The blessed handful of light
Genesis and message of the Yezidi berat
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12533784 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Artur Rodziewicz (0000-0002-5907-3664, University of Warsaw, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 149-171 |
| Publication date | 2022-08-29 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1353-0194 • E-ISSN: 1469-3542 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13530194.2022.2108000 |
| OpenAlex | W4293661551 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
The article is devoted to berat, the sacred object of the Yezidi religion. It is a pearl-shaped white pellet made in the holy Iraqi valley of Lalish from the local dust mixed with several ingredients. For the Yezidis, berat constitutes a physical testimony of their connection with the holiest place on earth and at the same time the link with the location that, according to their cosmogonic myth, has been created by God in the heavens and then descended as the first place on earth. The objective of the article is to analyse this sacred object, describe its preparation, discuss its symbolism, and its use in Yezidi religious rituals. Such an approach allows the author to conclude the article with a hypothesis about the origin of the berat and its connection with similar Muslim and Christian objects (turba, hnana, Malka), and early Islamic legend about the creation of primordial Muhammad from a handful of light resembling a pearl. The study, which is the first monograph on berat, is based mainly on the author’s own field research in Iraq, Georgia and Turkey, Yezidi oral tradition and source texts
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Islam · Legend · Linguistics · Literature · Mythology · Object (grammar · Pearl · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classics · Cultural and Sociopolitical Studies · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |