Religious Oral Tradition and Literacy among the Yezidis of Iraq

Author(s): Eszter Spt

Source: Anthropos, Bd. 103, H. 2. (2008), pp. 393-403
Published by: Anthropos Institut
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H anthropos
I 103.2008:
393-403
jJ

ReligiousOral Traditionand LiteracyamongtheYezidisofIraq

EszterSpt

Abstract.- This articleanalyseshow emergingliteracyamong Turkey, and a considerable immigrant community

theKurdish-speaking Yezidis of northern Iraq is affecting (most themrefugees
their of fromTurkey)in Western
religiousoral tradition.It looks at the issue of canonisation,
modernisingmythology, discardingelementsdeemed obsolete
Europe.Yezidisfollowtheirownpeculiarreligion,
or non-scientific,
rejectingmythperceivedto be of Islamic ori-
whichcan be tracedbackto thefaithoftheWest-
gin, and finally,how new mythare constructedto meet new ernIranianimmigrants arriving inthisregionmore
needs,raisedby moderneducationand increasedcontactwith thanthreemillennia ago,though itclearlydisplays
theoutsideworld.[Yezidis,Kurds,oral tradition, literizingsoci-
theinfluence of all thereligions thatexerted their
eties,religion,mythopoesis]
influence inthisregioninthelastthreemillennia.2
Eszter Spt, PhD studentat Medieval Studies Department, Oneofthemanypeculiarcharacteristics ofYez-
CentralEuropeanUniversity, Budapest.The titleofherthesisis: idi religionis itsoralnature.Untilquiterecently
"Oral Traditionand Its Changes in the Middle East. The Case thefaithoftheYezidiswasbasedon oraltradition.
of Yezidi Mythologyand Late Antique Mythopoesis."- She was
carriedout fieldresearchin theKurdishregionof northern
Theyhadnowritten texts, infact,evenwriting
Iraq forbidden
fromAugust2002 untilJune2003, fromApril2004 untilMay
to its followers, with the exceptionof
2004, and in September2006. She authoredseveralpublications one sheikh family. Sacred texts (hymns andmyths)
on theYezidis,theirreligiousmemory, and origin werememorised
oral tradition, andtransmitted fromfather toson
myth.- See also ReferencesCited. the
by qewels, the sacred bards of the Yezidis. This
oralnature shaped the structure and nature of Yezi-
di beliefsystem. Thisoralnature has,however, un-
The words"Kurdistan" and "Kurds"conjureup dergone profound changes in the last few decades,
theimageof Islam in themindof mostpeople. thanks tothespreadofcompulsory education, gen-
However, notall theKurdslivinginTurkey, Syria, eral literacy, the interest ofoutsiders inYezidifaith,
Iraq,Iran,and theCaucasianstatesare Muslims, andtheinterest ofliterate Yezidisinwhatoutsiders
SunniMuslimsto be moreexact.Thereare rela- had to say aboutthem.As a result,Yezidismno
tively smallbutimportant groupsamongtheKurds, longercanbe calleda purelyoralreligion.
who stillfollowcreedsthatretainreligiouscon- Yezidishavealwaysliveddispersed overa wide
ceptsbequeathedby distantancestorsbeforethe stretch of land,and communities farfromeach
advanceof Islam.Yezidisare a case in question. otherhad onlylimitedcontactwhiletheyfaced
Once a powerful groupamongtheKurds,if the varying external influences. As a result,consider-
16th-century "Sherefname" 1 is a reliable source, able differences have developed,and it wouldbe
thenumber of Yezidishas dwindledconsiderably
duetorepeated persecution andforced conversions. 1 "Sherefname"or"Sharafnama"is thefamousbook ofSharaf
Bitlisi (Iranian Kurdishhistorianand poet) (1543-
Today their largestcommunity in northern al-Dinwritten
lives
in Persian,whichis regardedas a mainsource
1599)
Iraq(counting perhapsbetween200-300.000peo- on Kurdishhistory. He wroteit in 1597 in Iran.
ple), whilethereare abouttenthousandin Syria 2 FormoredetailsoftheYezidis see Guest 1993; Kreyenbroek
and theTranscaucasia, hardlya fewhundredin and Rashow 2005; Spt 2005.

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394 EszterSpt

difficultto speakaboutYezidicustomsin general, friends withmoreprofound religious education, are

