Alsószentmihály inscription

The Alsószentmihály inscription is an inscription on a building stone in Mihai Viteazu, Cluj (Transylvania, today Romania). The origins and translation of the inscription are uncertain.

The relic

The photo of the Alsószentmihály inscription

The stone was an ancient Roman building stone—proved by the leaf-symbol, a frequently applied ornamental element of ancient Roman inscriptions—reused in the 10th century. Alsószentmihály located on the territory of the late Province Dacia existed up to the middle of the 3rd century. Dénes showed that the Khavars (Khazar rebels joined the Hungarians in the 9th century[1]) probably settled in this region (that time Transylvania).[2] In some parts of Hungary, there are data of the Khavars even from the 13th century.[3]

Script used for the Alsószentmihály inscription

Some quotations from historian Gábor Vékony about the identification of the script in this inscription:

Based on the quotations above examples, it can be stated that Vékony identified the script of the Alsószentmihály relic as a Khazarian script. According to Vékony, another relic, namely the Homokmégy-Halom inscription contains Khazarian text as well.[8]

The meaning of the inscription

The Alsószentmihály inscription was deciphered by archaeologist Gábor Vékony.

The transcription of Vékony (it uses IPA symbols):[9]

First Row Second Row
Inscription
Transcription (using IPA)ɛbi atlïɣjyedi • kyr qereji
Translating from Common Turkic,[10][11]His mansion is famous. Jüedi Kür Karaite. or Jüedi Kür (the) Kerei.

According to Vékony, the inscription was made by a Khavar leader, whose religion was Karaite.[12] The first symbol of the first row is a ligature, its transcription: atlïɣ.[13] The first symbol (from left) in the second row is a Khazarian word separator.[14]

In the inscription, the third symbol of the first row (from left), and the symbol in the second and last place can be considered as the descendants of the Turkic ideograms. Nevertheless, their relation needs more evidence.

Critics, alternative theories

There are several critics of Vékony's theories and translations, most notably the Hungarian linguist and historian, András Róna-Tas. The debates were summarized by István Riba in 1999 and 2000.[15][16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kristó, Gyula & Makk, Ferenc (2001): A kilencedik és a tizedik század története [The history of the 9th and the 10th centuries], p. 52. In: Magyar Századok [Hungarian Centuries]. Published by Pannonica Kiadó, Ser. ed.: Gyula Szvák, 222 p.
  2. ↑ Dénes, József (1984-1985): A magyarok hét neme és hét országa (A magyar “törzsek” elhelyezkedése a Kárpát-medencében”) [The seven gens and seven countries of the Magyars (The allocation of the Magyar “tribes” in the Carpathian Basin)]. In: Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve [The Annual of the Ferenc Móra Museum of Szeged], Szeged, 1991, p. 573
  3. ↑ Györffy, György (1990): A magyarság keleti elemei. [The Eastern Elements of the Hungarians]. Budapest: Gondolat, p. 50
  4. ↑ Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó, page 218, first five rows of the first paragraph
  5. ↑ Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó, page 230, first three rows of the second paragraph
  6. ↑ Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó, page 280, fifth and sixth rows of the fourth paragraph
  7. ↑ Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó, page 109, last third of the second paragraph
  8. ↑ Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó, page 218, first five rows of the first paragraph
  9. ↑ Vékony, Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó
  10. ↑ Vékony, Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó
  11. ↑ Gábor Hosszú (2011): Heritage of Scribes. The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Budapest: Rovas Foundation
  12. ↑ Vékony, Gábor (1985): Késő népvándorláskori rovásfeliratok [Rovas inscriptions from the Late Migration Period]. In: Életünk Vol. XXII, No. 1, pp. 71-84
  13. ↑ Vékony, Gábor (1985): Késő népvándorláskori rovásfeliratok [Runic inscriptions from the Late Migration Period]. In: Életünk Vol. XXII, No. 1, pp. 71-84
  14. ↑ Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó, page 217
  15. ↑ Riba,István: Jöttek, honfoglaltak, fújtak. Régészvita egy rovásírásról [Came, settled, blown. Archaeological debate about the runic scripting]. In: Heti Világgazdaság [Weekly Word's Economy], Vol. 21. 1999. N. 46. pp. 101-102, 105.
  16. ↑ Riba, István (2000). "Reading the Runes: Evidence of the Dual Conquest?" Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine.. The Hungarian Quarterly. Vol. XLI. No. 157, Spring 2000

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.