Qerecurnê

General Information

Also Known As

Qara Journah shrine, Qerecurnê shrine, Qere Curnî Shrine, Ziyareta Qere Curnî, Mazar Hoker, مزار هوكر, قره جرنه

Type

Ziyareta

Nahiya (Subdistrict)

Şera

Village or Nearby Villages

Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik

Religious Affiliation

Yezidi, Muslim

Qerecurnê is a shrine of Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik in the Şera sub-district.

Map and Location

Coordinates: 36.611857, 36.902395

Source: https://akmckeever.substack.com/

Physical & Landscape Features

The shrine stands by the bridge over the Qerecurnê valley, among large plane trees, and it takes its name from a large black basalt trough, a curn, that once stood beside it and is no longer there.1 At the bottom of the village a spring also called Qerecurnê rises nearby. An elder says the plane trees belong to the shrine and may not be cut, and that anyone who cuts one falls ill.2 The site lies about fifteen kilometres northeast of Afrin city and is reached from the Meşalê junction on the road heading west toward Lake Meydankê. Two great oak trees stand beside the shrine, and the stream of the valley, shaded by plane trees, runs for about two kilometres.7

Dedicated Figure & Historical Roots

Local accounts and an inscription identify the figure as the martyr Hogir, also written Hoker. The inscription recorded by the TirejAfrin survey describes him as a descendant of a Zoroastrian priest from Eyn Dara and a commander under Imad al-Din Zengi, killed in the eleventh century on his return from liberating Urfa from the Byzantines.3 In the village accounts, Hogir is a commander of Zoroastrian background from Endarê who was killed during the Zengid period and buried at the site.4

Ritual Practices & Beliefs

On Wednesday mornings before sunrise, people came to the trough and slaughtered a black chicken on behalf of the sick. They distributed the meat to the poor without eating any of it, in the hope that God would cure the illness.5

Weekly visitors also cooked the meat of the sacrificed chicken in the shade of the trees, to eat or to give to passers-by and the needy, and then tied a piece of cloth to the branches of one of the two oaks so that the shrine's owner would not forget them and would grant success, marriage, pregnancy and children, or healing from common afflictions such as severe fright, nightmares, and back and head pain.8 Both the Yezidi and Muslim communities of the area frequented the shrine.9

Current Status

The Baath authorities renamed the shrine Şêx Mihemed Rihawî and built a restaurant at the site, but the villagers rejected the new name and continue to call it Qerecurnê.6

Days after Turkish-backed forces entered the area in March 2018, fighters filmed themselves at the shrine mocking it and its adherents, tearing ribbons from one of the trees, burning strips of cloth tied to it, setting another tree on fire, and damaging the interior.10 Yezidi sources also call the site Mazar Hoker, after the martyr named on its plaque. In March 2018 a sacred tree facing the shrine in the village of Kefer Janê was burned.11

Transcripts

Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik (Ax û Welat – Episode 1118):

  • 11:19 – A guest describes the martyr Hogir, who served under Imad al-Din Zengi.
  • 12:53 – A guest explains the black basalt trough and the Wednesday black-chicken ritual for the sick.
  • 13:33 – A guest recalls the regime's attempt to rename the shrine Şêx Mihemed Rihawî.
  • 16:13 – An elder explains that the plane trees belong to the shrine and may not be cut.

Videography

Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik (Ax û Welat – Episode 1118): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSSJUaYJBw

Bibliography

References

  1. TirejAfrin, "Major Shrines in the Efrîn Region," https://www.tirejafrin.com/site/mazarat.htm. Arabic quote: "تقع هذه الزيارة جانب الجسر المقام على وادي ( قره جرنى ) الرائع الجمال بجدوله الرقراق وأشجار الدلب الضخمة... وقد استمدت الزيارة اسمها من جرن كبير من حجر البازلت الأسود كان بجانبها، ولم يعد موجود حاليا." English translation: "This shrine is located next to the bridge built over the beautiful Qere Curnî valley, with its flowing stream and massive plane trees... The shrine derived its name from a large black basalt trough that once stood beside it and is no longer there." ↩

