Evidence of a Pre-Orkhon Monument in Turkish History: What is the Man in the Golden Dress?

In 1970, 50 km from Alma-Ata in Kazakhstan. In the town of "Esik" in the north, it was decided to level a low hill to build a garage and open a road, and excavation began. Until that date, no one knew that that low hill was a mound. Until that period, it was known that the first written documents of Turkish history were the Orkhon Monuments. Unfortunately, the same ignorance still continues in our universities, let alone primary schools and high schools.

However, in 1969, 50 km from Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. An inscription among the finds unearthed in the Esik Kurgan, located 15 km away, has earned the right to be the first written document of Turkish history. Then, why does this ignorance still continue and why do people who consider themselves historians prefer to remain silent on this issue?

Unfortunately, although it is very important, there is not a single Turkish book written on the subject. So, I obliged myself to conduct such a research in order to help eliminate this sad picture, at least in memory of my ancestors. I hope that I can achieve my goal somewhat with this humble work.

It was excavated in 1969-1970 under the direction of Kemal Akişoğlu, head of the Archeology department of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences, 50 km away from the city of Alma Ata. Esik Kurgan, located in the current "Issyk" Town near the city, was discovered by chance. Bekin Nur Muhammedov, 61 years old, historian. “I am a Nayman (A Mongolian tribe). I was born, raised and live here.” says. “There is a factory just ahead. The grave was discovered in 1969 while the construction of the factory was continuing. Since I was a historian, they asked me to come and look. I got there and started to open the grave with my hands. The trees on the graves were turning to ashes without burning, as if they had seen fire. When the Man in the Golden Dress came out, we were dazzled by his shine and light, we couldn't look at him for a while. Next to the Man in the Golden Dress was a bowl with writings on it. "I put the ring on your hand," he says.

Later, the situation is reported to the authorities and the excavation continues on a larger scale. The discovery of the corpse's golden armor and many gold items in the grave shows that the kurgan was not robbed. The following can be said about the structure of Esik Kurgan: The burial chamber, which is 7 meters deep, was covered with a pile of soil and stones. This room was built like other Hun kurgans. The dimensions of the burial chamber made of thick pine logs are 3x2 meters. The depth of the room is 1.20 meters. However, we see that pine logs are hewn from the inside and flattened. According to the researchers' explanations, it was prepared outside the wooden structure of the burial chamber and then lowered into the excavated pit. The height from the ground to the top of the kurgan is 9 meters, and the diameter of the artificial hill above the kurgan is 60 meters.

First of all, the issue of which community these finds belong to has been a matter of debate. Kazakh-Turkish archaeologists who carried out the excavation generally date these artifacts to B.C. V-IV. They attribute it to centuries and Sakas. The Kazakhs came to this conclusion because they traced their origins to the Sakas, whom they considered to be Turks. (You can find summary information about Sakas at the end of the article).

Various studies indicate that the works were made by a tribe of Turks belonging to the steppe culture, or at least related to the Turks (or Turkified). Due to the similarity of the script to the alphabet of Göktürk inscriptions and the mythological and iconographic features of the works being very suitable for Hun art, Turkish researchers, especially in the geography of Turkey, described them as Hun works. Nearly four thousand gold items were unearthed from the opened tomb. Among the various items found in the grave are ceramic pots, wooden plates, 2 silver cups, a silver bowl with an inscription and many other objects. The golden armor on the corpse of a young prince who must have been 18 years old is a work of art in itself.

We said that the golden armor on the corpse of a young prince who must have been 18 years old was a work of art in itself. This dress is made entirely of pure gold and is made with exquisite workmanship. The features of this dress are as follows: On the head of the corpse is a cone-shaped cap with appliquéd images made of gold. There is an animal figurine on top of the headdress. There are also depictions of mythologically and symbolically important animals such as arrowheads, golden leaves, birds on the world tree on mountain folds, lions and mountain goats. Horned, winged horses are placed symmetrically in front of the headdress. The armor shirt consists of parts that meet in the form of rhombuses. There are triangular leaf shapes on one side of the rhombuses. There are lion heads on the upper parts and sides of the arms.

