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Mongolia Information -
Books
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Thursday, 17 July 2008 21:12 |
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Early Christian Remains of Inner Mongolia
Discovery, Reconstruction and Appropriation
Tjalling H.F. Halbertsma
The early Christian presence
in Inner Mongolia forms the subject of this book. These Nestorian
remains must primarily be attributed to the Öngüt, a Turkic people
closely allied to the Mongols. Writing in Syriac, Uighur and Chinese
scripts and languages, the Nestorian Öngüt drew upon a variety of
religions and cultures to decorate their gravestones with crosses
rising from lotus flowers, dragons and Taoist imagery. This heritage
also portrays designs found in the Islamic world. Taking a closer look
at the discovery of this material and its significance for the study of
the early Church of the East under the Mongols, the author reconstructs
the Nestorian culture of the Öngüt.
The reader will find many newly discovered objects not published
before. At the same time this study demonstrates how many remaining
objects were appopriated and, in many cases, vanished after their
discovery.
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