Ancient “Kushan Script” Deciphered 70 Years after First Being Discovered

Researchers have made significant progress in unraveling the mystery of the “unknown Kushan script,” a puzzling writing system that has intrigued language experts for decades since its discovery in the 1950s.

The breakthrough came when researchers successfully deciphered the ancient text by studying inscriptions carved into rock faces.

These inscriptions were found near the Almosi Gorge in northwest Tajikistan back in 2022. Moreover, some sections of these inscriptions were written in a language called Bactrian, which is no longer spoken today.

Following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Bactria in 323 BC, Bactrian language was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the Greek script, known natively as αριαo (Arya)

The lead study author Svenja Bonmann, a comparative linguist at the University of Cologne in Germany, said, “We have worked out that the so-called ‘Kushan script’ was used to record a previously unknown Middle Iranian language. In other words, we have deciphered the script.”

Middle Iranian language an official language during Kushan Empire

This Middle Iranian language likely served as one of the official languages during the existence of the Kushan Empire.

The empire spanned across Central Asia and northwestern India from 200 B.C. to A.D. 700. During its peak in the second century A.D., the Kushans coexisted with the Roman Empire, showcasing the vast extent of their power and influence, reported Live Science.

Kushan script finally deciphered

1⃣ Deciphering a unknown script could unlock a better understanding of the ancient Kushan Empire of Central Asia.

2⃣ Kushan script was found in the 1950s, but only understood this year.
thanks to a connection to the known Bactrian language pic.twitter.com/Y7riNdl8nX

— Ajatshatru (@vernaculartube) July 19, 2023

Interestingly, the Kushan Empire was home to a group of ancient Eurasian nomads, referred to as the “Tocharians” by Greco-Roman authors. These nomads may have also spoken the same language that the researchers now propose to call “Eteo-Tocharian.”

The prefix “Eteo” is used by modern scholars and means “true” or “original,” highlighting the significance of this language in its historical context.

The reason why the script linked to this Kushan language has been hard to unravel is that a lot of the ancient texts haven’t survived over time, as explained by Bonmann.

She mentioned that during that era, most of the writings were likely done on organic materials like palm-tree leaves or birch tree bark.

However, organic materials tend to decompose rapidly, leaving behind almost none of the original writings for us to study today.

Using ‘parallel texts’ to decipher the Kushan script

In a research paper published on July 12 in the journal Transactions of the Philological Society, Bonmann and her team closely studied the recently found “bilingual” inscriptions.

To decipher the Kushan script, they employed methods similar to those previously used for decoding other ancient languages.

Bonmann explained that having a “bilingual” or “trilingual” text is ideal for this kind of work. It means having a text that carries roughly the same meaning but is written in two or three different scripts or languages.

This parallel text comparison provided valuable insights for unraveling the mystery of the Kushan script.

Rock Inscriptions in Greek Discovered Recently on Tajikistan

Ancient Greek letters carved on rocks were recently discovered on a mountain in Tajikistan, a country in Central Asia.

The engravings in Greek writing in the Bactrian region of that area reads, “ΕΙΔΙΗΛΟ Υ…ϸΑΟΝΑΝϸΑΕ ΟΟΗ-ΜΟ ΤΑΚ-ΤΟΕ,” which translates to “This is the…of the king of kings, Vima Tactu,” according to Nicholas Sims-Williams, a leading specialist in the study of the Bactrian language.

Bactrian was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the Greek script, known natively as αριαo (Arya). Following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Bactria in 323 BC, Greek was the administrative language of his Hellenistic successors, the Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, for about two centuries.