save for some basic characteristics. it
Therefore, increasingly turning to books trying to find infor-
maybe assumedthattheadventofliteracy, though mation.4 Thereis also a generalwishtobe ableto
in itselfa generalphenomenon, maynothavenec- present a holybook,justlikeotherreligions. While
essarilygenerated the same changes and reaction in the past even the idea of putting a sacred text
in "everycornerofYezidiland."Thisarticledeals intowriting wouldhavebeenanathema, todayin
withthephenomenon of transition fromoral to Yezidihouseholds inthediasporaitis notunusual,
written culture amongtheYezidisofnorthern Iraq, forexample,to findthetwoYezidi"holytexts,"
moreparticularly among theYezidis around Duhok the"Jelwa"andthe"Meshefi Resh,"whichcontain
neartheTurkish border(in whatfunctioned as the genuineoraltradition albeitwritten downby out-
KurdishAutonomy between1992-2003) and the sidersinthe19thcentury (Kreyenbroek 1995:12-
Sheikhan region.3 25). Othersclaimtohavefoundtheoriginal Yezidi
In thisregionschooleducation is common, es- holybook in theformof theZoroastrian Zend-
peciallyamongthe youngand youngermiddle- Avesta(Murad1993:396).5The diaspora,in turn,
agedgeneration, andilliteracy is slowlybecoming further influences Yezidisbackintheirhomecoun-
a thingof thepast.Withschooleducationmany try.Thishas all led to a changing attitude toward
modern ideas inevitably intrude into the Yezidi books and oral tradition in general, at least in
worldview. Evenmoreimportantly, educatedYez- theIraqiSheikhanandin theEuropeandiaspora,6
idis,influenced by thedemandsof theso-called wheretheplaceaccordedtooraltradition is fastbe-
"written religions" and modern life,startedputting comingusurped by books written on and mainly by
theirownreligion intowriting - something thatwas Yezidis.Withthisdevelopment profound changes
unimaginable notso longago. The revolutionaryhaveappeared,whichseemto alterthecenturies-
change came in the70s whentwoYezidiuniver- oldnature andcontent ofYezidireligion.
sitygraduates managed to secure the permission
oftheYezidireligiousleadersto putdownYezidi
religioustexts.The first publication was soonfol- The Appearanceofa "Canonical"Text
lowedbyseveralothers. Manyofthesepublications
are easilyavailableto mostYezidisin theabove As itis wellknownforall researchers oforaltra-
mentioned region.(So, forexample, LalishandRoj dition,themostcharacteristic feature of tradition
magazines, whichpublishsacredhymns, religious based on oralityis thesimultaneous existenceof
tales,folktales, andessayson Yezidireligion, can
be foundinmanyYezidihomes.) 4 For example,one of theintervieweesof JasimMurad stated
Theprocessofputting Yezidireligion intowrit- (Murad 1993: 384 f.): "whenin theGermanschoolmyclass-
was further accelerated the sizeable Yezidi mates would ask me about my religion.I would tell them
ing by thatI am a Yazidi and thentheywould ask me thedetailsof
diasporalivingintheWest,especiallyinGermany. my religionand I would just remainsilent.That of course
TheseYezidisarecutofffromall theold formsof me fortheseclassmatesknowwho Christis and the
irritated
Yezidireligiouslife,whereholidayrituals,visits historyof Christianity and I did notknow,forexample,who
to holyplacesor beingvisitedby religiouslead- SheikhAdi or Ta'us Melek is. Then I decided to searchfor
thehistoryand originsof ourreligion.I wentto thelibraries
ers play a centralrole.At thesame time,living and checked out some books writtenin Germanabout the
in close proximity to otherreligionsforthefirst Yezidis. FromthesesourcesI learnedthatwe worshipGod
time,Yezidisin theWestarebecomingmoreand and believe in seven angels headed by Ta'us Melek. I also
moreacutelyawareof thefactthat,unlikeother foundthe two holy books MishafRash and Jalwa."Philip
religions, theylacka holybooktowhichtheycould Kreyenbroekalso confirmedin several conversationsthat
the search foridentityamong the youngand the need for
referor a clearidea of thehistory of theirown books was a strongdrivingforcebehindthebirthof Yezidi
religion. Theirchildren, brought up in a cultureof religiousliteraturein Germany.On the role of writingin
booksand confronted by Western schoolmates or Yezidi culturein theWestsee also Kreyenbroek and Rashow
(2005: 45 f.)
3 I carriedout my fieldresearchin the KurdishRegion of 5 Murad (1993:396) writes"many informants have viewed
Iraq between2002 and 2006. Most of myobservationscome thetwo manuscripts and declarethemto be authenticbooks
fromthe Sheikhanregion,east of Mosul. Due to practical of theirreligion.Those informants wrappedthe two books
I could onlypay two fleetingvisitsto the Sinjar
difficulties in silk garmentand carefullystoredthemon a sacred shelf
mountainon theSyrianborder,thisisolatedrefugeof Yezi- bevondthereachof children."
dis, wheretheinfluenceof themodernworldis less obvious. 6 The isolatedand impoverished Sinjarmountainon theIraqi-
It mayalso be assumedthatYezidis livingin otherregions, Syrianborder,thathas been a refugeof Yezidis forcenturies
like Syria,Georgia or Germanyfor example, are exposed and was underSaddam's ruleuntilrecently, seemsto present
to different
externalinfluences,
and therefore theirtraditions a more traditionalpictureat present,thoughthismay also
maysee different changes. changein thenearfuture.

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 andLiteracy
OralTradition
Religious amongtheYezidisofIraq 395

manydifferent versions ofthesamemotif orstory. innewspaper articlespublished byYezidis,areseen

Thisis, or at leastusedto be, trueforYezidisas as theonlyauthentic sourceswhenitcomestodif-
well,as manytravellers andresearchers ofthepast ferences betweentwoversions. Yezidisrepeatedly
havenoticed. Thedifferent versions may even con- tried to discourage me from trying to interview
tradict eachotherfrom timetotime,ormayatleast other,less well-known persons, on the basis that
seemillogicalto a Western observer. As Kreyen- "theyknowless thanX." I have repeatedly met
broek(1995: 19) writes"It is wellknownthat,in withconfusion and perplexity, whenI wantedto
oralliterature, it is impossible to identify a single speakwithyetanother person,afterhavingtalked
'original' or 'true' version of an account." There is with a more valued authority, especiallyifhe was
no " 'official'formofthefaith. . . different people knownto "havepublished" aboutYezidireligion.
havebeentaught different things. . . , someYezidis My explanation thattheremaybe "a different ver-
seemcapableofholding mutually exclusivebeliefs sion"wasevenunderstood tomeanthatI foundthe
atthesametime... thelackofwritten tradition has versionalreadytoldincorrect.
prevented thedevelopment ofa single,monolithic Suchan attitude, whichinsistson onefixedver-
system ofbeliefs." sioncomingfromoneaccredited source,willeven-
Withthepublication of Yezidi sacred texts a tually lead to the weeding out of "non-canonised"
newdevelopment appeared.People have started to versions and an impoverishment, or atleastsimpli-
insiston thewritten versionas the onlycorrect fication of Yezidilore.Butitis notonlythemere
andauthentic one.Thewritten versionacquiresthe amountof differing variants thatis beingaffected
nature andreputation ofa holyscripture - all other bythesechanges.
versions arecompared withthisandanydivergence
is commented on as, e.g.,"It is wrong""He (i.e.,
thesource)is mistaken."7 It is possible,thoughit Bookson theYezidisas a SourceofKnowledge
wouldbe hardto prove,thatthewishfor"one,
canonised bodyofwritings" cansubconsciously be Another far-reaching development ofliteracy is that
connected witha wishto refuteone of themost thewritten wordhas started influencing theself-
popularMuslimaccusations againstYezidis,name- perception of the Yezidis,and it has becomea
ly thattheyhave no written scriptures and are sourceof knowledge evenforso-calledreligious
therefore kafirs, or unbelievers. Thisaccusationis experts. Booksandperiodicals arereadenthusiasti-
of sucha greatrelevancein Kurdishculturethat callybymanythesedays.Thewritten wordenjoys
evenChristians speakaboutthischaracteristic of greatrespectandis trusted farmorethanthemem-
Yezidismina negative way. oryandknowledge ofa livingperson.(I haveeven
Thisnovelnotionof an "authentic version"in- seen a micawir, or guardianof a shrine, takeout
cludesnotonlythewritten textitself, butit is be- hishand- written collection ofhymns - despitethe
ginningto influence theway sourcesare viewed traditional banon writing.)
as well.The idea,characteristic of all "literizing" HereI wouldliketo quotea fewtellingexam-
societies, thatorality is inferior to literacy (Henige plesto demonstrate thegeneralinterest amonglit-
1974:100)is extended toreligious experts. Qewels, erate not
(though necessarily very educated) Yez-
thetraditional of
keepers religious lore, most of idis in all forms of literature on the Yezidis, their
whomare stillilliterate, enjoyeverless respect.8 history, and religion.In Shariya,a collectivevil-
On theotherhand,literate persons,who- due to lagenearDuhok,I was shownthebookofthelate
a number -
offactors havebecomeknownas "ex- American researcher, JohnGuest,"Survival among
pertson Yeziditexts," thatis,theyareoftenquoted theKurds."My hostproudly claimedhavingread
7 Similarobservations werealsomadebyChristine Allisona itscontents withtheaid ofa dictionary, andcalled
decadeearlier(2001:19). myattention to thefactthatitcontained a number
8 DuringmytriptoBeshiqe-Behzani, thetwin-villages where of sacredhymns. He evenoffered me thebookso
qewelstraditionallyreside,forexample,localpeoplegen- thatI couldgainfrom itwhathe calledgoodinfor-
erallypreferredto introduce me to "laymen," whomfor mation on Yezidis andtheirreligion(regardless of
somereasontheysaw as knowledgeable aboutthetopicof
andaccompanied
religion, me to meetqewelsonlyat my the fact that the book didnot belong to him but to
ownrequest. Someevenexpressed an opinionto theeffect his neighbour, as his mother pointedout). Admit-
thatqewels(andreligious leadersforthatmatter) wereno tedly, of all Yezidisettlements Shariyais theone
longerwhattheyusedtobe,andtheirknowledge caninno wherecontactwith
to theqewelsof thepast.In theYezidi foreigners been themost
has
waybe compared in the last andwhereperhaps there
"Sundayschool"in Beshiqe,a schoolsetup in the90s to frequent
decade,
teachchildrenofthetwin- villagestheirreligion,children
are are more peoplespeaking or understanding some
nowtaught from booksbylaymen andnotbyqewels. Englishthanin othervillages.This is due to its
103.2008
Anthropos

