Kurdish culture
Encyclopedia
Kurdish culture is a group of distinctive cultural traits practiced by Kurdish people. The Kurdish culture is a legacy from ancient peoples who shaped modern Kurds
and their society.
Some aspects of Kurdish culture are close to that of other Iranian peoples
; for example all of them celebrate Newroz as the new year day, which is celebrated on March 21.
(çîrokbêj), minstrel
s (stranbêj) and bard
s (dengbêj). There was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings (şevbihêrk) is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre. Many songs and are epic
in nature, such as the popular Lawik's which are heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes of the past like Saladin
. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love. Lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed specifically in autumn.
Love songs, dance music, wedding and other celebratory songs (dîlok/narînk), erotic poetry and work song
s are also popular. Kurdish folklore is a very rich one. Kurds have their own national attire. The women usually wear colored dresses.These dresses differe from area to another area. One can tell from which province or city a certain lady is by looking at her dress. As to the men, they have the "shalûshepik" or "rengûchox" a sort of baggy trousers "shirwal" with an upper shirt. Round the belt they tie a long piece of cloth. The men also use "shashik" or "cemedanî" with a "claw" on their heads. Kurds love to dance and they have hundreds of folk-dances.The music usually have speedy tacts and high tuned. They mostly use the "zurna" (kind of flute) and "Dehol" (drum". While kurds also enjoy melancholic maqams or ballads that usually tells about events from the past. Many historians use these ballads as oral history passed through the generations.
is a group of traditional hand-holding dances similar to those from the Balkans
, Lebanon
, and to Iraq
. It is a form of round dancing, with a single or a couple of figure dancers often added to the geometrical centre of dancing circle.
According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Kurds sing and dance in all of their festivals, birthdays and marriage ceremonies. These folkloric dances are one of the main factors in distinguishing Kurds from neighbouring Muslim populations.
Kurdish dance has various and numerous versions such as following:
The traditional Kurdish Rug uses Kurdish symbols. It is possible to read the dreams, wishes and hopes of the rug maker from the sequence of symbols used. It is this signification and communication both individually and grouped into Kurdish rug making Kurdish people study how meaning is constructed and understood by talking with the rug maker.
Before the spread of Islam
in the 7th century CE, the majority of Kurds practised their indigenous religions, which today are referred to as Yazdanism
. Yazidism and Yarsan, which may have stemmed from and eventually replaced those religions, are still practised among the Kurds. Most Yazidis live in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the vicinity of Mosul
and Sinjar
. Yazidis are also found in Syria
, Armenia
, Turkey
, and Germany. Their holy book is "Mishefa Reş" (The Black Book). The Yarsan, or Ahl-e Haqq
, religion is practised in western Iran, primarily around Kermanshah
. There were also many Kurds who practised Zoroastrianism
.
Before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, a large part of the Kurdish population practised Christianity. Kurdish Christians can still be found in small numbers, especially in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdish
kingdom of Adiabene
, together with a large number of its Kurdish citizens, converted to Judaism
during the 1st century BC. Tanna’it Asenath Barzani
, who lived in Mosul
from 1590 to 1670 was among the very first Jewish women to carry an official title normally reserved for rabbi
nic scholars.
In the 7th century, Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and converted the majority of Kurds to Islam. The majority of Kurds today are Muslim
, belonging to the Shafi school of Sunni Islam, distinguishing them in the region, (and to a much lesser degree, the Hanafi
) Schools of Sunni Islam
. There is also a significant minority of Kurds that are Shia Muslims, primarily living in the Ilam
and Kermanshah
provinces of Iran
and Central Iraq ("Al-Fayliah" Kurds). The Alevi
s are another religious minority among the Kurds, mainly found in Turkey. There are also Kurdish Agnostics
.
Most Kurds have moderate tendencies toward religion. .
