Balbal stone

Description

**Balbal (stone statue)** is an important object of the funerary and memorial culture of the ancient Turks. The sculpture was made by carving and shaping natural stone. In the upper part, facial features are faintly carved in relief, including the outlines of two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. In the middle section, at chest level, there is a depiction of a round-bottomed vessel resembling a bowl, held in the right hand. In the lower part of the sculpture, carved lines have been preserved that resemble a clan tamga or symbols of the ancient Turkic (Orkhon-Yenisey) script. This object represents a memorial gravestone erected over the grave of a Turkic military commander, batyr, or noble person who died in the 9th-11th centuries. It is a valuable historical monument for the study of the worldview, sculptural art, funerary rites, and written and tamga culture of nomadic Turkic tribes.