel itself. It places the site once in Govi-Ugtaal and once in the province of Zavkhan.[6]

Later finds

Fifteen more short texts on rock were found in Mongolia between 2018 and 2021. See Rock inscriptions found in Mongolia, 2018 to 2021.

References

  1. ^ a b Battulga 2000, p. 47
  2. ^ a b c Battulga 2000, p. 50–51
  3. ^ Battulga 2000, p. 47, 50–51
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Battulga 2000, p. 48
  5. ^ a b Battulga 2000, p. 48–49
  6. ^ Battulga 2000, p. 48–51

Sources

Literature

  • Tsendiyn Battulga, Moğolistan’da Yeni Bulunan Göktürk Yazıtları (2000)
  • Azzaya Badam, Moğolistan’da 2018–2021 Yılları Arasında Bulunan Runik Yazıtlar (2024)
  • Marcel Erdal, A Grammar of Old Turkic (2004)

Related

What links here2

Institutions and Titles
Irkin
Sources
Rock inscriptions found in Mongolia, 2018 to 2021

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Runiform finds in Mongolia, 1990 to 1999.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/sources/mongolian-runiform-finds-1990-1999/

Last revised: 8 November 2026