Jacob Appelbaum (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ioerror) wrote,@ 2005-04-20 23:40:00 |
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A Yezidi village in northern Iraq (Kurdistan) - Part 1
When I was in northern Iraq and near Zakho I was able to fulfill my major yearning to meet some Yezidi. I wrote about this previously in my desires for initially wanting to come to Iraq. We as it just so happens were able to do this on my very first day here. We drove through the village, visited their main cemetery and their event hall that is a shrine to their faith. One of their priests even explained much of their faith to me.
This is going to be broken into two parts, this first entry will mostly show photos of the people in their village with a small amount of commentary. The second part will be photos of the holy sites in their village.
Most of the Muslims that I have met here know about the Yezidi. They're tolerated even though their belief system is very far from the norm.
This village is somewhere south of Dahuk by 45 minutes in the direction of Erbil on this map:
I first read about these people around 8 years ago when I was reading a great deal of theology books. Many people of the world consider them to be people who worship the devil. This includes our translator for this trip.
They consider themselves to be descended from Adam. Yes, that Adam.
This is the view of the village as we're creeping up in our vehicle. The road isn't bad here. In fact this is one of the few places where the air wasn't choking to death awful. In case you missed this, that haze in the distance is pollution. You can't even photograph a hill here without being close to it or everything looks like it's behind a wall of gray or white haze.
This man is working in his garden.
Four children staring at me.
This is a very typical mud hut that people live in here.
A view of a very typical street in this village. The road is paved, cars and donkeys share the road with people.
It's very typical for people to sit or stand outside of the gate to their or other peoples home.
This woman stands stoically here perhaps wondering why I am taking her photo.
These two women sit outside of the gate. The one on the left is perhaps more secular than the one on the right. Her ankles and face are showing. This is a sign that she's less conservative by many Muslims standards.
This man is a fashionably dressed man of the Yedizis faith.
This woman and what could very likely be her daughter sit outside of a gate.
Left to his own devices he's sitting in the shade on the side of a building alone.
The backside of a house.
I said hello to these people before I took their photo. They're very friendly.
Notice the color of her shirt, it's light blue. Yedizis don't wear dark blue apparently.
This woman is standing in her doorway and waiting for me to pass.
This Yedizis man is simply standing and staring.
It's common to see cute donkeys like this one just hanging out on a sidewalk in this village.
These men are manual laborers.
This man is working with the men from the previous photo.
Not all children have shoes on, perhaps they're without shoes entirely.
This little boy was staring off into space until he heard our car, he looked over and seemed puzzled.
Most of the people seemed to stand around without any purpose here. Just relaxing on the sidewalk.
These men are working on clearing the street.
Note here that the man on the right is wearing light blue.
I am not entirely sure why this man is wearing a full face wrap but I suspect it's because of the dust in the air from his labor.
A wall separating the street from the yard of this house.
A woman and her donkey walk down the street.
These children are apathetic to my presence.
I am almost entirely unnoticed here.
This little boy doesn't know what to make of the strange white people in a white car. It's perhaps the first time he's ever seen someone like me. My hair looks wacky right now, so much so that I didn't take a photo of myself.
Seconds after the little boy runs away to his home.
A house with a yellow door and kerosene containers strangely stored by hanging from the roof.
A group of people surround an object in the middle of the road.
This little child was overjoyed to have his photo taken, he chased the vehicle down the road smiling.
Again, the group of people surrounding something, what is it?
These children are happily running after the car.
This man says hello while we stop.
This woman seems slightly shocked at the sight of our car.
A series of three images of a woman holding her child.
This child walks down the center of the road, he only looked one way, right at us.
This little boy isn't sure what to make of us.
This older man is pleased looking.
This boy is standing up to greet us.
Many of the village men are standing and sitting around at this hut. I am unsure what it's purpose is.
These women are shocked by my camera.
These women stand solemnly looking at my camera.
All the Yedizis ducks are in a row.
This little girl is making a sort of "gggrrrrr" noise at me.
This little boy is spending his time watching the cows.
These women are carrying home bales of grass.
The same woman from the above photo from a side angle.
Children returning from school.
These girls are excited to see us.
This girl seems to be eating a flower.
This little girl seems shy.
This little girl doesn't seem shy but she seems like it's out of place
These children are fresh off of the school bus. You'll notice that the bus says 'mashallah' which I think roughly translated is 'god be with you.' I forget off the top of my head.
This little boy stopped in the middle of the road to look at me.
This boy chased after the car for the length of half the village (about a five minute drive at slower than 10kph speeds).
That same boy was joined by many others. They asked me my name and where I was from in broken English.
This boy liked his stick, he ran faster than the other boys.