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396 EszterSpt

proximity toDuhok,intheformer Kurdish Auton- therAnstase-Marie al-Carmali, anexpert onYezidi

omy,withitsinternational NGOs andtheUN, an texts,al-Carmali broke heatedly is a very
out "this
important sourceofjobs fornearlya decade,and badjoke, an insult . . . thisis a carelesstranslation
also to thefactthatShariya was one of the four into Arabic of myarticleon theYazidiyahin the
Yezidi settlements thatforeignresearchers could Encyclopedia ofIslam"(Field1975:vii).
dreamofsetting theirfeetinto. Withthegrowing influence ofliteracy suchfeed-
Butevenifthepresenceof a pieceofWestern backshavebecomea commonphenomenon. For
scholarship can be called an exception, books and example, on several occasions I was told by "ex-
10
periodicals written byYezidisorevenbyoutsiders perts" thattheblackxirqe,thesacredgarment
in Arabic(providedtheywroteof theYezidisin of theYezidiholymen,thefeqirs,was a symbol
a favourable light)havedefinitely foundtheirway oftheoriginaldarkness thatsurrounded thepearl,
to manyYezidihouseholdsaroundDuhokand in thatis God himself, beforethecreation started. In
theSheikhan. Justlikeinthecase ofGuest'sbook, otherwords,theblackshirtsymbolises theorig-
thesewritings areoftenseenbyyounger peopleas inal garment coveringGod. This was something
thebestwaytoobtainknowledge aboutYeziditra- I havenevermetbeforeintheliterature onYezidis,
ditions. In thecourseofmyfieldresearch I wasre- and I considered it,rather proudly, an interesting
peatedly referred to twoYezidiperiodicals, Lalish newpieceofinformation onYezidireligion. Itwas
andRoj,as the"bestsourcesofinformation." In one onlyby chance that later on in Gttingen Xalil
Dr.
case a university even
undergraduate painstakinglyJindy Rashow (knownamongYezidisas Sheikh
translated a folktale, sentence for
by sentence, my Xalil Jindy), Yezidiresearcher
a presently living
sakefromRoj magazine.SheikhMrzaofBaadra, in Germany butpublishing in Kurdish, heardthis
whoclaimedtobe thedescendant ofthe17th-cen- recorded on mytape.He toldmethatthiswas not
tury Yezidi hero zdi Mrza, leafed through a num- an originalpieceofYezidimythology buthisown
ber of bookswritten in Kurdishto look forhis ideaorinterpretation oftheblackshirt ofthefeqirs,
family treeandotherinformation on hisillustrious whichhe had publishedin theRoj magazine.It
forebear. (Thisis all themoresurprising because was obviously wheremytwoinformants hadread
to
according myexperience family and tribal his- itand then passed it on as an authentic bit of Yezidi
torygenerally stillbelong to the realm of oral tra- mythology. (It is worth noting that one of my infor-
ditionamongtheIraqiYezidis.) mantswasfrom Behzani,underSaddam'sruleuntil
Thisphenomenon posesa new"caveat"forun- recently, whichmeansthatYezidipublications have
suspecting researchers: onethatis knownas "feed- reachedeventhere,despitetheofficialpolicyof
back"amongresearchers of oraltradition. "Feed- repression of Yezidiidentity.) Through thosewho
backmaybe defined as theco-opting or
ofextraneous readYezidipublications publications Yezidis, on
printed or written information intopreviously oral usuallyconsidered the"localintelligentsia," thein-
accounts" (Henige1974:96), and it has been wide- formation is quick to reach others and eventually
ly studiedamongoralgroupswhocameunderthe becomespartoftheoraltradition.
influence ofliterate cultures.Theinfluence ofbooks Notonlydobookstaketheplaceoforaltradition
thatbecomesourcesofa newtradition intheirturn, wheregainingconcrete information on Yezidireli-
thatis feedback, is nota recent phenomenon among gion is concerned, but they have started influencing
theYezidis- itwasfirst noticedwhena literate elite Yezidiidentity as well.Thus,forexample,theEn-
appeared inthefirst halfofthe20thcentury, though glishteacher ofthehighschoolinBaadra,Mamoste
we cannotruleoutan earlierappearance. Lescot, Sabah,claimedthatthecontent of thethreeHoly
writing on the book "El Yazdyya," by the black Books, that is, the Old and New Testament andthe
sheepof theYezidiprincely family, IsmailChoi Quran,can all be tracedbackto thesacredbooks
beg,published in 1934,warnedthat"l'auteura eu (i.e., mythology) of the Sumerians. At the same
connaissance des articlessurla secteditsdans time,Sumeriansacredtexts(justas laterBabylo-
desrevuesarabes;il a naturellement accepttoutes nianand Assyriantexts)mention thewordezid,
les erreurs qu'ils contenaient et les a fidlementwhichhadbeensolved to mean "puresouls,""those
reproduites" (1938:6). Justaroundthesametime, whogoon right the path." In other words, theyrefer
theanthropologist HenryFieldpurchased a Yezi- to the Yezidis, who are thus proven tobe thefoun-
di book in Beled Sinjar.9Upon showing it to Fa- tainhead of Sumerian and
religion consequently of

9 The "capital" of the Sinjar mountainthathas a sizeable 10 These expertswereSheikhDosti, theguardianof a shrinein
relationshave
Yezidipopulation,and whereYezidi-Christian Xanke,and ArabXidir,a villageteachercollectingreligious
been verygood.
traditionally texts,see below.

