This article is devoted to the formal features of the letters and the archaeogrammatological analysis of the Sogdian letters known in scholarship as the “Ancient Letters”, discovered in the territory of Dunhuang (China) and dating to the first quarter of the 3rd century CE. In the study, the graphic forms of each letter are analyzed following their sequence in the alphabetic system. During the research, the letters were compared with their similar features in the Aramaic, Parthian, and Khwarazmian scripts. Where necessary, variants of letter combinations are also presented in the text in the form of tables. The article also provides information about the discovery of the “Ancient Letters”, their dating, and the scholars who studied these documents. The study consists of an introduction, the main research results, and a conclusion. In the conclusion, the authors suggest that the “Ancient Letters” were influenced by the lapidary tradition of Sogdian writing, which began in the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE (writing each letter in an independent form without connecting them in the text), and that they represent an example of the initial stage of cursivization in the history of Sogdian writing culture.

Dunhuang, cursive script, archaic

Found in Dunhuang (Eastern Turkestan) at a watchtower of the Great Wall of China (T. XIIIa) in 1907 by the expedition of Aurel Stein, it represents a collection of nine documents (six of which are almost completely preserved) written on Chinese paper and intended to be sent to Samarkand (a distance of 3800 km). The documents were folded several times. At present they are preserved in London in the Stein collection of the museum – I.M., G.B.

Henning W.B. The date of Sogdian Ancient Letters // BSOAS, 1948. vol. 12. – Р. 601-615.

Лившиц В.А. Согдийские «Старые письма» (I, III) // ППВ. Москва, 2008. № 1 (8). – С. 173.

Grenet F., Sims-Williams N. The Historical Context of the Sogdian Ancient Letters. Transition Periods Iranian History. Actes du Symposium de Fribourg-en-Brisgeu, Studia Iranica. (22-25 мai 1985). Cahier-Leuvan: 1987. – vol. 5. P. 101-122.

Harmatta J. Sogdian Sources for the history of Preislamic Central Asia // Probegomena to the History of Preislamic Central Asia. Budapest, 1979. – P.153-165.

Reichelt H. Die Sogdischen Handschriftenreste des Britischen Museums, 2. Heidelberg, 1931. Р. 57.

Henning W.B. The date of Sogdian Ancient Letters // Bulleten of the School of Oriental (and African) Studies,, 1948. vol. 12. Р. 601-615.

Лившиц В.А. Согдийские «Старые письма» (I, III) // Письменные памятники Востока. Москва, 2008. № 1 (8). С. 173.

Исхаков М. Центральная Азия в системе мировой письменной культуры (древность и раннее средневековье). Ташкент: Университет мировой экономики и дипломатии, 2008. С. 108-111.

Corpus inscriptionum iranicarum. Vol III Sogdian / Edited by An international committee Chair: Professor Nicholas Sims-Williams. London: School of Oriental and African studies, 2023. Ancient Letter 3, recto, Plate XX.

Corpus inscriptionum iranicarum. Vol III Sogdian / Edited by An international committee. Chair: Professor Nicholas Sims-Williams. London: School of Oriental and African studies, 2023. P. 63-71.

Исхаков М. Центральная Азия в системе мировой письменной культуры (древность и раннее средневековье). Ташкент: Университет мировой экономики и дипломатии, 2008. – С. 109.

This form of the letter appears in Document I – I.M., G.B.

In Sogdian-Buddhist texts, the number 100 appears in the form ( ). The form ( ) is also found in a financial record written on wood discovered in Afrasiab – I.M., G.B.

Лившиц В.А., Кауфман К.В., Дьяконов И.М. О древней согдийской письменности Бухары // ВДИ, 1954, №1. – С. 150-163.