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Êzîdî Bibliography + Academic Sources

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en4,999 words⏱ approx. 23 min read📚 19 sections🔖 ≥104 sourcesQuality C · unverified

As of: 2026-06-11 · 45 titles curated for ezdixan.de Focus: standard works + open-access sources, peer-reviewed, multiple languages. Editorial note: All links were checked on 2026-06-11. Links that could not be verified were removed (the entry remains with its publisher information); works that could not be verified were deleted.

Trust levels:

  • A = Directly Êzîdî / academically peer-reviewed with source criticism
  • B = Solid scholarship, but an outsider’s perspective
  • C = Historically important, but methodologically problematic or outdated

Platform legend:

  • Iranica = Encyclopaedia Iranica (iranicaonline.org), free
  • Fritillaria = Fritillaria Kurdica, Bulletin of Kurdish Studies (kurdishstudies.pl), free
  • Brill = brill.com · CUP = Cambridge University Press · MUSE = Project MUSE

I. Philip G. Kreyenbroek: Yezidism standard works

1. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995): Yezidism, Its Background, Observances and Textual Tradition

  • Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek (SOAS / Göttingen)
  • Year: 1995
  • Publisher/Journal: Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston (Texts and Studies in Religion 62)
  • Access: Print / library (no verified open access)
  • Topic: Religion, theology, Qewl corpus
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: To this day the authoritative standard work on the Êzîdî religion. Kreyenbroek analyses Tawûsî-Melek theology, the Şêx-Adî tradition and the corpus of Qewl hymns. Methodologically groundbreaking, because for the first time he places Êzîdî self-statements at the centre instead of Orientalist constructions.

2. Kreyenbroek, P. G. & Khalil J. Rashow (2005): God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect, Sacred Poems and Religious Narratives from the Yezidi Tradition

  • Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek + Khalil Jindy Rashow
  • Year: 2005
  • Publisher/Journal: Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Qewl editions, religious poetry
  • Trust: A · Language: EN (original texts KU)
  • Short summary: First critical edition + English translation of the most important Qewls (sacred hymns) and Beytan. Co-author Rashow is himself an Êzîdî, which makes the work methodologically outstandingly authentic.

3. Kreyenbroek, P. G. (2009): Yezidism in Europe, Different Generations Speak about their Religion

  • Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek (in collaboration with Z. Kartal, K. Omarkhali, Kh. J. Rashow)
  • Year: 2009
  • Publisher/Journal: Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Diaspora, generational theology
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Field research in the German diaspora, how Êzîdîs in Europe redefine their religion and which conflicts arise between the first and second generation. Central for the diaspora perspective.

4. Kreyenbroek, P. G. (1992): “Mithra and Ahreman, Binyamin and Malak Tawus: Traces of an Ancient Myth in the Cosmogonies of Two Modern Sects”

  • Author: Philip G. Kreyenbroek
  • Year: 1992
  • Publisher/Journal: in: Recurrent Patterns in Iranian Religions: From Mazdaism to Sufism, Studia Iranica Cahier 11, Paris
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Comparative history of religion, Iranian roots
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Compares the Êzîdî Tawûsî-Melek cosmology with the Yarsan/Ahl-e Haqq. Argues for shared ancient Iranian substrates, a key text for the question “How old are the Êzîdîs?”.

II. Birgül Açıkyıldız

5. Açıkyıldız, Birgül (2010/2014): The Yazidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion

  • Author: Birgül Açıkyıldız
  • Year: 2010 (HC) / 2014 (PB)
  • Publisher/Journal: I.B. Tauris / Bloomsbury, London
  • Access: Print / library (Bloomsbury)
  • Topic: General account, art history, architecture
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: The major monograph on the Êzîdîs by an art historian. Strong on architecture (the Lalîş sanctuary, the Şêx-Adî mausoleum) and visual culture. Complements Kreyenbroek perfectly.

6. Açıkyıldız, B. (2009): “The Sanctuary of Shaykh ʿAdī at Lalish: Centre of Pilgrimage of the Yezidis”

  • Author: Birgül Açıkyıldız
  • Year: 2009
  • Publisher/Journal: Bulletin of SOAS 72/2, 301–333
  • DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X09000524
  • Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X09000524
  • Topic: Sanctuary architecture of Lalîş
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Detailed architectural analysis of the Lalîş sanctuary: conical towers, water symbolism, the Şêx-Adî tomb. With floor plans and photographs.

