FIKRET YILDIRIM, ERHAN AYDIN, RISBEK ALIMOV. YENISEY-KIRGIZISTAN YAZITLARI VE IRK BITIG. Ankara: BilgeSu, 2013. 512 s.*

The book under review is an attempt to publish a set of monuments of ancient Turkic runic writing found in the river basin. The Yenisei River, on the territory of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, and ancient Uyghur Turfan texts, also written in runic script. The main part of the book is presented by the author's sections, respectively dedicated to each individual group of monuments. The authors are well-known Turkologists, specialists in the field of ancient Turkic culture, while each of them is known for his works in the chosen field: E. Aydin " Yenisei inscriptions "(s. 15-278), R. Alimov " Inscriptions of Kyrgyzstan "(s. 279-337), F. Iyldirim "Ancient Turkic texts written in Runic script on paper" (s. 339-494). Each section begins with an introduction that briefly describes the history of the study of this group of monuments and characterizes the state of study to date, and ends with an extensive bibliography; at the end of the book, a dictionary of vocabulary mentioned in certain monuments is attached (s. 495-512). Executive Editor of the issue M. Olmez, who is also widely known for his work on ancient Uighur written monuments, points out in the preface that this book is intended to replace the classic edition of X. Namyk (Orkun), during the past 75 years since the first volume of which was published, both the inscription database itself has significantly expanded, and many corrections and new attempts to read the texts known at that time have appeared (s. 13).

The publication of such a plan today should certainly be considered an important event not only for Turkey, but also for the entire Turkological community, especially since such well-known experts took part in its compilation.

However, with a more thorough review of the work, frustration comes. The extensive bibliographies given at the end of the sections allow us to take into account all the rich experience of our predecessors. The reader can expect new approaches to reading and translating inscriptions. The authors actually revised some passages in the inscriptions, but in fact, this is what their own contribution is limited to. As for the author's sections of E. Aydin and R. Alimov, their own research in reading and translating texts has already been published in a number of separate articles.

This publication is provided with images of photographs and drawings of monuments. None of them is accompanied by a corresponding caption indicating the authorship of the image or drawing, at least-the source of borrowing, as well as what exactly is depicted here. The quality of publications in the book also leaves much to be desired. Despite the fact that these are more technical aspects, one way or another, the question arises about the authorship of the published images, especially since there is no information about this anywhere else in the book. However, upon careful consideration, it becomes clear that the photos and drawings of published inscriptions given in these sections are not related to the authors themselves, they belong entirely to their predecessors.

This question concerns scientific ethics: photographing and drawing monuments is a rather difficult job, the result of which, whether a photograph or drawing, is a re-

* Fikrst Iyldirim, Erhan Aydin, Rysbsk Alimov. Yenisei-Kyrgyz inscriptions and Yrk Bitig. Ankara: BilgeSu, 2013. 512 p.

the result is primarily the work of a particular person. We do not even touch on the fact that each of these photos or drawings is an object of copyright, in other words, we are simply talking about incorrect borrowings. In any case, an indication of authorship is necessary, at least from an ethical point of view, out of respect for the work of colleagues.

E. Aydin in the preface to his section mentions the works of his predecessors, noting that the basis for publishing images of monuments is the classic work of D. D. Vasiliev (Vasiliev, 1983). He also points to the electronic project of the TURK BITIG database that has appeared in recent years [http://irq.kaznpu.kz], under the direction of N. Bazylkhan, based on his 2005 book " Kone turik bittiktastary men eskertkishteri (Orkhon, Yenisei, Talas)", published in the series "Kazakstan tarikhy turaly Turki derektemeleri" (II vol.) [Bazylkhan, 2005]. The section by E. Aydin presents images from these works, from the classic edition "Atlas of Antiquities of Mongolia..." by V. V. Radlov [Atlas..., 1893; Atlas..., 1896] and publications by I. L. Kyzlasov [Kyzlasov, 1977; Kyzlasov, 1981; Kyzlasov, 1994; Kyzlasov, 1998], less often from the works of others authors [Batmanov and Kunaa, 1963; Klyashtorny, 1976].

Borrowings from the book of D. D. Vasiliev are confirmed by the fact that there are no materials that are not in his book (for example, images of monuments E-93, E-117, E-121, E-132, E-133, etc.).

The section written by R. Alimov contains both a new edition of the already known inscriptions that have a long history of studying [Dzhumagulov, 1963-1987; Batmanov, 1971], and recently found monuments, one of the pioneers in putting them into scientific circulation was the author himself. In particular, this applies to the Ak-Olen inscriptions and the Kochkor group of inscriptions (Alimov, 2003). However, a number of publications that were the first publications of new finds of inscriptions by their first researchers and images from which are published in the book, where R. Alimov co-authored with fellow archaeologists, K. S. Tabaldiev and Kairat Belek, but did not participate in the discovery and facsimile copying of monuments, are not indicated as a source of materials [Alimov and Tabaldiev, 2005; Tabaldiev and Belek, 2008;Alimov, Tabaldiev and Belek, 2010] ¹.

