Within Land of Kurda

Hittite in Kurdish

2011-12-21T14:38:00.001Z

After enlisting numerous remnants of Hurro-Urartian in Kurdish vocabulary and morpheme system, now it is time to recognize loans which have entered Kurdish via Hurro-Urartian. The largest group of loans which have entered Kurdish via Hurro-Urartian belongs to Hittite, being in contact with Hurro-Urartian for millennia. It is worth reminding that the Hurro-Urartian form alongside the Iranic ''Syctho-Cimmerian'' the other pillar of Kurdish language.We had already listed Slavic lexemes entered Kurdish via Scytho-Cimmerian.
To clarify the situation following formula is helpful:

Kurdish is formed of
1) Hurro-Urartian (+ Hittite loans)
2)Scytho-Cimmerian (+ Slavic loans)
Of course at later periods, especially during post-islamic period, kurdish has adopted loans from other languages (Persian, Arabic, Turkish, French, English)

Now, list of Hittite words in Kurdish:

pillar
Hittite: kulaka
Kurdish: kolaka (typical o<u in central and northern Kurdish)

kin

Hittite: hasmi
Kurdish: xizm

clay
Hittite: purut
Kurdish: pûrûd

star

Hittite: haster
Kurdish: astera, hastêrk (sounds more relevant to Hittite than to Iranic equivalents)

father
Hittite: tati
Kurdish: tati

Hittite: karpi (fury, anger)
Kurdish: kilpa (fiery)

The list is to be completed.

On The Kassites And Kurds (2)

2011-09-26T19:35:00.000+01:00

The Macro-Comparative Journal. 2011.

The Kassite Language In a Comparative Perspective with Hurrian and Urartean

A very interesting article about the Kassites and their language.
In this article, the writer has tried to explain the origin of the Kassites (Kuri-Galzu, Karduniash), explore the etymology of their name and its relation with that of the the Kalds (Urartians,) and the obvious relationship of the Kassite with Hurro-Urartian languages.
The author concludes that the Kassites may have been the forfathers of Hurro-Urartians.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (Sample Text)

2011-08-12T16:16:00.000+01:00

The following text is from the first paragraph of Kurdistan constitution, found in this link in Kurdo-Arabic script.

Firstly, in current Latin Kurdish alphabet:
Ême, gelî Kurdistan - Êraq, le hestkirdinmanewe bew dijwarîyey newekanman le siyasetekanî hikumete yek le dway yekekan le encam danî serkut kirdin û sitem û çewsanewey le radebeder çeştûyane, û bêbeşkirdinman lew mafaney xwa le azadî û yeksanî dadperwerî be ademîzadî bexşîwin, û çendîn tawanî dije mirov û helmetî cinosayd û paktawî nejadîyan le dijman encamda, ke mêjû be degmen wêney way be xowe bînîwe, ke xoyan le xapûr kirdinî pitir le çuwar hezar u pênsed gund nuwanduwe û gorankarî le beşekî firawan le Kurdistan - Êraq le rêgey be zore milê koch pê kirdinî danîştuwan, yan naçar kirdinyan bo gorînî şunasî neteweyan û be kar hênani çekî kîmyawî u çeke qedexe kirawekanî tirî nêw neteweyî le dijî danîştuwani sivîlî şarî helebcey şehîd û Balîsan û Germiyan û Badînan û çendîn nawçey firawanî tir, û be hezaran lawî Kurdî Feylî le nêw kêlgekanî taqî kirdinewey kîmyawî û gorî be komel berew merg rapêçkirdin, ewaney maneweş xêzanekanyan naçar kiran, bo derewey Êraq koç biken û wilatnamey êraqiyan lê sendinewe û dwa be dway eweş çendîn helmetî be komel qir kirdinyan encamda ke pitir le heşt hezar barzanî girtewe û pirosekanî le naw birdinî be dwa dahêna, ke be enfal naw nirawin û qurbanî pitir le sed û heşta û dû hezar mirovî lê kewtewe.

Secondly, reformed alphabet based on proposal 1 & 2:

Ême, gel Kurdistan - Êraq, le hestkrdnmanewe bew djwariyey newekanman, le syasetekan hkumete yek le dway yekekan le encam dan serkut krdn û stem û çewsanewey le radebeder çeştûyane, û bêbeşkrdnman lew mafaney xwa le azadi û yeksani û dadperweri be ademizadi bexşiwn, û çendin tawan dje mirov û helmet cinosayd û paktaw nejadiyan le djman encamda, ke mêjû be degmen wêney way be xowe biniwe, ke xoyan le xapûr krdn ptr le çuwar hezar û pênsed gund nuwanduwe u gorankari le beşêk frawan le Kurdistan - Êraq le rêgey be zore mlê koç pê krdn daniştuwan, yan naçar krdnyan bo gorin şunas neteweyan û be kar hênan çek kimyawi û çeke qedexe krawekan tr nêwneteweyi le dj daniştuwan sivîl şar helebcey şehid û Balisan û Germyan û Badinan û çendin nawçey frawan tr, û be hezaran law Kurd Feyli le nêw kêlgekan taqi krdnewey kimyawi û gor be komel berew merg rapêçkrdn, ewaney maneweş xêzanekanyan naçar kran, bo derewey Êraq koç bken û wlatnamey êraqiyan lê sendnewe û dwa be dway eweş çendin helmet be komel qr krdnyan encamda ke ptr le heşt hezar barzani grtewe û prosekan le naw brdni be dwa dahêna, ke be enfal naw nrawn û qurbani ptr le sed û heşta û dû hezar mrovi lê kewtewe.

Thirdly, reformed alphabet based on proposal 1 & 2 & 3 & 4:

Yme, gel Kurdistan - Yraq, le hestkrdnmanewe bew djwariei newekanman le siasetekan hkumete iek le duay iekekan le encam dan serkut krdn u stem u çeusaneuei le radebeder cewtuyane, u bybewkrdnman lew mafaney xwa le azadi u ieksani u dadperueri be ademizadi bexwiun, u cendin tauan dje mrov û helmet cinosayd u paktaw nejadiian le djman encamda, ke myju be degmen wyney way be xowe biniwe, ke xoyan le xapur krdn ptr le cuar hezar u pynsed gund nuandue, u gorankari le bewyk frauan le Kurdistan - Yraq le rygey be zore mly koc py krdn daniwtuan yan nacar krdnyan bo gorin wunas neteueian u be kar hynan cek kimiaui u ceke qedexe krauekan tr nyuneteueii le dj daniwtuan svil war helebcey wehid u Balisan u Germian u Badinan u cendin nawcei frauan tr, u be hezaran lau Kurd Feili le nyu kylgekan taqi krdneuei kimiaui u gor be komel bereu merg rapyckrdn, ewaney maneuew xyzanekanian nacar kran, bo dereuei Yraq koc bken u ulatnamei Yraqiian ly sendneue u dua be duai euew cendin helmet be komel qr krdnyan encamda ke ptr le hewt hezar barzani grteue u prosekan le nau brdni be dua dahyna, ke be enfal nau nraun u qurbani ptr le sed u hewta u du hezar mrovi ly keuteue.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (4)

2011-07-15T13:43:00.004+01:00

If our previous suggestions accepted, then remains only two controversial letters in the alphabet: ç and ş, both directly adopted from Turkish. The negative thing with them is that they include circumflexes, something most people who propose a reformed Latin alphabet for Kurdish tend to avoid. Some have suggested diphthongs such as ch and sh, as in Yekgirtu and Izady's suggestions.

In the current latin alphabet we have c for voiced palato-alveolar affricate, (= English j) and ç for voiceless palato-alveolar affricate (= English ch). While in Yekgirtu, one of the most well-known alternatives for the current Latin-based Kurdish alphabet, instead we see j and c, respectively. As can be seen c is treated differently in the two alphabets. but since yekgirtu has j for the voiced consonant, it has adopted jh a diphthong for voiced palato-alveolar sibilant (= /si/ as in English vision).

I've got a proposal which solves both of the shortcommings i.e. neither uses a circumflexe nor a diphthong. though due to the Turkish influence it may at the first sight sound stupid but it really works. The proposal is to use c for both voiced and viceless palato-alveolar affricates. Well this is not the first case we use one letter for two consonants in Kurdish alphabet!

We already have accepted x for both ( خ and غ), h for ( ه and ح) nothing for (ء and ع) l for (ل and ڵ) r for (ر and ڕ); also p, t, k and g each represent several different consonants, many of them pure Kurdish.

but we we cannot use the same method for voiceless and voice palato-alveolar affricates? It's worth of note that the voiceless consonant is much more frequent in Kurdish vocabulary and more interestingly while most Kurdish words containing the voiceless consonant are native Kurdish words, most Kurdish words containing the voiced consonant are foreign loans (with the exeption of a handful of words where the old iranic initial platal approximant /y/ has developed to voiced palato-alveolar affricatve, and that is most likely under Persian influence.)

The second letter with a circumflexe is ş, which basically is an s with a circumflex. One must confess that this is a little bit more difficult to solve, since both the voiceless alveolar sibilant and voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant are legitimate native Kurdish consonants. Although use of the second in modern Kurdish has dramatically decreased due to many historic phonetical developments, where it has eroded (f.ex: chaw<chashma, gwê< goasha, nas<shnas, êwe<shma etc, but this does not affect our case much since there are still a lot of Kurdish words with this consonant.

Returning to the previous post, we see that there will be one letter in our proposed alphabet that will be useless (used only for a few loanwords). it is the letter /w/ which accidentally resembles much the cyrillic letter for voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant: / Ш /, used already even in the Cyrillic-based alphabet for Kurdish. I agree that at the begining it would sound difficult for many, but it is not far-fetched idea since a lot of Latin-based alphabets use different letters for different consonants.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (3)

2011-07-09T13:15:00.016+01:00

In this post two other issues related to Kurdish orthographic system are discussed.
1) Ancient Iranic inter/post-vocalic /p/ and /m/ have developed in two different ways in modern Kurdish dialects. In northern Kurdish (Kurmanji), the first one has developed into /w/ and the second one into /v/, while in Central Kurdish (Sorani) and Southern Kurdish, both have developed only into /w/. This may be due to influence from other Iranic and non-Iranic languages. In any case, there are not many languages which have both /w/ and /v/ simultaneously, as northern Kurdish does.
At the same time, the homogenization of the two vowels does never cause ambiguity in the central and southern dialects. In other words, here we are facing a choice between two options: keeping both /w/ and /v/ which reflects some traces of archaism (distinction between / p/ and /m/ reflected as /w/ and /v/) on one hand, and on the other ''simplification''. Personally, I would rather go for simplification.

Examples:
Çaw, instead of Çav
Naw, instead of Nav
Netewe, instead of Neteve,

Expetions: But, of course, we can keep the letter /v/ for numerous foreign loanwords in Kurdish such as visa, vitamin, video, sivil, etc, as well as native Kurdish words which exist only in one form, with /v/ and not with w; such as tavge, govar, mrov, bve, dever, etc

2) In Arabic-based alphabet for Kurdish, unlike as in the current Latin-based alphabet, there is only one symbol characterizing i/y and u/w, respectively. This is true even for other languages written in the same alphabet such as Persian and Arabic. As long as the easier way, i.e. as in Arabic-based script, functions as it is expected and never does cause ambiguity in reading and writing of Kurdish language why should not keep it even in the Latin-based alphabet too?

Examples:

Currently: zawa

Proposal zaua (bridegroom)

Currently: Wan

Proposal: Uan (a city)

Currently: naw

Proposal: nau (name)

Currently: Diyar
Proposal: Diar (evident)

Currently: Yar
Proposal: Iar (companion)

Currently: Televiziyon
Proposal: Televizion (television)

Alternatively:

Currently: Bûk

Proposal: Bwk (bride)

Currently: Kerkûk

Proposal: Kerkwk (A city)

In my opinion, it makes the alphabet both much easier and prettier, and creates no confusions at all since Kurdish phonetic system allows us to choose and effectively use such a method.
We can still keep the letter /w/ ([anlternaively] /u/) and /y/ for foreign proper names and loanwords such as ''Washington''/''Samsung'', and ''New York''.
Besides, one can even adopt the symbol /y/ for the mid front unrounded vowel which in current Kurdish alphabet is shown with a diacritic mark as /ê/.

Examples:
Currently: Jêr
Proposal: Jyr (under)

Currently: Belên
Proposal: Belyn (oath)

Currently: Êsk
Proposal: Ysk (bone)

Currently: Hewlêr
Proposal: Hewlyr (Erbil)

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (2)

2011-06-10T22:00:00.009+01:00

(Kurdistan, the first Kurdish newspaper)

As Celadet Bedrxan had once advised us, Kurds ''need to develop a writing system that allows all speakers hailing from every Kurdish dialect to use that writing system''. The Kurdish alphabet must be a means of unification of various Kurdish dialects and vernaculars. This means while every Kurd should feel comfortable to write and read in Kurdish according to his/her native dialect, still other Kurds too must be able to easily read and understand it.

One of annoying features of writing in Kurdish caused by various regional variations is the different renderings of izafe marker:
Northern Kurdish uses -a/-ê for grammatical masculine and feminine respectively.
Central Kurdish uses -i
Further south, no izafe marker is used
In southernmost regions of Kurdistan, -ê is used.

(all used for both possessive and descriptive cases).