7. Açıkyıldız, B. (2009): “Sacred Spaces in the Yezidi Religion”

  • Author: Birgül Açıkyıldız
  • Year: 2009
  • Publisher/Journal: in: Gates/Morin/Zimmermann (eds.), Sacred Landscapes in Anatolia and Neighboring Regions, Archaeopress (BAR International Series), Oxford, 103–112
  • Open-access link: https://www.academia.edu/27748126/Sacred_Spaces_in_the_Yezidi_Religion
  • Topic: Topography of sanctuaries
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Overview of Êzîdî sacred sites and their spatial logic. Documented before 2014, today of source value for the reconstruction of sites destroyed by IS.

III. Khanna Omarkhali

8. Omarkhali, Khanna (2017): The Yezidi Religious Textual Tradition: From Oral to Written

  • Author: Khanna Omarkhali (FU Berlin / Göttingen)
  • Year: 2017
  • Publisher/Journal: Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden (Studies in Oriental Religions 72)
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Orality, writing down of the Qewls
  • Trust: A · Language: EN (KU texts)
  • Short summary: Habilitation thesis. Examines how Êzîdî Qewls pass from a purely oral tradition to written form, methodologically groundbreaking, and clearly distances itself from the forgeries “Mishefa Reş”/“Kitêba Cilwe”.

9. Omarkhali, Kh. (ed.) (2014): Religious Minorities in Kurdistan: Beyond the Mainstream

  • Author: Khanna Omarkhali (ed.)
  • Year: 2014
  • Publisher/Journal: Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden (Studies in Oriental Religions 68)
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Êzîdîs, Yarsan, Mandaeans, Alevis in comparison
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Edited volume on the religious minorities of Kurdistan. Places Êzîdîsm in its broader context.

10. Omarkhali, Kh. (2009): “Names of God and Forms of Address to God in Yezidism. With the Religious Hymn of the Lord”

  • Author: Khanna Omarkhali
  • Year: 2009
  • Publisher/Journal: Manuscripta Orientalia 15/2, 13–24
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Theology, names of God
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Examines invocations of Xwedê in the Qewls. Important against the prejudice that Êzîdîs “worship the devil”, Xwedê is unambiguously the creator God.

11. Omarkhali, Kh. & Kh. J. Rashow (2011): “On the Question of the Genre of the Yezidi Sacred Hymns”

  • Author: Kh. Omarkhali + Kh. J. Rashow
  • Year: 2011
  • Publisher/Journal: Manuscripta Orientalia 17
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Typology of Qewl genres
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Systematic classification of the Qewl genres (Qewl, Beyt, Qesîde, Du’a). Methodological foundation for further Qewl research.

IV. Garnik Asatrian + Victoria Arakelova

12. Asatrian, Garnik & V. Arakelova (2014): The Religion of the Peacock Angel: The Yezidis and Their Spirit World

  • Author: Garnik Asatrian + Victoria Arakelova (Yerevan State University)
  • Year: 2014
  • Publisher/Journal: Acumen / Routledge, Durham (Gnostica Series)
  • DOI: 10.4324/9781315728780
  • Link: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315728780
  • Topic: Tawûsî Melek, spirit world, holy beings
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Systematic work on the Êzîdî spirit world: angels, holy figures (Şêx Adî, Sultan Êzî), lesser spirits. Explains Tawûsî-Melek theology without Orientalist distortion.

13. Asatrian, G. & V. Arakelova (2003): “Malak-Tāwūs: The Peacock Angel of the Yezidis”

  • Author: Asatrian + Arakelova
  • Year: 2003
  • Publisher/Journal: Iran & the Caucasus 7/1–2, 1–36
  • DOI: 10.1163/157338403X00015
  • Link: https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/7/1-2/article-p1_1.xml
  • Topic: Etymology + theology of Tawûsî Melek
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Detailed study of the Peacock Angel figure: etymological roots (Tāwūs = Persian “peacock”), connections to Zoroastrianism + Gnosis. Refutes the devil-worship thesis.

V. Eszter Spät

14. Spät, Eszter (2005): The Yezidis

  • Author: Eszter Spät (CEU Budapest)
  • Year: 2005
  • Publisher/Journal: Saqi Books, London
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: General introduction, mythology
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Accessible yet academically solid introduction. Deals in particular with mythology + cosmogony. Good for students.

15. Spät, Eszter (2008): “Religious Oral Tradition and Literacy among the Yezidis of Iraq”

  • Author: Eszter Spät
  • Year: 2008
  • Publisher/Journal: Anthropos 103/2, 393–403
  • Access: JSTOR / library
  • Topic: Orality, literacy
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: How do school + the internet change the transmission of the oral tradition? Field research in Şêxan villages before 2014.

