Inscribing World Heritage

Inscribed stones and tablets display some of the earliest and most important documentary heritage in world history. They’re vehicles for preserving and diffusing laws, literature, religion, sciences, values and lifestyles of different societies. They’re often the only the testimony to these civilizations.

The Hittite tablets include the Treaty of Quadesh, signed between Hittites and Egypt, which was considered a treaty of "eternal peace" that guaranteed security throughout the area. Most knowledge relating to that period of history in Asia Minor and the Middle East come from these tablets at Bogazkoy.

The Old Assyrian Merchant Archives of Kültepe consist of tablets that constitute a unique textual corpus in world history. In the 2nd Millennium B.C. during the Middle Bronze Age a community of about 900 traders and their families came from Assur (modern-day Iraq) and settled in Kanesh, now the archaeological site of Kültepe.

Assyrian trade and the daily intricacies of the local population’s families lives, private dealings, and commercial activities are detailed in the Merchant Archives. It provides a dense social and commercial history incomparable to anything else from the ancient world.

Batu Bersurat Terengganu, also known as the Inscribed Stone of Terengganu, in Terengganu, Malaysia constitutes the earliest evidence of Jawi writing (based on Arabic alphabets) in the Malaya Muslim world of Southeast Asia. 

With the advent of Islam in the Southeast Asian region in the 10th or 11th centuries, a life based on the teachings of Al-Quran and Hadith became widespread in Southeast Asia. Together with the use of the Jawi script, as seen on the Terengganu Stone it heralded a new age of literacy.

The Myazedi Quadrilingual Stone Inscription, located in the historic city of Bagan and discovered at Myazedi Pagoda in 1886-1887, documents Myanmar history, religion, and culture in the 12th century. 

The Myazedi Stones describe Myanmar history, religion, and culture in four languages (Pyu, Mon, Myanmar, and Pali) on each of the four sides. It’s the earliest Myanmar language document with chronological date.

The King Bayinnaung Bell Inscription, donated by King Bayinnaung at Shwezigon Pagoda in Bagan in 1557, document the donations made for Buddhist religious merit. They’re inscribed in three languages: Myanmar, Mon, and Pali. It’s likely the only trilingual bell inscription in the world.

The Maha Lawkamarazein, also known as the Kuthodaw Inscription Shrines, is a collection of 729 stone slabs at Kuthodaw Pagoda on which were inscribed the whole of the Buddhist scriptures in 1868. King Mindon approved the inscription at the Fifth Great Synod in 1871.