Looking for powerful oriental languages, such as Arabic and Persian we see this problem has long being solved through an easy solution. Namely, by ''not indicating izafe marker''.
Thus while in Eastern Persian (Dari) ''-î'' is used, in western Persian (Farsi) ''-ê'' is used when reading an izafe compound, however Persian scholars has solved this distinction by a simple trick: They do not indicate the i/ê izafe when writing at all. Thus same compound may be read by an eastern Persian speaker as ''-i'' while a Western Persian speaker reads it as ''-ê''.
For example, زبان فارسی (transliteration: Zabân Fârsi), could be read ''zabâni fârsi'' by an eastern speaker, and ''zabânê fârsi'' by a western speaker.

Same method could be used even for Kurdish; While keeping regional spoken variations when reading a text, Kurds can at least when coming to writing, use a unified standard writing system as in Persian.

Some examples in Kurdish:

Kurmanci: Rojhelata Kurdistan, Xebata pîroz, Alaya rengîn
Current standard Sorani: Rojhelatî Kurdistan, Xebatî pîroz, Alay rengîn
Southern Sorani: Rojhelat Kurdistan, Xebat pîroz, Alay rengîn
Southern Kurdish: Rojhelatê Kurdistan, Xebatê pîroz, Alayê rengîn
Proposal: Rojhelat Kurdistan, Xebat piroz, Alay rengin (But the reader is free as to how he/she wishes to read it)

If this proposal is accepted, we have been able to put one more major step towards standardization of Kurdish and unification of its written variations. Furthermore, one my expect to use this method in other regional distinctions appearing in Kurdish such as case-markers which nowadaysappear only in Kurmanji dialect.

It would not be impossible that in future, depending on strength of media, social, economical and other factors, a specific form of ''standard colloquial Kurdish'' will emerge which could even be chosen as ''official standard form of reading Kurdish'' texts.

(See part I)

Some Notes On The Medes

2011-05-21T12:30:00.002+01:00

It is now over a half century since a Russian politician and Scholar, Minorsky, suggested Kurds might have been descendants of two Median tribes (Kyrtioi and Mardioi) mentioned in classical Greek accounts. Although his theses was soon criticized thanks two progress in the studies on Iranic languages, however, it was kept alive by some Kurdish nationalists especially in southern Kurdistan, where due to Arabic/Semitic oppression felt need of a strong Iranic predecessor which could have blew power of the mighty Semitics (Ancient Assyria). Ironically it is now known that Medes had never set their feet on Assyria. Not only this, the very Median ''Empire'' is now proven to be incorrect and a myth created in the imagination of later Greek authors.

There are indications that there might have existed an ambiguous loose confederation of Median tribes. Even the dominion of this imaginative Median confederation has shrunk. According to Prauda conference : ''In recent years, however, the “Median Empire” has lost most of its supposed “provinces” and “dependent kingdoms,” including Persis and Elam (although the status of Elam has been disputed for a long time), Assyria, Northern Syria, Armenia and Cappadocia . . . The eastern Median provinces including Drangiana, Parthia, and Aria may also have been “liberated” though the sources are largely silent about their status. How much more territory the Medes will lose in the next years is difficult to assess.''

Looking for archaeological findings, so far, nothing which could be related to the Medes has been found. Although there are a few archaeological sites from the period when the Medes existed, but it is not certain at all that these really belonged to the Medes and not to other contemporary peoples, such as Scythians and Kimmerians,

Even on linguistic grounds there are not satisfatcory evidence for the Median language. According to Schmitt who tried to reconstruct the Median language our knowledge on their language does not lay on good bases. As with possible relation of Median language with Kurdish, already in early 1960s Mckenzie dismissed the claim that Kurdish is Modern Median. Nowadays, it is central Iranian dialects that are regards as possible offshoots of Median.

One of interesting points which Mckenzie relies on is the very name of the Median capital ''hangmatana''. This word which meant ''place of gathering'' and contains the verb ''agmata'' one of two Iranic lexemes for ''to come'' used in Median and Old Persian, clearly shows the irrelevancy of Median to Kurdish. Kurdish on the other hand uses the verb ''hatin'' from old Iranic ''agata''. This is used even in Balouchi (spoken in the territory of ancient Sakastan), in language of the Parthians, whose aristocracy (royal family) were of of east Scythian origin (Dahae Parni), and in all eastern Iranic languages. There are other lexemes and phonemes which relate Kurdish with eastern Iranic language which are believed to have been under heavy influence of east Scythian dialects.

As noted briefly above, there are good evidence, on at least three important grounds, namely historic, archeological and linguistics, which disproves the claim that Medes are direct predecessors of the Kurds.

Scythians in Ancient Kurdistan

2011-05-10T20:36:00.003+01:00

The earliest known record of Scythians in ancient Kurdistan dates back to 819 B.C., when a king of Nairi, an Urartian vassaldom, south of lake Van, is mentioned whose name was ''Sa-ti-ri-a'' (from old Iranic <*Xsathria: king).

Decades later we read about Scythians as lords of the lands of Urartians and Mannaeans (corresponding to much of Kurdistan), during which they had established good relations with Assyrian kings, and were often in conflict with Median tribes (Hamadan-Rey area), who inhabited the regions to the southeast of the lands under Scythian hegemony. Kimmerians (a group of Kurdistani Scythians) conquered as far as Ellipi in what is nowadays south of modern Kirmanshah).

After the fall of Assyria, -which recent archeological evidence indicates that unlike the traditional common belief, happened without Median participation -, Scythians could even proceed eastwards to conquer and rule the Median lands for nearly three decades. Although according to ancient accounts, Median king Cyaxares intoxicated the Scythian nobles, the Scythians and Parthians under a Scythian queen, Zarina, launched attacks against the Medians.

Again, decades later, we read about Scythians in Kurdistan: A significant Scythian kingdom during this period was Skythenoi (as known by Xenophon, Sacassani by Pliny/Livy and Sakasene by Ptolemy). Its capital Gymnias was located in northern Kurdistan, (modern Bayburt). Strabo even mentions a smaller Scythian kingdom recorded by him as Sagapeni, located between Elymais and Adiabene, the latter itself ruled by a Scythian dynasty called Shiraks (see here).

On The Kassites And Kurds (1)

2011-04-15T10:52:00.011+01:00

It has long been suggested by many scholars that Kassites were, at least partially, ancestors of the Kurds. They base this claim on historical migrations, and the fact that after having conquered Mesopotamia, renamed their empire to ''Karduniash'' (land of Kardun).
I'm intending to explore this claim on linguistic bases.
Actually, when it comes to linguistic grounds, our information concerning the Kassite language is really negligible. There is nothing known of the Kassite language except for a dozen of lexemes, mostly understood through available Akkadian equivalents:

janzu/janzi = king
iash/ash/yashu = earth, country
Bugai? = Prince or god?
Sakr = Chakr/Charx, wheel? chariot?, sakrumash = charioteer
kamsu= bronze component of harness?
(a)tanah = sagarakti = napsuru = to sigh, tired, save
prtl = a medicinal herb
kudurru = boundary, frountier
kurigalzu = herder of the folk
mashu/bashkhu = god
saribu= foot
sirpi = brown (pl. Sirpami)
minzir= dotted, (pl. Minzamur)
dakash = star
sagegi = heaven
ilulu = heaven
miriash = earth
turukhna/turuhna = wind, storm
nu (or kur)-la = 'king'
mali = man
meli = slave
kukla = slave
barkhu/marhu = head
khameru/hamir = foot
akriyaš = agriya-s "(running) in front?",
timiraš = "black?"
nashbu = people, population
hashmar = falcon
simbar = young people
shimdi = to give

As seen above, it appears that Kassites (like many ancient peoples) spoke two languages among themselves, probably one belonging to their ruling class and the other to the oridinary people.
Kassite language(s) is described as a language isolate, meaning it had no relatives among other known languages. Anyways, some words sound similar to Hurro-Urartian (and hence Kurdish). For example the Kassite word ''khameru'' which meant ''foot'', is somehow similar to Urartian ''kuri, (Kurdish ''qul'': foot). Or the Kassite ''meli'', meaning ''slave'', sounds similar to Urartian ''bura'' (Kurdish ''bora'': commoner). Though still Urartian equivalents are way closer to Kurdish (almost identical).

Regarding the frequency of the Kassite names in the toponymy of Kurdistan, it is known that Kassite personal names, although used throughout ancient Kurdistan, from southernmost regions to the northernmost regions; but in a very low scale, not at all comparable to the huge amount of Hurro-Urartian ones.
Returning to historical evidence, the Kassites had to a large extent assimilated into the culture of their Bybylonian subjects; moreover, after the defeat of their empire the Kassite people had reduced to a small local kingdom to the south of Zamua and west of Ellipi. Later they are recorded as Cissians, along with the Elymaeans, as nomadic tribes of south-easternmost regions of ancient Kurdistam.

The Hurro-Urartian Substratum in Kurdish (3)

2011-04-06T16:06:00.023+01:00

We have so far discussed two aspects of Hurro-Urartian substratum in Kurdish; the place-names and vocabulary.
This time we will look into morphological traces of Urartian in Kurdish.

Nominal morphology:
Out of nine noun cases in Urartian six have nearly identical Kurdish equivalents:

1) Absolutive: In Urartian, subject of intransitive verbs, direct objects and predicate nouns take no suffixes as in Kurdish. In plural Urartian uses ''-le'' and Kurdish ''-êl''.

2) Ergative: In Urartian subject of transitive verbs take /-shê/ suffix. Similarly in Kurdish, subject of transitive verbs take /-ê/ suffix; note that according to Kurdish historical phonetic changes /sh/ has regularly developed into /-h or nil/ ( hence we got: -shê>-ê). Under foreign languages influence (Turkish, Persian, Arabic) this ergative case ending is eroding in Kurdish, and it remains only in a few northern Kurdish variants.

3) Genitive: in Urartian /-i/-ie--ei/ was used. In Kurdish /-i/ is used especially in central Kurdish.

4) Dative: in Urartian -e/-ie/ was used. similarly in Kurdish -ê is used. especially in northern Kurdish.

5) Locative: In Urartian /-a/ was used. Similarly in Kurdish /-a/ is used, especially in central Kurdish. In northern Kurdish probably under influence of foreign languages /-da/ is used.

6) Comitative: in Urartian /-rani/ was used. The Kurdish equivalents is /-ra/, especially in northern Kurdish.

7) For directive cases Urartian used /-edi/, whereas Kurdish /-ê/ could be a later contraction of it.

8) and 9) for Urartian instrumental ablative and ablative, there does not remain any case endings in modern Kurdish.

Urartian and Kurdish agree in another morphological feature, called ''suffixaufnahme''.

Verbal morphology:
In the verbal morphology, we find a very interesting archaism in central Kurdish. In order to create passive forms of transitive verbs, it uses a /-re-/-ra-/ morpheme, deriving from Urartian /-auri/. (Northern Kurdish uses an auxilary verb 'hatin', and southern Kurdish has borrowed the typical old Iranic morpheme /-iya-/).

Imperative: Both Urartian and Kurdish use an /-a/ suffix after verb roots to form imperative forms.

Jussive: Both Urartian and Kurdish (plural third person) take /-in/ after the verbal root.

Intransitive verbs in Urartian just as in Kurdish (and Iranic) take personal enclitics (identifying the subject) after the verbal root. But, what is more interesting is the use of personal suffixes after transitive verbal roots to identify direct objects; this is typical of Kurdish, especial of the northern Kurdish, where exactly like Urartian, it is only personal suffixes of direct objects that follow the verbal roots, while no personal suffixes for subjects are used.

In Urartian, verbal roots of intransitive verbs are marked with / -a/ just as in Kurdish, while verbal roots of transitive verbs are marked with /-u/, where according to Kurdish historical phonology /u>i/, its modern Kurdish equivalent is /-i/.

As can be seen, Kurdish language appears to be a creole language formed after an amalgamation of Hurro-Urartian and Iranic languages. The Hurro-Urartian layer, showing itself as an older substratum in which Urartian is stronger, while the Iranic layer, which began undoubtedly with the Scytho-Cimmerian invasion of Urartu emerges as a superstratum. The Iranic layer was further intensified with a wave of clearly identifiable middle Persian loanwords under the Sassanid period, during which, Iranic aristocrats played a prominent role in local affairs. The Islamic conquest of Kurdistan, resulting in collapse of the Sassanids, however, rescued Kurdish from further Iranicization, forever.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (1)

2011-04-02T12:19:00.006+01:00

Kurdish language is currently written in two alphabets: an Arabic-based one used in central/southern Kurdistan and a Latin-based one in northern Kurdistan. There is a letter/sign in the Latin-based alphabet which does not exist in the Arabic one; It represents an often unstressed mid-central vowel. This letter is shown as /i/. Experience has shown us that this unnecessary letter just causes confusion for those who try to learn and write in Kurdish. My suggestion is removal of this controversial letter from Kurdish alphabet. If this is accepted then there will be no need to represent long /i/ as /î/ either, but normally as /i/.

Some examples:

Currently: Silêmanî
Proposal: Slêmani (a city)

Currently: Bira
Proposal: Bra (brother)

Currently: Girîng
Proposal: Gring (important)

Currently: Xir
Proposal: Xr (round)

Currently: Sitiran
Proposal: Stran (song)

Currently: Silaw
Proposal: Slaw (Hi)

Currently: Firîn
Proposal: Frin (to fly)

Currently: Jiwan
Proposal: Jwan (love talk, date)

Currently: Jiyan
Proposal: Jyan (life)

Currently: Hewir
Proposal: Hewr (cloud)

The Hurro-Urartian Substratum in Kurdish (2)

2011-04-01T16:33:00.168+01:00

(Photo: Kelashin inscription (کێلەشین), in Urartian language, Ushnu (شنۆ), eastern Kurdistan.)