Legendary characters include:
through the mountains in the 4th century BC. However, there is evidence of more ancient settlements in the region of Kurdistan. The earliest known evidence of a unified and distinct culture (and possibly, ethnicity) by people inhabiting the Kurdish mountains dates back to the Halaf culture of 6000 BC to 5400 BC. This was followed by the spread of the Ubaidian culture, which was a foreign introduction from Mesopotamia
. In 1927, Ephraim Speiser discovered remains of ancient Halaf and Ubaid settlements in Tepe Gewre (Great Mound) 24 km northeast of Mosul
. These settlements date back to between the 5th and 2nd millennium B.C., and include 24 levels of civilizations including Halaf and Ubaid. This site includes an acropolis with monumental remains and fine architecture
.
In their own histories, they are proud to mention the Hurrian period in the mid third millennium BC
as the earliest well documented period. The 3rd millennium was the time of the Guti
and Hattians
. The 2nd
and 1st millennium BC
were the time of the Kassites
, Mitanni
, Mannai (Mannaeans
), Urartu
, and Mushku. All of these peoples shared a common identity and spoke one language or closely related languages or dialects. These groups are thought to have been non-Indo-Europeans, apart from the original Mitanni
leadership. Kurds consider themselves to be Indo-European
as well as descendants of the above groups. According to the Encyclopedia Kurdistanica, Kurds are the descendants of all those who have historically settled in Kurdistan, not of any one particular group. A people such as the Guti
(Kurti), Mede, Mard, Carduchi(Gordyaei), Adiabene
, Zila and Khaldi signify not the ancestor of the Kurds but only one ancestor. This heritage has been subject to injustices, neglect and repression, or has been eclipsed by other cultures. Important components of the original cultural heritage have disappeared or have been destroyed. There are numerous examples of how valuable or irreplaceable Kurdish physical heritage are endangered or destroyed, like the threat posed by the Illusi Dam in Turkey, where the oldest Kurdish city, Hasankeyf
, soon is to be covered by water.
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
and their society.
Some aspects of Kurdish culture are close to that of other Iranian peoples
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
; for example all of them celebrate Newroz as the new year day, which is celebrated on March 21.
Music
Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellersStorytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
(çîrokbêj), minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
s (stranbêj) and bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
s (dengbêj). There was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings (şevbihêrk) is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre. Many songs and are epic
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
in nature, such as the popular Lawik's which are heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes of the past like Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love. Lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed specifically in autumn.
Love songs, dance music, wedding and other celebratory songs (dîlok/narînk), erotic poetry and work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s are also popular. Kurdish folklore is a very rich one. Kurds have their own national attire. The women usually wear colored dresses.These dresses differe from area to another area. One can tell from which province or city a certain lady is by looking at her dress. As to the men, they have the "shalûshepik" or "rengûchox" a sort of baggy trousers "shirwal" with an upper shirt. Round the belt they tie a long piece of cloth. The men also use "shashik" or "cemedanî" with a "claw" on their heads. Kurds love to dance and they have hundreds of folk-dances.The music usually have speedy tacts and high tuned. They mostly use the "zurna" (kind of flute) and "Dehol" (drum". While kurds also enjoy melancholic maqams or ballads that usually tells about events from the past. Many historians use these ballads as oral history passed through the generations.
Dance
Kurdish danceKurdish dance
Kurdish dance is a group of traditional hand-holding dances similar to those from the Balkans, Lebanon and Eastern European countries. It is a form of round dancing, with a single or a couple of figure dancers often added to the geometrical centre of the dancing circle...
is a group of traditional hand-holding dances similar to those from the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, and to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. It is a form of round dancing, with a single or a couple of figure dancers often added to the geometrical centre of dancing circle.
According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Kurds sing and dance in all of their festivals, birthdays and marriage ceremonies. These folkloric dances are one of the main factors in distinguishing Kurds from neighbouring Muslim populations.
