Scientists of the Institute of Language, Literature and National Manuscripts named after Magtymguly of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan are constantly searching for new sources related to the history and national cultural heritage, life and work of outstanding representatives of the Turkmen people.
This work has become especially active in the year of the 300th anniversary of the great poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, whose handwritten information about his life and work was studied in many countries around the world.
Recently, the Institute's research fellows Babajan Mollaekayev and Aymyrat Kulyyev returned from a scientific mission to the Federal Republic of Germany. They studied the manuscript collections of the state and university libraries of Berlin and Dresden and brought to Turkmenistan electronic copies of valuable sources found in them related to the life and work of Magtymguly Fragi, literature and history of the Turkmen people.
In Berlin, the institute's scientists held meetings with German colleagues studying Eastern heritage, including a specialist in Arabic and Islamic manuscripts. They familiarized themselves with the catalogues and manuscript collections of the Oriental Studies Department of the Berlin State Library and the Berlin University Library, and studied the manuscripts stored there in Arabic, Persian, and Old Turkic. As a result of the work, valuable sources were discovered and their electronic copies were obtained.
The scientific research of Turkmen scientists was continued in the Saxon State and University Library of Dresden, where meetings and exchange of experience with German colleagues also took place. When familiarizing themselves with the manuscript treasury of the library, special attention was paid to the study of unknown manuscripts related to the history, culture and art of the Turkmen people, and previously not brought to Turkmenistan. As a result, Turkmen specialists brought to our country electronic copies of valuable manuscripts, including the Berlin copy of the «Divan» of Magtymguly Fragi, as well as the Berlin and Dresden copies of the epic «Gorkut ata», which is one of the ancient creative works of the Turkmen people. In addition, electronic copies of the works of a number of scientists containing information on the history, culture and traditions of the Turkmen, works of famous Turkmen scientists, poems and stories of many famous poets of the East - such as Navoi, Nizami, Jalaleddin Rumi, which are of great interest to Turkmen scientists and writers, were brought.
In general, the result of the work of Turkmen scholars in the manuscript collections of the Oriental Studies departments of the state and university libraries of Berlin and Dresden were the electronic copies of one manuscript related to the creative legacy of Magtymguly, the Berlin and Dresden versions of the epic «Gorkut ata», 85 Turkic-language, 46 Persian-language and 72 Arabic-language manuscripts related to the history, literature and traditions of the Turkmen people brought to Turkmenistan.
These sources will help Turkmen scientists and specialists to more deeply and comprehensively study the works of Magtymguly Fragi and other historical figures, and issues of the historical and cultural heritage of the Turkmen people.
