From sacred earth to magic squares: emerging literacy and creating Yezidi amulets in Iraq
Spät E (2024)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2024
Journal
DOI: 10.1080/13530194.2024.2443922
Abstract
Amulets have long been an integral part of the religious landscape of the Middle East. They attest not only to the antiquity and endurance of the belief in objects possessing the supernatural ability to protect (or harm) but also to the contacts between different religious groups and their complex impact on each other. One arresting example of how different religious traditions may influence one another and create new, hybrid forms is the recent appearance of amulets with inscriptions among the Yezidis of Northern Iraq. Based on extensive field research in Northern Iraq, the author argues that the emergence of written Yezidi amulets, the methods of their creations and the market for them bear witness to the phenomenon of religious crossover between the different religious communities, especially between Yezidis and Muslims, despite the often tense social relations between the two groups. Written charms also provide an insight into how the emergence of school-based literacy and the transformation from oral to bookish are reflected in the changing religio-magical customs of Yezidis.
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APA:
Spät, E. (2024). From sacred earth to magic squares: emerging literacy and creating Yezidi amulets in Iraq. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2024.2443922
MLA:
Spät, Eszter. "From sacred earth to magic squares: emerging literacy and creating Yezidi amulets in Iraq." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (2024).
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