The first mention of the Hungarian "Székely-rovás" script we can find in Gesta Hungarorum, written in Latin language, about 1283 by Simon Kézai, the Court priest of King Laszló Kún the 4-th. He wrote: "...the Székelys (the Magyars of the Eastern Transylvania), who are the remnants of the Huns (Zakuli Hunnorum sunt residui), won a portion in the frontiers of the mountains together with Blaks, and by fusing together with them, as they say, used their letters as well...". (The Blaks are an inner-Asiatic people - Bibl.[1] *Note of the translator: linguistic clues rather suggest they were Vallachs related to the Gallo-Roman people.)

Márk Kálti in the 14th century wrote: "the Székelys who did not forget the Scythian letters, do not write on paper, but score into tallies...". Later Antonio Bonfini, in the time of the king Mátyás, described the Hungarian rovás: "...the Székelys use Scythian letters, and with few marks, express a lots of meanings...". János Telegdi but, around year 1598 wrote: "in the land of Székelys, the runic writing was still taught in the schools".

In older times they spoke only about the "Székely" runic script, because this relic mainly came from the land of Székelys, or Transylvania. Today we see, that the rovás script, as a carrier of an ancient culture, occurs in the whole area of the Carpathian Basin, and even outside, where the Hun ancestors once lived. In the past, the rovás script was widespread, and today we can find it on different media: stone, wood, parchment. The most frequent places, oddly are the Christian churches, despite of a fact, that with the arrival of Christianity, the church spread the Latin language and script, and discouraged the use of the runes.

Unfortunately, the church was not the only enemy of the rovás script. The Árpád dynasty kings, have seen the ancient Hungarian religion and the rovás as a threat to the nation's unity, and prosecuted the carriers. By the 17th century, all the memory of the rovás has gone, except in Transylvania, where the kings' influence was far less. It was a big surprise, to rediscover it, in the "Land of Székelys" were the shepherds still used it.

Here are some of the most important relics - or their authentic copies - of the Hungarian rovás script, without claim of completeness of the list.

 

The Codex from Nicolsburg (15th c.)

One of the oldest alphabets of the rovás is preserved on the pages
of a codex found in the library of Dietrichstein in Nicolsburg.

The Oratory from Csikszentmiklós (1501)

©2
Mysterious medieval graffiti in a small chapel. The original has been lost.

The Stone Carving from Constantinople (1515)

©1
Written by members of the Royal deputy, held captive in Constantinople. Original lost.

The Rudimenta Hunnorum by János Telegdi (1598)

©2
The alphabet explained in "The Elements of the Old Language of the Huns" written by János Telegdi in 1598.

The Calendar by Marsigli (1690)

The longest authentic text of the ancient Hungarian Rovás script is the Calendar
found and copied from a wooden staff by Marsigli in 1690 in Transylvania. Original vanished.

The Painting from Énlaka (1668)

©1
One of the most beautiful examples of the rovás inscriptions
enframed in a Hungarian folk-style decoration.

The Alphabet by János Kájoni (1873)

©1
It is giving an insight into the "old fashioned Székler alphabet"
and revealing the secrets of abbreviations.

The Correlation Analysis of the Hungarian Rovás

Comparison of the Hungarian Rovás with the Etruscan, Phoenician and Roman script.

Bibliography:

[1] © Kiszely István: A MAGYARSÁG ÕSTÖRTÉNETE (Mit adott a magyarság a világnak), Püski Kiadó, Budapest, 1996 (Band 1, pp.367-380).
(Title picture credit: Scythian warrior on silver vase from Nicopolis, Band 2, p.714.)
[2] Révai Nagy Lexikona, (Band 16, pp.394-395) Révai RT Budapest, 1910-1920.
[3] http://www.acronet.net/~magyar/english/96-10/contents.htm
[4] http://www.interlog.com/~photodsk/magyar/rovas/rovaseng.html

NEW! A Compendium Study about the Székely-Hungarian Rovás Script.
An English translation of the Hungarian site (www.inforum.hu/rovas/) . Here you can find: a short overview of the history of Hungarian Rovás, its affinity to other writing systems, and main material relics, accompanied with a distribution geographical map. Carefully written by a group of authors (courtesy: Mr György Kucsera).

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Copyright note: Pictures marked as ©1 and ©2 in this document are reproduced from Bibliog.[1] and Bibliog.[2]. I reserve the right to publish this document, change it or withdraw without notice. All opinions are my own. I can not enter into any debate about the correctness of the given data! gabor@enternet.com.au This page has been optimized Sept 1999. Updated Dec 2000.