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 OralTradition
Religious andLiteracy
amongtheYezidisofIraq 397

thethreereligions basedon theabovementioned a modernisation, of theirown mythology by the

Holy Books. According to Mamoste Sabah, the Yezidis.For longcenturies, the Yezidi community
sourceofhisknowledge on thismatter was a book wasrelatively isolated, andhadlimited contact with
written by Dr. Xalil Jindy Rashow. Unfortunately, its- often hostile - Muslim neighbours, and even
I had no wayto ascertain theexactcontent of the lesswiththeworldoutsidetheKurdish mountains.
book,butthiscertainly demonstrates thegreatim- Todaythereis an ever-increasing contactwiththe
pactof thewritten word(especiallyif written by external world,andwhatis moreimportant, a grow-
authors well-known to thecommunity) on thedis- ingparticipation init(bothinEuropeandinIraq).
semination of newideas and formation of Yezidi This increasedcontactwiththeworldin large
identityas regards theirownreligion andpast. has led to an attempt at modernisation and simi-
Interestingly enough,some of the books that larlyat trying to avoidridicule.Yezidis,whohave
seemtohaveexerted a greatinfluence onhowYez- attended schoolandhaveextensive, everyday con-
idis viewtheirownmythology and religionwere tactwithnon- Yezidis(MuslimsorChristians), tend
written bynon- Yezidis.One ofthemis theChris- to modernise or rewrite theirlegendsso thatthey
tianGeorgeHabibiwhosetheory of theAssyrian conform totheexpectation ofoutsiders andalso to
originoftheYezidis,alsoputforward byother non- theirnewfoundknowledge ofhistory andscience.
Yezidiauthors, enjoysa greatpopularity amongthe SomeYezidiintellectuals leadingthistrendliketo
Yezidis(whoquotehimor readfromhis bookto refer toitas "reforming" Yezidifaith.12 As a partof
support their claim of an Assyrian It
origin). may thisprocess some myths slowlybeingdiscarded
are
havebeenin a similarwaythattheSufiinterpre-as absurd,whileothersreceivenewinterpretation.
tationofLucifer'sFall reachedYezidism.Though Thesenovelinterpretations sometimes seemtocon-
originally theYezidi view of thecreation very sim- tradictthe ethos of Yezidi hymns tales,while
and
ply did not accept the existenceof the Devil or any they are more in keeping with Christian andMus-
evilprinciple, nowquitea fewYezidiswillrepeat limnotionson thedivineanditsrelationship with
a rather daringinterpretation ofthemyththatcan thecreatedworld.
probably be tracedbacktotheSufiphilosopher al- An arresting feature of suchattempts to make
Hallaj.According to thisinterpretation, whenLu- Yezidi faith"up-to-date" is the wish to give a
ciferrefused toworship Adam,despitehavingbeen modernscientific interpretation to Yezidilegends,
ordered to do so byGod,he was in factjustbeing so thattheybe fitforconsumption bypeoplewhose
loyalto God,whoearliercommanded himnotto worldviewis determined by compulsory school
worship anyotherbeing.Thoughthisis a veryin- education. HoweducatedYezidisofa modern turn
teresting interpretation of Lucifer'sFall,it simply of mindwishto see theirownreligion, and have
does notfitintoYezidimythology, wherethereis it seenby outsiders, was eloquently demonstrated
no
absolutely place for the evil.In all probability,by the principal of a school in Eyn Sifni.The
itwasfromtheworkofMuslimauthors, whotried principal, whoformerly taught in the Yezidivillage
to explaintheobviouslyfalseaccusationof Devil ofBaadra(theKurdishAutonomy), instructed me
worship among theYezidis, that Yezidis pickedup to writeabout the Yezidis in a "scientific way"
thisnice soundingstory.Todayit is repeatedby (alemi)andnotlikeotherresearchers. Whenasked
manyYezidis(though notbythemostconservativewhatexactlyhe meantby this,he expressedhis
ones11)andalsobysomeeducatedMuslims. distasteforwhathe called"oldmen'sfancy"about
peopleflying up totheskyandsimilarabsurdtales
(or mythsas a researcher wouldcall them),and
Modernising YezidiMythology: Scientific explained thatresearchers mustcall attention tothe
Interpretation factthatYezidihymns expressscientific truth only
recently knownto modernscience.For example,
Theothersalientfeature ofthistransition fromthe hymns on thecreation talkoftheworldfirst being
oralto thewritten is a "rewriting," one couldsay an endlesssea above whichGod was travelling
in a ship,whilemodernsciencehas onlyrecently
11 Forexample,FeqirHaci,one of thebest-known andmost
quotedexpertsonYezidireligiouslore,emphaticallydenied 12 Thus,forexample,PrMamouOthman, at theconference
thisstory,
andnoneofthoseolderpeoplewhoacquired their on Yezidisin Frankfurt("Yezidismin Transition,"12-17
knowledge, muchor little,on Yezidireligionin thetradi- April,2007,Frobenius talkedoftheneedof"ref-
Institute),
tional(oral)wayrepeatedthismyth. On theotherhand,it ormationof religion"andrepeatedly referredto theinflu-
wasquotedbya number ofpeoplewhohadreadpublications enceofMartinLutherandtheReformation ofChristianity
onYezidisandwereobviously bywhattheyhad
influenced inEurope,drawing a paralleltotheneedofa similar "Ref-
read. ormation"intheframework ofYezidireligion.

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398 EszterSpt

"proven"thatwaterwas thebeginning of lifeon scientific knowledge. Whether suchattempts at a