Finally another boy runs up to ask my name.
This boy attempts to shake my hand but can't run fast enough.
When I was in northern Iraq and near Zakho I was able to fulfill my major yearning to meet some Yezidi. I wrote about this previously in my desires for initially wanting to come to Iraq. We as it just so happens were able to do this on my very first day here. We drove through the village, visited their main cemetery and their event hall that is a shrine to their faith. One of their priests even explained much of their faith to me.
This is going to be broken into two parts, this first entry will mostly show photos of the people in their village with a small amount of commentary. The second part will be photos of the holy sites in their village.
Most of the Muslims that I have met here know about the Yezidi. They're tolerated even though their belief system is very far from the norm.
This village is somewhere south of Dahuk by 45 minutes in the direction of Erbil on this map:
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I first read about these people around 8 years ago when I was reading a great deal of theology books. Many people of the world consider them to be people who worship the devil. This includes our translator for this trip.
They consider themselves to be descended from Adam. Yes, that Adam.
This is the view of the village as we're creeping up in our vehicle. The road isn't bad here. In fact this is one of the few places where the air wasn't choking to death awful. In case you missed this, that haze in the distance is pollution. You can't even photograph a hill here without being close to it or everything looks like it's behind a wall of gray or white haze.
This man is working in his garden.
Four children staring at me.
This is a very typical mud hut that people live in here.
A view of a very typical street in this village. The road is paved, cars and donkeys share the road with people.
It's very typical for people to sit or stand outside of the gate to their or other peoples home.
This woman stands stoically here perhaps wondering why I am taking her photo.
These two women sit outside of the gate. The one on the left is perhaps more secular than the one on the right. Her ankles and face are showing. This is a sign that she's less conservative by many Muslims standards.
This man is a fashionably dressed man of the Yedizis faith.
This woman and what could very likely be her daughter sit outside of a gate.
Left to his own devices he's sitting in the shade on the side of a building alone.
The backside of a house.
I said hello to these people before I took their photo. They're very friendly.
Notice the color of her shirt, it's light blue. Yedizis don't wear dark blue apparently.
This woman is standing in her doorway and waiting for me to pass.
This Yedizis man is simply standing and staring.
It's common to see cute donkeys like this one just hanging out on a sidewalk in this village.
These men are manual laborers.
This man is working with the men from the previous photo.
Not all children have shoes on, perhaps they're without shoes entirely.
This little boy was staring off into space until he heard our car, he looked over and seemed puzzled.
Most of the people seemed to stand around without any purpose here. Just relaxing on the sidewalk.
These men are working on clearing the street.
Note here that the man on the right is wearing light blue.
I am not entirely sure why this man is wearing a full face wrap but I suspect it's because of the dust in the air from his labor.
A wall separating the street from the yard of this house.
A woman and her donkey walk down the street.
These children are apathetic to my presence.
I am almost entirely unnoticed here.
This little boy doesn't know what to make of the strange white people in a white car. It's perhaps the first time he's ever seen someone like me. My hair looks wacky right now, so much so that I didn't take a photo of myself.
Seconds after the little boy runs away to his home.
A house with a yellow door and kerosene containers strangely stored by hanging from the roof.
A group of people surround an object in the middle of the road.
This little child was overjoyed to have his photo taken, he chased the vehicle down the road smiling.
Again, the group of people surrounding something, what is it?
These children are happily running after the car.
This man says hello while we stop.
This woman seems slightly shocked at the sight of our car.
A series of three images of a woman holding her child.
This child walks down the center of the road, he only looked one way, right at us.
This little boy isn't sure what to make of us.
This older man is pleased looking.
This boy is standing up to greet us.
Many of the village men are standing and sitting around at this hut. I am unsure what it's purpose is.
These women are shocked by my camera.
These women stand solemnly looking at my camera.
All the Yedizis ducks are in a row.
This little girl is making a sort of "gggrrrrr" noise at me.
This little boy is spending his time watching the cows.
These women are carrying home bales of grass.
The same woman from the above photo from a side angle.
Children returning from school.
These girls are excited to see us.
This girl seems to be eating a flower.
This little girl seems shy.
This little girl doesn't seem shy but she seems like it's out of place
These children are fresh off of the school bus. You'll notice that the bus says 'mashallah' which I think roughly translated is 'god be with you.' I forget off the top of my head.
This little boy stopped in the middle of the road to look at me.
This boy chased after the car for the length of half the village (about a five minute drive at slower than 10kph speeds).
That same boy was joined by many others. They asked me my name and where I was from in broken English.
This boy liked his stick, he ran faster than the other boys.
Finally another boy runs up to ask my name.
This boy attempts to shake my hand but can't run fast enough.