We have already discussed Hurro-Urartian origin of majority of the place-names in Kurdistan.
This time we are going to elaborate the Hurro-Urartian remains in vocabulary of Kurdish, which survive as a strong substratum. The process of aryanization of Kurdistan, though superficially, began after spread of the first waves of the Indo-Iranic-speaking tribes in the early first millennium BC. The pioneers were Scytho-Cimmerians who invaded the kingdom of Urartu. But it is also known that there were Indo-Iranic horse-trainers in the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni, about a thousand years earlier).
The pre-Iranic substratum in Kurdish is so significant that it would be safe to consider Kurdish as a creole language. Indeed, there are hardly any cases where there is not a ''native'' Kurdish equivalent for the superimposed Irano-Kurdish words. With Irano-Kurdish it is meant words which could originally be traced to proto-Iranic but over time have changed after Kurdish pohonetic laws.
Since after World War II, linguists, due to lack of interest in Kurdish studies, have often neglected the pre-Iranic substratum in Kurdish and focused merely on the Irano-Kurdish layer. Of the Urartian language is not much known either (about 200 words), however, a strong majority of its known words have a identical or at least close equivalent in Kurdish. Urartian though closely related to Hurrian, sound more similar to Kurdish than does Hurrian; this may depend on the fact that Hurrian was spoken at an earlier time period. Mannaean was another Hurro-Urartian-related dialect spoken south of lake Urmia.

It is also worth noting that Armenian scholars have found a few Urartian words in Armenian, which appear to be borrowings via Kurdish.

Urartian: Ale (he says)
Kurdish: Ale ئەڵێ (he says)

Urartian: Shuri (sword)
Kurdish: Shur شوور (sword)
Armenian: Sowr

Urartian: Kuri (foot, leg)
Kurdish: Qul قول (foot, leg)

Urartian: xur (deep)
Kurdish: xur/qul/kur خووڕ/قوول/کوور (deep),

Hurrian: agul (carve)
Kurdish: 'kol-[în]' کۆڵین : (to digg), kêla: (plow)

Urartian: shini (you, plural)
Kurdish: hin هین/هون (you, plural, cf. sh>h a regular sound change in Kurdish)

Urartian: apa (he/she/it)
Kurdish: awa, aw/ava, av cf. Kurdish p>w and p>v ئەوە (he/she/it)

Urartian: iese/ieshe? (I, pronoun)
Kurdish: ez ئەز (I, resembles also the old Iranian 'azm', but which one is 'az' actually derives of? Armenians claim Armenian 'yes' (I) is derived of Ur. 'iese

Urartian: Sale (kid)
Kurdish: Zaro زارۆ (kid)
Armenian: jar (he-goat)

Urartian: tali (stick)
Kurdish: têla (stick, cf. Kurdish a>ê)

Urartian: papi/bab (mountain top)
Kurdish: pope پۆپە (head)

Urartian: qal/kar (kill/slay, subjugate)
Kurdish: qir قڕ (kill, slay, cf Kurdish a>i)

Hurrian: shur (war)
Kurdish: sher شەڕ (war)

Urartian: bidia (turn)
Kurdish: bada-n بادان (turn)

Urartian: da (give)
Kurdish: da, دا (give, Iranic and other IE languages have a similar lexeme)

Urartian: xus/hush (throw)
Kurdish: xis-[tin]/hawish-[tin] خستن/هاویشتن (throw, cf Kurdish u>i)

Urartian: karbe (rock, stone)
Kurdish: karra کەڕا (rock, stone)
Armenian: qar (rock, stone)

Urartian: quira (earth, dust)
Kurdish: qur, xol قوڕ/خۆڵ (earth, dust)

Hurrian: arte (earth, soil)
Kurdish: ard ئەرد/هەرد (earth, soil, cf Kurdish rt > rd)

Urartian: $erab (dry)
Kurdish: chora چۆڕا (dry)
Armenian: caraw (dry)

Urartian: eue (and)
Kurdish: u ئوو (and) but see even Iranic ''ut''

Urartian: tur ( to leave)
Kurdish: tor-[an], تۆران to leave

Urartian: ul (to go)
Kurdish: lu-wan لوان (to go)

Urartian: ulhu (order)
Kurdish: ol ئۆل (religion)

Urartian: bura (slave, servant)
Kurdish: bora بۆرە (commoner, low-class)

Urartian: xarxar (destroy)
Kurdish: xirxal خرخاڵ (destroyed)

Urartian: ale (but)
Kurdish: lê لێ (but)

Urartian: duli (grape)
Kurdish: trê, tirî ترێ (grape, cf. l>r and u>i)
Armenian: toli (grape)

Urartian: kapi (capacity measure)
Kurdish: kap/qap کاپ/قاپ (capacity measure)

Urartian: nah (to bring)
Kurdish: hên-an/han-în هانین/هێنان (to bring)

Urartian: pare (toward)
Kurdish: pîr پیر (toward),

Urartian: pile ( water canal)
Kurdish: pilû-sk پلووسک (rain canal)

Urartian: tan (lay down)
Kurdish: dan-[an] دانان (lay down)

Hurrian: id- (hit, strike)
Kurdish: -d- (hit strike); ([lê] d-[an])

Urartian: teq- (to thump, to break)
Kurdish: teq-[în] تەقین (to thump, to break)

Urartian: uzgi (power, strength)
Kurdish: wze وزە (power, strength, cf. Kurdish u- > w-)

Urartian: mari (lord, horseman)
Kurdish: mir میر (lord, compare also with the Semitic ''Amir'')

Urartian: shu/shia (to go)
Kurdish: chu, چوو (to go, cf. also Iranic ''shiyaw'')

Urartian: euri (lord)
Kurdish: hêwir هێور (brave)

Urartian: xarari (calm)
Kurdish: oqre ئۆقرە (calm),
Armenian:

Urartian: zar (orchard)
Kurdish: zar زار (orchard)
Armenian: car (tree)

Urartian: ur (to place down)
Kurdish: wer-[in], وەرین (to place down, cf. Kurdish u-> w- )

Urartian: wal, (to win)
Kurdish: wêran وێران (to dare)

Urartian: zelbi (descendant)
Kurdish: zol زۆڵ (bastard)

Urartian: zeld, (to shatter the enemies)
Kurdish: zal زاڵ (to shatter the enemies)

Urartian: qarqar (throat)
Kurdish: qurg قورگ (throat, compare also with the Irano-Kurdish garû, and Persian galu, there is also another word in Kurdish: qurquroska)

Hurrian: kut (to make fall, to kill)
Urartian: qot (piece)
Kurdish: kut (piece), kut-a (to smash)

Urartian: xubi (valley)
Kurdish: qopi قۆپی (valley, vale, plain)

Urartian: xare (to march, to raid)
Kurdish: xar غار (to march, to raid)

Hurrian: Hiuri (smoke)
Kurdish: Hulm هوڵم (steam)

Urartian: $ue (river, lake)
Kurdish: chom/gom چۆم/گۆم (rive lake)
Armenian: cov (lake)

Hurrian: tiv (word)
Urartian: tiw (to speak)
Kurdish: diw-an دوان (to speak)

Urartian: abeli/aweli (attach, increase)
Kurdish: awale/awela ئاواڵە/ئاوەڵا (open)

Urartian: an, (no)
Kurdish: na, نا (no; there is also a similar equivalent in Iranic)

Urartian: ariberi
Kurdish: birin برن (to carry, there is also a similar equivalent in Iranic)

Urartian: ewani/ebani (land)
Kurdish: -wan وان (suffix used after place-names)

Urartian: kulune (side)
Kurdish: keleke کەلەکە (side)
Armenian: koln

Urartian: man (to stay)
Kurdish: man مان (to stay), (resembles even Iranic, cf. New Persian ''mandan'')

Urartian: mana <Iranic (measure unite, mina)
Kurdish: man<Iranic (measure unite, mina)

Urartian: me (prohibitive particle)
Kurdish: me مە (prohibitive particle)

Urartian: pahi (cattle)
Hurrian: pedari (cattle)
Kassite: badar (bull, cattle)
Kurdish: patal پاتاڵ (cattle)
Armenian: paxre

Urartian: par, to take off
Kurdish: pirr [-dan] پڕ (to take off, cf. Kurdish a>i)

Urartian: kamn (old, earlier)
Kurdish: kavn/kawn کەڤن/کەون (old, cf. m>v but also Iranic ''kohan'' which has led to Kurdish ''kon'')

Urartian: pe? (under)
Kurdish: pe? پێ (under, foot, cf. even Iranic pey)

Urartian: shid (build)
Kurdish: chê-[kirin], چێ (build cf, kurdish d>nil)

Hurrian: awari
Kurdish: awari ئەواری (land, country, field, cf. kurdawari, کوردەواری / warê me وارێ مە)
(Armenian agarak has been suggested as an Armenian loan from 'awari'. Kurdish has even 'garak' with the same meaning).

Urartian: qapqari
Kurdish: gamaro (p>w>m cf Kurdish ziman<ziwan<zban)

Urartian: sher (hide)
Kurdish: sher/shar شێر/وەشارتن (hide)

Urartian: quldi (uninhabited)
Kurdish: kawil (کاول) (annihilate,destruction)

Urartian: ar- (give)
Kurdish: ar- (give, dialectal as in Slêmanî, for example: ''bi-ar-ê'': بیەرێ ''give him'')

Urartian: ture (destroy)
Kurdish: ture تووڕە (angry)

Urartian: aba (desire)
Kurdish: awat ئاوات (desire)

Urartian: ada (again)
Kurdish: idi ئیدی (another, anymore)

Urartian: shal-i (year)
Kurdish: sal ساڵ (year, but Iranian ''sard'', New Persian has also ''sal'')
Armenian: tari

Urartian: šeh-i/eri/e, living
Kurdish: zhiyar ژیار (living)

Urartian: arnu-ia (come to the aid of)
Kurdish: hana هانا (come to the aid of, cf Kurdish a- >ha- )

Urartian: lak- (to destroy)
Kurdish: Rûx-[an] رووخان (to destroy)

Urartian: 'are (granary)
Kurdish: harr هاڕ (granary, cf Kurdish ha-<-a, notice 'zimharr' زمهاڕ, meaning 'winter granary')

Urartian: ieshti (here)
Kurdish: hêsthte هێشتە (now)

Urartian: meshe (part, tribute, share)
Kurdish: mûche مووچە (part, tribute, share)

Urartian: pi$ushe (joy)
Kurdish: pishû پشوو (holyday, vacation)

Hurrian: sheshe (six)
Kurdish: shesh شەش (six, but it is the same even in Iranic)

Urartian: izidu (admonish, command)
Kurdish: ezidi ئێزیدی (name of a native religion in Kurdistan)

urartian: yarani (kind of cultic building, altar)
Kurdish: yari یاری (name of a native religion in Kurdistan)

Urartian and Hurrian: /-i/, /-iye/ (his, her, its)
Kurdish: /-i/, /-y/ ی (his, her, its)

Hurrian: /-v/ (your)
Kurdish: /-w/ و (your)

Urartian: ushanu (award, bestow, feel affection for )
Kurdish: wuchan وچان (rest, reprieve)

Urartian: napahia (submission, bondage, domestication)
Kurdish: nawi نەوی (low, a low level, position or degree), (p>w)

Urartian: tur (defeat, destroy)
Kurdish: dor- دۆڕ (defeat)

Urartian: sal-zi (steep, abrupt)
Kurdish: sila سڵا (height)

Urartian: sil-e (woman, doughter)
Kurdish: selar سەلار (mistress of the house, beautiful woman) (note ''Selardi'', a lunar goddess of Urartu)

Urartian: lutu (woman)
Kurdish: lute لووتە (quoquettish woman)

Urartian: uldie (vineyard)
Kurdish: lote لۆتە (grapes hanged in order to be sun dried in a vineyard)

Urartian: nikidu (water)
Kurdish: niqdo/niqût نقووت/نقدۆ (water infiltration, water dropping), (plus some other cognates of the word)

Urartian: kan/kain (in front of)
Kurdish: kin کن (in front of, near) (but cf. also Iranic ''kenar'')

Urartian: haš-ia: (be interested in)
Kurdish: haz حەز (be interested in, love, like)

Urartian: d-u-: (do, cause to do)
Kurdish: da/di: ده/د (do, cause to do, used as a preffix for verbs)

Urartian: shalur (medlar)
Kurdish: shalor شەلۆر (nectarine)
Armenian: salor (plum) (clearly borrowed via Kurdish)

Urartian: mure (house)
Kurdish: mal ماڵ (house)

Urartian: urishi (weapon)
Kurdish: hereshe هەڕەشە (threat), /(there is also ''huruzhim'': هوروژم attack)

Hurrian: shini (two)
Kurdish: shingil شنگڵ (twin, twin fruit)

Urartian: egur-hu (free)
Kurdish: xorayi خۆرایی (free)

Urartian: bad-gul (surround)
Kurdish: bawe-xulê باوەخولێ (turn around, also a kids game)

Urartian: aish-ti (leap, jump)
Kurdish: hej-an هەژان (quake)

Urartian: ibirani (whole, complete, full)
Kurdish: pirani پڕانی (majority)

Hurrian: hinzur (apple? pear?)
Kurdish: hencor هەنجۆر (unripe melon)

Urartian: kut-u (reach)
Kurdish: (geh<*ged) گەهشتن/گەیشتن (reach)

Urartian: ai/ay: (look, take care)
Kurdish: aw-ir (look)

Urartian: di/erasia (fear)
Kurdish: tirs ترس (fear, but cf. also Iranic ''tars'')

