Queen Mary and the legend of the Missing Senjak

2021/09/9400-1630914229.jpg
Read: 4548     12:30     06 Сентябрь 2021    

Loss of Senjak


Wars and extermination campaigns have reduced the number of Yazidis so much that they have also lost their territories. The enemies looted the Yezidi villages, and stole Senjaks, six of which are now considered lost. First, according to British researchers in their reports, the Ottoman rulers widely used extermination campaigns against the Yazidis.
Leading British archaeologist Sir Austin Henry Layard was one of the first Europeans to see one of these Senjaks. In 1849, Layard visited the Yezidi principality of Halti-Ezids in Redwan near the modern city of Diyarbekir together with the Yezidi Kevwal from Sheikhan in northern Iraq. Layard was well aware of the importance of the sacred Senjak and even depicted it in one of his works.
Almost at the same time, in the following 1850, the British missionary George Percy Badger also painted a Senjak after seeing it in the Yazidi principality of Sheikhan, the upper part of the "statuette", which was damaged at that time, but later restored.
Only one of the seven Yezidi principalities, Sheikhan, survived the wars, de facto, and still exists. Thus, the only one of the seven Yezidi Senjaks remained. No one can say with certainty where the missing six are today, whether they exist and whether they were destroyed. It is often said that the Yezidi princely family of Mir Tasin-Bek owns four sacred Senjaks. However, so far no one has confirmed this. It is more likely that the Ottomans stole them during the looting, what they did with them is unclear.

Queen Mary in India

On January 13, 1912, British and American newspapers published the news that Queen Mary was interested in a very special item in an antique shop owned by the British jeweler and merchant Imre Schweiger, at the Kashmir Gate in Delhi, India. It was assumed that the statue belonged to the Yezidis, residents of Mesopotamia. Illustrator Samuel Begg from London drew this meeting, where Queen Mary and her husband are looking at a peacock statuette in an antique shop.
On July 13, 1912, the New York Times reported on the sacred statue of the Yezidis in the form of a peacock Malik-i-Tavus, transferred to the British Museum. At that time, Schweiger was considered the largest dealer in antiques, photos of his numerous ancient statues, figures, etc. are kept in the British Museum to this day.
Orientalist Sir Dennison Ross explained that the peacock statue is authentic and may be a sacred statue of the Yazidis, which can be disassembled into different parts to better transport. It comes from a Yazidi temple near Diyarbekir, where the Yazidi principality of Redvan was also located.
It is said that back in 1887, the Victoria and Albert Museum (formerly the South Kensington Museum), which today houses the largest collection of works of art in the world, tried to purchase a supposed Yazidi peacock statuette for about 2,000 pounds.
In 1912, Schweiger transferred ownership of the peacock statuette to the British Museum, which exhibited it in the same year.
But just a week after the exhibition in 1912, the British writer Athelstan Riley (1858-1945) expressed doubts about the Yezidi origin of the peacock statuette. Riley first met the Yezidis during a visit to the Lalysh Valley in the 1880s and saw one of the peacock figurines. In an open letter, Riley said that the alleged sacred Senjak, displayed in the British Museum, has nothing to do with the Yazidis. This peacock statue, Riley continues, of Persian origin, about 200 years old, is a typical symbol of the Persian kings.
Riley's opinion was generally accepted, and since then, scientists have considered the peacock statuette to be of non-Armenian origin. However, as the drawings of Western researchers and travelers show, the Yezidi Senjaks are not all the same, and no one has ever seen all seven figurines - not even Riley.
However, the intricate engravings on the peacock statuette in the British Museum indicated a Persian origin. In general, the origin of the statuette dates back to the Persian Qajna dynasty.
Although it is unlikely that the Yazidi relic is in the British Museum. But the myth shows that rumors are more than just rumors. Where the peacock figurine actually came from can be determined only through intensive research. However, until then, the myth of the Yezidi Senjak, stored in the British Museum, will live on.

ezidipress.com





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #newsyazidi   #yazidihistory   #aboutyazidi  



