国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ
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| 0388 |
Ancient Khotan : vol.1 |
| 古代コータン : vol.1 |
引用情報
OCR読み取り結果
Characteris-
tics of
'oblong'
tablets.
tablets, owing to the striking divergence between individual pieces as regards shape, proportions,
and finish; but it is easy to indicate certain generally prevailing characteristics. Most striking
among these is the comparative narrowness of the pieces; for though many among them attain
considerable dimensions in length, up to close on 30 in., yet none exceed 3½ in. in width, while
some of the longest are only from 1½ to 2 in. wide, and thus approach the shape of mere sticks,
e. g. N. iv. 103 (see Plate CII)⁹. Out of a total of 44 'oblong' tablets recovered in N. iv. not
less than 26 show a string-hole. Useful as this hole must have been for handling and storing
them, it is clear that it could not have been intended for a string, either to fasten pairs of
them into a closed document, as in the case of the 'double wedges' previously described, or
to unite a series of them into a sort of 'Pothī,' or file, as might be done with palm-leaves, the
shape of which these long narrow tablets curiously recall. For not only are such tablets of
entirely different sizes, but the great divergence observed in the position of the hole, placed
indiscriminately in the corner of a square end, near a pointed end, the centre of a long side, &c.,
seems to preclude any thought of regular 'filing'¹⁰.
Probable
contents of
oblong
tablets.
The irregularity so noticeable in the outward appearance of these oblong tablets fully
agrees with, and is in fact explained by, what even a cursory examination of the writing,
without any attempt at decipherment, sufficed to indicate as to their probable contents. The
majority of the pieces show plainly—by the irregular arrangement of their writing, in small
columns which, whether parallel or running in different directions, usually conclude with numerical
figures; by the appearance of various handwritings or different inks on the same tablet; tabular
entries, erasures, bracketings, ink-cancellings, and similar indications—that they did not contain
texts or connected communications such as letters or official orders, but probably memoranda,
tabular statements, lists, accounts, and other miscellaneous records of a less formal character¹¹.
N. iv. 29. a (see Plate CIII) may serve as a specimen of the columnar arrangement of lines all
ending with numerals. The same is clearly visible also in the tablets N. iv. 35. a, 124 (written
transversely), 103 (over 25 in. long) which Plate CII shows, though their much reduced reproduction
fails to bring out the writing. The text arranged in three columns (with some lines cut out
by crossing) can be seen more distinctly in N. iv. 8. a (see Plate CIII). The latter oblong
tablet, curving to a point at one end, closely approaches in form certain large wedge-shaped
tablets found in N. iv., which from the evidence of their writing had not belonged to regular
'double-wedges', but were used in the same way as oblongs¹².
Rectangular
tablets.
I have left to the last the mention of two series of tablets largely represented among the
finds of N. iv., which showed far greater regularity and care in writing as well as in technical
1
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11
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21
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31
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41
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53
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64
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76
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87
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97
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107
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118
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128
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139
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149
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160
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170
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181
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191
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202
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212
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222
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232
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243
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254
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264
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274
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284
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294
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305
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317
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328
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338
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348
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358
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368
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378
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386
387
388
389
390
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401
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413
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423
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433
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443
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454
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464
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474
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484
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494
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505
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516
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527
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537
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547
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559
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569
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581
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594
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605
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615
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625
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635
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645
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655
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665
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675
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685
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695
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705
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715
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724
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