Urartian: Ti/er-usi, measure for liquid
Kurdish: Telîs?تەلیس measure of unit

Hurrian: ben
Kassite: ban
Kurdish: minal (child)

Kassite: nadz (shade)
Kurdish: nisê (shade)

Kassite: ulam (son, child)
Kurdish: law (young boy)

Hurrian: çugi
Kassite: tsugi
Kurdish: chuk (small)

Hurrian: ewri (dog)
Kurdish wer-în (barking of dog)

Hurrian: shiye (watery)
Kurdish: she (moisture)

Urartian: zainua (high)
Kurdish: zinar (high cliff, high boulder)

Hurrian: shalmi (ashes, to burn)
Kurdish zhilemo (burning ashes)

Urartian: amash (burnt)
Kurdish mêsh (burnt ashes) (cf. ê<a)

Hurrian: puhi (nose)
Kurdish: (kepû) (nose)

Urartian: shepuiaru (spoil)
Kurdish: sheprêw (disorderly)

Urartian: mesh- (distribute, share)
Kurdish: wesh-[an] (distribute, share)

Urartian: teribi (monument)
Kurdish: tirb (monument, grave) (not be confused with Arabic 'turbat': soil)

Hurrian: fur-i (viw)
Urartian: wur-i (view)
Kurdish: wuria وریا (viewer, careful), awur ئاووڕ (sight), (even the Kurdish verb ''ruwan''-[in] (view) is likely connected to the Urartian ''wur'', rarther than being a metathesis for Iranic ''negar'')

Hurrian: halv- (enclose)
Kurdish: hal- هاڵ (enclose)

Urartian: kul-me (wealth, prosperity)
Kurdish: kel-k کەڵک (profitable, usefulness)

Hurrian: pâl (false)
Kurdish: fêl فێڵ (fraud)

Hurrian: tapsh- (destroy)
Kurdish: tawjm تەوژم (pressure)

Hurrian: apxe (louse)
Kurdish: aspe (louse)

Hurrian: kapp- (fill)
Kurdish: kipp (filled)

Hurrian: azhoge (meal)
Kurdish: azhge/zig (stomach)

Hurrian: kul- (to speak)
Kurdish: qul- (to speak aloud)

Hurrian: timeri (black)
Kurdish: chermi (white) (metathesis)

Urartian: tara-gie (powerful, strong)
Kurdish: daraqat (to be powerful, to be strong)

Urartian: tam-hu (eliminate separate)
Kurdish: toq-[andin]<tawq (terrorize, frighten)

Urartian: shi-u (carry away)
Kurdish: shi-[andin] (send)

Urartian: anda-ni (right)
Kurdish: and ئاند (right)

Urartian: irb-u (take away grab)
Kurdish: rev-[andin]/rif-[andin] (take away, grab) (but cf. also Iranian 'robudan', take away, grab)

Urartian: pit- (beat apart, destroy)
Kurdish: pis-/pichr- (beat apart, destroy)

Urartian: tishni (heart)
Kurdish: dine (encourage) (cf. t > d & sh > nil)

Urartian: ti-ni (name)
Kurdish: deng (voice)

Urartian: bauše (word)
Kurdish: wuše (word)

Urartian: durba (revolt, rebel)
Kurdish: tola (revenge)

Urartian: hut-ia (to ask)
Kurdish: qut-abî (student)

Hurrian: fir (remove, untie)
Kurdish: fir, firê (throw)

Hurrian: halme (singing)
Kurdish: hore (singing)

Hurrian: havur (heaven)
Kurdish: hawr (cloud), (note also Indo-Iranic abra)

Urartian: agu (lead away) (of IE origin?)
Kurdish: ajo-[tin] (lead away, drive)

Hurrian: ashti (woman)
Kurdish: astê (name of a beloved woman in Kurdish folklore)

Hurrian: tav/(-b) (to cast metal)
Kurdish: taw (thaw, melt)

Hurrian: ai (if)
Kurdish: ai (if)

Hurrian: alilan (lament)
Kurdish: lalan (lament)

Hurrian: çabalgi (fault)
Kurdish: çapal (dirty)

Hurrian: xiyari (all)
Kurdish: xir (all)

Hurrian: çere (donkey)
Kurdish: ker (donkey)

Hurrian: çik- (break)
Kurdish: shik- (break)

Hurrian: xîri (hour, time, moment)
Kurdish: xêra (soon, hurry)

Hurrian: xizli (coiled)
Kurdish: cexiz (coiled)

Hurrian: xub- (to break, to destroy)
Kurdish: qup- (to break, to destroy)

Hurrian: istani (between, among)
Kurdish: astang (obstacle)

Hurrian: izikun- (to wail)
Kurdish: zikan- (to wail)

Hurrian: kakari (sort of ritual bread)
Kurdish: kullêre, kellane (sort of ritual bread)

Hurrian: magunni (desire)
Kurdish: magirani (desire)

‌Hurrian: shakari or sagari (sprout, bud)
Kurdish: chakara (sprout, bud)

Hurrian: arushal (hurry)
Kurdish: halasha (stressful)

Hurrian: heni (now)
Kurdish: henu-ke (now)

Hurrian: parili (crime)
Kurdish: palamar (attack)

Hurrian: adi (thus)
Kurdish: dai (thus)

Hurrian: ak-i/u (other)
Kurdish: -ka (other)

Hurrian: we (thou)
Kurdish: ê-we (you)

Hurrian: buru (strong)
Kurdish: wure (strength)

Hurrian: çam (rip)
Kurdish çam (bend)

Hurrian: zurgi (blood)
Kurdish: zûx (blood), (compare, xwênaw=zûxaw)

Hurrian: xahli (cheek)
Kurdish: kulm (cheek)

Hurrian: halwu (fence made with stones)
Kurdish: hêl (fence)

Hurrian: xawirni (lamb)
Kurdish kawir (young sheep)

Hurrian: xamaz- (oppress)
Kurdish chaws- (oppress)

Hurrian: hendz (constrain)
Kurdish: hêndj (constrain)

Hurrian: xerari (sinew)
Kurdish: kiroje (sinew)

Hurrian: xeshmi (bright)
Kurdish: gesh (bright)

Hurrian: kalgi (weak)
Kurdish qals/qirj (weak)

Hurrian: nali (deer)
Kurdish: nêrî (male adult goat)

Hurrian: naw- (graze)
Kurdish: lawar- (graze)

Hurrian: ubi (stupid, insane)
Kurdish: hapa (stupid, insane)

Hurrian: ashxu (high)
Kurdish: shax (mountain)

Hurrian: kaziari (high mountains of the Mesopotamian valley)
Kurdish: kazh (high mountain)

Hurrian: kewiranna (the senate, the old men)
Kurdish: gewran (the big ones, the adult ones)

Hurrian: kuzh- (to keep, to retain)
Kurdish: kush- (to hold in hands, to press in hands)

Hurrian: nekri (lock)
Kurdish: nûq- (to close)

Hurrian: shalhi (to listen)
Kurdish: shil (listen)

Hurrian: siba (dry)
Kurdish: zuha (dry)

Urartian: dibi (building, room)
Kurdish: diw (room)

Hurrian: shu (day)
Kurdish: shawa-ki (morning, day)

Hurrian: shirat (narrate)
Kurdish: shirove (narrate)

Hurrian: tishan (very much)
Kurdish: tizha (full)

(See also Urartian morphology and Kurdish)

The Scytho-Cimmerian Kingdom Of Cappadocia

2011-03-24T17:02:00.004Z

The name of Cappadocia first appears in a list of Satrapies of the Achaemenids under Darius I. There is not much information about the Cappadocian people but there are indirect evidence from Greek sources that Cappadocians originated from northern Pontic regions before invading Asia Minor indicating that Cappadocians were descendants of Kimmerians after they were defeated by the Lydian king Alyattes II. in the mid. seventh century BC.
Cappadocia was also called 'Gamirk', which was name of the Kimmerian region in the land of Manna, south of the lake Urmia. This name is still in use as Gawirk (<Gamirk cf. common Kurdish w<m sound change) by the native Kurds, for a relatively vast area located among the modern cities of Bukan, Saqez, Sardasht and Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan.
Cimmerians or actually Kimmerians were a major branch of the Eurasian Scythians. Their name may have originally derived from the proto-Iranian /*gmira/, ''mobile unites, nomadic groups''.
A Kimmerian origin for the Cappadocians is also affirmed by the existence of a handful of the Hittite loanwords in Modern Kurdish. Cappadocia was the area in central Anatolia, where the Hittite language was spoken centuries earlier.

Further Reading (In Russian).

250 New Papyri

2010-12-19T22:44:00.000Z

The good news is that more than 250 interesting papyri have recently been discovered in Austria’s national library. The collection of documents, written in Greek and Coptic and dating from 643 and 644 AD, have shed new light on the Arab conquest of North Africa and Southwest Asia, including significant parts of Kurdistan, in the 1st century After Hijra.
Since Kurds were extensively active in the events concerning the Arab conquests in those decades, so that they launched strong and continued resistances to the Arab invasions, it would not be impossible to hope those precious documents provide us with significant information on the political and social life of the Kurds in the late Sasanid era.

The library is in the process of scanning the documents into digital format so they can be consulted by the public from early 2011 at the Papyrus Museum.

Österische Nationalbibliothek

On the Medieval History of the Kurds

2010-12-17T18:21:00.004Z

A valuable book, indeed a comprehensive encyclopedia, on the medieval history of the Kurds, whose title can be loosely translated as ''Kurdish Tribal Confederations and Dynasties in the Middle Ages'', written by Dr. Zirar Siddiq Tewfiq:

Kurdish Version (هۆز و ده‌سه‌ڵاته‌ هۆزه‌كییه‌ كوردییه‌كانی چاخی ناوه‌ڕاست)(Hoz u deselate hozekiye kurdiyekanî chaxî nawerast)

Arabic Version (القبائل و الزعامات القبلية الکردية في العصرالوسيط)

Scythian Dancer

2010-12-13T23:44:00.000Z

A Scythian male dancer in Kurdish clothes with the typical tall cap.
The stucco is from Qalaye Yazdgird, Eastern Kurdistan, Kirmashan region.

Slavic in Kurdish

2010-12-13T01:03:00.023Z

The Slavic loanwords in Kurdish are a remnant of the period when proto-Kurds (Scytho-Cimmerians) dwelt in southern Russian and north of Black sea such as the area of modern Ukraine, as well as north of Caucasus mountains.

One should be careful for numerous ''cognates'' deriving from the common proto-Indo-European language, shared between Slavic and Kurdish; The cognates which number over several hundreds should not be confused with loans. The loans are words which follow phonetical developments of a certain language or language group, but are borrowed by another language.

One of the most remarkable similarities between Slavic and Kurdish is to be found in the personal pronouns, especially the second person plural.
Since pronouns are among the elements of language most resistant to change and it is very rare if not unheard-of for one language to replace its pronouns wholesale with those of another, one may argue that such similarities, would be strong evidence even for genetic relationship.

However, as noted above, since Kurdish and Slavic are both Indo-European languages and already share hundreds of cognates, one may based on geographical proximity in the past, consider possibility of a sprachbund.

But Slavic influence on Kurdish is not limited to just lexical borrowings; one of the most clear phonetical influences of Slavic on Kurdish is the the development of the proto-Iranic /j to ž/. In other words, proto-Indo-European /gw/, which in proto-Iranian and Avestan developed into /j/ and in Persian to /z/, has in Kurdish like proto Slavic developed to /ž/.

A list of some interesting Slavic loans in Kurdish are provided below:

Ram
Slavic: baran
Kurdish: baran
Persian: quch

Vally
Slavic: dol
Kurdish: dol
Persian: dareh

Hill, Mound
Slavic: groda
Kurdish: gird
Persian: tapeh

Darkness
Slavic: tama
Kurdish: tam (also Czech ''tmavý'' vs Kurdish'' ''temawî'' both meaning dark/fogy )
Persian: tar

Woman
Slavic: žena
Kurdish: žin

Persian: zan

(in some estern Slavic languages a suffix /k/ is used, such as Ukrainian ''žinka'' or Belarussian ''žonka'', this is to be found even in some northern Kurdish dialects as ''žinik'!)