Queen Mary and the legend of the Missing Senjak

2021/09/9400-1630914229.jpg
Read: 4549     12:30     06 Сентябрь 2021    

Loss of Senjak


Wars and extermination campaigns have reduced the number of Yazidis so much that they have also lost their territories. The enemies looted the Yezidi villages, and stole Senjaks, six of which are now considered lost. First, according to British researchers in their reports, the Ottoman rulers widely used extermination campaigns against the Yazidis.
Leading British archaeologist Sir Austin Henry Layard was one of the first Europeans to see one of these Senjaks. In 1849, Layard visited the Yezidi principality of Halti-Ezids in Redwan near the modern city of Diyarbekir together with the Yezidi Kevwal from Sheikhan in northern Iraq. Layard was well aware of the importance of the sacred Senjak and even depicted it in one of his works.
Almost at the same time, in the following 1850, the British missionary George Percy Badger also painted a Senjak after seeing it in the Yazidi principality of Sheikhan, the upper part of the "statuette", which was damaged at that time, but later restored.
Only one of the seven Yezidi principalities, Sheikhan, survived the wars, de facto, and still exists. Thus, the only one of the seven Yezidi Senjaks remained. No one can say with certainty where the missing six are today, whether they exist and whether they were destroyed. It is often said that the Yezidi princely family of Mir Tasin-Bek owns four sacred Senjaks. However, so far no one has confirmed this. It is more likely that the Ottomans stole them during the looting, what they did with them is unclear.

Queen Mary in India

On January 13, 1912, British and American newspapers published the news that Queen Mary was interested in a very special item in an antique shop owned by the British jeweler and merchant Imre Schweiger, at the Kashmir Gate in Delhi, India. It was assumed that the statue belonged to the Yezidis, residents of Mesopotamia. Illustrator Samuel Begg from London drew this meeting, where Queen Mary and her husband are looking at a peacock statuette in an antique shop.
On July 13, 1912, the New York Times reported on the sacred statue of the Yezidis in the form of a peacock Malik-i-Tavus, transferred to the British Museum. At that time, Schweiger was considered the largest dealer in antiques, photos of his numerous ancient statues, figures, etc. are kept in the British Museum to this day.
Orientalist Sir Dennison Ross explained that the peacock statue is authentic and may be a sacred statue of the Yazidis, which can be disassembled into different parts to better transport. It comes from a Yazidi temple near Diyarbekir, where the Yazidi principality of Redvan was also located.
It is said that back in 1887, the Victoria and Albert Museum (formerly the South Kensington Museum), which today houses the largest collection of works of art in the world, tried to purchase a supposed Yazidi peacock statuette for about 2,000 pounds.
In 1912, Schweiger transferred ownership of the peacock statuette to the British Museum, which exhibited it in the same year.
But just a week after the exhibition in 1912, the British writer Athelstan Riley (1858-1945) expressed doubts about the Yezidi origin of the peacock statuette. Riley first met the Yezidis during a visit to the Lalysh Valley in the 1880s and saw one of the peacock figurines. In an open letter, Riley said that the alleged sacred Senjak, displayed in the British Museum, has nothing to do with the Yazidis. This peacock statue, Riley continues, of Persian origin, about 200 years old, is a typical symbol of the Persian kings.
Riley's opinion was generally accepted, and since then, scientists have considered the peacock statuette to be of non-Armenian origin. However, as the drawings of Western researchers and travelers show, the Yezidi Senjaks are not all the same, and no one has ever seen all seven figurines - not even Riley.
However, the intricate engravings on the peacock statuette in the British Museum indicated a Persian origin. In general, the origin of the statuette dates back to the Persian Qajna dynasty.
Although it is unlikely that the Yazidi relic is in the British Museum. But the myth shows that rumors are more than just rumors. Where the peacock figurine actually came from can be determined only through intensive research. However, until then, the myth of the Yezidi Senjak, stored in the British Museum, will live on.

ezidipress.com





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #newsyazidi   #yazidihistory   #aboutyazidi