The "Orhon inscriptions" are the oldest known extant examples of Turkic writings. They were written in what is now called Orkhon script, or "Turkic runes", carved on two monuments which were erected near the Orhon River between 732 and 735 in honour of two Kokturk princes named Kul and Bilge.
The inscriptions were deciphered by the Danish philologist Vilhelm Thomsen in 1893. The script is very similar to that on monuments left by Tu-jue (突厥 pinyin tu2 jue2) in China during the Tang Dynasty.
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