Kurdish dance has various and numerous versions such as following:
- Dilan
- Sepe
- Geryan
- Chapi
Rug
Kurdish rugs and carpets do use medallion patterns; however, far more popular are the all-over floral, Mina Khani motifs and the "jaff" geometric patterns. The beauty of Kurdish designs are enriched by high-chroma blues, greens, saffrons as well as terracotta and burnt orange hues made richer still by the lusturous wool used.The traditional Kurdish Rug uses Kurdish symbols. It is possible to read the dreams, wishes and hopes of the rug maker from the sequence of symbols used. It is this signification and communication both individually and grouped into Kurdish rug making Kurdish people study how meaning is constructed and understood by talking with the rug maker.
Religion
- Main articles: Cultural MuslimCultural MuslimCultural Muslims are religiously unobservant, agnostic or atheist individuals who still identify with the Muslim culture due to family background, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up....
, Yazidism, Yarsan, YazdanismYazdânismYazdânism is a neologism introduced by Mehrdad Izady in 1992 to denote a group of native Kurdish monotheistic religions: Alevism, Yarsan and Yazidism....
, Kurdish JewsKurdish JewsKurdish Jews or Kurdistani Jews are the ancient Eastern Jewish communities, inhabiting the region known as Kurdistan in northern Mesopotamia, roughly covering parts of Iran, northern Iraq, Syria and eastern Turkey. Their clothing and culture is similar to neighbouring Kurdish Muslims and Christian...
, Kurdish ChristiansKurdish ChristiansKurdish Christians are Kurds who follow Christianity and mostly live in the Kurdistan region. The word is derived from the Greek words and . The Arabic word is also sometimes used. Kurdish Christians should not be confused with other historical Christian communities living in the area such as...
Before the spread of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the 7th century CE, the majority of Kurds practised their indigenous religions, which today are referred to as Yazdanism
Yazdânism
Yazdânism is a neologism introduced by Mehrdad Izady in 1992 to denote a group of native Kurdish monotheistic religions: Alevism, Yarsan and Yazidism....
. Yazidism and Yarsan, which may have stemmed from and eventually replaced those religions, are still practised among the Kurds. Most Yazidis live in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the vicinity of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
and Sinjar
Sinjar
Sinjar is the name of a town and district in northwestern Iraq's Ninawa Governorate near the Syrian border. Its population at the time of the 2006 census was 39,875....
. Yazidis are also found in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and Germany. Their holy book is "Mishefa Reş" (The Black Book). The Yarsan, or Ahl-e Haqq
Ahl-e Haqq
The Ahl-e Haqq or Yârsân , are members of a religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of members is estimated at around 1,000,000, primarily found in western Iran and Iraq, mostly ethnic Kurds and Laks, though there are also smaller groups of Luri,...
, religion is practised in western Iran, primarily around Kermanshah
Kermanshah
Kermanshah is a city in and the capital of Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 784,602, in 198,117 families.The overwhelming majority of Kermanshahi people are Shi'a Muslims...
. There were also many Kurds who practised Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
.
Before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, a large part of the Kurdish population practised Christianity. Kurdish Christians can still be found in small numbers, especially in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdish
History of the Kurds
The Kurds are an ethnic group who have historically inhabited the mountainous areas to the south of Caucasus , a geographical area collectively referred to as Kurdistan...
kingdom of Adiabene
Adiabene
Adiabene was an ancient Assyrian independent kingdom in Mesopotamia, with its capital at Arbela...
, together with a large number of its Kurdish citizens, converted to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
during the 1st century BC. Tanna’it Asenath Barzani
Asenath Barzani
Tanna’it Asenath Barzani was a renowned Kurdish Jewish woman who lived in Mosul, Iraq. She was the daughter of the illustrious Rabbi Samuel Barzani. She studied Kabbalah.-The life of Tanna’it Asenath:...
, who lived in Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
from 1590 to 1670 was among the very first Jewish women to carry an official title normally reserved for rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
nic scholars.