earth.Accordingly, he wantedmetotalkaboutthe modern, scientific interpretation of ancient sacred
ancientscientific knowledge coatedin ceremonial textsare culturally influenced by similarattempts
languagein Yezidi hymns, instead of what he among Muslims to find references to all modern
as
viewed fairytales, like accounts on incarnated scientific phenomena in the holy text oftheQoran
angels and their miraculous deeds. (such as rockets for example) is an openquestion.
His endeavours in a scientificinterpretation of Notonlythecontent buteventheveryoriginof
Yezidireligious traditions arenotuniqueamongthe thesesacredhymnshas becomea "boneof con-
educatedYezidis.ArabXidir,a volunteer collector tention" in thequestformakinga "scientific re-
ofsacredhymns anda teacher atthereligious Yezi- ligion"outof Yezidifaith.Some reformist go as
di schoolinBeshiqe-Behzani, whois knownforhis faras to claimthatYeziditradition attributes the
exceptional interest in Yezidi lore,expressed simi- authorship of Yezidi sacred hymns to different hu-
lar opinions.Ratherproudlyhe relatedthatYezi- manbeings,andYezidishaveno tradition oftheir
di hymnscontaina hidden,deeperunderstandingsacredtextsbeingrevealedbyangelsor sentfrom
of theuniversewhichhas becomeknownto the thesky,despitetheclear(andrecorded) evidenceto
greatmassesonlyrecently. He quoteda hymnon thecontrary.13
thedeathof SheikhHassan,killedby Badradin Theotheraspectofthisrewriting ofthemythol-
Lulu,mentioning a "blackstar"(sterresh) which ogy is the wish to avoid ridicule in theeyes of
he claimedto referto thephenomenon known as or
outsiders, even, if I may use an anachronism,
"blackhole"centuries beforeWestern sciencere- thewishtobe politically correct, thatis,notto say
aliseditsexistence. The populartaleof MrMih, things thatmaybe takenamissbythemajority. The
theyoungprincelookingfora placewherenodeath bestexampleofthisis thefateoftheYezidiorigin
exists,whothenspends400 yearsat theabodeof myth, themyth ofShehidbinJerr. According tothis
Fortuneas if it were4, was interpreted by him narrative, the Yezidi nation was not created like the
as an allegoryof Einstein'sconceptof relativity.othernations orpeoples.Thisstory hasseveralver-
Similarly he claimedthatYezidiqewlsspeaking of sions,buttheyall claimthatYezidiswerecreated
theSevenAngelsandGod provethatYezidishad fromtheseed ofAdam,whichsymbolised hisdi-
a heliocentric viewlongbeforeCopernicus. This vinepower,andwasplacedinajar bythePeacock
ancient knowledge was also indicated bythesema, Angel.After9 months a beautiful boywas found
a religiousdance,as well,wheretheline of the in thisjar, Shehidbin Jerr, who married a houri
sevenmencircumambulating thesacredfiresym- fromparadise,andtheybecametheforefathers of
bolisesthestarsturning around thesun.As a furthertheYezidis.Furthermore, Shehid knew the true re-
proofhe mentioned thatwhileall otherreligions ligionof God,whichhe passedon to theYezidis.
speakof wateras theelementout of whichthe Othernationswerebornin an inferior way,i.e.,
worldwascreated, Yezidihymns alonenametheair through sexualintercourse between Eve andAdam,
(ba), whichas we nowknowis thebasisofwater therefore, theyare inferior. Naturally theydo not
(H2O) and all other elements. Of course, this latter possessknowledge of the true religion arecon-
and
information is atvariancewiththeonevolunteeredsideredimpure. Yezidisareforbidden tomarry such
by the school principal mentioned above, but in inferior creatures. Clearly, such a myth sounds ei-
bothcaseswe meetthesameconcept:Yezidiqewls therabsurdorinsulting, perhaps both, to outsiders.
indicate a divinely inspired scientificunderstandingIt is hardlysurprising, therefore, thatpeoplelike
oftheuniverse thatis uniqueamongreligious texts. Qewel Suleyman, theheadof theqewels,or reli-
How fastthisapproachis gaininggroundwas gioussingers, at first pretended notto be familiar
demonstrated by a younguniversity studentof withthisstory, insisting thateverybody was born
physicsfromtheUniversity ofDuhok(Iraq).Dur- fromAdamandEve. ArabXidirreferred toShehid
ing an interview (concerning thecreationof the as thefirst prophet, andwhilehe talkedofhishav-
world),whenshe helpedme withthetranslation,ingmarried a houri, henevermentioned thestory of
shereferred to thedivinepearlofthehymnsfrom thejar.Whenasked, he claimed that Shehid was no
whichtheworldwas createdas "atom,"tothecre- otherthanAdam,whowasmadefromwater, earth,
ationas the"Big Boom,"and thebarrenperiod air,and fire,accordingto Yezidi mythology. As
beforevegetation was created as the "Ice Age."
Typically, she did not reallytranslate whatwas 13 This viewwas putforward,forexample,byMamou Othman
at theFrankfurt conference.It is debatable,however,if such
said (as I laterascertained listening to mytapes,) an extremelyrationalistview would be embracedby the
rather shetoldmeherownideaswhichwereclearly majorityof the Yezidis, especiallyas theyfeel the need to
influenced by her wish to adjust her faith to her become a "religionof thebook" as noticedabove.

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 OralTradition
Religious amongtheYezidisofIraq
andLiteracy 399

ArabXidirsaid,waterandearthgiveclay,whichis Bedirxan brothers, intheirsearchfora unified Kur-

thenputtodryintheair,anditis finally cookedin dishidentity cameup withtheidea thatYezidism
fire.Theresultis ajar.Thustheepithet binJerr
(son was in facttheoriginal, pre-Islamic Kurdishreli-
ofthejar) simply referredtoAdamas a mancreated gion(Strohmeier 2003: 167). Duringthestruggle
fromthesamefourelements as a jar. Others,like forKurdishindependence in thelastfewdecades,
SheikAlofrom Shariya, a formerCommunist Party muchwas madeof thistheory, and it was enthu-
member, talkedaboutthemythas something "our siastically embraced by many Yezidis as well,at
grandfathers believed in, butof course todaywe leastin the Sheikhanregion.15 For Yezidiskeen
knowthatwe areall fromAdamandEve." aboutthis"originalKurdishreligionimage,"the
presenceof SheikhAdi, an Araband a Muslim,
provedsomewhat confusing orevenembarrassing.
Pre-IslamicOriginand Islam as an Alien It was all themoreso as theSaddamregimetried
Element topresent theYezidisas peopleofan Araborigin,
and SheikhAdi's figurewas quiteusefulforthis
Finallythismodern"rewriting" ofYezidiloreen- purpose.As a result,thesedayseducatedYezidis
tails anotherphenomenon, namely,the rejecting whowishto distancethemselves fromanyallega-
of anynotionsof Islamicoriginor Musliminflu- tionthatYezidifaith is a deviation ofIslamnotonly
ence. Yezidi-Muslimrelationshave traditionallyrejectthedivinity ofSheikhAdibutalso stressthat
been ratherstrained, as Yezidiswereconsidered he was a reformer, andno more,oftheYezidireli-
either as kafirs thatis,Muslimswho gion.The presenceofmanyelements
oras heretics, perceived as
deviated fromtheright a
path, capital sin in Islam. coming from Islam is thus attributedto theoutside
In fact,thisviewstillholdsfastdespitetheofficial influence ofSheikhAdi.TheideaofSheikhAdias
of
propaganda declaring Yezidi faiththe "original a mere reformer leadsto another curiousdevelop-
Kurdishreligion." 14Today,whentheunderstand-ment.Thereseemsto be a newtheory amongthe
ing and dealingwithreligionhas becomemore Yezidisoftwoclearlyseparate stagesinthehistory
consciousamongtheeducated, Yezidisseemtobe oftheYezidis,onebeforeandoneafter SheikhAdi.
"takingtheirrevenge"in a novelway.Theyclaim Sometimes twodifferent versions ofthesamemyth
thatanything thatappearstobe connected withIs- arebeingexplained as onebelonging tothetimebe-
lam is a "foreign body"addedto thepureYezidi foreSheikhAdiandtheothertotheoneafter him.
religion eithertomisleadtheMuslimsoras a result Younger, educated, and secularYezidis, with a
ofaggressive Muslimproselytising. strong Kurdish consciousness, go even furtherin
Thisis bestreflected inthewaySheikhAdi,the "rejecting" SheikhAdi. For example,talkingof
mostimportant religiousfigureof Yezidifaith,is certain taboos,likenoteatingfish,oneyoungman
treated today.Sheikh Adi was consid-
traditionally claimed: "thesedo nothavetobe followed because
ereda divinebeingincarnated in humanform, the theyare notancientYezidiideas butcomefrom
earthlymanifestation of TawusiMelek,thePea- SheikhAdi,whowasanArab."16Eventheideathat
cock Angel,and thehead of the Seven Angels. SheikhAdi "corrupted" pureYezidifaithis voiced
Yezidihymns evenseemtoidentify himwithGod. occasionally. For example,theystatethatYezidi
Manylegendstalkof miraclesperformed by him. hymnsare notauthentic, as SheikhAdi used the
He is a centralfigureof Yezidi hymnsand his old Yeziditextsand mixedthemwithquotations
tombis the mostimportant place of pilgrimage takenfromtheQuran.Theybase thisassertion on
forthe Yezidis.In the secondhalfof the 19th thepresence ofArabicwordsandexpressions inthe
century, however, he was identified by theFrench hymns, thereferences to IslamandtheSunna,and
consul,M Siouffi, withthehistorical SheikhAdi somecoincidences theyclaimtosee intheQuranic
binMusafir, the 12th-century founder of theSufi textandthehymns, sayingthatthetwousethesame
Adawiyaorder, and ofArabic origin.In the course words and expressions.
of time,thiswas confirmed by otherresearchers Sucha bias againstIslammayevenlead to the
as wellandcouldbe calleda commonknowledge rejectionof legendsand hymnswhichshouldbe
in Iraq today.On theotherhand,in the30s the
15 1found forexample,
thatintheSinjarmountain, thesituation
14 Somepeopleactually managetoendorsebothviewssimul- is somewhatdifferent.
taneously.Thatis, theyproudlyclaimthatYezidism,the 16 Similarobservations weremadebyAllison(2001:39). An-
Kurdish
original is mucholderthanIslamandChris-
faith, mind,who
amongthoseofa moretraditional
othersolution,
orevenJudaism
tianity, whileinsisting
andZoroastrianims, arenotwillingtodenySheikhAdi,is toclaimthathisfamily
thatYezidisworship theDevilandquoting of
theSufistory hailedfromHakkariandthathe wasbornamong
originally
Satan'sfall. theKurdsofLebanon.

