Szarvas inscription

Last updated

The Szarvas inscription refers to the inscription on a bone needle case found near Szarvas in southeastern Hungary and dating from the second half of the 8th century, the "Late Avar" period (700-791). [1]

Contents

The needle case and its inscription

The bone needle case of Szarvas Szarvasi keso avar kori csont tutarto.jpg
The bone needle case of Szarvas
Drawing of the inscription made by the archeologist and historian Istvan Erdelyi in 1984. The edges of the bone needle case are worn, and the top and bottom edges for part of the characters are not clearly visible. Carpathian Basin Rovas Inscription of Szarvas.png
Drawing of the inscription made by the archeologist and historian István Erdélyi in 1984. The edges of the bone needle case are worn, and the top and bottom edges for part of the characters are not clearly visible.

The name of the script of the Szarvas inscription

The Hungarian archeologist, historian and linguist Gábor Vékony named the script used on the needle case as "Kárpát-medencei rovásírás" ("Carpathian Basin Rovas script"). [4] [5] He often used this term in his book, A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története, e.g. in the chapter "A kárpát-medencei rovásábécé korabeli feljegyzése" ("The contemporary record of the Carpathian Basin Rovas alphabet").

Vékony analysed the similarities and the differences between the Old Hungarian and the Carpathian Basin scripts on page 154 of his book. [6] On page 232, Vékony wrote: "- Aethicus Ister jelei azonosak az egykori Kárpát-medencei rovásírás jeleivel." ("The symbols of Aethicus Ister are identical to the symbols of the quondam Carpathian Basin script"). [7]

Vékony also writes : "E jel a Szarvason azonosított Kárpát-medencei f alig torzult megfelelője..." ("This symbol is identical to the Carpathian Basin 'f' identified in Szarvas". (referring to the bone needle case found in Szarvas) [8]

In page 233, Vékony writes: "Erre utalhat az is, hogy ez a betűalak levezethető egy párthus alep formából. Feltehető tehát ennek a jelnek a megléte a Kárpát-medencei rovásírásban is (a székelybe is innen származhatott)." ("This could imply also that this glyph can be derived from the Parthian Aleph form. Consequently, the existence of this symbol can be supposed in the Carpathian Basin script as well (it could originate from this to the Székely)." [9] Here the 'Szekely' refers to the Szekely-Hungarian Rovas script also known as Old Hungarian script. Vékony's writing suggests a proposal that a Carpathian Basin Rovas script may be one of the ancestors of the Szekely-Hungarian Rovas script.

The meaning of the inscription

Gábor Vékony's transcription [10] was improved by linguist Erzsébet Zelliger.[ citation needed ] The last character of the fourth row of the inscription was reconstructed by Vékony. The edges of the bone needle case are worn, and the top and bottom edges for part of the characters are not clearly visible. [11]

Transcription with IPA notation

The following transcription using the International Phonetic Alphabet is based on Vékony's original transcription. [12] Superscript segments and those in brackets are reconstructed.

No. of rowTranscription (using IPA)Translating from Ancient Hungarian
1st/ynɡʸrⁱsnɛkimⁱʎβᵃʃᵘ/ Szarvas Rovas inscription Row 1.png
2nd/[t]ⁱɣtᵉβɛdɣᵉnⁱsᵉntⁱɣtⁱɣsᵘrbᵉkβᵒrɣ/ Szarvas Rovas inscription Row 2.png
3rd/fɛʃɛsɛlᵉisɜl[...]/ Szarvas Rovas inscription Row 3.png
4th/ʸnɡʸrnᵉadɣᵒn[ɜzdɣ]imᵉsdᵉɣtɛniʃtɛnɛ[m]/ Szarvas Rovas inscription Row 4.png

In the inscription, the third symbol of the third row (from left) could be considered a descendant of the ideograms in Turkic languages.[ citation needed ] However, their possible relationship needs further evidence.

Transcription with Hungarian phonetic notation

No. of rowTranscription (using Hungarian phonetic notation)Translating from Ancient Hungarian (modern meaning)
1st/üngür : ⁱsznek im ⁱly : βᵃsᵘ/Here is an iron [needle] against demon Üngür;
2nd/[t]ⁱɣ tëβᵉdγën : ⁱszën : tⁱɣ tⁱɣ szᵘr bëk βᵒrɣ/[Needle should be pricked into the demon; needle, needle, stab, poke, sew-[in]!
3rd/fᵉsᵉsz : ᵉlëi szɜl [...]/[Who] unstitches [...];
4th/üngür në : adɣᵒn : [ɜzdɣ] imëszd ëɣt en : istᵉnᵉ[m]/Üngür shall not give [curse]; [...], blast him, my God!’'

