The new Rock Art Site of Kara-Say (Province of Talas) in Kyrgyzstan with Tamgas and two Arabic Inscriptions

The rock art site of Kara-Say in Kyrgyzstan (Bakaiyr, province of Talas) was discovered and prospected in July 2024. A systematic prospection of the site permitted the documentation of 279 petroglyphs as well as two Arabic inscriptions from the beginning of the 20th century. The site was directly located by an old settlement, and five tamgas from the Old Turkic period were also found. An anthropomorph leading a chariot was also discovered and can be dated by analogies from the Old Turkic period. Only a few of the petroglyphs were executed in the Scytho-Siberian animal style. This article provides a brief overview of the petroglyphs from each period, with particular attention given to the chariot and tamgas from the Early Turkic period, as well as the two newly discovered Arabic-script inscriptions. The first is an epitaph dated to 1925, while the second is a devotional phrase addressing Rahim, one of the 99 names of Allah.