In the 7th century, Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and converted the majority of Kurds to Islam. The majority of Kurds today are Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, belonging to the Shafi school of Sunni Islam, distinguishing them in the region, (and to a much lesser degree, the Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
) Schools of Sunni Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. There is also a significant minority of Kurds that are Shia Muslims, primarily living in the Ilam
Ilam Province
Ilam Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Iraq. Its provincial center is the city of Ilam. Covering an area of 19,086 square kilometers, the cities of the province are Ilam, Mehran, Dehloran, Dareh Shahr, Sarable, Eyvan, Abdanan and Arkwaz...
and Kermanshah
Kermanshah
Kermanshah is a city in and the capital of Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 784,602, in 198,117 families.The overwhelming majority of Kermanshahi people are Shi'a Muslims...
provinces of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Central Iraq ("Al-Fayliah" Kurds). The Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
s are another religious minority among the Kurds, mainly found in Turkey. There are also Kurdish Agnostics
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
.
Most Kurds have moderate tendencies toward religion. .
Folklore
Some better known traditional Kurdish ceremonies or festivals include:- Pir ShalyarPir ShalyarThe festival of Pir Shalyar is an old traditional ceremony in Kurdistan. It is held in the 40th day of winter. The celebration is held in three stages, each in a day of three consecutive weeks.-Pir Shaliyar:...
, - Buka BaranaBuka BaranaBuka Barana literally meaning the bride of the rain; is a traditional hand-made doll with a female face, used by Kurdish children to ask for rain....
- Sersal or Serê Salê
- Newroz
Legendary characters include:
- ShameranSahmeranShahmaran is a mythical creature from the folklore of southern, central and eastern Anatolia, Iran and Iraq. The name of Shahmaran comes from words "Shah" and "Maran". "Shah" is the Iranian title for a king, primarily the leader of the Iranians and their land and "Mar" means snakes in Kurdish. In...
- Hapalor
- KawaKavehKāveh the Blacksmith, also known as The Blacksmith of Isfahan or Kaveh of Isfahan is a mythical figure in Persian mythology who leads a popular uprising against a ruthless foreign ruler, Zahhāk. His story is narrated in the Epic of Shāhnāma, the national epic of Iran by the 10th century Persian...
and DehakZahhakZahhāk or Zohhāk is an evil figure in Iranian mythology, evident in ancient Iranian folklore as Aži Dahāka, the name by which he also appears in the texts of the Avesta... - Gurê Manco
- Xoceyê Xizir
- Gurrî
Cultural heritage
Kurdish cultural heritage is rooted in one of the world's oldest cultures. In parts of Arbil, Southern Syria and Western Iran, the Kurdish young men practice an old culture in which growing a mustache and beard at a young age to prove their loyalty as a man and respect to their elders. Over the past century, this culture has disappeared in most of the area. The Kurds were formerly considered sufficient to describe themselves as the descendants of the Carduchi, who opposed the retreat of the Ten ThousandAnabasis (Xenophon)
Anabasis is the most famous work, in seven books, of the Greek professional soldier and writer Xenophon. The journey it narrates is his best known accomplishment and "one of the great adventures in human history," as Will Durant expressed the common assessment.- The account :Xenophon accompanied...
through the mountains in the 4th century BC. However, there is evidence of more ancient settlements in the region of Kurdistan. The earliest known evidence of a unified and distinct culture (and possibly, ethnicity) by people inhabiting the Kurdish mountains dates back to the Halaf culture of 6000 BC to 5400 BC. This was followed by the spread of the Ubaidian culture, which was a foreign introduction from Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. In 1927, Ephraim Speiser discovered remains of ancient Halaf and Ubaid settlements in Tepe Gewre (Great Mound) 24 km northeast of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
. These settlements date back to between the 5th and 2nd millennium B.C., and include 24 levels of civilizations including Halaf and Ubaid. This site includes an acropolis with monumental remains and fine architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
.
