Finding Poems in Objects: A Unique Jug

Zaure Kulchikenova, Kazakhstan

The history of everyone is connected with the history of their own people. Whilst you may read about history and culture from books, at the same time it inspires curiosity to see real artefacts from the past. It is in museums that you might see such historically charged and ancient items.

I had the opportunity to be a part of Atyrau historical museum (Western Kazakhstan). The history of Kazakh people attracted me and I was amazed by the story of one unique exhibit which can be seen in the photographs. It is the story of a unique jug, a large vessel for the storage grains. It was found in 1909 in Saraichik, the village of Atyrau region, one of the cities of Golden Horde, the trade hub of the Silk road and one of the most important medieval centers.

There is an inscription at the top of the jug:

Beauty of a person is a face,
Beauty of this face are the eyes,
Beauty of a mouth is a tongue,
Beauty of this tongue is a word.

The following is written at the top of the jug where it is broken:

Also beauty of a person is his knowledge and skills.
To sacrifice for knowledge a person should give his soul

The following is written in the middle of the jug:

You may pour your tears into the jug.

These wise words were taken from the poem of Yusuf Balasaguni "Kutadgu bilig", written in the Turkish language in the 13th century. The incredible thing is how these words reach through time and are meaningful and vivid even today, centuries later.

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