Daughter
South Slavic: kći, hči (from proto-Slavic *dъkt'i, from proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tēr)
Kurdish: kič (in some southernmost dialects in Kurdistan the original Kurdish ''dot'' from proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tēr is still found )
Persian: dokhtar

Hedgehog

Czech: ježek
Kurdish: ježek
Persian: joojeh tighi

flahs, lightning

Slavic: *blěsk

Kurdish: blîsk/ brûsk

Persian: No cognates

Thunder
Slavic: groma
Kurdish: girma
Persian: tondar

Spark
Slavic: iskra
Kurdish: sikil/eskil
Persian: zhabizh

Wedge

Slavic: klin

Kurdish: kelên

Persian: shekaf

Gift

Slavic: dar

Kurdish: diari

Persian: No cognates

Hunt

Slavic: loviti

Kurdish: raw

Persian: shekar

Slavic: goba (lip)
Kurdish: gup (cheek)
Persian: lab/guneh

Wart
Ukrainian: borodovka
Kurdish: baloka (cf. common Kurdish rd change to l)
Persian: zagil

Hand
Slavic: lapa
Kurdish: lap
Persian: dast

Faith/Thought
Slavic: vira
Kurdish: bir
Persian: din/andishe

Word/Dialect

Slavic: slovo (word)

Kurdish: zarava (dialect)

Persian: kalameh/ lahjeh (the word ''vajeh'' in Persian is a northern Iranic loan)

Slavic: az (Old Church Slavonic & modern Bulgarian: az; Slovanene: jaz, Macedonian: jas)

Kurdish: az

Persian: man

You/thou

Slavic: ty

Kurdish: tu

Persian: to

Slavic: mie

Kurdish: em/ême

Persian: ma

Our

Slavic: naše

Kurdish: -n (preserved in northern Sorani)

Persian: -man

You

Slavic: va/vy (very imprtant lexeme)

Kurdish: heve/êve/êwe

Persian: shoma

Your

Slavic: vaše

Kurdish: (-v/u/w preserved in northern Sorani)

Persian: -tan

They

Ukrainian: voni

Kurdish: van

Persian: ishan

This/that

Slavic: ov

Kurdish: av

Persian: in/an

Such as

Slavic: yaka

Kurdish: waka

Persian: No cognates

For/Because

Old Slavonic : bo

Kurdish: bo

Persian: baraye

Yet/Still

Slavic: yešte

Kurdish: hešte/hešta

Persian: hanuz

To/Till/In order that

Slavic: do

Kurdish: da

Persian: ta

But
Slavic: ali
Kurdish: lê
Persian: ama

Now
Slavic: sad
Kurdish: êsta
Persian: aknun

Alive

Slavic: živ

Kurdish: žiy

Persian: zendeh (a persian loan ''zîndû'' has also entered Kurdish)

Short

Slavic: kortk

Kurdish: kurt

Persian: kutah

Low

Slavic: nizik

Kurdish: nizim

Persian: paeen

When

Slavic: *kъgda

Kurdish: kengê/kengî

Persian: key

Lie down

Slavic: ležati

Kurdish: razîn

Persian: No cognates

Speak/Say

Slavic: kazati

Kurdish: qisa

Persian: goftan

Daytime

Slavic: dan

Kurdish: dan

Persian: No cognates

Cockchafer

Slavic: xrǫščь

Kurdish: qalonče

Persian: susk

Goat

Slavic: koza

Kurdish: gîsi[k]

Persian: boz

All/Everyone
Polish: Każdy
Kurdish: gisht
Persian: hameh

A small branch from a tree or bush
Polish: laska
Kurdish: lask
Persian: shakheh

Rusty/collosive
Czech: rezavý
Kurdish: rizaw
Persian: zang/poosideh

-------
Toponymy:

Mokri & Mokriany: Place names common throughout Slavic regions. exact names are used for a vast area immediately south of lake Urmia in Kurdistan, where the short-lived Republic of Mahabad was established.

Gorani: meaning highlander, are a group of Slavic peoples; exact name with the exact meaning is used for a branch of Kurds in Kurdistan.

The list is in no way limited to the words listed above, however the high number of cognates between Slavic and Kurdish makes it a difficult task to recognizes cognates from loans.
To suspect that the above similarities being just coincidence is dismissed by the fact that such a significant amount of similar words are not found between Kurdish and any other non-Iranic language group.

Memê Alan or "Mam The Alanian"

2010-12-01T17:43:00.001Z

With regard to the Alans (a wellknown Scythian people), we have previously mentioned the large Alanian tribal confederations among the Kurds, such as Alans of Piranshahr and Sardasht south of lake Urmia or the Alan aristocracy who ruled for centuries over what is nowadays Iranian province of Kurdistan (Ardalan, or Ard-Alan), immidiately to south of the former.
We have also referred to the name of the mythological Kurdish hero of the Epic of Mem u Zin, "Memê Alan" (or Mam the Alan). This classic love story is considered to be the épopée of the Kurdish literature. One more interesting fact with regard to the story is pointed out by the French orientalist and expert on Kurdish literature, Roger Lescot. He rightfully identified the origin of the story in a narration by Chares of Mytilene, a Greek historian of the 4th century BC. Chares informs us that the love story which is about a prince and a Scythian princess, is originally recited by the Scythians of Caucasus mountains.

It is noteworthy that the story narrated by Chares was for a few decades ago thought to be related to Zoroastrian tradititions. Howerver, it is now believed to be originally a Scythian-Median love story.

The Ancient Scythian Festival of Sakaia

2010-11-19T18:18:00.006Z

The Classical Greek sources mention a Scythian festival, named Sakaia, borrowed by ancient Persians and performed even in Babylonia. During the festival, a servant was elected as king for two to five days; the elected servant who was called ''zoganes'', was allowed to do as he was pleased and was entertained by the royal concubines.

But at the end of the period of the licence the masquerade king was dethroned and whipped. The participants who accompanied the carnival king, used to drink and dance. The festival was celebrated at vernal or autumnal equinox.

Interestingly, the Persians who attended the festival dressed in the Scythian garb.

The exact same festival is survived throughout Kurdistan.

On of the characteristic of the New Year festival (Newroz/Newroj/Gulus) in Kurdistan is the election of the false “amir” (ruler), whom the participants choose from among themselves to rule over them for three to five days. During this time he engages in the most extravagant behavior, making wild promises of long life and wealth to all his “subjects” and, in the general spirit of fun, fining those he judges guilty of “crimes”. (read here)

The festival is even known among the Yezidi Kurds, and Kurds of the Transcaucasus and Khorasan, observed by the archaeologist and iranologist Jean-Jacques de Morgan.
The festival is not nowadays common among other Iranic-speaking nations.

Names of Corduene Kings

2010-11-08T16:31:00.014Z

Corduene was a kingdom in ancient Kurdistan, often been neglected by scholars. Among their notable kings were Zarbienus and Manisarus, whose etymology of names discloses the nature of the Iranic dialect they spoke: a middle Scythian dialect, the same as neighbouring Adiabene to the south of the kingdom.

Zarbienus, also recorded as Zarbiene, and Zarbien, (early-mid 1st c. BC), made overtures to Appius Claudius, when the latter was staying at Antiocheia, wishing to shake off the yoke of Tigranes. He was informed against, however, and was assassinated with his wife and children before the Romans entered Armenia. When Lucullus arrived he celebrated his funeral rites with great pomp, setting fire to the funeral pile with his own hand, and had a sumptuous monument erected to him. His name is comprised of two components, the first part is ''zar'', middle Iranic development for gold/golden, deriving from the old Avestan and Scythian ''zaranya''. The old Persian equivalent of zaranya was daranya, while later on, Zar entered as a loan into Persian and replaced the original old Persian daranya.
Plutarch has even recorded the name as Zerbienus, which reflects the typical middle and new Kurdish development of /a>e/.
It is a cognate with name of the eastern Scythians (Sakas) queen, "Zarina". She led a rebellion by Scythians and Parthians against the Median King Cyaxares, who according to Herodotus had recovered his kingdom through intoxicating Scythian nobles; (that is after Scythian emperor Madius had counqered the Medes). The name of Zarina which means ''golden'', is still used for Kurdish females. The name has also been borrowed into Persian.

Manisarus (ca. 115 AD) took control over Armenia and Mesopotamia; therefor Osroes, the Parthian king, declared war against him; Manisarus sided with Romans. There are some coins extant, which are assigned to Manisarus. The etymology of his name is explained by linguist and orientalist Ferdinand Justi (author of "Kurdische Grammatik"), in his valuable book "Iranisches Namenbuch" to mean "unique and unparalleled lord/master".
The image above, shows an old drawing from one of the silver coins of the King Manisarus. Note King's headband (or diadem), typical for Scythian kings, such as King Izates II of Adiabene.

The Ancient Scythian Dance

2010-11-07T10:30:00.016Z

Scythians, before their expansion to modern Kurdistan, left some mementos for various Slavic and other peoples, such as the numerous famed group dances performed across Balkans and Eastern Europe, that is the territories they originally occupied. They also brought the group dance to Kurdistan. There are dozens of variations of group dances in Kurdisdan, pretty well reminiscents of Balkan/Eurasian dances.
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 festival. 1972, Baghdad)

Scytho-Cimmerian Stelae

2010-07-27T19:54:00.006+01:00

Some Scytho-Cimmerian stelae form ancient Kurdistan, 15th to 6th century B.C. ; (Hakkari region):

(see more examples...)

Following are some images of historic artifacts, including a stele, discovered by Kurdish guerillas from remote mountains of Kurdistan, distributed on the net:

(Further reading...)

Female Warriors

2010-05-23T10:45:00.003+01:00

A reconstruction of the Scythian warriors in battle (Cernenko & Gorelik, 1989, Plate F). Female Scythian warriors were known for their prowess at war.

Female Kurdish warriors.

Scythian Inscription

2010-05-13T21:27:00.005+01:00

A Scythian inscription from Kurdistan, scratched in hieroglyphic signs; about two third of which can be identified with Hieroglyphic Hittite characters.

The text is transliterated as :

pa-tì-na-sa-nà tà-pá wa-s₆-na-m₅ XL was-was-ki XXX ár-s-tí-m₅ ś₃-kar-kar (HA) har-s₆-ta₅ LUGAL | par-tì-ta₅-wa₅ ki-ś₃-a₄-á KUR-u-pa-ti QU-wa-a₅ | i₅-pa-ś₂-a-m₂

it is transcripted as:

patinasana tapa. vasnam: 40 vasaka 30 arzatam šikar. UTA harsta XŠAYAL. | Partitava xšaya DAHYUupati xva|ipašyam

and translated as following:

"Delivered dish. Value: 40 calves 30 silver šiqlu. And it was presented to the king. | King Partitavas, the masters of the land property."

Scythian mythology and Yazdanism

2010-05-08T20:54:00.008+01:00

Yazdanism is a conventional name for the pre-Islamic religion of the Kurds, before it developed into three branches of Ezidism, Yarsanism and Alevism, now practiced by small communities in central, southern and northern Kurdistan, respectively. A peculiarity of these religions which they share together and basically originates from Yazdanism is belief in a heptad of divine beings. In Ezidism for instance, the world is in the care of a Heptad of seven Holy Beings, often known as Angels or heft sirr (the Seven Mysteries). Preeminent among these is Tawûse Melek or Melek Tawus, literally meaning ''The peacock angel''.

In Scythian mythology, which is sporadically known through Greek sources, a heptad of seven deities are worshiped, greatest of all being ''Tabithi'' or ''Tabiti'' who was ''queen of animals'' and ''godess of fire''.

Besides the resemblance of the name which fully corresponds with Kurdish historical phonology (b> w, θ>s, hence: Tabithi > Tawus), both divinities have smiliar characters: being the greatest of the heptad and queen of animals (peacock has been often described as such).

One more amazing similarity is that in the Scythian mythology, the heptad divinities each represent a planet, as in Ezidism in which each divinity has been created in a week-day, (week-day names basically represent planets).

Another Scythian goddess, "Api", depicted as having snakes instead of legs (image), precisely corresponds with the famous Kurdish mythological character, "Shameran".

The Scythian dynasty of Adiabene

2010-05-06T21:56:00.026+01:00

Above is the relief at Batas, depicting King Izates II (ruled ca. 36-62 A.D) of the Scythian dynasty of Adiabene, in what is nowadays Southern Kurdistan. Its capital was Arbela (Arbil) and included Garmakan (Garmian/Kirkuk), Duhok, Mosul, Shyarzur (Sharazur) etc.

King Izates II who is wearing a pointed tiara with a headband or diadem, ordered the carving after the unexpected retreat of the Parthian king, Vologases I, who had marched against him but had been forced to abandon the campaign when nomadic Dahi and Sacae (Scythian-related peoples) invaded the northeast of the Parthian empire.

The Parthians and Armenians called the kingdom "Nor-Shirakan", after the powerful ruling dynasty of Shirak, who were a well-known Scythian people. During Sassanid period, the kingdom was ruled by the "Suren" clan, who were related to both Scythians and Parthians. Both Shiraks and Surens have left substantial toponyms after themselves in Kurdistan.

Other inhabitants of Adiabene were Alans, Orontes (Rawand), Azones and Silices (Selekei/Silki or Sidkan), these tribes are still there, in Kurdistan.

In the middle Persian language, the old Persian term "Saka", which meant ''nomad'' and was a generic term for Iranic-speaking non-Zoroastrian nomads (i.e. Scythians), had been replaced by "Kurd" (nomad)، which paved its way even into Arabic. After Muslim Arabs conquered the area in the 7th century, the Adiabane Kurds, (Arabic: ''Akrad al-Hadiab'', Kurdish: ''Hadabani''), gradually expanded their dominion northwards to the areas around lake Urmia, taking Ushnu as their summer capital. They ruled the area for a while but later split to a few branches, spreading across Azerbaijan (at times Turks still had not invaded Azerbaijan), and Caucasus. Saladin the renowned Muslim ruler was descendant of one of the Adiabene tribal branches.

Saladin the Kurd, a descendant of the Adiabene Scythians.

Pointed hats

2010-05-05T17:06:00.003+01:00

Scythians are known with and are shown on the ancient relics wearing pointy hats.
Kurds also have traditionally been known for their pointy hats.

Kurdish militia 1896

Kurds from Southern Caucasus (Armenia), 1840

Kurds 1840s

Kurds 1885

Kurdish warrior 1800s

Kurdish cavalryman, 17th century, showing a mounted cavalryman wielding a spear. From an unidentified 17th century German work

Representives of Kurdish costumes from six different geographical locations.

The list of images goes on, and give us a clear clue about Kurds traditional pointy hats.

Scythian Empire

2010-04-30T11:27:00.010+01:00

Scythian dish found in Ziwiya (ancient Zibia, Izzibia /b>w/), 7th century BC.

