Khanna Omarkhali

Contents
Lists of Maps, Tables, Diagrams and Illustrations ............................ 1
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ 3
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 5
Notes on Transcription ............................................................................................. 9
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 13
Maps ..................................................................................................................................... 31
1 The Yezidi Settlements in Iraq ....................................................... 33
2 Population Density of Yezidis in Armenia ............................... 34
3 The Yezidi Settlements in Armenia ............................................... 35
4 The Yezidi Settlements in Russia ................................................... 36
Part I
I. Yezidi Religious Written Texts: Sacred Scripture(s), Handwritten Collections and Manuscripts .................. 39
1 Spurious Yezidi Written Sacred Texts: Jilwa and Mashaja Ras .... 43
1.1 History of the finding, publication and investigation of two‘Sacred Books’ ........................................................ 43
1.2 Authorship, date of composition and authenticity of the Yezidi ‘Sacred Books’ ........................................... 48
1.3 Content of the Jilwa and Mashaja Ras ............... 53
2 Yezidi Handwritten Collections, Sacred Manuscripts and Catechisms ...................................................................................... 55
2.1 Yezidi handwritten collections .............................. 55
2.2 The Yezidi catechism .............................................. 56
2.3 Sacred manuscripts - mişûrs ..................................
3 Incantation Manuscripts and Magic Bowls ............................................ 67
3.1 Incantation manuscript: Mişûr of Reş Belek ........................... 67
3.2 Incantation bowls - tas ................................................................ 70
II. Yezidi Religious Oral Poetic Texts: General Characteristics and Different Categories .......................... 77
1 Yezidi Religious Oral Poetic Texts: General Characteristics . 79
1.1 History of the study ...................................................................... 79
1.2 General characteristics ................................................................ 84
2 Different Categories of Yezidi Oral Religious Poetic Literature .... 2.1 Qewl ............................................................................................ 98
2.2 Beyt .............................................................................................. 104
2.3 Qesîde .......................................................................................... 104
2.4 Prayers: Du \'a and Diroz(g)e ...................................................... 105
2.5 Pişt Perde and other categories ............................................... 108
III. Aspects of Yezidi Mythology: On the Çîrok Tradition . Ill
1 Yezidi Myths of Cosmogony and Cosmology ............ 114
1.1 An ‘orthodox’ myth of Creation according to the Yezidi hymns ............................................................. 115
1.2
Yezidis’ conception of the axis mundi and cosmic model ... 118
1.3 Transformation of chaos into cosmos ....................................... 123
2 Yezidi Anthropogonical Myths ..................................... 128
2.1 The refusal of the earth that was to form Adam’s body to assume that shape ........................................................... 128
2.2 ‘A horse on the wave of the water’: demonic creatures ....... 131
2.3 Refusal of the soul to enter the body of Adam ....................... 132
IV. Teaching and Learning Practices: Training of an Expert in Yezidi Religious Oral Tradition and Performance ....... 137
1 Learning to be a Master of Yezidi Oral Religious Tradition . 139
1.1 The role of the family ................................................................. 143
1.2 The role of the ode and gatherings for events ......................... 145
1.3 Teacher and pupil: the role of a religious preceptor ............. 146
1.4 ‘Which level have you achieved?’: a hierarchy of religious knowledge ........................................................ 153
1.5 Qewals as ‘professional reciters’ ................................................ 153
1.6 The role of women in the transmission of religious knowledge ........................................................................... 15g
2 Performance, Audience and the Traditional Ways of Recitation .......................................................................................... 161
2.1 Types of performance ............................................ 161
2.2 Performance ................................................................ 166
2.3 Reciter of religious texts and the audience ........ 169
2.4 Continuous recitation and‘adding style’ ........... 172
V. On the Memorisation and Transmission of the Yezidi Religious Oral Texts: On the Question of Variation, Change and Stability ..................................................................... 177
1 Ways of Memorisation .................................................................... 178
1.1 Methods of memorisation ....................................... 178
1.2 Some remarks on the concept of a ‘text’: ‘fixed’ vs. ‘original’ ............................................................................ 182
2 Variation, Change and Stability .................................................... 186
2.1 Comparative study of the poetic text variants .......................... 188
2.2 Discrepancies between variants of the religious poetic texts .............................................................................. 244
VI. Trends towards a Written Canon: Discussions and Concerns ............................................................ 255
1 Scripturalisation of the Yezidi Oral Sacred Texts ................... 258
1.1
From oral to written and technologically mediated tradition 259
1.2 Influence of scripturalisation on the Yezidi oral religious tradition .................................................................................... 266
2 Changes in Religious Authority ..................................................... 273
3
Community Discourse on the Question of a Written Canon .... 278
3.1 The Yezidis’discourse on a Canon ...................... 281
3.2 Questions connected with the formation of a Canon . 286
Excursus
I. Samples of Yezidi Religious Oral Poetic Compositions ......... 297