The section written by F. Yildirim contains, first of all, a list of ancient Turkic texts written in runic script on paper, with a bibliography (s. 351-359), then a transcription and translation of "Yrk bitig" (s. 363-378) with a facsimile (s. 381-406), which, however, is taken from the publication of the monument. T. Tekina 1993, except that here it is given with a cropped page format and pagination put down using computer tools. The third part of the author's section is the publication of other documents. But the author's section is F. Yildirim differs in that the publication of each monument contains the column " Metin Kaynagi "("Source of text"), which indicates where the given image was taken and the transcription of the text. The author does not offer his own translations. It is important that at the end of this section you will also find a list of electronic resources where you can get acquainted with a particular edition of texts (s. 488-490).

Thus, the last part of the author's section of F. Yildirim, despite the high-quality performance, has, in fact, a textbook character. In general, all the author's sections placed in this publication are somewhat discordant with each other, differing in the form of presentation of the material. In this regard, it should also be noted that the book lacks a single structure for sections and a unified transcription system, a reference apparatus. The work does not create the impression of a complete publication, but rather the publication of a collection of author's works. Of course, M. Olmez was very hasty in trying to see this edition as a substitute for the work of X. Namyk (Orkun).

In general, the work can hardly be considered successful, given that the tasks that were assigned to it were never completed. New versions of translations of individual text fragments are probably of some use. The work would have looked quite different if new, original photographs and drawings of published monuments had been published, or if reconstructions made by their predecessors had been reproduced with appropriate references. In this format, the work leaves the impression of a hastily compiled compilation without a clear indication of borrowing from previous editions.

¹ It should be noted that this year the results of R. Alimov's research were published in a separate publication. See the review by E. Aydin: [Aydin, 2014].

list of literature

Atlas of Antiquities of Mongolia, published on behalf of the Imperial Academy of Sciences by V. V. Radlov / / Proceedings of the Orkhon expedition. SPb.: Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. 1893. Issue. II; 1896. Issue III.

Базылхан Н. Коне турiк бiтiктастары мен ескерттштерi (Орхон, Енисей, Талас). Almaty: Daik-Prsss, 2005 (Kazakstan tarikhy turaly turyu dsrsktsmslsri, II vol.).

Batmanov I. A. Talas monuments of ancient Turkic writing. Frunze: Ilim Publ., 1971.

Batmanov I. A., Kunaa A. Ch. Monuments of ancient Turkic writing in Tuva. Kyzyl: Tuvinsk. books. Publishing house, 1963. Issue 11.

Vasiliev D. D. Korpus tyurkskikh runicheskikh pamyatnikov basseyna Yenisei [The corpus of Turkic runic monuments of the Yenisei basin].

Dzhumagulov Ch. Epigraphy of Kyrgyzstan. Frunze: AN Kirg.SSR. Issue 1., 1963; AN Kirg. SSR. Issue 2, 1982; Ed. Ilim. Issue 3, 1987.

Klyashtorny S. G. Runicheskaya epigrafika Yuzhnoi Sibiri (naskalnye napisis Tspssya i Turana) [Runic epigraphy of Southern Siberia (rock inscriptions of Tspssa and Turan)]. 1976. № 1.

Kalyam na Yenisei (Ink runic inscription from Khakassia) / / Tatarskaia arkheologiia. 1998. № 2(3). Nomadic world of medieval Europe.

Kyzlasov I. L. New materials on the Yenisei runic script // Soviet Turkology. 1981. № 4.

Kyzlasov I. L. Runicheskie pis'mosti evraziyskikh steppei [Runic writing systems of the Eurasian steppes]. Moscow: Vostochny lit., 1994.

Kyzlasov I. L. Srednevekovaya epitaph iz Malinovka (Tuva) [Medieval epitaph from Malinovka (Tuva)]. 1977. № 2.

Tabaldisv K., Belek K. Monuments of writing on the stone of Kyrgyzstan (set of monuments of writing on the stone). Bishkek: Uchkun Publ., 2008.

Alimov R. Koçkor'daki Turgcs Yazitlan // Istanbul Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2003. Sayi 1.

Alimov R., Tabaldicv K. Newly Found Old Turkic Runic Inscription on a Boulder From Talas // Journal of Turkish Studies / Türklük Bilgisi Arastirmalari Dergisi. Orhan Okay Armagam I (Festschrift in Honor of Orhan Okay I). 2005. Cilt 30/I.

Alimov R., Tabaldicv K., Bclck K. A Newly Discovered Turkic Inscription in the Tian Shan Region: the Chiyin Tash Rock Inscription // Allai-HAKPO: Journal of the Altaic Society of Korea. 2010. Vol. 20.

Aydin E. [Elcstiri-tanitma] Rysbck Alimov: TANRI DAGI YAZITLARI, Eski Türk Runik Yazitlan Üzcrinc Bir Incclcmc. Konya, 2014: Komcn Yayinlari, 262 s. // Turk Dili. 2014. Vol. CIV/736.

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