Going down from around the collar and The single strip and the continuing strip consist of lion heads. There are animal depictions on the gold applique belt plates on the leather belt. On the arch plates there are depictions of deer with large knees and antlers extending backwards, and lion heads in style. The trousers and boots worn by the corpse, as well as the upper parts and knees, are decorated with gold. On the left side of the prince is a gold-covered dagger. On his right side, he has a double-edged sword tied to his belt with gold. A gold-plated whip of his was also seized. There are animal depictions on the handle and sheath of the dagger. The same applies to the sword. All of the works unearthed from the Esik kurgan comply with the construction and decoration techniques of Hun art. Animal depictions are handled in accordance with Turkish animal depictions. 26 letters were identified on the silver bowl defined in various shapes (such as spoon, ladle, glass). Olcas Süleymanov's translation especially resonated in the studies on the reading of these letters. Apart from that, Prof. Musabayev's transcription and translation did not find many supporters. However, just like on the artifacts, the work to decipher the inscription on the bowl is still continuing. Suleymanov, who made the first translation, suggested the following expression: “Khan uya Üç Thirty (da) yok bolti utığsi tozıltı.” "The Khan's Son became a road at the age of twenty-three and his (People's?) name disappeared." According to TURKISH academician, Hatice Şirin, the Göktürk writing system started to be used by the Turks at a date unknown for now. The first example of a Göktürk written text, which shows the thinnest and most economical point that Turkish stamps and ideograms can reach, dates back to B.C. IV-V. It was engraved in a silver bowl unearthed from the Esik Kurgan, which was found to date back to the 6th century BC; However, since a reading attempt that meets the scientific criteria of this text has not yet been made, the Çayr inscription, dated to 687-692, has been accepted as the oldest Göktürk written text. The Man in the Golden Dress is made of pure gold and exquisite handcraftsmanship. The decorations on it are very striking and even today's technology would have a hard time doing this. In addition, these decorations are also very valuable in terms of Turkish cultural history. The motifs on the bronze gold plates include motifs such as horse, mountain goat, deer, tiger, leopard, wolf and bird of prey. If you pay attention, these elements are elements of classical Turkish culture. It should also be reminded that these elements were frequently used in Hun art. In these decorations, animal motifs are depicted vividly, which is similar to the "Animal Art" invented by the Turks. Historians say that the Man in the Golden Dress dates back to B.C. They say it dates back to the 6th century, but there is debate about this. Turkish academician Kazım Mirşan in the review committee thinks differently and takes this date to 3,500 BC. Mirşan states that he read the writing on the silver bowl next to the Man in the Golden Dress, and that the grammar, sentence order and word structure in this article can only belong to those dates. President of the Institute of History and Ethnology of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences, Prof. Dr. Mamet Koygeldi particularly focuses on The Man in the Golden Dress. He states that there were fourteen separate carbon tests of the bones found in the grave during the Soviet period and that they did not match each other, and that these fourteen separate tests could not be matched with each other. But the prevailing view is that this date dates back to B.C. 5-4. century. These works are exhibited in the Central Museum of Almaty city. The man in the golden suit exhibited in the museum is an adaptation from the real thing. The real find is kept in the vault of the National Bank of Kazakhstan! It is like an entity that everyone in Kazakhstan knows and values, is honored and proud of. There is a statue of him in the biggest square of Almaty. Students of the painting department are working on the square by painting that statue. It is possible to see something from the Man in the Golden Dress everywhere in Kazakhstan. The idea that the first written documents of Turkish history are the Orkhon Monuments is now changing and should change. The inscription unearthed in Esik Kurgan is rightfully the first written document in Turkish history. But there are problems in this regard. First of all, the carbon tests of the bones in this Kurgan are not carried out impartially and it is clearly evident that there is a bad intention in this. Fourteen separate tests of these bones have been made, but none of them match each other. So, first of all, the country of Kazakhstan, which is the official owner of this kurgan, and then the developed countries within the Turkish countries, such as Turkey, need to act sensitively on this issue and provide all kinds of assistance. Again, one of the primary duties of Turkish countries is to increase the financial income of ongoing excavations and thus ensure more efficient results. Another task is to send valuable scientists to this project. But the most important task falls primarily to historians. All else aside, the history of the use of writing for the Turks is very early.

Information such as that it is based on ancient times and that the invention of writing may have been carried out by the Turks should be conveyed to the society. This is what historians should do. It is a disgrace for Turkish historians that there is still not a single independent book written on this subject in Turkey. We hope that this black mark will be erased as soon as possible.

