Old Turkic script (Orkhon inscriptions)
Escritura turca antigua (inscripciones del Orjon)
- Date
- 732 (inscripciones del Orjon) · confidence medium
- Place
- Khöshöö Tsaidam, Orkhon Valley, Övörkhangai, Mongolia
- Credited to
- Göktürks (steles of Kül Tegin, 732, and Bilge Khagan, 735)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An alphabet of angular signs used on steles and manuscripts, with which the oldest inscriptions in a Turkic language were written. The Orkhon steles, carved in 732-735, were deciphered by Vilhelm Thomsen in 1893.
The origin of the alphabet is debated: derivation from Sogdian or Aramaic (dominant hypothesis) or from steppe tribal marks. Some Yenisei inscriptions may predate 732.
What it led to
- the earliest written record of a Turkic language, including the name «Türk»
- the script of the Yenisei steles and the Dunhuang manuscripts
- the main source on the Second Turkic Khaganate