Ald (unit)

Ald is an old Mongolian measure equal to the length between a man's outstretched arms. An ald is therefore approximately equal to 160 cm.

History

In 1818, G. I. Spassky, a Russian scientist specialising in Siberian studies, published in the newspaper "Sibirskii Vestnik", the first report about a stone with oriental inscriptions on it dating back to the early 13th Century. Spassky had found the stone in a factory of Nerchinsk (Eastern Siberia), but the stone was originally discovered in the Kharkhiraa River.

This stone stele is the most ancient monument known with the traditional Mongolian script. The stone is now known as Ghengis stone or the Yesüngge Inscription. The inscription is dedicated to Yesüngge, the son of Genghis Khan's brother Hasar. In 1225, Yesüngge took part in a warriors' competition, hitting the target from a distance of 335 ald (a shooting range in excess of half a kilometre (536 m)).

External links

The Genghis stone at the Hermitage Museum (incorrectly giving the distance in the much younger, but still obsolete Russian unit Sazhen instead of alds)
Interpretation of the Genghis stele by Dr. Gongor Lhagvasüren

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