Use of Albanian and Georgian Writing to Record Texts in the Languages of Dagestan in Middle Ages (by Example of the Avar Language)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the presence of writing in one of the indigenous peoples of Dagestan - Avars - before the establishment of Islam and Arabic culture and writing. Special attention is paid to the most ancient written monuments found on the territory of traditional settlement of Avars. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that in the scientific literature the peoples of Dagestan before joining Russia are represented as peoples who did not have their own writing and culture. The relevance of the study is due to the need to refute the well-established opinion about the lack of writing of the peoples of Dagestan, including the Avars, until 1928. The author dwells in detail on the most ancient writing systems that became known to the peoples of Dagestan, in particular to the Avars, and were adapted to create their own original writing system. The work uses all available literature, including archaeological data, containing information about the first written sources in the Avar language. It is shown that the Avar written language in different periods of history was based on one of four writing styles: Georgian graphics, Arabic alphabet, Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet.