Research Article

The Religious Landscape of Mesopotamia in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme, Shrines, Sufi Lodges, and Popular Beliefs

Number: 27 November 12, 2025
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The Religious Landscape of Mesopotamia in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme, Shrines, Sufi Lodges, and Popular Beliefs

Abstract

This study examines the historical, cultural, and symbolic functions of sacred spaces in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname, with a particular focus on the religious geography of Mesopotamia. The research analyzes how the construction of sacred sites in the cities of Mardin, Nusaybin, Cizre, Hasankeyf, and Mosul interacts with local systems of popular belief. Evliya Çelebi’s narrative departs from conventional historiography by blending empirical observation, oral tradition, and mystical intuition, thereby producing a distinctive form of storytelling. His accounts create a spiritual atlas structured around pilgrimage sites, dervish lodges, shrines, sacred springs, and miracle narratives. The study explores Evliya’s observations through specific examples: the Şeyh Zûlî Sultan sanctuary in Mardin, the Zülkifl and Şeyh Emir Sultan shrines in Hasankeyf, the prophetic loci in Nusaybin, the Noahic memory in Cizre, and the talismanic and prophetic traditions in Mosul. Each city is presented as a “sacred topography” in which religious memory and social identity are intertwined. The Seyahatname is thus interpreted not merely as a travel account but as a cultural text that reveals a multilayered network of relations among faith, memory, geography, and identity

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Political Science (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

November 12, 2025

Publication Date

November 12, 2025

Submission Date

October 16, 2025

Acceptance Date

November 11, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Number: 27

APA
Tan, H. (2025). The Religious Landscape of Mesopotamia in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme, Shrines, Sufi Lodges, and Popular Beliefs. ASSAM Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi, 27, 116-127. https://doi.org/10.58724/assam.1805102

ASSAM-UHAD is an internationally indexed peer-reviewed journal published in April and November.