1 The Hymn of the Lord - Qewlê Padi^a ....................................... 298
2 The Hymn of the Weak Broken One - Qewlê Zebûnî Meksûr . 305
3 The Hymn \'Behind the Veil\' - Qewlê Pişt Perde .................... 316
4 Ihe Beyl -Beyta Heyî Male .............................................. 321
5 The Beyt of Sheikh Şems or the Beyl of the Morning - Beyta Şêşinis or Beyta Sibê ......................................................................... 324
6 The Dirozge of Sheikh Şems - Dirozga Şêxşims ............................. 334
7 The Declaration of the Faith - Şehdetiya Din .................................... 366
Variant 1.................................................................................................. 366
Variant II................................................................................................ 369
8 The Prayer to the Dewrêş of the Earth - Du \'ayê Dewrêşê \'Erd 370
Variant 1................................................................................................. 371
Variant II............................................................................................... 371
9 The Prayer of Washing One’s Face - Du \'a Çevşûştinê ....... 372
10 The Prayer of the Moon - Du \'a Hive .......................................... 372
11 The Prayer of Tawûsî Melek - Du \'aya Tawils i Me lek ..... 373
12 The Qeside of Pîr Kemal - Qesida Pîrê Kemal ...................... 374
Variant 1................................................................................................. 374
Variant II............................................................................................... 375
13 The Qeside of Sheikh Babik - Qesîda Şêx Babik ................... 375
II. Sample of a Yezidi Written Religious Manuscri pt ......... 377
1 The Mishur of Pir Khatib PisT ibn PTr Bûtar: Arabic Text and English Translation ................................................ 377
1.1 The beginning of the manuscript ......................... 378
1.2 The list of the forty of Sheikh \'Adi b. Musafir .. 380
1.3 The list ofthe forty of Sheikh Hasan ...................... 381
1.4 The ‘witnesses’ of the Mishur and the taxation list . 382
1.5 The Qasida of Sheikh ’ Adi ................................... 385
1.6 The page with the seals ......................................... 388
1.7 ‘Appendix’ to the manuscript: the family tree .. 388
2 The Mishur of PTr Khatib Pisi ibn Pir Butar: The Original Manuscript ................................................................... 391
III. Comparison of Some Myths ............................................................... 399
1 Comparison of the Myth Recorded in Different Local Traditions in a Diachronic Sample ...................................................................... 399
2 Comparison of the Myth Narrated by the Same Expert ...... 403
Part II
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 409
List of Yezidi Religious Oral Texts .............................................................. 411
a. Poetic ...................................................................................................... 411
Qewl ........................................................................................................... 411
Beyt ............................................................................................................ 473
Du \'a ........................................................................................................... 485
Qesîde ....................................................................................................... 510
Sema ‘ ......................................................................................................... 517
Lavij ........................................................................................................... 519
Xizêmok ..................................................................................................... 519
Payîzok ...................................................................................................... 520
Robarin ..................................................................................................... 520
Xerîbo ........................................................................................................ 521
b. Prose ..................................................................................................... 522
Mishabet .................................................................................................... 522
Çîrok û Çîvanok ...................................................................................... 523
Das tan ........................................................................................................ 524
Survey of the Qewls, Their Status, Performance, Putative Authorship and Melody .......................................................................................... 527
Index of the Sources ................................................................................................. 545
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 551
List of Informants ...................................................................................................... 561
Lists of Yezidi Lineages and Tribes .................................................................. 567
1 A List of Yezidi Lineages and Tribes .......................................... 567
1.1 Sheikhs (Şêxanî) ........................................................ 567
1.2 Pîrs (Pîranî) ................................................................. 567
1.3 Minds (Miridxane) ..................................................... 569
2 Yezidi Tribes and Lineages in Iraq ........................................................ 570
2.1 InShingal ..................................................................................... 570
2.2 In Sheikhan ................................................................................. 571
Glossary of Terms ............................................................................................. 573
Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 579
CD Contents ........................................................................................................ 595
Indexes ................................................................................................................. 601
1 Index ofPoetic Religious Texts ..................................... 601
2 Index of Personal Names, Lineages ............................... 609
3 Index of Place-names ..................................................... 613
4 General Index ................................................................. 615