Scythian statue; a king, probably Protothyes (Partativa)

Scythian staircases of an ancient castle, typical on hills in Kurdistan especially in east.

The Scythian Language

2010-04-27T20:59:00.082+01:00

By the mid-seventh century B.C. the Scythians under Partatua reached the summit of their might in western Asia; and the region of Saqqez in Eastern Kurdistan was their political center. The very name of "Saqqez" is derived from "Skuδa", name of Scythians in their own language.

A notable Scythian group inhabiting ancient Kurdistan were the Cimmerians/Kimmerians. The Alans were another branch of western Scythians whose name is still largely preserved in Kurdish place-names such as "Alan", around Sardasht in eastern Kurdistan, the principality of "Ardalan", and even in the name of the mythological Kurdish hero of the Epic of Mem u Zin (Mam the Alan). The toponym of ''Gerros'' is mentioned by Herodotus, which is also name of an area to the southeast of Saqqez, or more precisely the traditional name for the area including Bijar and Qurwa counties, that is the eastern part of Kurdistan province in Iran. Another toponym is ''Şakak'', designating a large Kurdish tribal federation to the west and northwest of lake Urmia, where the famous kingdom of Sakacene of classical sources existed. The "Budini" of Herodotus may represent the ancestors of modern ''Boti'' or "Badini" Kurds. Name of river Kubani, mentioned by Herodotus as Hypanis, is still used in Kurdistan as name of a city.

Of the language of the Eastern Scythians, (also known as Indo-Scythians), i.e. Khotanese, remains a considerable ammount of texts and written material.
It is generally assumed that the languages/dialects spoken by various Scythian-related groups, were to some degrees related to one another, but they were not homogenous and in some cases were considerably dissimilar.

In this post I would like to bring your attention to some Scythian and Sakan words spoken in ancient and middle Iranian period in western and central Asia, respectively, as well as to some of their common features with modern Kurdish, which could be important for understanding the historical development of Kurdish phonology. As stated above, one should not forget that eastern Sakan must have had significant differences with western Scythian languages spoken in Kurdistan.

Phonological developments:

Inter- and postvocalic p>v; compare with Kurdish p>v/w:
Avestan 'k$apa', Sakan '$ava', Kurdish '$av'/'$aw'

Initial v>b; (borrowed in modern Persian from Kurdish/Scyhian)

Avestan 'váta', Sakan ' báta', Kurdish 'ba'

plural suffix

Scythian: -ti

Kurdish -êt (as in Bahdini), or ''de'' (as in Mukri/Sorani)

The frequent metathesis of replacing /m, p, b, f, v, w/ after /l, r/;

The transition *d > *δ > *l in intervocalic position and at the beginning of words, which once was considered regular and proper to the Scythian language, are now proven to be sporadic and dialectal. In any case, Kurdish frequently demonstrates this feature: de > le ('in'), xuda > xula ('god'), Muhammad > Mamlan, name of a 10th century ruler in the house of kuricized Rawadid dynasty, etc.

The previously-held hypothesis that Scythian knew the transitions /-nt-/ > /-d-/, /*xš-/ > /s-/ is now proven to be based on a misinterpretation of sources and is rejected.

/p>f/ which was attributed either to Scythian or Median, now is considered to be an Alanian, phenomenon. Yet, Kurdish occasionally demonstrates this feature; Kurdish: ''frî'' vs Persian ''parid'' (flied), Kurdish ''frê'' vs. persian ''part'' (throw); this may be explained as a remannat of the period when Scythians were in mutual contact with Sarmato-Alanians.

Some Scythian lexems:

dog

Scythian: kuti

Kurdish: kuti (''se[g]'' used in some Kurdish dialects is a Persian loan)

to give

Old Persian: dada-

Scythian: da-

Kurdish: da-

brother

Old Persian: bratar

Scythian: brata

Kurdish: bra

to cut

Old Persian: fra-jan

Scythian: brin

Kurdish: brin

side

Scythian: parsu

Kurdish: parasu

narrow

Scythian: nara

Kurdish: narîn

to go

Old Persian: shiyava (now /sho/ its meaning has changed to ''to become'' in modern Persian)

Scythian: chiyava

Kurd: chu

Scythian: tarxant (to grant, free of taxes)
Kurdish: tarxân or tarxând (allocation, appointment)

harsh
Scythian: karsa
Kurdish: qars/qals

Soghdian: pspryh (fix, repair)
Kurdish: pispor (expert)

antelope
Saka : aska
Kurdish: ask

sleet:
Saka: pruha
Kurdish: prusha

son, boy

Scythian: kur

Kurdish: kur

ear
Kurdish word for ear is go/goh, which according to Kurdish sound changes it must have derived from *gausa; Avestan and Old Persian had gaoshem and gaosha, respectively, Scythian had ''gaosa''.

light, reflection
Sycthian: sauka
Kurdish: şauq, (not be confused with Semitic ''şafaq'', meaning ''horizon'' rendered in Kurdish as ''shabaq'', which its native Kurdish equivalent is ''aso''. To make it more clear cf. the famous Kurdish poet: ''shabaq shauq dadatawa, meaning ''the horizon is reflecting the light of the sun''.)

good

Kurdish word for good ''xas'' fits well with a protoform ''*hvarz'' as was in Scythian.

Sun

Scytho-sarmatian: ta

Kurdish: taw

darkness

Scytho-Sarmatian: tama

Kurdish: tam (as in "tam u mij")

thaw (as snow)

Scythian: thau

Kurdish: taw-[inewe]

Some Sakan lexemes:

oil
Av: raogna
Saka: runa
Kurd: ron

appear/see
PI: *didatai
Saka: diyare
Kurd: diyar

sheep/cattle
Av: pasu
Saka: pasu
Kurd: paz

I
Av: azəm
Soghdian: ǝzu
Kurd: az (ez)

much
Av: pouru
O.pers: poru
Saka: pharu
Kurd: fra

dark
Av: taθra
Saka: tárra
Kurd: tarî

liver
Av: yâkarə
Zor. Pah: yakar
Saka: jará
Kurd: jarg

shoulder
Av: supti
Saka: suti
Kurd: asto

lungs
Av: su$i
Saka: svî
Kurd: sî

pus
Saka: ysu
Kurdish: zuxaw

fox
Saka: ruvasa
Kurdish: rovî

orphan
Saka: syuta
Kurdish: sêwî

work
Soghdian: erk
Kurdish: erk

worthy
Soghdian: ēžǝn
Kurdish: hēže/hēža (hêja)

heavy
Soghdian: ǝškurѳ:
Kurdish: qurs

fly
Soghdian: frusht
Kurdish: frîn

throw
Soghdian: frpash
Kurdish: frê

Soghdian: γǝr (mountain)
Kurdish: xir (hill)

poison
Soghdian: žār
Kurdish: žār (jar)

life:
Soghdian žǝwān
Kurdish: žǝyān (jiyan)

greed
Sogdian: rujhya
Kurdish: rijd

attach
Soghdian: nǝβǝst
Kurdish: nûs-

now
Soghdian: nūkǝr
Kurdish: nūke

new
Soghdian: nǝwē
Kurdish: nǝwē

after
Soghdian: pǝšī
Kurdish: pašī/ paš

turn/return
Soghdian: zwrt
Kurdish: zivirîn

goldsmith
Soghdian: zérnkǝrē
Kurdish: zêringer

Modern research in recent years has resulted in some radical changes of our understanding of the Scythian and Sarmatian languages and their descendants. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century it was thought that the Sarmatians spoke a northeastern Iranian language and was considered to be a predecessor of Ossetian language. The above-mentioned phonological features and lexical examples show that the Indo-European base of Kurdish language originates from Scytho-Sarmatian (Not to forget that Kurdish has a very strong Hurro-Urartian substratum, which makes it look like a creole language.).

Aishanid or Aishiya dynasty

2009-11-04T23:37:00.007Z

Aishani or Aisani was a Kurdish dynasty that ruled 912-961 A.D. (300-350 A.H.) over western Jibal, such as Dinawar, Hamadan, Samghan etc. in what is today known as Iranian Kurdistan as well as parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. Among the best known kings of the dynasty are Wandad, Ghanim and Daisam.

The dynasty which ruled about 50 years, was subsequently succeeded by another related Kurdish dynasty, the Hasanwayhids.

Shameran

2009-02-22T22:07:00.006Z

Shameran is name of the goddess of wisedom and guardian of the secrets in Kurdish mythology.

It's name literally means ''king of the snakes''. Shameran is thought to have an anthropomorphic figure with a female head on a snake body, the way she is often depicted and her pictures are traditionally hung on bedroom walls of Kurdish girls.

Shameran which can be compared with the Greek ''Mermeid'', exactly corresponds with the snake-legged goddess of earth, Api (see here), in the Scythian (ancient Kurds) mythology.

Other spellings of the name include: Shamaran, Shahmeran, Shahmaran and alike.

The Hurro-Urartian Substratum in Kurdish (1)

2009-01-07T12:03:00.015Z

The toponyms are generally conservative and give insight to the human history of the region when it comes to possible linguistic influnce or shifts.

It has long been shown by scholars that significant portion of Kurdish toponymy originates from Hurro-Urartian; examples are ''Barzani'' which was name of a Hurrian god; or Kurdish clan names ''Zibari'' from ''Sippar'', ''Musuri'' from ''Musri'', or name of ''Ziwiya'' from ''Zibiya'' (south of lake Urmia), vally of Harir from Kiruri, and dozens other place names and hydronyms such as Xabur, Van, etc. To these also must be added the name of 'Kurdistan' itself in Kurdish (endonym), ''Kurdawari'','' awari'' being the Hurrian word meaning ''land, field''.

But so far there has been no effort to look into Kurdish vocabulary to analysis thousands of words with no etymology relating them to Iranic (IE), Arabic (Semitic) or Turkic (Altaic), but with clear Hurro-Urartian cognates.

(See also Urartian morphology and Kurdish)

Kingdom of Garmakan

2008-12-23T22:25:00.010Z

The region around Kirkuk which is nowadays known in Kurdish as ''Garmiyan'' was in pre-Islamic era ruled by a local kingdom named ''Garmakan'' and was centered at the city of Kirkuk. This ancient kingdom could be traced back to the first and second millenia BC; according to the American scholar and iranologist Richard Nelson Frye possibly to the early Gutians who also built the city of Kikrkuk and put it as the capital of their powerful kingdom which encompassed much of modern Kurdistan. Although this is only part of the history of Kirkuk but it clearly proves the Kurdistaniness reality of Kirkuk in pre-Islamic era, as it has been in post Islamic period.

Sidqiyan dynasty

2008-12-13T16:43:00.009Z

One of the earliest independant dynasties after Islamic conquest was Sidqiyans who ruled central and northeastern Kurdistan and were centered at Urmia.

The dynasty was founded by Sidqa ibn Ali who luacnhed uprisings against Abbasid Caliph Abu Jafar Al-Mansur (712-775 AD).

With the help of his brothers, Sidqa was able to liberate large parts of Atropatene as well as Mosul. Following liberating Urmia, he extended his dominion to include regions of Khoy, Salmas, Shno (Oshnavieh), Lajan, Sindus, Mukriyan etc.

During reign of Abbasid Harun al Rashid, Sidqiyans were able to extend further their dominon, and even the governor of region of Tabriz accepted their suzerainty.

The successful expeditions by Sidqiyans horrified Abbasids, who subsequently sent to Atropatene a large army under Khazima, who could only occupy Maragha and soon was defeated by Sidqiyan forces. this indicates military superiority of Sidqiyans.

After Sidqa, his son Ali took power, who even extended further his dominion. Thereafter Ali's son Sidqa II, known as Zariq (also: Zardiq, Zarir, Zorayq, Zurayq or Zuraiq) who ruled 209-212 A.H. Like his grandfather (Sidqa), Zuraiq was a capable warlord. He contacted with Abbasids and claimed he is ready to battle Babak Khurramdin in return for his rule over Azarbaijan and Armenia being recognized by Abbasids. The Abbasid Caliph Mamun accepted the deal and persuaded him to counter Babak Khorramdin who along with his Kurdish generals such as Ismah and Nasr was hiding in the mountains of Azarbaijan. However there is no record of confrontation of Zuraiq with Babak, which indicates a possible collusion between the two.

In 211 A.H. Zariq sent an army to Mosul in order to recapture it. He was innitially defeated however, again attacked with a force of 40.000 troops, captured Mosul and killed Sayid ibn Yonus Azdi. This angered Mamun; he sent an army under Muhamad ibn Humaid, who defeated Zuraiq; he was executed in 212 after Hijra (827-8 AD).

Ziryab, the great Kurdish polymath

2008-12-11T18:07:00.007Z

Ziryab, (also spelled as Ziriab or Ziriyab) (789-857) was a polymath: a poet, musician, singer,cosmetologist, fashion designer, celebrity, trendsetter, strategist, astronomer, botanist and geographer at the Umayyad court of Córdobain Islamic Spain. He first achieved notoriety at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, as a performer and student of the great musician and composer, Ishaq al-Mawsili. Ziryab was a gifted pupil of Ishaq al-Mawsili. He had to leave Baghdad when his skills as a musician surpassed those of his teacher. He moved to Córdoba in southern Spain and was accepted as court musician in the court of Abd al-Rahman II of the Umayyad Dynasty.

