Diyarbakir (Amed): Ancient Amida, Capital of Bakur
Diyarbakir (Amed), ancient Amida behind its black basalt walls, is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey and the de facto capital of Bakur.
Read article →Kurdish History Journal
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Hasankeyf (Heskîf): The Drowned City on the Tigris
Hasankeyf (Heskîf), a 12,000-year-old town on the Tigris and seat of the last Kurdish Ayyubids, was submerged by Turkey's Ilısu Dam in 2020.
Read article →Erbil (Hewlêr): The Ancient Capital of Kurdistan
Erbil (Hewlêr), capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is among the world's oldest cities — from ancient Arbela and its citadel to the 2017 referendum.
Read article →Charsema Sor: The Yazidi New Year and the Day of Creation
Charsema Sor, the Yazidi New Year: Red Wednesday, the spring festival marking the completion of creation and the descent of Tawuse Melek to bless the earth with life and fertility.
Read article →Kurdish Alevism and the Reya Heqi: The Path of Truth
Kurdish Alevism and the Reya Heqi, the Path of Truth: the distinctive faith of the Kurdish Alevis, with its sacred sites, the cem ceremony, and its kinship with the other native Kurdish religions.
Read article →Sacred Trees in Kurdish Belief: The Wishing Tree and the Holy Grove
Sacred trees in Kurdish belief: the deep reverence for holy trees as dwelling-places of spirits and bringers of blessing, from the wishing-tree hung with cloths to the sacred groves of the Kurdish world.
Read article →Sacred Water and Springs in Kurdish Belief: The Holy Source of Life
Sacred water and springs in Kurdish belief: the deep reverence for water, holy springs, and the life-giving source, from the spring-guardians of folk-belief to the holy springs of the living faiths.
Read article →Sacred Fire in Kurdish Belief: Light, Purity, and the Flame of Freedom
Sacred fire in Kurdish belief: the deep reverence for fire as a symbol of light, purity, and freedom, from ancient Iranic roots through the Newroz bonfire to the living faiths.
Read article →The Yarsani Creation Story: The Pearl, the Lord God, and the Seven Epochs
The Yarsani creation story: how the Divine Truth, dwelling in a Pearl in pre-eternity, came forth as the Lord God Khawandagar to make the world and form the Holy Seven, in the cosmogony of the Yarsani faith.
Read article →Sacred Mountains in Kurdish Belief: Dwelling of Spirits, Refuge of the Free
Sacred mountains in Kurdish belief: the deep reverence for the mountains of Kurdistan as the dwelling of spirits, the refuge of the free, and symbols of strength and the sacred.
Read article →The Yazidi Creation Story: The Pearl and the Making of the World
The Yazidi creation story: how the one God formed the world from a primordial Pearl, called forth the Seven Holy Beings, and entrusted the world to them, in the sacred cosmogony of the Yazidi faith.
Read article →The Yazidi Xudans: The Holy Guardians of Nature and Daily Life
The Yazidi Xudans: the holy guardians of the Yazidi faith, part of the one God's power, who watch over the elements of nature and the needs of daily life, from the herds to healing.
Read article →Kecelok: The Clever Bald Boy of Kurdish Folktales
Kecelok in Kurdish folktales: the bald-headed boy hero, the poor and overlooked underdog who triumphs through cleverness, courage, and luck, the Kurdish form of a beloved regional folk-hero.
Read article →Meme Alan: The Oral Epic Behind Mem and Zin
Meme Alan in Kurdish tradition: the great oral folk-epic of Mem and Zin, sung by the dengbej for centuries, the legend from which the poet Ahmed-i Khani drew his written masterpiece.
Read article →Cembeli: The Prince of Hekkari Who Became a Shepherd for Love
Cembeli in Kurdish legend: the prince of Hekkari who, for love of the beautiful Binevsa Narin, gave up his palace to herd flocks on the high pastures; one of the great Kurdish epics.
Read article →Siyabend and Xece: The Tragic Love-Epic of the Mountains
Siyabend and Xece (Khej u Siyabend): one of the great Kurdish epics, the tragic love-story of an outcast youth and the woman he loved, ending in sorrow on Mount Sipan.
Read article →Zembilfirosh: The Prince Who Became a Basket-Seller
Zembilfirosh in Kurdish legend: the prince who renounced his palace to live as a humble basket-seller and dervish, and the famous tale of the temptation he faithfully resisted.
Read article →Pir Shalyar: The Ancient Saint of Hawraman
Pir Shalyar, the ancient saint and mystic of Hawraman: the legendary healer of the Kurdish Zagros whose miraculous cure of a princess is remembered in one of the oldest surviving Kurdish ceremonies.
Read article →Xidir Nabi: The Immortal Green Man of Kurdish Folk-Belief
Xidir Nabi (Khidr) in Kurdish folk-belief: the immortal green man of the springs and waters, an ever-living helper-spirit who appears to grant wishes, revered across the Kurdish faiths.
Read article →The Legend of Solomon and the Jinn: A Mythic Origin of the Kurds
The legend of Solomon and the jinn: an old mythic tale, recorded by medieval writers, of the origin of the Kurds in the mountains, told as folklore and legend, not history.
Read article →The Peri: The Fairy Spirits of Kurdish and Iranic Folklore
The Peri in Kurdish and Iranic folklore: the beautiful winged spirit-beings of the old Iranic tradition, fairy-like spirits of nature, distinct from the jinn and the demonic divs.
Read article →The Divine Manifestations of the Yarsani Faith
The divine manifestations in Yarsani tradition: the doctrine that the one Divine Essence reveals itself in the world through successive avatars across the ages, with Sultan Sahak supreme.
Read article →The Khandans: The Sacred Spiritual Houses of the Yarsani Faith
The Khandans in Yarsani tradition: the eleven sacred spiritual houses of the Ahl-e Haqq, the hereditary lineages descending from the holy beings, each led by a Sayyid.
Read article →The Haftan: The Seven Holy Companions of the Yarsani Faith
The Haftan in Yarsani tradition: the higher heptad of seven holy companions of Sultan Sahak, the divine beings closest to the manifestation of the divine, led by Pir Benyamin.
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