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Lusos BELKA
Each one of Jisl’s trips to Mongolia was different, was comprised of different goals
and each progressed differently. The first trip in 1957—1958 was part of an overall trip
to Asia, more than six months in duration, the main goal of which was to:
“determine on site the conditions for the deployment of the Czechoslovak-Mongo¬
lian expedition, as had been suggested in 1956 by a member of the Mongolian Scien¬
tific Committee (equivalent to the Academy of Sciences) B. Rinchen, and as well as
by a member of the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia,
Pavel Poucha, in his memorandum submitted to the Archaeological Institute upon his
return from Mongolia. That meant that I had to determine the position of the president
of the Scientific Committee in terms of this enterprise as well as the degree of his
potential involvement, and in the case of a favorable outcome, immediately select
some areas of investigation. My further task was to open in Ulaanbaatar a promotional
exhibition of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Education concerning Czechoslovak ar¬
chaeological methods, which had been sent here in advance.””"”
We can ascertain Jisl’s schedule by glancing at his itinerary after he returned, which is
contained in the first report of his working trip to the Mongolian People’s Republic in
1957. Jisl was in the Mongolian People’s Republic from August 5" 1957, to September
5 1957, and then, after his travels in China, from February 10" to February 13" 1957:
“August 6 — August II, 1957: Arrival with Khambalama, the abbot of the monastery.
Viewing of Gandan Monastery and the ‘Lama’s Museum’ [Choijin Lama Monastery,
LB]
August 15 — August 18, 1957: Trip to the east by automobile with B. Rinchen.
Viewing of the ruins of the fortress towns Zun Kherem and Bars Khoto
August 19 — August 21, 1957: Ulaanbaatar. Photographs taken in the Lama’s Mu¬
seum. Viewing of the Palace of Bogd Gegeen
August 22 — September 1, 1957: Trip by automobile with the archaeologist Perlee
... Erdene Zuu Monastery.”!®
The scientific culmination of Jisl’s activity in Asia was the first (and indeed the last)
Czech-Mongolian archaeological expedition which studied the monument of prince
Kiiltegin (8" century), located in the Orkhon River valley, about 380 km southwest
of Ulaanbaatar.
Jisl, Lumir: Zpräva z pracovni cesty do Mongolska, Cinske lidove republiky a Sovétského svazu, vyko¬
nané od 3. srpna 1957 do 19. unora 1958 [Report on study trip to the Mongolian People’s Republic, the
Chinese People’s Republic, and the Soviet Union, August 3, 1957 — February 19, 1958]. Unpublished
and undated typescript in Czech, Prague 1958, p. 6.
Contained in Jisl, L.: Zprava z pracovni cesty [Report on study trip] 1958; the itinerary is on pp. 1-4.
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