Mongolian Manuscripts from Olon Süme

Olon Süme is the site of a walled city located in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. In the period of the Mongolian empire and the Yuan dynasty (1206-1388) it was the stronghold of the Ongut known as Christians. In the period of Altan Khan (1507-1581) Buddhism prospered and many monasteries constructed. The manuscripts discovered here are important records of the Mongolian language during the period of the 16 th and 17 th centuries.

The collection of Yokohama Museum of EurAsian Cultures contains about 130 fragments of the Mongolian manuscripts from Olon Süme. The collection is formerly owned by Prof. Namio Egami who carried out archaeological surveys in Olon Süme in 1930th-1940th.

Yokohama Museum of EurAsian Cultures invited some specialists and started study of the Mongolian manuscripts from Olon Süme in 2004.