ID: 700008975 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008975	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Manual of Divination (manuscript (documents); unknown Turkic scribes; BL: 8th century; alternatively...; British Library (London, Greater London, England, United Kin...; Or.8212(161))

Note: From Mogao Grottoes Cave 17, Dunhuang, Gansu Province. In runic Turkic. The oldest manuscripts in the collection are the 59 fragments in Uygur, and six in Gök Turkish, included in the material collected from the Dunhuang caves and elsewhere on the marches of Chinese Turkistan by Sir Marc Aurel Stein. As well as pieces of Buddhist scripture and documents recording financial transactions, there are items such as a handbook of divination in so-called Turkic runic script (Or. 8212 (161)). The Irq Bitig is the longest and most complete extant Turkic runiform manuscript. The origin of the runiform alphabet is debated, but it is generally understood to have been developed expressly for writing in Old Turkic, distinct from the adapted forms of preexisting scripts used in other texts.8 Fragments of Buddhist texts in Chinese appear at the beginning and end of the manuscript. Apart from their philological interest, these texts provide valuable evidence regarding the culture of the period.

Titles:

Manual of Divination (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

Irq Bitig (Book of Omens) (C,U,DE,English,U,U)

古突厥占卜文書 (C,U,Chinese,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

manuscript (documents) [300028569] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), document genres, <documents by conditions of production>)

book [300028051]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), information artifacts, <information artifacts by physical form>)

Classifications:

manuscripts (preferred)

Creation Date: BL: 8th century; alternatively dated ca. 930

Creator Display:

unknown Turkic scribes [preferred]

unknown Turkic (Turkic cultural designation) [500372665]

Locations:

Current: British Library (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500301700] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: Or.8212(161)

Credit Line: Stein Collection

Other: Discovery: Qianfodong [7029798] Gansu province (province), China (nation), Asia (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Ink on paper

	ink [300015012]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>)

	paper (fiber product) [300014109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>)

Dimensions: 13.1 × 8.1 cm (5 3⁄16 × 3 3⁄16 in.)

Cultures:

Chinese (preferred)

General Subject:

text (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	divination [300207879]
	.....(Activities Facet, Disciplines (hierarchy name), disciplines (concept), occult sciences) (AAT)

	Runic writing [300219050]
	.....(Objects Facet, Components (hierarchy name), components (objects parts), <components by specific context>, information form components, <script and type forms>, script and type signs) (AAT)

	Turkic (language) [300389469]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), language-related concepts, <languages and writing systems>, <languages and writing systems by specific type>, <temporary alphabetical list: languages and writing systems>) (AAT)

Copyright: ©The British Library Board

Related Works:

	former location was .... Mogao Cave 17 [700008877]
	..........rock-cut temple; N/A; begun 9th century

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

............... Works at Mogao

Sources and Contributors:
Manual of Divination	........ [VP]
	........ British Library [online] (2000-)
Irq Bitig (Book of Omens)	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)
古突厥占卜文書	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)

Subject: ....... [VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... British Library Online Gallery (2015-) Turkish and Turkic manuscripts; Dunhuang manuscripts