Critics and alternative theories

Vékony had read the Szarvas transcription as Hungarian, thus proposing it as evidence that the Hungarian-speaking people had appeared in the region by the 7th century. There are several critics of Vékony's theories and translations, most notably the Hungarian linguist and historian, András Róna-Tas. The debates were summarized by István Riba in 1999 and 2000: "many find themselves unable to accept Vékony's theory". [13] [14]

The key point of the critics has been that in traditional Hungarian scholarship, the existence of the Hungarian-speaking population dates from 896 (when the Magyars took over the Carpathian Basin ), while the Szarvas needle case dates from the 8th century. Consequently, either the Szarvas inscription is not in Hungarian or Hungarians were in the Carpathian Basin much earlier than the late 9th century. Róna-Tas attempted to read the Szarvas relic in Turkic instead of Hungarian, but wrote that his transcription needed further improvement. [15] The issue remains an open question amongst Hungarian scholars.

See also

Notes

  1. Róna-Tas, András (1996): A honfoglaló magyar nép. Bevezetés a korai Magyar történelem ismeretébe [The landtaking Hungarian nation. Introduction to the knowledge of the early Hungarian history]. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, ISBN   963-506-106-4
  2. Vékony, Gábor (1987): Spätvölkerwanderungszeitliche Kerbinschriften im Karpatenbecken. Acta Acheologica Hungarica Vol. 39, pp. 211-256.
  3. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó
  4. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó. ISBN   963-9402-45-1, page 203, first line of the second paragraph
  5. G. Hosszú: Proposal for encoding the Carpathian Basin Rovas script in the SMP of the UCS. National Body Contribution for consideration by UTC and ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2, 21 January 2011, revised: 19 May 2011, Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N4006
  6. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó. ISBN   963-9402-45-1, page 154, first row of the second paragraph
  7. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó. ISBN   963-9402-45-1, page 232, eighth and ninth rows of the second paragraph
  8. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó. ISBN   963-9402-45-1, page 235, second and third rows of the second paragraph
  9. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó. ISBN   963-9402-45-1, page 233, last six rows in the first paragraph
  10. Vékony, Gábor (1987): Későnépvándorláskori rovásfeliratok a Kárpát-medencében [Rovas inscriptions from the Late Migration Period in the Carpathian Basin]. Szombathely-Budapest
  11. Vékony, Gábor (1987): Későnépvándorláskori rovásfeliratok a Kárpát-medencében [Runic inscriptions from the Late Migration Period in the Carpathian Basin]. Szombathely-Budapest: Életünk szerkesztősége
  12. Vékony Gábor (2004): A székely írás emlékei, kapcsolatai, története. Budapest: Nap Kiadó
  13. Riba, István: Jöttek, honfoglaltak, fújtak. Régészvita egy rovásírásról [Came, settled, blown. Archaeological debate about the runic writing]. In: Heti Világgazdaság [Weekly Word's Economy], Vol. 21. 1999. N. 46. pp. 101-102, 105.
  14. Riba, István (2000). "Reading the Runes: Evidence of the Dual Conquest?" Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine . The Hungarian Quarterly. Vol. XLI. No. 157, Spring 2000
  15. Róna-Tas, András (1996): A honfoglaló magyar nép. Bevezetés a korai Magyar történelem ismeretébe [The landtaking Hungarian nation. Introduction to the knowledge of the early Hungarian history]. Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, pp. 108-110

Related Research Articles

The Old Hungarian script or Hungarian runes is an alphabetic writing system used for writing the Hungarian language. Modern Hungarian is written using the Latin-based Hungarian alphabet. The term "old" refers to the historical priority of the script compared with the Latin-based one. The Old Hungarian script is a child system of the Old Turkic alphabet.

The Árpád dynasty consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád, also known as Árpáds. They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1301. The dynasty was named after the Hungarian Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the Hungarian tribal federation during the conquest of the Carpathian Basin, c. 895. Previously, it was referred to as the Turul dynasty or kindred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ajtony</span> 11th century ruler of Banat

Ajtony, Ahtum or Achtum was an early-11th-century ruler in the territory now known as Banat in present Romania and Serbia. His primary source is the Long Life of Saint Gerard, a 14th-century hagiography. Ajtony was a powerful ruler who owned many horses, cattle and sheep and was baptised according to the Orthodox rite in Vidin. He taxed salt which was transferred to King Stephen I of Hungary on the Mureș River. The king sent Csanád, Ajtony's former commander-in-chief, against him at the head of a large army. Csanád defeated and killed Ajtony, occupying his realm. In the territory, at least one county and a Roman Catholic diocese were established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiszombor</span> Large village in Csongrád, Hungary

