Abstract
This study introduces two Turkic inscriptions written in Cyrillic on lithic artifacts—one on a mid-14th century casting mold recently found in Bolgar, southwestern Tatarstan, the other on a tablet with uncertain date found in Polotsk, in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus, more than half a century ago. Both are similar in that Turkic speech is rendered in Cyrillic script. We discuss the paleographic aspects, interpret the historical context, and suggest a translation of certain words and expressions. Some of them indicate tribal structure and remnants of pagan (totemic) beliefs. The inscriptions testify to the adoption of Russian culture, especially literacy and religion, not only by immigrants from the steppes to the forest zone (the Lithuanian-Russian State), but also by the steppe and forest steppe Islamized population of the Volga basin living within the boundaries of the Golden Horde. Apart from documenting the knowledge of Russian, the inscriptions testify to the assimilation of Christianity, with which the Russian language was inherently linked.
Highlights
Throughout their entire history, Slavic tribes and state associations coexisted in Eastern Europe with settled, semi-nomadic, and nomadic peoples, including the Iranian- and Turkic-speaking peoples
The writing systems on the territory of both Volga Bulgaria and the steppe zone differed from the Old Russian system both in terms of language and alphabet, which was adopted by the Russians from Bulgaria of the Balkans
The presence of Cyrillic letters in the Polotsk inscription is a proof that its Turkic-speaking author was a Christian and Orthodox. Both Cyrillic-Turkic inscriptions, which were found in areas separated by great distance from each other, are associated with Christianity: an image of the cross appears on one mold from Bolgar and a sketch of the figure of a saint and the initial four letters of the Cyrillic alphabet appear on the stone tablet from Polotsk
Summary
Throughout their entire history, Slavic tribes and state associations coexisted in Eastern Europe with settled, semi-nomadic, and nomadic peoples, including the Iranian- and Turkic-speaking peoples. According to the Old Russian type of word can be read quite clearly These may be the remains of formation, kovryuch should be the possessive form the word preserved in the modern Tatar language as derived from the root of the personal name Kovryut tash- ‘lithic, made of stone’ (Tatarsko-russkiy slovar, or Kovryui with the possessive suffix -ich, which was used to designate both paternal names and ethnic (tribal) affiliation. One cannot exclude the possibility that, along with writing, some basic concepts of Orthodox Christianity were adopted Another Cyrillic inscription in the Tatar language made on a flat stone tablet is known. Neither the drawings on the back native Tatar speaker She admitted that the inscription, longitudinal side and end surfaces of the tablet, nor including the alphabet and numeration, could have been even Cyrillic letters representing the beginning of the written down by a student who was practicing writing.
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