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400 EszterSpi

rightly considered authentic Yezidilegends, as their idea whenandwheretheirtribecamefrom,17 fol-

content clearlyechoes the Yezidi ethos. But these lowing a wave of massacres and forced conver-
arestillrejected by"modernising" Yezidis- often sions.However,thereis a markeddifference be-
withtheirexactcontent unknown - as "lateinser- tweencommunal memory regarding past but more
tions,"simplybecausetheheroesof suchworks or less concreteeventstransmitted by wordof
bearthenamesofIslamichistorical figures. The so- mouth, and the new Yezidi myth of an ancient and
called"QewlMezin,"orGreatHymn,is a perfect gloriouspastthatis beingconstructed by educated
example. Thishymn onYezidbinMuawiyawasde- Yezidiswhoare writing or readingarticlesabout
clareda "forgery" bya younguniversity graduate, theirpeopleandreligion. Whilesimplepeopleare
whois aneditoroftheYezidiperiodical Lalish,and satisfied withthestressing ofthefactthattheirre-
whowritesarticleson thefaithoftheYezidis.He ligionis veryold or theoldestone,andthatthey
claimedthatthehymnwas theproduct ofattempts usedtobe farmorenumerous, educated Yezidistry
onthepartofYezidistoplacateMuslimsbyinsert- totracethelineageoftheir faith totheonceglorious
ingthenameof a Muslimpersonage, thesecond cultures andreligions oftheMiddleEast,thecradle
Umayyad caliph,intotheirsystem. Thisviewwas ofmodern civilisation, orwhatis more,theytryto
sharedbyArabXidir,mentioned above,whowas vindicate a Yezidioriginforthesecultures.
of theopinionthattheGreatHymnitselfwas an Yezidis are not the onlyor the firstones to
authentic hymn, but that the name of Yezid bin tryto tracetheirdescentfromthelong-gone em-
Muawiya was inserted into it lateron by Muslims. pires of the Middle East. Claiming gloriousan-
a
No attention was paidto thefactthatthehymnis cestryis a sourceof prestige in theregion(Alli-
builtaroundthefigure andreputation (as a drunk- son 2001: 36, 41). In a clear instance offeedback,
ardgiventolewdandirresponsible ways) of Yezid Christians identify themselves with the Assyrians
binMuawiya.Similarly, neither of myinformantssincethe19thcentury, whenEuropeanresearchers
seemedto recallthatthecaliphhas neverenjoyed first putthetheory oftheir Assyrian originforward.
a verygoodreputation in Islamichistory, andthe Zoroastrian descentis popularamongKurds,while
roleattributed tohiminthisYezidihymnis a plain othersdrawtheirswordsto provethatKurdsare
rejection and mockery of theIslamicshariyaand no othersthanthedescendants oftheMedes.The
couldhavehardly wonoveranyMuslimheart. Sumerian originis claimedbyall andsundry inthe
region(including evensomeTurkish researchers).
AmongYezidisa disconcerting number oftheories
NewOriginMythsoftheYezidis are circulating today.Some talkenthusiastically
of theAssyrians, whohavelongbeenpublicised
The idea of a pre-Islamic origin leads almost au- as putativegrandfathers of theYezidisby some
to a
tomatically tendency try to to relate Yezidism Western researchers.18 Sumerians andthe"ancient
tootherancient religious movements of the of
region, religions" Mesopotamia are also oftenmen-
oftenfollowing thesuggestion ofnon-Yezidiwrit- tioned(boundaries betweendifferent deitiesand
ers(see also Allison2001:36, 40). Naturally, the nationsseemto havebecomesomewhat obscure
notionoftheancientoriginoftheYezidifaithis a here).Othersputgreatenergy intodiscovering the
traditionalone.Theabove-mentioned Yezidiorigin
myth tracesthelineageoftheYezidisstraight tothe 17 I.e.,Turkey, otherpartsofIraq,oreven,surprisingly, Russia,
sonofAdam.Thewords"Ourfaith is old,veryold" as an olderDina womanoftheprclass,originally froma
is a sentencea researcher is to heareverywhere, SyrianvillageneartheIraqiborder, claimed.According to
fromfellowtravellers in sharedtaxistravelling to her,herpeopleoriginated inRussia,andcametowhatwas
oncetheOttoman Empireonlyaftera persecution finished
Yezidivillagestouniversity educatedYezidis.Sim- offall theprsofhertribe.Another youngYezidipointed
ilarly,mostYezidiswillbe readytotellanyonein- out,ona triptothemountains justnexttotheTurkish border,
terested thatYezidisusedtobe farmorenumerous aroundKaniMasi,thatthereusedtobe manyYezidivillages
in thepast,and theirnumbers had been reduced lessthana century ago,andmanysettlements stillhavethe
due to the and samenamesas YezidivillagestodaymoretotheSouth.I had
dramatically repeatedpersecutions no wayofchecking thetruth contentofthisstatement. Yet
forced conversions. Todaymanywillevenmention againanother YezidiclaimedthatHatra,oncean important
thatoriginally all KurdswereYezidis,a notionthat townoftheAssyrians, wellsouthofMosul,usedtobeYezidi
enjoys officialpatronage fromtheKurdishstate's untilitsinhabitantsweremovedtotheNorth, totheYezidi
intent on buildingup a nationalmyth.Of course, villageof Xeter,a fewkilometres north of Mosul.Thisis
a caseoffalseetymological
thesestatements do notlack thehistorical funda- 18 obviously
Some Assyrian Christians
reasoning.
also embracethenotionof the
ment, as persecutions arestillvividly remembered, Assyrian originoftheYezidis,though itis hardtotellifthey
and manypeople,evenyoungerones have some do so outofgenuine convictionorpolitical consideration.

