MAIASP. 2023. No. 15 O.M. Agatay ( Arrows-jebe
and
the Noghaic-Kazakh
heroic epos DOI: 10.53737/8916.2023.97.73.025 Access this article (PDF File) Pages: 665—686 |
The article amasses accounts from the
Noghaic-Kazakh heroic epos which enable new
insights in the variability of names and phrases
describing ranged weapons (arrows-jebe). Formerly, these accounts
have not yet been the scope of a focused scholarly study and were not even translated into foreign languages, including Russian. Now, when analyzing folklore, artifacts and
written sources in detail, an attempt is made to identify the original names and constructive merits and decorative systems in jebe
arrows of the Turkic warriors of the Great Steppe in the Middle Ages and the Modern Era. Using the research database from accumulated, systemized and analyzed records, basic terms and phrases were
found and attributed in the Noghaic-Kazakh heroic epos denoting parts of
ranged weapons, the arrows-jebe. It has been established
that during the Middle
Ages and the Modern Era, in Dast-i Qipčaq — the Crimean steppe, Lower Volga Region, West Kazakhstan, and Western Siberia — as well as in Aral—Syr Darya Region, Zhetysu, Altai, and elsewhere, the ranged weapons were used by the nomadic warriors, including oq (an arrow), jebe (a jebe- arrowhead), qasalaq (a qasalaq-arrow). A variety of the arrow-related terms and phrases includes sauīt būzar oq (an armor-piercing arrow), ajal oq (‘an arrow of death’), qozī jauīrīn oq (an arrow in the shape of a lamb’s scapula), salalī sausaq jebe (an arrow in the shape of two-forked fingers), aj oq (‘a moon-shaped’ arrow), masaq oq (a arrowhead), sajkez oq (a sajkez-arrow), ulī oq (a poisoned
arrow), beren oq (a beren-arrow), sūr jebe (a grey jebe), kök jebe (a blue jebe), aq jebe (a white jebe), altī qīrlī jebe (a hexagonal jebe), segїz qīrlī jebe (an octagonal jebe), qīrīq kez oq (an arrow of forty yards), on ekї tūtam oq (an arrow of twelve fists), küşїgen jündї oq (an arrow with vulture’s feathers), qanattī oq (a winged arrow), etc.
The matching of the epic descriptions of the
arrows-jebe with various written records and genuine samples
from archeological sites reveals a high level of correlation between folklore and narratives and artifacts. The focus on a comprehensive analysis of the accounts under study testifies that the Noghaic-Kazakh heroic epos is highly applicable to studying
military-cultural heritage of the Turk and Mongol peoples of |
Key words: arrows-jebe, the Turkic heroic epos,
Tavarikh-i Guzida-i Nusrat-nama, nomadic warriors, the Great
Steppe. |
Received June 21, 2023 Accepted for publication
July 11, 2023 |
About the authors: Agatay
Оtkirbay Mıltıqbayulı (Astana, Kazakhstan). Research Institute for Jochi Ulus Studies of the Science Committee of the
Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan E-mail: agatayotkirbay@gmail.com
Sabitov Zhaxylyk Muratovich (Astana, Kazakhstan). PhD (Political Science),
Research Institute for Jochi Ulus Studies of the Science Committee of the
Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan E-mail: babasan@yandex.kz
Dossymbetov
Nurlybek Aidarbekovich (Almaty, Kazakhstan). E-mail: nur_dos88@mail.ru
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