Since 2019, the Turkic Academy, in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, has been conducting archaeological excavations in the Nomgon Valley, located in the Arkhangai region of Mongolia.
In 2022, during an expedition at the Nomgon-2 site, the upper part of a stone stele bearing inscriptions in ancient Turkic and Sogdian scripts was discovered among other significant historical artifacts. Deciphering these inscriptions revealed 12 lines of ancient Turkic text (“Kutlug Khagan Turk … Tengri oglu …”) and 6 lines of Sogdian text (“Kutlug Khagan …”). This provided a scientific basis for identifying the site as a kagan’s memorial complex.
In 2023, the joint research efforts of the Turkic Academy and the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences continued, leading to the discovery of the lower part of the aforementioned stele, which also bears inscriptions. Unfortunately, the ancient Turkic text on this section is significantly damaged and nearly illegible. However, on the reverse side of the stele, a partially preserved text written in Chinese characters was found, offering a degree of readability.
In 2024, the newly discovered monument was jointly presented by the Turkic Academy and the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in Ulaanbaatar. Concurrently, work on deciphering the Chinese text continued with the assistance of experts from the Inner Mongolia University (China)—Professor Borjigitai Muren, Dr. Chui Ning and Dr. Sugar.
The ancient Chinese text on the lower part of the stele is written vertically, with lines arranged from right to left. Partial deciphering has been achieved for lines 3 to 8. This section contains a total of 15 lines, with approximately 24 characters per line, amounting to a total of 290–300 characters.
By January 2025, the efforts of the mentioned experts from Inner Mongolia University had succeeded in deciphering parts of the ancient Chinese text on the lower section of the stele. Among the deciphered elements, the term “Turk” and the title “Kutlug” (transcribed in Chinese as “Gu-du-lu”) were identified in the 4th line of the Chinese text.
The Turkic Academy and the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences are pleased to announce that this discovery serves as further evidence that the Nomgon-2 memorial complex dates back to the ancient Turkic period, most likely to the reign of Elterish Kutlug Khagan (682–692), the founder of the Second Turkic Khaganate.
The joint research endeavors of the Turkic Academy and the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in the Nomgon Valley (Mongolia) will continue.
