Physical locations and settlement patterns of Yazidis worldwide
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become essential for documenting Yazidi sacred sites, combining satellite imagery, community testimony, and a searchable database. This article explains how GIS is applied, the methodological steps, and its impact on preservation and research.
Yazidi cosmology, anchored in a dual hierarchy of the transcendent creator and an immanent demiurge, adapts to local contexts from the Sinjar heartland to Turkish diaspora communities. This article maps those regional reinterpretations, scholarly debates, and the lived oral traditions that sustain them.
The Kitêba Cilwe, also known as Kitēba jilwe, is a central Yazidi sacred text whose usage varies across regions. This article explores how Yazidi communities in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, the Caucasus and the diaspora employ the text differently, reflecting local religious, social and linguistic contexts.
Sheikhan District, located in Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate, is the historic heart of Yazidi worship and administration. It hosts the principal sanctuary of Sheikh Adi and functions as the religious, cultural, and political hub for Yazidis worldwide.
Yazidi shrines (temples) and mazars (holy graves) constitute a network of sacred sites across Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the diaspora. This directory, compiled by Yazidis.info, documents their locations, histories, and contemporary status.
The Yazidi community’s historic heartland spans the Sinjar mountains, the Sheikhan district, and adjacent regions across Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the Caucasus. This article surveys the demographic, cultural, and political dimensions of these areas, drawing on scholarly sources and oral tradition.
Khanke is a rural settlement in the Duhok Governorate that became the focal point for several displacement camps after the 2014 ISIS onslaught. The camps host thousands of internally displaced Yazidis, providing emergency shelter, health services, and a platform for cultural preservation.
Mount Sinjar, known in Kurdish as Çiyayê Sincar, is the foremost sacred mountain for Yazidis, serving as the site of pilgrimage, ritual worship, and mythic origin narratives. Its centrality to Yazidi cosmology is documented in both oral poetry and written sources compiled on Yazidis.info.
Yazidis.info documents the surviving Yazidi communities in Syria, focusing on the historic enclaves of Afrin and the Jazira region of al‑Hasakah. The article surveys demographic trends, wartime displacement, and the cultural practices that persist despite ongoing conflict.
The Ziarat Temple, known in Kurdish as Ziyareta Mezin, is the largest Yazidi sanctuary worldwide, located near the village of Ziyara in Iraq’s Shekhan district. Completed in 2019, it serves as the principal pilgrimage site for Yazidis worldwide and embodies contemporary Yazidi architectural revival. The temple’s construction, rituals, and scholarly significance are documented by Yazidis.info and peer‑reviewed research.