Ziryab left Baghdad some time after the death of the Caliph al-Amîn in 813 and traveled first to Sham (Syria), then to Ifriqiyya (Tunisia), where he lived at the Aghlabid court of Ziyadat Allah (ruled 816-837). Ziryab fell out with Ziyadat Allah but was invited to Al-Andalus by the Umayyad prince, al-Hakam I. He found on arrival in 822 that the prince had died, but the prince's son, Abd ar-Rahman II, renewed his father's invitation. Ziryab settled in Córdoba, where he soon became even more celebrated as the court's aficionado of food, fashion, singing and music. He introduced standards of excellence in all these fields as well as setting new norms for elegant and noble manners. He was an intimate companion of the prince and established a school of music that trained singers and musicians which influenced musical performance for at least two generations after him. In the 9th Century he introduced the New Year celebration based on the Iranian holiday Newroz to the courts ofAndalusia in Spain and thence to Europe.

Ziryab is said to have improved the 'ud by adding a fifth pair of strings, and using an eagle's beak or quill instead of a wooden pick. He is said to have created a unique and influential style of musical performance, and written songs that were performed in Spain for generations. He was a great influence on Spanish music, and is considered the founder of the Andalusian music traditions of North Africa and the Middle East. Zyriab is thought to have codified the disparate elements of Arab poetic traditions of qasidah, mwashah and zajal. Abd al-Rahman II was a great patron of the arts and Zyriab was given a great deal of freedom. He established one of the first schools of music. He was a great virtuoso on the 'ud and an amazing singer. Ziryab also introduced musical instruments—notably the Persian lute that became the Spanish guitar—as well as passionate songs, tunes and dances of Persia and Mesopotamia that later, mixed with Gypsy influence, evolved into the famed Spanish flamenco. Ziryab established a music conservatory at the court of Abdel-Rahman at Cordoba. (The German scholarly book "Moorish Architecture" by Barrucand states that Ziryab also introduced good taste, fine court manners and even new hair cuts into Spain).

Ziryab is said to have had a lasting influence on fashion, bringing styles from the Middle East to Al-Andaluz, including sophisticated styles of clothing based on seasonal and daily timings. In winter, for example, costumes were made essentially from warm cotton or wool items usually in dark colours and summer garments were made of cool and light costumes involving materials such as cotton, silk and flax in light and bright colours. Brilliant colours for these clothes were produced in tanneries and dye works which the Muslim world perfected its production, for example, in 12th century Fes, Morocco, there were more than 86 tanneries and 116 dye works.[19]In daily timing Ziryab suggested different clothing for mornings, afternoons and evenings. Henry Terrace, a French historian, commented on the fashion work of Ziryab; "He introduced winter and summer dresses, setting exactly the dates when each fashion was to be worn. He also added dresses of half season for intervals between seasons. Through him, the luxurious dress of the Orient was introduced in Spain. Under his influence a fashion industry was set up, producing coloured striped fabric and coats of transparent fabric, which is still found in Morocco today.", though Terrace goes on to caution "Without a doubt, a lone man could not achieve this transformation. It is rather a development which shook the Muslim world in general, although historic legend attributes all these changes to Ziryab and his promoter, Abd-Al-Rahman II" Ziryab is known to have invented an early toothpaste, which he popularized throughout Islamic Spain. The exact ingredients of this toothpaste are not currently known, but it was reported to have been both "functional and pleasant to taste." He also introduced under-arm deodorants and "new short hairstyles leaving the neck, ears and eyebrows free," as well as shaving for men.For women, he opened a beauty parlour or “cosmetology school” near Alcázar, where he introduced a "shorter, shaped cut, with a fringe on the forehead and the ears uncovered." He also taught "the shaping of eyebrows and the use of depilatories for removing body hair", and he introduced new perfumes and cosmetics.

He also "revolutionized the local cuisine," by introducing new fruit and vegetables such as asparagus, and by introducing the three-course meal, insisting that meals should be served in three separate courses consisting of soup, the main course, and dessert. He also introduced the use ofcrystal as a container for drinks, which was more effective than metal goblets. He was an arbiter of fashion and taste. Ziryab's influence is felt to this day, especially in music and food. Prior to his arrival in al-Andalus in 822, there had been no style in food presentation since the Roman Empire. Food was served plainly on platters on bare tables, much as remains the "traditional" style in the middle east to this day. Ziryab changed that. He brought with him many dishes from Baghdad, introduced fine tablecloths and glassware instead of metal goblets, and developed a new order of service for the table. This "more elegant, better-bred and modern style" became established in al-Andalus, thence spread across the Pyrenees to Europe, and became the standard service we still use today. Hence the banquet will be served according to the precepts of Ziryab, and so will differ from the "traditional" style of serving one associates with Islamic food.

Ardashir and the Kurds

2008-12-03T12:00:00.023Z

One of the most interesting and important episodes of the Book of deeds of Ardashir son of Babak is his adventures with the Kurds (ca 220s AD).

Ardashir's mother, like Nizami Ganjavi's mother was of Kurdish descent. Ardawan, the last emperor of Parthians in a letter calls Ardashir ''a Kurd and raised by Kurds''.

With regards to Kurds, book of deeds of Ardashir elaborates Ardashir's attack on kingdom of Corduene, that is the northern Mesopotamia from lake Urmia to Euphrates; In this battle Madig king of Kurds, severely defeats Ardashir. Later Ardashir after having prepared a large army, rushes upon the Kurds and surprizes them with a night attack and finally defeates the Kurds after facing a severe resistance. Ardashir sends all the booty he collected from this battle to Pars.

On the road the army of Haftan-bokht, ''the king of the Kirm'' (i.e. Kirmanshah), struck against them, seized the entire wealth, property, and portable lodges from those cavalry soldiers of Ardashir, and carried them into Guzaran (modern Kuzaran, located to the west of city of Kermanshah and to the east of Sarpol Zahab), one of the boroughs of Gular (modern Kalar, to the north of Kuzaran), where Kirmanshah had its abode.

''Kirm'' is the old and middle Iranic for ''serpent''. The people of Kurdistan were known as people of serpent (by ethnic Hayqs of Armenia as ''Mar'', serpent, snake); Indeed, in Assyrian records the gate to the road to the Kimmerian was named ''Musasir'', which literally means ''Exit of Serpent''.

Ardashir then entertained this idea: "I shall go to Armenia (northeastern Anatolia, north of lake Van) and Ataropatgan (or Atropatene; east of lake Urmia), because Yazdan-kard (Domitianus) of Shaharzur (now Suleimania) has with many soldiers and heroes, passed beyond the frontiers of Shaharzur which at that time was part of the the kingdom of Garmian and its capital was at Kirkuk, concluded a treaty with the ruler of the land of shah of Kirm (or land of Kirmanshah), and become his ally." But as soon as Ardashir heard of the assault and victory of the sons of Haftan-bokht towards his (Ardashir's) army, he decided to firstly, put in order the affairs at Pars and become fearless of the enemies, and after that begin to meddle with other enemies."
It is mentioned also that the kingdom of Kirm was able to recruit significant numbers of troops from ''the land of Sind'', that is the area of Duhok and Zaxo.

Then Ardashir dispatched an innumerable army with chieftains to the battle of Kirmanshah. The army of Kirmanshah deposited their entire wealth, riches, property, and portable lodges in the citadel and fortress of Guzaran, and privately took refuge in mountain cavities. And the cavalry of Ardashir had no knowledge thereof, so they, on reaching the foot of the fortress of Gular, blockaded the citadel. When night fell, the army of Kirmanshah attacked them, committed bloodshed, killed many of Ardashir's troops, and seized from them horses, saddles, saddle-tackles, property, and portable lodges. With lamentation and dishonor, the troops returned to Ardashir in a disgraceful condition and unarmed...

Ardashir became much distressed, and consequently, invited to his capital all his troops from different cities and territories, and engaged himself with a large army to battle against Kirmanshah.

When he arrived at the fortress of Guzaran, the whole army of Kirmanshah had encamped itself inside the fortress, so he too encamped his army round the outer walls of the fortress.

The Shah of Kirm, Haftan-bokht, had seven sons, and each of them was appointed by him governor of a city with one thousand men under him. At this juncture, one of the sons, who was in Arvastan (Arabia; west of Euphrates), came by the passage of a sea, with a, large army composed of soldiers from Arabia and Mazenderan, and stood against Ardashir in battle.

The army of Kirmanshah, which had been inside the fortress, completely marched out, and vehemently struggled and fought with Ardashir's troops, many being killed on both sides. When the army of Kirmanshah came out of the fortress, it took such a by-road that it became impossible for any of Ardashir's troops to go out of the camp or to bring in any food for himself or fodder for his horses, and, consequently the satiety of all men and animals was changed into want of food and helplessness.

When Mitrok, son of Anoshepat, an inhabitant of Zarham in Pars, heard that Ardashir was without provision near the capital of land of Kirmanshahan , and obtained no victory over its army; he accoutered his troops and heroes, marched towards the residence of Ardashir, and carried away all the wealth and riches of Ardashir's treasure.

Ardashir, hearing of such violation on the part of Mitrok and other men of Pars, reflected upon it for a while thus: "I ought to postpone the battle with Kirmanshah, and then go to fight out a battle with Mitrok." He, therefore, summoned all his forces back to his quarters, deliberated with their commanders, first sought the means of delivering himself and his army.

That very moment a long arrow, dispatched from the fortress, came down and pierced, as far as its feathers, through the roasted lamb that was on the table.

On the arrow it was written as follows: "This arrow is darted by the troops of the lord of the glorious Dragon; we ought not to kill a great man like you, so we have struck that roasted lamb," Ardashir, having observed the state of things, disencamped his army and withdrew from the place.

The army of Kirmanshah hastened after Ardashir, and hemmed in his men again in such a manner that Ardashir's army could not proceed further. So Ardashir himself passed away singly by the sea-coast

Ardashir marched again towards Ardashir-Gadman, undertook the battle with Mitrôk, son of Anoshepat, killed Mitrok, and took possession of his territory, land, wealth and property.

Then Ardashir disguised himself as a merchant from Kkorasan and enetred the castle of Kirmanshah and poisoned him by a trick.

Ardashir commanded that the fortress should be razed to the ground and demolished, while on its site he ordered the city which they call Guzaran to be erected. In that quarter he caused an Atash-i Warharan to be enthroned. He loaded on the backs of one thousand camels the wealth, property, gold, and silver contained in the fortress, and dispatched them to Gobar. Then Ardashir installed a friendly and trusted vassal kingdom over the area of Kirmanshahan, which lasted from 226 to 380 AD. and is known as Kayusid or Kavusakan. A number of tombs cut into living rock in the mountains of the Kermanshah region is believed to date back from the House of Kayus. The most famous carvings in Kermanshah are at Taq Bustan believed to be the historic site of the dynasty.

The book of deeds of Ardashir further mentions his battle in Mokristan (Mokriyan, abode of Mokri Kurds, to the northeast of Garmiyan) and Barjan (abode of Barzan Kurds, between Garmiyan and Sind).

Although the topography of the story mentioned in the book of deeds of Ardashir precisely fits that of geography of Kurdistan, some biased western scholars tried in past to falsify this remarkable part of Kurdish history by linking it to the dry and uninhabitable deserts of eastern Iran, however it was protested by intelligent Kurdish intellectuals such as Mihrdad Izady who in his great and precious article ''QALEH-I YAZDIGIRD Cultural Treasure of the Kurdish Past'' (1993) clarifies the history of a mountain castle in Kirmanshahan to the ancient castle of king of Kirm in Guzaran.

(Image: Ardashir is believed to be standing here in this relief at Taq-e Bostan. On the left is an Iranic Izad (god), on the right is Kayus of Kirmanshah, and below him is Haftanbokht.)

It's ''Kurdistan''!

2008-12-02T19:31:00.008Z

One is often disappointed when reading shameful hypocrisy of some the western media and TV channels when it comes to an issue related to Kurdistan; especcially to northern part of Kurdistan. Western media which claims to be free and unbiased, in reality is unfortunately heavily in collusion with the Turkish fascist state's propaganda machine in order to oppress not only the rightful voice of Kurdistani people but even the very reality of existence of Kurdistan. In short, one of the most disgusting points in literature of the western media is their insist on using the offensive term of ''southeastern Turkey'' for (northern) Kurdistan; i.e. eastern, southeastern and southern Anatolia.
As a Kurdistani I invite all the open-minded and free individuals to oppose this disgraceful censorship of the name of Kurdistan.

Oldest cities in the world!

2008-11-25T17:41:00.008Z

Many cities in Kurdistan are among the top oldest cities in the world where human race resided and settled in. Below I've provided a short list of some of the oldest cities in Kurdistan.

Arbil, capital of KRG; simply the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world! Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the third millennium BC, (5000 years ago)! The city was founded by Hurrians (Khurrites), the forefathers of the Kurds in the land of Karda. Unlike what some people may think, the name of the city is not of semitic origin, but semitized. In other words, the name of the city is of Hurrian origin, (note the Hurrian toponym prefix ''ar''), however when Semitic people migrated northwards and became a power in the region, they reflected the name as ''Arbela'' which according to their language meant ''four gods''.
Kirkuk, nicknamed ''Quds of kurdistan''; founded by Hurrian-related tribes from eastern Kurdistan (either Guti or Lullubi); the old name of the city was Arrapha.
Oshnaviya, Shno, that is the ancient town of Ushnuya.
Sharazor, is said to have been built by Zor son of Zahhak. It was destroyed by Mongols.
Pinaca, later Bezabde, today Cizre, in ancient kingdom of Corduene which was part of the Roman empire
Sareisa, an extremely ancient site, was also an important city in ancient Corduene.
Satalca, ancient city in southeastern Anatolia, was also part of Corduene
Tigranocerta, modern Miyafarqin/Silvan in southeastern Anatolia. The city was founded by Tigran, a Prthian noble who later became a despot king over Armenia, after he relocated many Kurds to the site wich eventually became Tigranocerta or Tigranakart (parthian for ''city of Tigran'')
Nineveh, today Mosul, the city was actually founded by Semitic peoples, and was capital of Assyria, however after fall of Assyria the site was inhabited by Kurds up to the twentieth century when it was arabised by the British created state of Iraq.

