The black book of yezidis

Some yezidi mythology has been translated into english and other languages. The black book seems very clear that it was melek, or satan, that created the cosmos. Sacred books and traditions of the yezidiz, by isya joseph, at sacredtexts. The book has a informative introduction detailing the history and of the meshaf resh and some background on the yezidis. The yezidis have a distinctive religious system, the origins of which remain unclear. Kitab eljelwa the book of revelation, the most sacred book in the yezidi religion, and the meshef resh kurdish words meaning the black book. The history of a community, culture, and religion by birgul acikyildiz heir of the forgotten kingdom by gerard. Asatrian, victoria arakelova based in iraq, syria and turkey, the yezidi people claim their religion a unique combination of christian, islamic, and historical faiths to be the oldest in the world. Two short books, kitab aljilwah book of revelation and maafrash black book, form the sacred scriptures of the yazidis. However, the black book contains more of the creation and history stories of yezidism. Devil worship, the sacred books and traditions of the yezidiz. He placed the white pearl on the back of the bird, and dwelt on it for forty thousand years.

Refer to some of the linked websites at the end of this article. It is primarily from the black book that we will explore some of the mythology. Suddenly the valley filled with yezidis fleeing their villages in the surrounding plains. In the meshefe re, the yezidis black book, there is one passage that describes the seven great angels and associates their creation with the seven days of creation. It should be kept in mind that, when this book was written, the gnostics were virtually. Mishefa re is allegedly one of the two holy books of the yazidi religion, the other being the book of revelation kiteba cilwe. Sacred books and traditions of the yezidiz index sacred texts. The last one contains the yezidi account of the creation of the.

May 06, 2015 their body of religious literature mainly consists of the qewls which are sacred hymns in the kurmanji language and are chanted during religious occasions and festivals, and two holy books, the kitab aldjilwa, or the book of revelation and the mashafrash, or the black book. The book of revelation and black book remain, however, the most prominent texts associated with the socalled devil worshipers of mesopotamia. The black book of the yezidis by jon lange, paperback. Aug 11, 2014 the rise of islamic fundamentalism more broadly has pushed thousands of yazidis to seek asylum in europe. The black book, which perhaps dates from the thirteenth century, is larger than the book of revelation, but is not divided into chapters. Kitab al jilwah, the book of illumination meshaf res, the black book of creation hymns. Devil worship josephintroduction wikisource, the free. Yezidis people armenia travel, history, archeology. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Since then it has garnered much critical attention by ethnologists and theologians, receiving condemnation in some quarters as a fake, and in others a nod of approval as being possibly the only legitimate text along with the book of the revelation that gives some insight into these remarkable people and their. One yezidi has declared to me that all yezidis are kurds. During the visit to iraq and to yezidi holy sites, they also purchased some necessary items to help the custodian of.

The jews, christians, persian, egyptians all have their seven angels and creators. Since then it has garnered much critical attention by ethnologists and theologians, receiving condemnation in some quarters as a fake, and in others a nod of approval as being possibly the only legitimate text along with the book of the revelation that gives some insight into these remarkable people and their beliefs. Aug 22, 2010 high quality content by wikipedia articles. And none has a right to interfere with my management of affairs. According to some estimates, 70,000 people, or about 15% of the yazidi population in iraq. The book deploys other selfstyled experts but all are new age personalities. Now the sons of adam do not know the state of things that is to come. The two alleged yazidi holy books translated below are in fact forgeries, produced at an uncertain date by outsiders, incorporating genuine yazidi material but mixed in with outside elements. Score a books total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. After that he created a ship in which he rode thirty thousand years. Since the fall of 2014, the atrocities of isis islamic state of iraq and syria committed in iraq and syria came into light, the world learned that thousands of innocent yezidis were slaughtered. The yezidis are strictly forbidden to marry outside the yezidi, and must marry within their caste. The history of a community, culture and religion library of modern religion by birgul acikyildiz isbn.

This has been compiled into what is known as the black book. The yazidi book of revelation is one of two books on the yazidi religion written in the style of a holy book in the kurmanji dialect of the kurdish language, the. In the months since its rise, the sunniidentified islamic state has gone after many religious and ethnic minorities in iraq and. The yazidi book of revelation kiteba cilwe in kurdish. Yezidis believe the black book originated when the lord descended. They believe one of their holy books, the black book, was stolen by the british in colonial times and is being kept somewhere in london. The yazidi holy books are written in the kurmanji dialect of the kurdish language. Jun 03, 2017 the black book of the yezidis was first published in english over 120 years ago. Oct 24, 2019 in the first, the compiler indicates the sources of his information and gives a sketch of the life of sei. They are taught it as children by their fathers, and teach it to their own sons in their turn. The yazidi religious centre and object of the annual pilgrimage is the tomb of sheikh.

Isis tried to wipe out the yezidis because it believes them to be infidels. Their plight and sufferings are too gruesome to describe. God finishes his work in seven dayssunday to saturday. The black book of the yezidis by lange, jon and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The black book of the yezidis edited with an introduction by j. The yezidis also spelled yazidis may not show up on a peoples list, because they are a religious sect. Instead they have memorizers like khalid who have passed down the religion by singing hymns and telling stories. Yezidis light candles and paraffin torches during a ceremony to celebrate the new year in dohuk province, iraq, in 2017. The yezidis are divided into the laity, or murid, and the priesthood, orruhan, comprising the higher clergy the emir, the sheikhs, and the pir and the lower clergy the kawwale and thekochak. Isis had rounded up and murdered a thousand yezidis in the space of a few days. Khalid agreed to talk about august 2014, when the black flags came. The sacred books comprise kitab aljilwah book of revelation, and maaf res black bookso named because in it mention is made of the descent of the lord upon the black mountain p. Yezidis international works to preserve the yezidi heritage.