  2. Ax û Welat, "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," Episode 1118 (village Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik), YouTube video, at 16:13–18:12, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cSSJUaYJBw. Kurdish quote: "Li binê gund kaniyek bi navê Qerecurnê heye." English translation: "At the bottom of the village there is a spring called Qerecurnê." Kurdish quote: "Ev darana jî nabe kes jêke. E jêke naxoş dibe... Ê zîyaret e ne. Zîyaret dixwaze." English translation: "No one may cut these trees. Whoever cuts them becomes ill... They belong to the shrine. The shrine claims them." ↩

  3. TirejAfrin, "Major Shrines." Arabic quote: "إن هذا المزار يعود إلى شهيد اسمه ( هوكر ) ، وهو من أحفاد أحد الكهنة الزردشتيين من قرية عين دارا، وكان أحد قادة عماد الدين زنكي، قتل في القرن الحادي عشر لدى عودته من تحرير مدينة الرها من البيزنطيين." English translation: "This shrine belongs to a martyr named Hoker, a descendant of a Zoroastrian priest from the village of Eyn Dara. He was one of the commanders under Imad ad-Din Zengi and was killed in the eleventh century on his return from liberating the city of Riha (Urfa) from the Byzantines." ↩

  4. Ax û Welat, "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," Episode 1118. Kurdish quote: "Ku di vê ziyaretê de kesekî bi navê Hogir heye. Û ew mîna fermandarekî Zerdeştî ji gundê Endarê bû. Di dema serweriya Zengiyan da hate kuştin û li vir bin ax bû." English translation: "In this shrine there is a person named Hogir. He was like a Zoroastrian commander from the village of Endarê. During the rule of the Zengids he was killed and buried here." ↩

  5. Ax û Welat, "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," Episode 1118. Kurdish quote: "li vê derê xelk roja Çarşemê, sibe zû dihatin li vir mirîşka xwe serjê dikirin... berî gi ro derkeve." English translation: "people came here early on Wednesday morning and slaughtered their chickens here... before the sun came out." Kurdish quote: "Hêjayî gotinê ye ku xelk di sibehen Çarşeman da mirîşkeke reş serjê dikin. Û li xizanan belav dikin. Bê ku tiştekî jê bixwin, ev ji bo kesên nexweş dihatin kirin." English translation: "It is worth noting that people slaughter a black chicken on Wednesday mornings and distribute it to the poor. Without eating anything from it, this was done for the sick." ↩

  6. Ax û Welat, "Ĥilûbiyê Çuçik," Episode 1118. Kurdish quote: "rêjîma Baasê jî navê Şêx Mihemed Rihawî li ziyaretê kir. Lê xelkê gund nerazîbûna xwe diyar kirin. Û her wiha li wir rêjîmê xwaringehek jî ava kir." English translation: "the Baath regime gave the shrine the name Şêx Mihemed Rihawî. But the villagers expressed their objection. And the regime also built a restaurant there." ↩

  7. Nidal Yousef, "'قره جورنه' قربان لتحقيق الأماني" [Qara Jorna: A Sacrifice for the Fulfilment of Wishes], eSyria, October 29, 2011, https://www.esyria.sy/2011/10/قره-جورنه-قربان-لتحقيق-الأماني. Arabic quote: "مزار 'قره جورنه' مزار مقدس كغيره من المزارات وهو يقع إلى الشمال الشرقي من مدينة 'عفرين' بنحو 15 كم وذلك بالقرب من الجسر الواقع في وادي 'قره جورنه' ويمكن الوصول إليه عبر طريق 'عفرين' مفرق قرية 'مشعلة' بالتوجه غرباً نحو 'بحيرة ميدانكي' الشهيرة، ويوجد بجانبه شجرتان ضخمتان من أشجار البلوط المعتبرة في المنطقة فهي موجودة إلى جانب أغلب المزارات في المنطقة. ... مجموعة من أشجار الدلب التي تغطي الوادي بمسافة حوالي 2كم." English translation: "The Qara Jorna shrine is a sacred shrine like the other shrines. It lies about 15 km northeast of the city of Afrin, near the bridge in the Qara Jorna valley, and it can be reached by the Afrin road at the Mashala village junction, heading west toward the famous Lake Meydanki. Beside it are two huge oak trees, of the esteemed oaks of the region, which stand beside most of the shrines of the area. ... a group of plane trees that cover the valley for a distance of about 2 km." ↩

