An old Turkic runic inscription from forest-steppe Khazaria

Abstract

The article is devoted to the introduction into scientific use of an Old Turkic runic inscription made in graffito technique on a non-ferrous metal disk (probably a sewn-on decorative element). The artifact was found in a destroyed cremation burial near Eskhar village in Zmiev district of Kharkov Oblast, Ukraine. The inscription contains 34 characters, the majority of which refer to the Don variety of medieval Turkic alphabets of the Eurasian steppes. The find dates back to the time of existence of the Saltov archaeological culture in the forest-steppe zone of the Seversky Donets River – the mid-8th to the 9th century AD.

Keywords

• Eurasian steppe
• the Seversky Donets River
• the Early Middle Ages
• the Saltov archaeological culture
• Old Turkic runic script