The list goes on to Mars :) ...

Mummy king of ancient Kurdistan

2008-11-21T20:59:00.020Z

Below is a video of a recently unearthed mummy king from 3000 years ago in eastern Kurdistan around Sanandaj, (Sine); The film is taken by local people using cell phones who rushed to the discovery site. The Iranian officials have denied the finding which also includes five other graves burried next to the king's corpse and there is no doubt that this precious historic relic is soon going to be stolen and annihilated like thousands other before, by the occupiers of Kurdistan.

Jaban; The First Muslim Kurd

2008-11-19T21:01:00.009Z

Although Kurds were among the first nations who severely resisted Muslim Arabs invasion to their territory for centuries, and even according to some accounts it was not up to the end of the medieval age that majority of Kurds embraced Islam, however the first Kurd who converted to Islam unlike what some people may think did not become Muslim through invasion or forced conversion by Arabs; but was a traveller -likely a merchant- named ''Jaban'' who was a companion of Muhammad. In the year 18 after Hijra, he came back to Kurdistan to preach Islam among the people of his homeland. He has been mentioned in several muslim sources including ''Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani'' who writes in his book ''Finding the Truth in Judging the Companinons'', 10 hadithes which are quoted by Jaban. In addition Jaban's son Abu Basir Maymun al-Kurdi ibn Jaban was a Tabi'i.

Kurdish Azarbaijan

2008-11-17T13:34:00.012Z

West Azarbaijan province of Iran is located in northwestern corner of the country and forms the northern part of Iranian Kurdistan and northeastern part of Greater Kurdistan.

It is formed of 14 counties (shahrestan) and more than 30 cities and towns. The population of the province is about three millions. During two periods, 1919-1922 and again in 1946 the province was a Kurdish state known as republic of Kurdistan, centered at Urmia and Mahabad respectively. West Azarbaijan is among the last places in Iran where Shia Turkmen tribes were not able to turkify under safavids. most of its turkophone minority migrated to the region in 1800s and afterwards. Unlike what its name offers, i.e. containing the word ''Azarbaijan'', it is a predominantly Kurdish-inhabited province; indeed the Kurdish names of ''Azarbaijan'' and ''Azari'' were not in use for Turkic tribes of Azarbaijan before the Persians and Russians deliberately and for political purposes used these names as an ethnonym for them.

Anti-Kurdism

2008-11-14T09:31:00.021Z

The term ''Anti-Kurdism'' refers to hostility towards or prejudice against Kurds, which can range from individual hatred by ordinary people to institutionalized, violent persecution or discrimination. In other words anti-Kurdism is a social and political disease in Middle east, especially in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, but not limited to these.
The prejudice or hostility is usually characterized by a combination of political, economical, religious, racial, cultural and ethnic biases. Antikurdism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from individual expressions of hatred and discrimination against individual Kurds to organized violent attacks by mobs or even state police or military attacks on entire Kurdish communities. Historic instances of persecution include the Iranian massacre of thousands of Kurds around Urmia and deporting the survivors to northern Khorasan in 1609-1610 and the Dersim massacre in 1930s by the Turkish government.

Several varieties of antikurdism can be distinguished:

Political antikurdism; giving as example prohibition or closing down all Kurdish political parties who represent Kurds to achieve their basic rights.
Economic antikurdism; A clear example is that Kurdistan is the most impoverished and undeveloped area in all of the four countries occupying it.
Theological or Religious antikurdism; harassing Kurds for being Shafiite Sunni Muslims.
Cultural antikurdism; marginalizing or even banning Kurdish literature and history to be taught, or even banning use of Kurdish language.
Nationalistic antikurdism; accusing Kurds for being proxies of enemies of the country to weaken the country; for instance Qarne and Qalatan massacres in Iran (in eastern Kurdistan) in early 1980s, or the most infamous anfal campaign in Iraq (in southern Kurdistan) which took lives of 182000 innocent Kurds.

Racial or Ethnical antikurdism, insulting Kurds just for being simply Kurds; an example is Khoja Saddadin (1537-1599) the Turkish Mufti of the Ottoman Turks who wrote in his book ‘Taj ül-Tawarikh’ (The Crown of Histories): “It has been decreed by God that the Kurds cannot found a state because, once upon a time, a very ugly and frightening man visited the prophet Mohammed. The prophet was scared, and asked the man from whence he came. The guest answered in a friendly and respectful manner that he was a Kurd. The prophet lifted his head to the sky and said, ‘Thou, God, must not allow the Kurds to unify; their unification would cause the destruction of the world”.

Waving Kurdistan flag!

2008-11-13T10:34:00.013Z

I was searching on the web to find a waving Kurdistan flag but found nothing special. So I decided to create one of my own to share with anyone paying respect to this glorious flag! Here it is:

On the history of the flag:
The modern flag of Kurdistan first appeared during the Kurdish independence movement from the Ottomans. It is said to have been created in the 1920s by the organisation of Xoybûn (Khoyboon). However, an earlier version of this flag was flown by the Republic of Ararat in Anatolia during the period 1927-1931. It was later the flag of the Kurdish state known as the Republic of Kurdistan in 1946, encompassing of modern province of west Azarbaijan in Iran centered at Mahabad (this province is predominantly Kurdish and is known as the ''Kurdish Azarbaijan'' in contrast to the predominantly Turkish province of east Azarbaijan in Iran). The flag is now flown by the Kurdistan Regional Government in southern Kurdistan. The flag is banned in Syria, Iran and Turkey. The main Kurdish characteristic of the flag is the blazing golden sun emblem at the center, which is an ancient religious and cultural symbol among the Kurds. The sun disk of the emblem has 21 rays, equal in size and shape.

Kurdish cuisine: Berbesêl

2008-11-11T18:25:00.010Z

It's time to introduce a delicious food of traditional Kurdish cuisine. I promise posting more recipes in the comming weeks. The first recipe is about a tasty soup called ''Berbesêl'' pronounced: Barbasell. ( in some dialects it is called ''quraw''.)

Ingredients: (for 4 persons)
500 gr meat
1000 gr yoghurt (mast)
1 egg
1 onion
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
some salt, pepper, turmeric powder, dried peppermint (or thyme)

Directions:
Firstly boil the meat in two or three glasses of water. In a separate pot mix the yoghurt with a glass of water and an egg and whip it. Heat the yoghurt pot while ''continuously'' whiping tills it is boiled. Add the yoghurt pot into the pot with the boiled meat. Add the fried onion which you already prepared in a pan. Add the spices. Finally keep heating the pot one more quarter on a low temperature.
Now the berbesêl is ready and you're about to taste a tasty Kurdish food. I recommend listening to a soft Kurdish music while eating! Bon appétit!

Kurds in shadow of history

2008-11-10T14:22:00.008Z

Below, I've provided a list of notable pre-Islamic Kurdish clans and/or dynasties whose names survived as tribal names up to the modern era. The list is certainly no limited to those listed by me. It's worthy of note that each of these played significant roles in political scene of the time they were shining.
Hezebani: descendants of the Adiabene; the medieval rulers of tracts between Arbil, Urmia, and Maragha.
Garmiyan: from Garmakan; in and around Kirkuk.
Rawendi: from Orontes. As Orontids they ruled over what today is known as Armenia and Azarbaijan. Their offshoots continued to keep their realm over the same areas during early centuries of Islamic era as Shadadids and Rawadids. The city of Rawandiz too takes its name from them.
Bokhtan: from Pactiana together with Armenia formed thirteenth satrap of Achaemenid empire. the city of Bohtan in northern Kurdistan takes its name from Bokhtanis.
Soran: from Suren. a very powerful Arsacid clan who ruled what is now known as southern Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) during reign of Yazdgird of Sassanids. they continued to real the area up to midle of ninteenth century when attacked by Ottomans. Nowadays the southern Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish is called Sorani too.
Feyli: from Pahlavi. synonymous with Arsacid. Or more accurately name of language and people whose royal class named Arsacids.
Mardîn: a city in northern Kurdistan which takes its name from Mards, mentioned in Greek and Armenian sources.
Mihrani: who were one of the four clans united to support Saladin. they took their name from Mihranid a dynasty ruling Aran in the early Christian era, today known as Republic of Azerbaijan. (the name Aran is Kurdish for 'lowland')
Caf/Cafan or Jaf: from Gabiane of Greek sources. Jaf has been one of the most populous Kurdish tribes who dwelled mainly in southeastern Kurdistan. The city of Javanroud too takes its name from Jafs.

Actually as noted above the list is too longer than what listed here.

Buke Barane

2008-10-27T17:32:00.022Z

Buke Barane is a traditional Kurdish festival celebrated in days of drought, when there is no rain to break the thirst of the fields. The term ''Buke Barane'' (pron: buka barana) means ''Bride of the Rain'' or ''Rain Bride'' and with no doubt represents an ancient deity of the rain.

Although depending on the vast geography of Kurdistan there are several regional variations of the festival , but in general they are essentially the same custom and share the same purpose.

The most common version of the festival is as following. people make a doll out of two or more beams and dress it up like a bride in beautiful clothes. dependeing on the region a young girl or a young man/boy holds up and carries the rain-bride in her/his hands. Then the bride is accompanied by a crowd of youngsters and children; they follow her house by house in the town or in the village. At every door they sing a hymn which partially is:

''Buke barane awî dewé,
Awî néw genmanî dewé
chorchorey soybanî dewé...''
that is :
''The rain-bride wants water,
she wants it for the cereal fields,
she wants to see the rain overflowing the roofs...''

By this they expect one of the family members of the house they knocking its door to pour a bucket of water on the rain-bride; and to get some gifts (as booty) for the youngsters accopmpannying the rain-bride.
At the end they all gather somewhere out of the town or the village and pray for the rain. Finnaly they move towards a nearby river and throw the rain-bride into the river.

As said above this festival which likely has analogues in some other cultures across the world, is rooted in rituals of the old days.

Stupidity without borders

2008-10-23T17:41:00.014+01:00

Did you know that there is a so-called country where animals' scientific names can be regarded as separatist-motivated?! Well, that is not a hoax, there exists one place by the name ''Turkey'' where this stupidity is a reality!

In Turkey any reference to the historic name of ''Kurdistan'' is officially regarded as an offensive blasphemy! The Turks' oversensitiveness for the name Kurdistan reaches a degree that not only the use of the word is considered a criminal offense, but also they alter Latin names of poor animals which because are found in the territory of Kurdistan bear the name Kurdistan!

An example of this ridiculous name alteration is a beautiful animal called ''Red fox'' which its Latin name is ''Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica''. The genious Turkish officials have come to the conclusion that this name is contentious and divisive!

What can be said about this? This alknower Turkish officials should be awarded with something for making use of their genious brains. It's really pathetic...

Beautiful Homeland

2008-10-20T15:36:00.012+01:00

Today I'm going to point out some interesting facts about Kurdistan; though not limited to those listed below but I think the most notable ones are as following:

Kurdistan is the first place on earth where "agriculture" began (Cradle of Agriculture).
Kurdistan is the land associated with "Garden of Eden".
Kudistan's Mountains are where Noah's Ark is supposed to have landed.
The alleged grave of prophet Abaraham is located in Kurdistan.
One of the earliest traces of wine has been found in Kurdistan.

(Image: Traditional methods to thresh wheat in Kurdistan, near Sanandaj, Eastern Kurdistan)

Shanidar

2008-10-19T08:46:00.009+01:00

Shanidar is name of an attractive cave located in the Zagros Mountains of southern Kurdistan. What is interesting about Shanidar is being once home for Neanderthals which places Shanidar among the rare and unique caves in the world. The Neanderthal skeletons found in the cave date between 60-80,000 years.

It was excavated between 1957-1961 by Ralph Solecki and his team from Columbia University. The excavated area produced nine skeletons of Neanderthals of varying ages and states of preservation and completeness (labelled Shanidar I - IX). The tenth individual was recently discovered by M. Zeder during examination of a faunal assemblage from the site at Smithsonian institute. The remains suggest that Neandertals had funeral ceremonies, burying their dead with flowers, and took care of injured individuals.

We are Kurds

2008-10-16T11:58:00.004+01:00

O! hate-filled invaders!
O! savages without conscience!
You can't force us not to be Kurds
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain

Before Islam
before Zoroastrianism
under oppression and in freedom
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain

I'm Neither an Arab,
Nor an Iranian
Nor a Mountain Turk,
even history will sing with me
that I am a Kurd , a Kurdistani...

I am Neither an Arab ,
Nor an Iranian
Nor a Mountain Turk,
even history will sing with me
that I am a Kurd , a Kurdistani...
that I am a Kurd , a Kurdistani...

It's neither a shame, nor a pride
that there exist differences among nations
it's a decision by history
that we are Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
that we are Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain

Other nations are all my brothers,
just oppressors are my enemies.
I am not asking for any one's land
I am not trespassing on any one's territory.
for the rights of my people and my land
as long as I am alive....I will fight

O! hate-filled invaders!
O! savages without conscience!
even if you flatten Mount Qandil
and Mount Agiri (Ararat) and mount Shirin to the ground
you can't force us not to be Kurds.
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain.

By, Ibrahim Ahmad (1914-2000)
Sorry for possible errors in translation from Kurdish.