The revelation mainly consists of god speaking to the yezidi about who he is and who they are in relation to him. The manuscripts of both books were published in 1911 and 19 were forgeries written by non yezidis in response to western travelers and scholars interest in the yazidi religion. The old yezidi man informed me that although the black book is kept secret so it cannot be defamed, he would like to translate it into english. Yezidis article about yezidis by the free dictionary. Their body of religious literature mainly consists of the qewls which are sacred hymns in the kurmanji language and are chanted during religious occasions and festivals, and two holy books, the kitab aldjilwa, or the book of revelation and the mashafrash, or the black book. In many respects, their views on creation, and the notion that the physical world is the province of a demiurge or secondtier deity, are quite similar to many strands of gnosticism. Yezidi theology, oral tradition, rituals, and rites of passage. Their religious worship is distinctive in that they have no churches.

According to the rules of the caliphate, even jews earn protections as a people of the book, but the yezidis have no book. Yezidi mythology creation, floods, and a large black snake. These sanjaks are given to four nilwah by contract. The sacred books comprise kitab aljilwah book of revelation, and maaf res black bookso named because in it mention made of the descent of p. Then the great lord, melek taus, said to the angels, i want to create adam and eve and make them give rise to mankind.

Mar, 2010 i believe that the accounts of creation differ somewhat between the black book and the book of illumination. The first half of the book contains some of their creation mythology and other stories. Kitab aljilwah book of revelation, and maaf res black bookso named because in it mention made of the descent of the lord upon the black mountain p. Mashaf res the black book mashaf res the black book appendix to part i the poem in praise of sei. The yazidi black book is one of two books written in the style of a holy book of the yazidis in northern kurdish, the other being the yazidi book of revelation. Book of revelation yezidi holy books devil worship. Nonfiction, memoir and fiction about the yazidi yezidi, ezidi people. Yazidis on the mountain of regions with significant populations iraq 650,000, germany armenia 35,272, georgia denmark 500, yazidi book of revelation yazidi black book the yazidis also yazidi, ezidi, yazdani community whose syncretic but ancient religion yazidism a kind of zoroastrianism and ancient mesop. Overall, one would expect that as literacy continues to rise in the yazidi world, the black book and the book of revelation whatever their translation will become more solidified as the most valued resource for a true account of yazidi beliefs. Yezidis believe the black book originated when the lord descended black mountain. The ones i know of are mostly kurds, but there are yezidis of other ethnicities also, according to various sources. Since then it has garnered much critical attention by ethnologists and theologians, receiving condemnation in some quarters as a fake, and in others a nod of approval as being possibly the only legitimate text along. Translations of two yezidis texts, the black book and the book of the revelation, with notes. This specific work covers the black book of the yezidis meshaf resh.

The book also has many notes, a extensive bibliography for further study, and a reproduction of the original arabic manuscript witten in the 1800s. Since then it has garnered much critical attention by ethnologists and theologians, receiving condemnation in some quarters as a fake, and in others a nod. The religion is rather difficult to study closely, and the translations of texts are not entirely complete, as the yezidi practitioners are understandably cautious about outsiders. The yezidi believe that after mans creation, god ordered the angels to pray for adam, but that one angel refused there is a similar belief in islam. Scholars have discerned elements resembling those of the manichaean, zoroastrian, mandaean gnostic, jewish, christian especially nestorian, and muslim especially sufi traditions, but there is no evidence that the yezidi religion represents an offshoot of any one of them. Mashaf res the black book in the beginning god created the white pearl out of his most precious essence.

The black book of the yezidis was first published in english. This book focusses mainly on the culture and history of yezidis. Yezidi religious beliefs upon closer examination appear to be a mixture of gnostic cosmology with. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by nonyazidis in the 19th century and then were passed off as ancient manuscripts but that their contents do. The black book of the yezidis was first published in english over 120 years ago. Yezidis known as talkers can recite the entire lost book from memory. Yezidi black book of melek taus from mardukite necronomicon anunnaki bible posted by nexg3n on august 14, 2014 posted in. Mashaf res the black book internet sacred text archive. Aug 29, 2014 posts about yezidi black book written by nexg3n. It is now widely suspected that both volumes were compiled by nonyazidis. The majority of yazidis remaining in the middle east today live in iraq, primarily in the nineveh and dohuk governorates. It is claimed that the original text of the book of revelation is kept in the yazidi village of baidn and. The yazidi book of revelation is one of two books on the yazidi religion written in the style of a holy book in the kurmanji dialect of the northern kurdish language, the other being the.

Our members interviewed prominent yezidi scholars and collected information that will later be published in a book as part of the our preservation of heritage project. The yezidis sometimes use the name ankar for satan and the name angarmanyu for ahriman in zoroastrianism. Yezidi yazidi, an unbroken unique gene of middle eastern people extending directly back to ancient presemitic sumerian mardukites, practicing a tradition of modern zoroastrian yazdanism derived from the monoltry monotheism to marduk of babylon observed as melek taus or shaitan shaytan, have been threatened with genocide in iraq by the. Because their religion venerates a peacock angel whose mythology is similar to that of iblis, the islamic satan, outside observers have long accused the yazidis of. Adi the principal prayer of the yezidis seven classes of yezidis articles of faith notes on part i part ii.