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<article article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">nsc</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title xml:lang="en">Archaeology, Ethnology &amp; Anthropology of Eurasia</journal-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии</trans-title></trans-title-group></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="ppub">1563-0110</issn><publisher><publisher-name>IAET SB RAS</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.4.093-098</article-id><article-id custom-type="elpub" pub-id-type="custom">nsc-832</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="section-heading" xml:lang="en"><subject>THE METAL AGES AND MEDIEVAL PERIOD</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="section-heading" xml:lang="ru"><subject>ЭПОХА ПАЛЕОМЕТАЛЛА</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>A Runic Inscription at Sarykoby (Southeastern Altai)</article-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title></trans-title></trans-title-group></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1604-4193</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Erdal</surname><given-names>M.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>Professor.</p><p>Senckenberganlage 31, Frankfurt am Main, 60325</p></bio><email xlink:type="simple">merdal4@gmail.com</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6376-4153</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Kubarev</surname><given-names>G. V.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>Senior Researcher.</p><p>Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090</p></bio><email xlink:type="simple">gvkubarev@gmail.com</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-2"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff xml:lang="en" id="aff-1"><institution>Goethe University</institution><country>Russian Federation</country></aff><aff xml:lang="en" id="aff-2"><institution>Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences</institution><country>Russian Federation</country></aff><pub-date pub-type="collection"><year>2019</year></pub-date><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>01</day><month>01</month><year>2020</year></pub-date><volume>47</volume><issue>4</issue><fpage>93</fpage><lpage>98</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright &amp;#x00A9; Erdal M., Kubarev G.V., 2020</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2020</copyright-year><copyright-holder xml:lang="ru">Erdal M., Kubarev G.V.</copyright-holder><copyright-holder xml:lang="en">Erdal M., Kubarev G.V.</copyright-holder><license xml:lang="ru" license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.</license-p></license><license xml:lang="en" license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.</license-p></license></permissions><self-uri xlink:href="https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/832">https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/832</self-uri><abstract><p>This article introduces our reading and interpretation of a recently discovered runic inscription found at the petroglyphic site Sarykoby, in the northern spurs of the Saylyugem Range in the Chuya steppe, southeastern Altai. The inscription belongs to a large composition with unusual representations. It consists of two lines with 2I and 13 characters. After discussing several variants of translation, we have selected the most plausible ones. The translation of the inscription with two variants of the second line is as follows: “I have written on the rock, ah! Oh, please speak! Give me luck (or “Going to battle”) - oh - I have written (this)”. The word su/su in the inscription meaning ‘glory, imperial state, greatness, happiness’, is one of the few Mongolian loans in Old Uyghur and possibly in Old Turkic. The Sarykoby inscription is located in an inconspicuous place, the characters are small, and the carving is shallow. This confirms the common view that many runic inscriptions in the Altai are intimate and were not intended for the public eye. At the same time, the Sarykoby inscription invites the readers to a dialog, and possibly carries a call to prayer or blessing. Its content is religious and philosophic in a sense. Perhaps the author believed that the inscription could confer a blessing upon the readers. This makes it very meaningful and unusual in the corpus of runic inscriptions of the Altai.</p></abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>Runic inscription</kwd><kwd>translation</kwd><kwd>interpretation</kwd><kwd>Chuya steppe</kwd><kwd>southeastern Altai</kwd><kwd>Old Turkic.</kwd></kwd-group><funding-group><funding-statement xml:lang="en">This study was performed under the R&amp;D Project No. 03292019-0003</funding-statement></funding-group></article-meta></front><back><ref-list><title>References</title><ref id="cit1"><label>1</label><citation-alternatives><mixed-citation xml:lang="ru">Erdal M. 1998 Eine unbekannte Jenissei-Inschrift aus der Adrianov-Kollektion. In Bah$i Ogdisi: Festschrift fur Klaus Rohrborn anlafllich seines 60. Geburtstags. 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