Irk Bitig — the Old Turkic Book of Omens

In brief. Irk Bitig (Old Turkic for "Book of Omens / Divination") is the oldest surviving Turkic divination text and one of the oldest connected pieces of Turkic literature of any kind. It is written in the Old Turkic runic script — the same "Orkhon-Yenisei" writing as the Kül Tegin inscriptions — in book form, and contains 65 numbered omen-oracles. This is [historical]: a real divinatory practice attested by a 9th-century manuscript. But it is a sortilege oracle (you cast a die and land on a ready-made omen), not "reading individual runes for meanings" — so Irk Bitig should not be confused with modern "Turkic rune divination" in the rune-casting style.

Layering. [historical] — attested by manuscript/philology; [20th–21st c. revival] — constructed in modern times. Irk Bitig itself is entirely [historical]; the modern idea of "Turkic runes for divination" as a letter-casting system is [20th–21st c. revival].

The manuscript and its date

The single copy was found in the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas" near Dunhuang (Gansu, China) — in the same walled-up manuscript deposit that Aurel Stein opened in 1907; it is now in the British Library (Or.8212/161). It cannot be dated precisely, but on linguistic grounds it is confidently placed in the 9th century. It was copied in a Manichaean monastic milieu: the Turkic text runs to over a hundred small pages, and it ends with a colophon in red ink, from which we know that a scribe wrote the little book for two disciples "on the fifteenth day of the second month, in the year of the tiger."

How it was cast

Each of the 65 omens is built the same way and opens with groups of dots — the recorded result of throwing a four-sided die (or a knucklebone) three times: three numbers from 1 to 4 give 4×4×4 = 64 combinations plus one more = 65. The combination that falls to you points to your omen. Then comes a short image-scene — often with animals (a falcon, a white horse, a camel, a bear in its den, a fox, a tiger) or everyday and natural pictures — and a verdict: "it is good" (Old Turkic adgü ol), "it is very bad" (anyıg yablak ol), or "know thus" (ança biliŋler).

Structurally this is a book of lots (sortilege) — like the Chinese I Ching or medieval European "books of fate": you do not interpret a spread of symbols, you draw a ready-made text with a verdict by lot. That is a fundamentally different mechanism from the Germanic reading of runes by meaning.

Why it matters for us

• A real Turkic divination does exist. This qualifies the common claim that "no Turkic divination is attested": the royal runic monuments (Kül Tegin, Bilge Kagan) are political, but the separate Irk Bitig manuscript is a genuine divinatory text [historical]. See our review of the Orkhon Inscriptions.
• But it is not "Turkic rune-casting." Irk Bitig is a lot drawn from a book, not a spread of rune-letters. The idea that Turkic runes were "cast like the Futhark" is a modern construction [20th–21st c. revival].
• Honest comparative context. It sits alongside other ancient lot-practices: the Germanic casting of marked wooden slips in Tacitus and our rune divination FAQ (what is ancient, what was invented).

FAQ

What is the Irk Bitig?

The Old Turkic "Book of Omens" — a 9th-century manuscript booklet written in the runic (Orkhon-Yenisei) script and containing 65 divinatory omens. Found at Dunhuang, held in the British Library. It is the oldest surviving Turkic divination text.

How did you cast the Irk Bitig?

You threw a four-sided die (or a knucklebone) three times; three numbers from 1 to 4 gave one of 65 combinations, which pointed to a ready-made omen — a short image-scene with a verdict of "good," "bad," or "know thus." So it is a lot drawn from a book, not an interpretation of individual signs.

Is this the same as rune divination?

No. Germanic rune divination (in its modern form) is a spread of Elder Futhark rune-letters read by meaning. Irk Bitig is a sortilege oracle: you get a ready-made text by casting a die. The only thing shared is the word "runes" for an angular script; see Turkic runes are not Germanic runes.

Did the Turks have "rune divination" as a system?

As a system of laying out rune-letters by meaning — no, that is a modern reconstruction [20th–21st c. revival]. As a divinatory practice — yes, but in the form of a lot-book of omens (Irk Bitig), not rune-casting.

Further

• Turkic runes and inscriptions: review of the Orkhon Inscriptions
• Divination — history and honesty: Tacitus: Germanic divination by lot · Rune divination FAQ

Sources

Manuscript: British Library, Or.8212/161 (Dunhuang). First edition and translation: V. Thomsen, "Dr. M. A. Stein's Manuscripts in Turkish 'Runic' Script from Miran and Tun-huang" (JRAS, 1912; public domain). Also: S. E. Malov, Pamyatniki drevnetyurkskoy pis'mennosti (1951) — the "Book of Omens" within the corpus; T. Tekin, Irk Bitig: The Book of Omens (Harrassowitz, 1993) — the standard modern critical edition (in copyright; used here for reading only). Old Turkic formulaic phrases (adgü ol, etc.) are from the monument itself (public domain).