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 OralTradition
Religious andLiteracy
amongtheYezidisofIraq 401

Zoroastrian19 or even"Mithrean" originsof their interestingly, neverfromMuslimKurds,though

faith.20 A constructed past needs its own myths,and theybelong thegroupofIndo-European
to speak-
intheattempt toprovesuchrelationships theYezidi erstoo). The mostcoherent pictureof Yezidisas
talentforcreating mythsseemsto springto life Aryansand Aryansas Yezidiswas furnished by
for
again.So, example, I wastoldinall seriousness ArabXidir.He gavea verygoodexampleofhow
thattherewereancient Assyrian pictograms on the traditional Yezidimythology and bitsand pieces
walloftheLalishsanctuary, onlythey were covered from modern linguisticand historicalwritings23 can
by white plaster so that Muslims would notbecome be worked into a complex fabric to meet the de-
jealous. On another occasion, I was told that the mands of the new Yezidi self-image. He related
Assyrian rockcarvings on themountainside above thatthe"Forty Men,"well-known figuresofYezidi
Duhokrepresented theSevenHolyAngelsof the mythology, whotravelled in theboatofNoah,be-
Yezidis(actuallyeach of thethreepanelsshowed cametheforefathers oftheAryanpeople.24 These
eightfigures). Theconviction thatthelegendofMr Aryanpeople,whoincluded,according to myin-
Mih,a youngprincewhowentin searchofeternal formant, theSumerians, theHurrians, theGuti,the
life,is infactthesamemyth as theGilgamesh epic Elami,theMittani, anda hostofotherancient peo-
wasvoicedbyseveralpeople. ples of theMiddleEast,wereall Yezidis,thatis
Some of themostambitiousare not satisfied monotheists, "Ezi" beingthenameof God whose
withmerelytracingtheoriginof the Yezidisto unityand onenesstheyworshipped. Heremyin-
ancient civilisations, but rather turn the whole thing formant the
quoted story of the destruction of the
aroundandsetouttoprovethattheseverycivilisa- Towerof Babel. In his interpretation, thistalere-
tionswerein factYezidis.The notionthatYezidis ferredto thefactthatoriginally all thesepeople
arethe"originalKurds,"in otherwordsall Kurds wereofthesamereligion, thatis,theyworshipped
haveoncebeenYezidis,hasforsometimeenjoyed God andGod alone,butthentheyweredispersed
popularity notonlyamongYezidisbut- sincethe andlosttheiroriginalfaith.In thiswayan ancient
foundation oftheKurdishAutonomy in 1991and mythcombinedwithmodernhistoriography leads
theneedforconstructing a nationalmyth - among to thebirthofa newmyth. The storyoftheTower
SunniKurdsas well(Allison2001:38, 41).21But of Babel, adaptedfromone of the Semiticreli-
somerootsearching Yezidisareno longercontent gions,is notrejectedbutretoldin a different way.
withthisandhavelatelytriedtolayclaimtomore Withtimeand thearrivalof theSemipeopleand
"originality." theSemiticreligions, thenumber ofYezidiAryans
One exampleof Yezidishavingprovidedother dwindledand today'sKurdishYezidis are their
religions withtheirmythology through theSumeri- onlydescendants. OtherAryans,who once peo-
anshasbeenmentioned above.Another one,rather pledIraq,Iran,Afghanistan, Caucasia,andEurope,
unsettling for Western ears, is that of Aryan(Art) have strayed from the of
path therighteous religion
ancestry. The notion of the Aryanancestry of the (i.e., a sentiment callingto mindtheviewIslam
Yezidis,orrather ofYezidifaithbeingtheoriginal takesonthe"Religions ofBook").He claimedthat
and unadulterated Aryanreligion, seems to have the name of these once gloriouspeoplessurvived
a
gained surprising popularity.22 I have heard fleet- among the tribe names of theYezidis,thusprov-
ing references to such ancestry several times (but ing that the Yezidis were in factthedescendants
ofthesegroups,whohaveonceplayedtheroleof
19 Zoroastrianshavealsobeenproposed ances- protagonists
as theputative at thedawnof ourculture.Thusthe
torsof theYezidisby earlyresearchers likeRev.Empson Reshkeof SinjarweretheAshak(??), theHorka
(1928). wereHorri,theHaweriwereHurin,theHaitwere
20 Yezidisare nottheonlyKurdishheterodox groupto seek
linkswithpre-Islamic cults.The Ahl-iHaqq of southern Mittani, and theSmokanwereSumerioriginally.
Kurdistan also "liketo emphasizetheendogenity of their Usingsimilaretymological reasoning, he pointed
cultureand spirituality,and minimisethe Arabo-Islamic to the"fact"thatSumerians useda lotof Kurdish
lore"thussecuringthemselvesa respectedspaceamongthe
Muslimbutnationalist
majority (During1998:111).
21 Itmustbe notedthatwhileYezidisintheSheikhan andthe 23 I don'tknowwhathissourceswere,though
Unfortunately,
Duhokare enthusiastically
embracing thisnotion,Sinjari I managedto ascertainthathe readYezidimagazineslike
Yezidisinsistthattheyare a peopleapart,and sincethe LalishandRoj.
falloftheSaddamregimehavemanagedto infuriate their 24 opinionsas to whotheFortyMen,or
Thereare different
brethrenbystubbornlyrefusingtobe labelledKurds. Chil Mer,to whoma highpeak in the Sinjaris conse-
22 I can onlyassumethatYezidisarenaivelyunawareof the crated,exactlywere.According to FeqirHaci theywere
negativeimagesthisword,andespecially casualreferences companions ofSheikhAdi,buttheBaba Sheikhalso spoke
to Germansas Aryans, conjureup in thosefamiliar with ofthemin connection of theFlood.See also Kreyenbroek
European history. (1995:lOOf.).

