Runic Inscriptions Found in Mongolia Between the Years 2018 and 2021

Abstract

The discovery of runic inscriptions in Mongolia, which started in the last quarter of the 19th century, continues uninterruptedly until today. This proves that there are countless undiscovered old Turkish monuments in Mongolia. The introduction of the recently discovered runic monuments is essential for all Turkologists, including linguists, folklorists, and historians. Even a single word, a single character of the newly discovered inscriptions makes it possible to say new things about the vocabulary of the ancient Turkic language marked with runic script. In addition, these newly discovered inscriptions provide valuable contributionsto historical and cultural research as well as ancient Turkic language research. As of 2022, a total of 101 locations in Mongolia had yielded the discovery of 182 runic inscriptions. In 2018, we provided an overview of 21 runic inscriptions found between 2010 and 2017 as well as specific information on 13 small-monuments, or rock inscriptions. As a continuation of this, this article will outline the research and status of 15 new monuments that were found in Mongolia between 2018 and 2021. Preliminary assessments indicate that as of 2022, roughly four runic inscriptions have been found. Since new inscriptions can still be found and registered until the end of 2022, they are not included in our analysis because the initial research and explanations have not yet been published. When examining the newly discovered monuments in the last four years, five monuments were found in 2018, four in 2020, and three each in 2019 and 2021. These monuments are all examples of rock inscriptions. Sharing information and compiling a list of words for the inscriptions stated above are the two main objectives of this article.

Ethical committee approval is not required for this research.

The author declare no conflicts of interest in this study.

This research has been funded under project agreement number P2022- 4373 by the National University of Mongolia.