Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-05
TURKESTAN ANTIQUITIES
PROVE OF GREAT VALUE
BIG COLLECTION is TAKEN TO
BERLIN
Relics Were Found by Excavating in
and Around the Town of
Turfan, Chinese
Turkestan

| BERLIN, Sept. 4-There has just re-
turned to Berlin DIR. A. Won LIE Cog, the
head of ting small scientific party dis
patched by order of the German emperor
to Chinese Turkestan in September, 1904,
to carry on the work of excavation IN ana
around the. town of Turfan commenced
by Prof. Albert Grunwedel of the Berlin
chronological museum. The town of Tur-
fan is situated in, roughly speaking, lat
itude 43 degrees north and longitude SO
degrees east near to the volcano OF the
same name, and in the extreme northeast
of Chinese Turkestan, apparently on the
route by which Persian and Indian In
fiuence Travelled toward China and Japan.
Examination of the "Finds"
The results of this expedition have
greatly exceeded all expectations, and
when properly sifted and examined by
experts possessing the necessary qualifi :
cations will probably rank as the most
important discoveries in Central Asia
since those of Layard and Rawlinson
The finds" are contained in about 2OO
large cases. all of which are said by
this time to have arrived in Berlin OBJ
vously some time will have to elapse
before all these can be thoroughly ex-
amined and their contents made known
in detail. For the most part these dis
ten different languages and paintings on
hardened mud, plaster and wood.
From the cursory examination that has
so far been made it seems certain that
these discoveries will shed considerable
light upon hitherto dark places in the
history of early days, principally OF the
eighth and ninth centuries, of central
Asia.
Chief interest in these discoveries cen
ters around the manuscripts, the majority
of these being written En- the follow
ing languages, or notifications of them:
Nagari, Brami (two dialects), Chinese,
Tibetan, Tangut, Syriac, Manicharean,
IJighhr and Turkish. In addition there
are several in a tongue that is declared
to be utterly unknown. These last will
probably attract the notice and interest
of ethnologists throughout the world. APP
parently this language is variation of
Syriac. but nothing definite on this sub
1ect can be stated at the moment.
Languages Represented
Among the languages represented there
Is much to interest the student and the
man of science. The Tangut tongue, for
instance, is a dialect formerly in exis-
tence in Tibet, and certain traces OF II
are still to be discovered in the language
spoken To-Day Ill dlOuiih A<AoS'.
Hitherto the only specimens of writing
known to exist in this tongue are be-,
lieyed to be a few inscriptions carved
on rock. The characters bear strong
resemblance to ancient Chinese, but the
present discoveries should add enormously
to the rather scanty knowledge of this
tongue that previously existed. Some of
the Syriac manuscripts run to consider
able length and are in almost pure Perr
sian. Some of them bearing clear indf-
cation of HISTORIAN influence. 1t will be
seen. therefore, that the very fact of
these many and diverse writings in so
many languages being found in one place
and this spot so inhospitable and desc
late-in itself opens up very wide ques-
ton and around which considerable con-
troyersy is likely to take place during
the next few years. Further, IL may be
added that though, as has previously
been mentioned, most of these manu-
scripts must date back to the eighth
and ninth centuries, If not even earlier,
there is no papyrus among them, all be-
ing written on parchment, two or three
kinds of Chinese paper or leather.