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402 EszterSpt

words,a further proofofthecommonorigin.Thus Conclusion

thenameofGilgamesh means"buffalo." Thename
ofIbrahim Xalil,thatis ofAbraham, a Yezidihim- To sumit all up,whilein thepastit was theoral
self,wasalsoKurdish, meaning the"brother ofall" way of transmitting tradition thatshapedYezidi
(birayhemi). and
religion gave it its peculiarcharacteristics, to-
Though in the course of myresearch, I heard the day one can witness the veryopposite. The sudden
mostcoherent andfullexposition ofthetheory of appearanceof literacy seemsto be reshaping not
Aryanancestry from Arab Xidir, such ideas were the
only way traditions are transmitted through the
presumably not all his own, but more likelythey vehicleof books and publications instead of the oral
formed a partofthecurrent literatureon theYezi- way,butalso theverycontent of thesetraditions
dis,forsimilaropinionswerevoicedby othersas themselves. Whilewe witnessa certain simplifica-
well in theSheikhan-Duhok region.Whilesome tionof Yezidilore,as manyvariants perceived as
contented themselves witha vague reference to "superfluous" areeventually rejectedandthesame
theirAryandescentand theirGermanrelatives, happenstothosemyths thatwouldbe perceived as
othersalso spokeof theMittanis, Hurrians, and ridiculous orunfit tomodern, "scientificthinking,"
so on. Duringa debateon thequestionof mixed newelements aretaking their place.Theseelements
marriages, the factthata Mittanikinggave his areusually the result of "research" on Yezidisand
in
daughter marriage to the Pharaoh of Egypt was firstappear in some publications to become
then
mentioned as a proofthatYezidishad notalways a partoftheYezidilore.Theyaimat constructing
been opposedto marriagewithnon-Yezidis.An (orreconstructing) Yezidihistory andproviding the
articlepublished intheLalishmagazinedispensed Yezidiswitha "modern andscientific" religion.
withtheAryanoriginsbutrepeatedtheKurdish The "modernisation" or "rewriting" of Yezidi
etymology of Ibrahim's name,trying to link the religiouslore can offer us a glimpse onlyofthe
not
an sun
patriarch, alleged worshipper, to the Yezidis, futurebut of the past of the Yezidireligion as well.
ancient sunworshippers. Thisis notthefirst timeinhistory thattheYezidis
Such academicrootsearchingcan eventually cameto be influenced by "theoutsideworld."As
becomea partof everyday religiousconscious- researchers have pointedout,thereare countless
ness.TheideathatChristians wereoriginally Yez- motifs intheirmythology andreligious poetry that
idisseemstohavegainedquitecurrency, no doubt can be tracedto thereligions thatsucceededeach
partlyduetothetraditional goodrelations between otherin theregion.25 It is certainthattheoutside
thetwominorities. An evenmoretellingexample influence hasneverbeenas penetrating as itis now
is thetheory thatYezidismoriginally was a form intheageofmass-communication. Butwe canstill
of sunworship- a verypopulartheory if one is assumethatwhatwe witnesstodaymayserveas a
to go by the content of Lalish magazine.So, for modelforhoworalreligions inthepastmanaged to
the
example, guardian of a shrine in Xanke, Sheikh and
incorporate adapt numerous motifs from other
Dosti,explainedmethatBayazidBastami,a well- religions.
knownSufisaintof the9thcentury, was a Yezidi Thesedayswe can watchthemythmaking pro-
and a Shemseni.The so-calledShemsenisheikhs cess in an accelerated way.Abovewe have seen
tracetheirlineageto SheikhShems,a companion severalinstances ofhowcertain newelements can
ofSheikhAdi,wholivedmuchlaterthanBayazid becomeincorporated intoYezidi mythology and
Bastami.According toSheikhDosti'sexplanation,retoldas partof themythitself.The idea thatthe
however, thetribeoftheShemsenis is infactmuch xirqe,orsacredshirt, symbolizes thedarkness sur-
older,becauseitmeans"sunworshippers." In other rounding the originalPearl is mentioned not as
words,itrefers totheYezidiswhoweretheancient a possibleexplanation of a motif(takenfroma
sunworshippers oftheregion.Thoughvestigesof learnedarticle)but as partof thetradition. The
sunworship can indeedbe foundintheYezidibe- destruction of theTowerof Babel is now retold
liefsystem, itis unlikely thata Yezidi,saya hun- as theendoftheprimeval monotheism, originally
dredyearsago,wouldhaveputthings quiteinthis confessed byall Aryans. TheconceptoftheYezidis
way.At least,thereis nothing in theaccountsof beingsunworshippers is apparently on itswayto
past travellers to imply this. The notion of Shem- become a popularmotif, and the same is trueabout
senisas ancientsunworshippers clearly shows an notions that Sheikh Adi's advent marked a new
external that
influence, is, how non- Yezidi writings stage in thehistory of Yezidi and
religion mythol-
on theoriginsofYezidiseventually cometo influ- ogy.Manyotherexamplescouldbe mentioned.
encetheself-perception oftheYezidis,which- in
itsturn- reflects ontheretelling ofthemythology.25 Kreyenbroek 1992,1995:45-67; Spt2002.

103.2008
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 OralTradition
Religious andLiteracy
amongtheYezidisofIraq 403

While thesemotifswereprobablyoriginallyof- YezdTribesofKurdistan. (Witha Commentary byRix-

feredas explanationsor theories,theyare no longer hardCarnacTemple.)London:H. F. andG. Witherby.
seen as mere hypotheses,attemptsat interpreting Field,Henry
the mythology, or mythicalhistoryof the Yezidis, 1975 Foreword. In: S. S. Ahmed;pp.v-x.
but now show all the characteristics of becoming
Guest,John
an integralpartof the mythology. They are being 1993 SurvivalamongtheKurds.A Historyof theYezidis.
recountedin exactlythesame way as, say,themyth London:KeganPaulInternational.
of Shehid bin Jerror the storyof a xas - a holy
Henige,DavidP.
beingconnectedwithsome sacredplace. 1974 TheChronology ofOralTradition. Questfora Chimera.
It is notunreasonableto assumethattheprocess Oxford:Clarendon Press.
of adoptingnew motifsand creatingnew myths,
PhilipG.
or rathermodifyingolder mythsand mythology Kreyenbroek,
1992 Mithraand Ahreman, Binyaminand Melek Twus.
accordingto new ideas and conceptscomingfrom Tracesofan Ancient MythintheCosmogonies ofTwo
outside,is not altogetherdifferent fromwhat had Modern Sects.In:P.Gignoux Patterns
(ed.),Recurrent in
IranianReligion. From Mazdaismus to Sufism;pp.57-
happenedin earliercenturies,even ifthevehicleof destudesIra-
transmission - writing- is a new one. 79.Paris:Association pourl'Avancement
niennes. (StudiaIranica,11)
1995 Yezidism.Its Background, and Textual
Observances,
Tradition. TheEdwinMellenPress.
Lewiston:
Thisarticlewas first
writtenfora lectureI was invited
to giveat theKurdish ofParis.I wouldliketo Kreyenbroek,
Institute PhilipG., andKhalilJindyRashow
thanktheKurdishInstitute foritsgeneroussupport of 2005 God and SheikhAdi Are Perfect.SacredPoemsand
myresearch. ReligiousNarratives
from Wiesba-
theYezidiTradition.
den:OttoHarrasowitz.
(Iranica,
9)
Lescot,Roger
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