On the question of the semantic value of graphic images on the walls of the throne room of the palace complex of the city of Kulan (VIII-IX centuries)

Abstract

The article examines graffiti on the walls of room 3 in the palace of the medieval city of Kulan. This room served as a "throne room". Some of the engravings were made in a style close to the early Turkic graphics, recorded in rock art. Groups of pictures form a single composition. The sequence of construction of pictorial series is traced — from right to left in accordance with the writing and reading of the runic inscriptions. There are tamga signs, portraits of people, zoomorphic images. Historical events related to the conquest of power are shown on the southwest wall. In the center is a Turkic warrior passing the banner to his master, in the right part of the wall — the ruler with his wife. On the north-western wall behind the "place of honor" there is an image of the symbol of the Turkic tribe — a running dog. Perhaps this image is associated with the idea of the Heavenly guardian dog, the creator of everything that grows, a mediator between the world of people and Heaven. On the southeastern wall, there is a large bird — a peacock, in the image of which ideas about a space bird are displayed. Tamga signs and data from written sources make it possible to associate images with specific historical events that occurred in the life of the city of Kulan in the VIII-IX centuries.