Work in progress

G-Qa 1

Known as:	G-Qa 1; Kg-025-ZS-R-01
Cite this page as:	Adrian Musitz. "G-Qa 1". In A Comprehensive Edition of Tocharian Manuscripts (CEToM). Created and maintained by Melanie Malzahn, Martin Braun, Hannes A. Fellner, and Bernhard Koller. https://cetom.univie.ac.at/?m-gqa1 (accessed 08 Sep. 2024).
Edition
Editor:	Adrian Musitz
Provenience
Main find spot:	Kizil Kargha
Specific find spot:	Grotte 25
Collection:	in situ
Language and Script
Language:	TB
Linguistic stage:	late
Text contents
Text genre:	Non-literary
Text subgenre:	Graffito (wall)
Verse/Prose:	prose
Object
Material:	ink on wall
Form:	Graffito
Number of lines:	4

Images

Transliteration

a1	śa¯ ¯k ñ(·) (–) ṃ ntsa sva rṇa de veṃ lāṃ ntsa po sta no[¯] [¯nt] ṣka sce o kme ññaṃ ntse me wye pi ku lne [ai] [ṣṣ]e [ñc]aṃ ñe [sa] la ntsi
a2	wa wā[ṃ] ntsa (– –) ·[k]a [t]vu ri [ṣ]i koṃ nmai k[e] kau śke cai ti ke ta ne ka meṃ tuṃ¯ ¯ñ pyā pyai sa p[a] ttiṃ winā [ṣ]ṣaṃ ñe sa k[eṃ]
a3	ka ri¯ ¯ś sa ··ä r·ai sa pa ñi kteṃ ka ṣṣiṃ ntse ya rke ma ṣṣa re pā ñi kti tā ko¯ ¯ym tai seṃ a [k]e [s]o¯ ¯nt y(·)aṃ – ·[i]
a4	[ke] m[p]a mā [ṣśi] m··

Transcription

a1	śak ñ(u) (kṣu)ṃntsa svarṇadeveṃ lāṃntsa n1 postanont ṣkasce ok meññaṃntse mewye pikulne aiṣṣeñcaṃñesä n2 lantsi
a2	wawāntsa – – ·katvu riṣi koṃnmaike kauśke caitike tane kameṃ tuṃñ pyāpyaisa pattiṃ wināṣṣäṃñesa keṃ--
a3	-kariśsa n3 (w)är(ñ)aisa pañikteṃ käṣṣiṃntse yarke maṣṣare pāñikti tākoym taiseṃ akesont yaṃ – ·i
a4	kempa mā ṣ śim(tär)n4

Translation

a1+	In regnal year nineteen after king Suvarṇadeve, sixth month, on day of the month eight, in the tiger year, a weaver... the townspeople Koṃnmaike, Kauśke and Caitike came here to exit aiṣṣeñcaṃñesä (?).
a2+	They worshipped Buddha the teacher with perfume and flower, with donations (?) and praise, with prostration (?) etc.
a3	May we be Buddhas!
a3+	This way... final/inferior (?)... and may we not meet with with (?)...

Commentary

Remarks

	Inscription in red [paint]

Philological commentary

n1	The formula at the beginning here differs from the norm. Usually, we find lānti/e in the genitive. Here, we have the perlative with postanont. Prima facie, this is best interpreted as "after king Suvarṇadeve". However, this is very peculiar and found nowhere else.
n2	Zhao and Rong 2020 read this as śuppeṅkäṃñesä 戍兵 "border guard".
n3	I read the obscure keṃ-kariśsa as a compound with keṃ "earth" as first member. From the context, it should mean something like "prostration (to the earth)".
n4	Reading śim(tär) as śmimtär

Alternative linguistic/paleographic classifications

Peyrot 2008	C
Tamai 2011	C14

References

Edition

Pinault 1987: 160-166; Xinjiang Kucha Academy et al. 2013a: 7-8; Zhao and Rong 2020: 274-276

Bibliography

Peyrot 2008

Peyrot, Michaël. 2008. Variation and change in Tocharian B. Vol. 15. Leiden Studies in Indo-European. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.

Pinault 1987

Pinault, Georges-Jean. 1987. “Épigraphie koutchéenne. I. Laissez-passer de caravanes. II. Graffites et inscriptions.” Sites divers de la région de Koutcha, Mission Paul Pelliot, Documents archéologiques, 8: 59–196 + XL.

Tamai 2011

Tamai, Tatsushi. 2011. Paläographische Untersuchungen zum B-Tocharischen. Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 138. Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen.

Xinjiang Kucha Academy et al. 2013a

Xinjiang Kucha Academy, Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History, Peking University, and Institute for Historical and Philological Studies of China’s Western Regions, School of Chinese Classics, Renmin University of China. 2013a. “克孜爾石窟後山區現存龜兹語及 其他婆羅謎文字題記内容簡報（一） ———第 203, 219, 221, 222, 224, 227, 228, 229 窟 – A brief report of the Kuchean and other Brāhmī inscriptions surviving in the back mountain area of the Kizil grottoes (I): Cave no. 203, 219, 221, 222, 224, 227, 228, 229.” 敦煌吐魯番研究 – Journal of the Dunhuang and Turfan Studies 13: 341–69, 1–9.

Zhao and Rong 2020

Zhao, Li, and Xinjiang Rong, eds. 2020. Cave inscriptions in Ancient Kucha. Shanghai: Zhongxi Book Company.