The Turkish nation is the noble representatives of an ancient civilization living on earth. While nation states are moving forward in history in the footsteps of their roots, we are chasing false TV series. However, I know very well that we cannot rise to the sky without going down to the roots. Turkish customs, Turkish language and culture are the flashlight and guide on the path that our nation will take from eternity to eternity. With this awareness, I believe with all my heart that we need to hold on tightly to our roots in order not to get lost in this globalizing world. That's why I'm doing this and similar research and will continue to do so.

with respectful love

Note: Who are the Sakas and Scythians?

Historical people who lived in the Northeastern Eurasian steppes and the Tarim basin and developed horse breeding and mining capabilities. The sources are generally Sakas; In addition to whether they are considered a Turkic or Persian people, debates continue about their identities. However, according to the results of recent genome and mitochondrial DNA studies on the remains of people found in the kurgans in the Eurasian steppes, it is seen that all of the people who are genetically close to the Saka bodies found in the kurgans are individuals belonging to today's Turkish people.

The word Saka began to be used in Old Persian after the Achaemenid period. Although it is accepted that the Sakas and Scythians, addressed as Sakai in Greek, are very close and related people and have a common Scythian-Siberian culture, they are not thought to be the same people, and Scythians and Sakas are generally classified as related but different peoples by academic circles. Some of the Sakas living between the Tian Shan Mountains and Fergana Valley obeyed the Achaemenids and participated in the Greco-Persian War. B.C. In the 2nd century, they went south from Central Asia and entered the Indian subcontinent after defeating Bactria. As a result, the Indo-Scythian Kingdom was born. Nowadays, it is among the most common views in the academy that the origins of the Sakas are related to Turkish and Persian societies. In this respect, there are opinions and claims that the Sakas are a people of Proto-Turkish origin or Eastern Iranian origin or relations or related to Pre-Turkish societies. The most important weapon they used in wars was the battle axe. Arrows, bows and swords were also used. The density of horse figures in related Scythian ruins also attracts attention. These figures strengthen the thesis that they are an immigrant tribe.

Artifacts unearthed in Scythian kurgans show that they were advanced in civilization. According to Herodotus, "The Scythians were a very civilized nation. They were masters in silver work, dentistry and wrapping dislocations. In Scythian art, animal style had an important place and horse, deer and bird motifs were predominant. According to what Herodotus wrote, the Greeks used dress details, They learned silver and gold horse sets from the Scythians. Sakaca; drawing of the silver bowl found in Kurgan and the inscription on it. Sakaca is generally considered as an Eastern Iranian language. Sakaca was spoken and spoken by the ancient Buddhist kingdoms that ruled in the Tarim Basin, such as the Kotan Kingdom, the Shule Kingdom and Tomşuk. It is divided into two dialects called Kotan and Tomshuk by scholars. Almost all the sources about the language come from Dunhuang manuscripts and the understanding and decipherment of the origins of the language was achieved thanks to the examination and translation of approximately 2300 texts by Harold Walter Bailey. These studies show that the language of the Sakas in the Khotan region is from Eastern Iran. It increases the possibility that it is related to languages.

In addition to these texts, linguists think that a silver bowl found in the Esik Kurgan may be the first example of Sakaca. The linguist named Harmatta, who played a role in deciphering various Persian languages, claimed that this text was written in Kotan Sakacı using the Kharosthi alphabet, and its reading and translation are as follows. The claims that Sakaca is related to Proto-Turkish are also supported especially by Turkish researchers.

References

ÇAY, Abdülhaluk M. - İlhami Durmuş, “Scythians”, Türkler, C.I, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara 2002, pp.575–596.

ÇORUHLU, Yaşar, “Hun Art”, Türkler, C.IV, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara 2002, p.54–76.

ESİN, Emel, “Cultures Attributed to the Ancestors of the Turks in Central Asia in the Thousand Years Before Christ”, Türkler, C.I, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara 2002, p. 494–517.

KAFESOĞLU, İbrahim, Turkish National Culture, Ötüken Publications, Istanbul 2003.

SOMUNCUOĞLU, Servet, “The Man in the Golden Dress”, Atlas Magazine, No. 137, August 2004, p. 138–142.

ŞİRİN, Hatice, “Alphabet and Identity in Turks”, Türkler, C.III, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları,