[42] ‘Ain Sifni is about five miles from Ba‘adrie; cf. Layard, Nineveh, I, 272.
[43] Yaḳût (III, 158) mentions a similar tradition.
[44] These are indications of Mohammedan influence and censorship, for no Yezidi will ever write in his sacred book such words as Šeitân, Šar, etc.
[45] That is, those of other religions.
[46] Sanjaḳ is a Turkish word, meaning banner; it is the name by which the Yezidis generally designate the sacred image of Melek Ṭâ´ûs.
[47] See note 27.
[48] The Harranian New Year fell on the first day of April, and on the sixth day they slaughtered an ox and ate it; cf. Fihrist, 322.
[49] A similar practice is found among the Parsees of India, who hang a string of leaves across the entrances to their houses at the beginning of every New Year.
[50] According to Babylonian mythology, human destiny was decreed on the New Year’s day and sealed on the tenth day; cf. the Hibbert Journal, V, January, 1907. And according to Talmud (Mišna, Roš hašana, I:2), New Year’s is the most important judgment day, on which all creatures pass for judgment before the Creator. On this day three books are opened, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of the intermediate class are recorded. Hence prayer and works of repentance are performed at the New Year from the first to the tenth days, that an unfavorable decision might be averted; cf. Jewish Encyclopedia, “Penitential Day.” R. Akiba says: “On New Year day all men are judged; and the decree is sealed on the Day of Atonement;” cf. ibid., “Day of Judgement.”
[51] Ibrîḳ al-Aṣfar means “the yellow pitcher.”