In their own histories, they are proud to mention the Hurrian period in the mid third millennium BC
3rd millennium BC
The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age.It represents a period of time in which imperialism, or the desire to conquer, grew to prominence, in the city states of the Middle East, but also throughout Eurasia, with Indo-European expansion to Anatolia, Europe and Central Asia. The...
as the earliest well documented period. The 3rd millennium was the time of the Guti
Gutian
Gutian may refer to:* Gutian County, county in Ningde Municipality, Fujian, China** Gutian Massacre, massacre of Christians in Gutian County* Gutian , town in Shanghang County, Longyan Municipality, Fujian, China...
and Hattians
Hattians
The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the land of Hatti in present-day central part of Anatolia, Turkey, noted at least as early as the empire of Sargon of Akkad , until they were gradually displaced and absorbed ca...
. The 2nd
2nd millennium BC
The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age.Its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot...
and 1st millennium BC
1st millennium BC
The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of many successive empires, and spanned from 1000 BC to 1 BC.The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the rise of Hellenism. The...
were the time of the Kassites
Kassites
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern people who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC...
, Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
, Mannai (Mannaeans
Mannaeans
The Mannaeans were an ancient people who lived in the territory of present-day Iran and Azerbaijan, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC...
), Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
, and Mushku. All of these peoples shared a common identity and spoke one language or closely related languages or dialects. These groups are thought to have been non-Indo-Europeans, apart from the original Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
leadership. Kurds consider themselves to be Indo-European
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
as well as descendants of the above groups. According to the Encyclopedia Kurdistanica, Kurds are the descendants of all those who have historically settled in Kurdistan, not of any one particular group. A people such as the Guti
Guti
Guti may refer to:*Jose María Gutiérrez Hernández, usually known as Guti, Spanish footballer.*The Gutian people, founders of the Gutian dynasty of Sumer*A people of Scandia mentioned by Ptolemy ; in later Latin known as Gutones and Gothi....
(Kurti), Mede, Mard, Carduchi(Gordyaei), Adiabene
Adiabene
Adiabene was an ancient Assyrian independent kingdom in Mesopotamia, with its capital at Arbela...
, Zila and Khaldi signify not the ancestor of the Kurds but only one ancestor. This heritage has been subject to injustices, neglect and repression, or has been eclipsed by other cultures. Important components of the original cultural heritage have disappeared or have been destroyed. There are numerous examples of how valuable or irreplaceable Kurdish physical heritage are endangered or destroyed, like the threat posed by the Illusi Dam in Turkey, where the oldest Kurdish city, Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf is an ancient town and district located along the Tigris River in the Batman Province in southeastern Turkey. It was declared a natural conservation area by Turkey in 1981...
, soon is to be covered by water.
See also
- Culture of IraqCulture of IraqIraq has one of the world's oldest cultural histories. Iraq is where the Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were, whose legacy went on to influence and shape the civilizations of the Old World. Culturally, Iraq has a very rich heritage. The country is known for its poets and its painters and...
- Culture of IranCulture of IranTo best understand Iran, Afghanistan, their related societies and their people, one must first attempt to acquire an understanding of their culture. It is in the study of this area where the Persian identity optimally expresses itself...
- Culture of TurkeyCulture of TurkeyThe culture of Turkey combines a largely diverse and heterogeneous set of elements that are derived from the Ottoman, European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian traditions...
- Newroz as celebrated by Kurds
- Kurdish literatureKurdish literatureKurdish literature refers to literature written in Kurdish language. Literary Kurdish works have been written in one of the three main dialects of Gorani, Kurmanji and Sorani. Ali Hariri is one of the first well-known poets who wrote in Kurdish...
External links
- A Brief Survey of the History of the Kurds, by Kendal NezanKendal NezanA nuclear physicist by profession, Dr. Kendal Nezan is president of the Kurdish Institute of Paris and a board member of the Washington Kurdish Institute....
, President of the Kurdish Institute of ParisKurdish Institute of ParisKurdish Institute of Paris , founded in February 1983, is an organization focused on Kurdish language and culture. It is one of the main Kurdish academic centers in Europe...
.