  8. Yousef, "'قره جورنه'." Arabic quote: "يأتي الناس إلى المزار أسبوعياً ليقدموا بالقرب منه ذبيحة وتكون في الغالب دجاجة طالبين مساعدته على تحقيق أمنياتهم ومن ثم طبخ اللحم تحت ظلال الأشجار لتناوله أو تقديمه إلى عابري السبيل والمحتاجين ومن ثم يقوم الشخص بربط قطعة قماش بأغصان إحدى شجرتي البلوط كي لا ينساه صاحب المزار- الضريح فيحقق له أمنيته في النجاح أو الزواج أو أملاً بالحمل والإنجاب والشفاء من بعض الأمراض الشائعة مثل مرض الرعبة الشديدة التي تصيب شخص ما أو الكوابيس التي يشاهدها الشخص في نومه أو وجع الظهر والرأس وغيرها." English translation: "People come to the shrine weekly to present a sacrifice near it, usually a chicken, asking its help in fulfilling their wishes. The meat is then cooked in the shade of the trees to be eaten or offered to passers-by and the needy. The person then ties a piece of cloth to the branches of one of the two oak trees so that the owner of the shrine, the tomb, does not forget him and fulfils his wish for success or marriage, or in hope of pregnancy and childbearing, or healing from some common ailments such as the severe fright that strikes a person, or the nightmares a person sees in his sleep, or back and head pain, and other things." ↩

  9. Alexander McKeever, "Afrin: Incidents Of Desecration And Destruction Of Cultural Sites," Bellingcat, July 11, 2019, https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/07/11/afrin-incidents-of-desecration-and-destruction-of-cultural-sites/. Direct quote: "The shrine is located here, within the northeastern subdistrict of Sharran, and is frequented by both the local Yezidi and Muslim communities." ↩

  10. McKeever, "Afrin: Incidents Of Desecration And Destruction Of Cultural Sites." Direct quote: "On March 27, 2018, a Yezidi media outlet, Ezdina News, published a video that had originally been uploaded on a private Facebook page, showing the desecration of the Qara Jornah Shrine. The video shows several men allegedly affiliated with Olive Branch forces mocking the shrine and its adherents while burning strips of cloth tied to a tree outside, as well as before and after footage of the shrine's interior, demonstrating that some intentional destruction had occurred." Jamie O'Connell, "Incident Report Feature: Intentional Destruction of Religious Sites in Afrin," ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives, http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org/incident-report-feature-afrin-religious-sites/. Direct quote: "Video footage published on Youtube on March 17, 2018 shows FSA fighters vandalizing the shrine. A fighter is seen removing ribbons tied to a tree near the shrine, while others set another tree on fire." ↩

  11. Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria, "اضطهاد الإيزيديين في عفرين: تهجير 95% منهم.. تخريب المزارات.. مصادرة الممتلكات وانتهاكات أخرى" [The Persecution of the Yezidis in Afrin], https://vdc-nsy.com/archives/54102. Arabic quote: "كما أظهر مقطع فيديو آخر نشرته المؤسسة في آذار 2018 حرق "شجرة مقدسة" في قرية كفرجنة في ريف عفرين مقابل "مزار هوكر" (قره جرنه)." English translation: "Another video published by the foundation in March 2018 showed the burning of a 'sacred tree' in the village of Kafr Janna in the Afrin countryside, facing the 'Hoker shrine' (Qara Jorna)." ↩