On March 1, 2024, the GCBS reading group gathered to discuss the primary source that our PhD student Wenzhuo Shi is currently working on. This is an inscription from a stele, which was excavated in Turfan in 1902–1903 and then brought to Berlin. Despite the loss of the stele during the WWII, a number of rubbings as well as testimonies of earlier scholars who witnessed the stele survive to date.
After Wenzhuo highlighted the background of the stele as well as the history of circulation of its rubbings, Prof. Christoph Anderl introduced a substantial German-language article on the stele by Otto Franke. Published more than a hundred years ago, the article still provides valuable insights into possible interpretation of difficult places in the text. Wenzhuo’s research promises to produce the first-ever English translation of the stele.