Kiszombor is a more than 800 years old village in Csongrád County, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principality of Hungary</span> State in Central Europe (c. 895–1000)

The Grand Principality of Hungary or Duchy of Hungary was the earliest documented Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin, established in 895 or 896, following the 9th century Magyar invasion of the Carpathian Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karcsa</span> Place in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hungary

Karcsa is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary, that dates back to the time of the Hungarian settlement. There is a 1000-year-old graveyard in the neighboring town Karos and archaeological discoveries confirm this. The village is well known for its Romanesque church built probably around 1000 after the Huns converted to Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamanistic remnants in Hungarian folklore</span>

Hungarian shamanism is discovered through comparative methods in ethnology, designed to analyse and search ethnographic data of Hungarian folktales, songs, language, comparative cultures, and historical sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magyar tribes</span> Political units in the Hungarian tribal confederation

The Magyar or Hungarian tribes or Hungarian clans were the fundamental political units within whose framework the Hungarians (Magyars) lived, before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the subsequent established the Principality of Hungary.

Böszörmény, also Izmaelita or Hysmaelita ("Ishmaelites") or Szerecsen ("Saracens"), is a name for the Muslims who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 10–13th centuries. Some of the Böszörmény probably joined the federation of the seven Magyar tribes during the 9th century, and later smaller groups of Muslims arrived in the Carpathian Basin. They were engaged in trading but some of them were employed as mercenaries by the kings of Hungary. Their rights were gradually restricted from the 11th century on, and they were coerced to accept baptism following the establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Hungary. They "disappeared" by the end of the 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungarian art</span>

Hungarian art stems from the period of the conquest of the Carpathian basin by the people of Árpád in the 9th century. Prince Árpád also organized earlier people settled in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungarians</span> Ethnic group native to Central Europe

Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic language family, alongside, most notably Finnish and Estonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miklós Gábor</span> Hungarian actor

Miklós Gábor was a Hungarian actor, most remembered for his roles in films Valahol Európában and Mágnás Miska. He was husband to Éva Ruttkai, and later Éva Vass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Szalonna (village)</span> Place in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hungary

Szalonna is a village in Hungary, in the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county.

The Alsószentmihály inscription is an inscription on a building stone in Mihai Viteazu, Cluj. The origins and translation of the inscription are uncertain.

Gábor Vékony was a Hungarian historian, archaeologist and linguist, associate professor at Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University, Candidate of Sciences in History. He was an expert of the rovás scripts and a researcher of Hungarian prehistory.

According to the Gesta Hungarorum by Bele Regis Notarius, Laborec was a Slavic ruler in the 9th century who was a vassal of Great Moravia. According to the Gesta Hungarorum, at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 896 Laborec opposed the conquest of Carpathian Ruthenia by Hungarian tribes led by Árpád. His existence is controversial as the only source that mentions him, Gesta Hungarorum, was written in the 13th century, more than 300 years after his presumed rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Záh (gens)</span>

Záh was the name of a gens in the Kingdom of Hungary. The clan was one of the 108 gentes during the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and located in Nógrád County along with the Kacsics, Kartal, Kökényesradnót and Tomaj clans.

The Bulaqs were a Turkic tribe known mainly from Arabic sources, originating from the Lop Nor region. They were a core part of the Karluk confederacy located in the Altai Mountains. Many of them migrated to the Southern Ural, into the neighbourhood of the Volga Bulgars and Magna Hungaria Hungarians. Eventually, they were conquered by the Tsardom of Russia in the late 16th century, whom their last record is from.

Scholarly theories about the origin of the Székelys can be divided into four main groups. Medieval chronicles unanimously stated that the Székelys were descended from the Huns and settled in the Carpathian Basin centuries before the Hungarians conquered the territory in the late 9th century. This theory is refuted by most modern specialists. According to a widely accepted modern hypothesis, the Székelys were originally a Turkic people who joined the Magyars in the Pontic steppes. Another well-known theory states that the Székelys are simply Magyars, descended from the border guards of the Kingdom of Hungary who settled in the easternmost region of the Carpathian Basin and preserved their special privileges for centuries. According to a fourth theory, the Székelys' origin can be traced back to the Late Avar population of the Carpathian Basin.

Primor is a Hungarian title of nobility of Székely origin. It was the highest-ranking title in Székely aristocracy, and is usually compared in rank with the Western titles of count and baron. Synonyms sometimes found in older sources are főnemes, főúr, or főszékely

References

Further reading