National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

The middle and lower levels jut into each other. On the left part for instance the
lowest line of figures marked with white in Pl. XVI a belong to the middle level. They
are well-made ibex and goat representations, and two curious scenes with a man
holding a goat by the tail.

The lowest level, about the lower third of Pl. XVIa, is relatively recent work.
This is attested both by content and technique. The two camels, two horses and two
birds are drawn with a totally different conception of art than that manifested in
the upper figures. The proportions are good, and even the narrow legs are marked
with double contours. The lamaistic signs, two endless knots, a spoked wheel etc.,
are of a piece with the Mongol script engraved here. On the left lower part there
are three lines, Pl. XVIII b (also visible on Pl. XVI a though they are not painted
white). I am indebted to Mr. W. A. Unkrig, Frankfurt-am-Main, for his kindness in
reading this inscription. It runs burxat cakgün zuruk, i. e. 'Pictures from the time
of the Buddhas'.'

It is written with the script used by the Torgut Mongols of Sinkiang in our days,
which was invented in 1648 by Zāya Paṇḍita, but it is not quite modern. Whether
the author of the inscription or some of his fellow Mongols at the same
time drew the well-designed animals and the Buddhistic symbols, or whether the
occurrence of the latter inspired the writing of the three words is of no conse-
quence, as they are equally modern as compared with the pictures higher up on the
cliff. In any case the Torgut wanted to express his belief in the very venerable age
of the existing engravings.

Above the three lines of writing a single line is visible on Pl. XVI a but it is ap-
parently without meaning. There are also three more single lines of very uncertain
writing, also of Mongol type but too poorly made to allow of any reading.

These modern figures are executed with dotted lines pocked into the rock with a
pointed tool. The surface of the lines looks fresher than is the case with the upper
figures.

On this main carving there are apparently to be found both the oldest and the
youngest of the stages in the development of this Quruq-tagh rock engraving. It
thus forms an excellent example of how the Inner Asiatic rock pictures were made
successively during prolonged periods. The same observations can be made on the
reproductions of certain Siberian and Mongolian petroglyphs.

The third group of engravings lies a few metres to the right of the preceding one.
It, also, is quite large, about 9 m. long and 3.5 m. high. Here the rock is uneven and
forms a rounded ledge; when standing on this one can easily reach the highest
pictures. The lowest ones lie 0.8 m. above the water-level. Here the "stratigraphy"
is less evident, but four "styles" can be discerned: 1) highly stylized animals, high-
est up on the wall and corresponding to the upper level of the preceding group, 2)
long-legged animals, corresponding to the middle stratum of the preceding group,

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