16. Spät, Eszter (2010): Late Antique Motifs in Yezidi Oral Tradition

  • Author: Eszter Spät
  • Year: 2010
  • Publisher/Journal: Gorgias Press, Piscataway (Diss. CEU)
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Gnosis, Manichaeism, late antique roots
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Doctoral dissertation. Compares Êzîdî myths with Gnostic + Manichaean texts. Argues for deep late antique substrates, a key text for the religious genealogy.

VI. Artur Rodziewicz

17. Rodziewicz, Artur (2014): “Yezidi Eros. Love as the Cosmogonic Factor and Distinctive Feature of the Yezidi Theology in the Light of Some Ancient Cosmogonies”

18. Rodziewicz, A. (2016): “And the Pearl Became an Egg: The Yezidi Red Wednesday and Its Cosmogonic Background”

  • Author: Artur Rodziewicz
  • Year: 2016
  • Publisher/Journal: Iran and the Caucasus 20/3–4, 347–367
  • Link: https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/20/3-4/article-p347_7.xml
  • Topic: Çarşema Sor (Red Wednesday), cosmogony
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Explains why the Êzîdî New Year is celebrated on Red Wednesday in April: the cosmic pearl becomes an egg → the world comes into being. Important for understanding the festival calendar.

19. Rodziewicz, A. (2017): “The Mystery of Essence and the Essence of Mystery: Yezidi and Yaresan Cosmogonies in the Light of the Kitāb al-Tawāsīn”

  • Author: Artur Rodziewicz
  • Year: 2017 (book-chapter version 2022, Springer)
  • Publisher/Journal: Fritillaria Kurdica 17–18; book version DOI 10.1007/978-981-16-6444-1_6
  • Open-access link: https://kurdishstudies.pl/?en_selected-publications,191
  • Topic: Comparison Êzîdî–Yarsan–Sufism
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Compares Êzîdî + Yarsan cosmogony with the Sufi classic al-Hallaj (Kitāb al-Tawāsīn). A profound work for the theologically interested.

20. Rodziewicz, A. (2022): Eros and the Pearl: The Yezidi Cosmogonic Myth at the Crossroads of Mystical Traditions

  • Author: Artur Rodziewicz
  • Year: 2022
  • Publisher/Journal: Peter Lang, Berlin · ISBN 978-3-631-88043-2
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: The Êzîdî creation myth (pearl + love), field research Iraq/Turkey/Georgia/Armenia
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Recent monograph (new publication): synthesis of Rodziewicz’s cosmogony research, based on many years of field research in all Êzîdî core regions.

VII. Christine Allison

21. Allison, Christine (2001): The Yezidi Oral Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan

  • Author: Christine Allison (University of Exeter)
  • Year: 2001
  • Publisher/Journal: Curzon Press, Richmond
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Folklore, oral history, Beytan
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Doctoral thesis. Collection + analysis of Beytan (lament poems) on historical events (Fermans, migration). Methodologically groundbreaking for ethnographic Êzîdî research.

22. Allison, Christine (2004): “Yazidis i. General” in Encyclopaedia Iranica

  • Author: Christine Allison
  • Year: 2004 (updated online)
  • Publisher/Journal: Encyclopaedia Iranica Online
  • Open-access link: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1
  • Topic: General overview of the Êzîdîs
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: The encyclopaedic entry-point article: history, demography, religion, diaspora, freely accessible and citable.

23. Allison, Christine (2017): “The Yazidis” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion

  • Author: Christine Allison
  • Year: 2017
  • Publisher/Journal: Oxford University Press
  • DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.254
  • Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.254
  • Topic: Religion + genocide context
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Post-2014 synthesis. Integrates the IS genocide into the account of religious history. Updated standard article.

24. Allison, Christine (2008): “Unbelievable Slowness of Mind: Yezidi Studies, from Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century”

  • Author: Christine Allison
  • Year: 2008
  • Publisher/Journal: Journal of Kurdish Studies 6, 1–23
  • Access: Print / library (Peeters)
  • Topic: History of research, critique
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Unsparing critique of Êzîdî studies: 200 years of Orientalism, forgeries (Mishefa Reş), projection. Required reading for source criticism.

VIII. Sebastian Maisel

25. Maisel, Sebastian (2017): Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority

  • Author: Sebastian Maisel (Leipzig / Grand Valley State University)
  • Year: 2017
  • Publisher/Journal: Lexington Books, Lanham
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Syrian Êzîdîs (Afrin, Jazira)
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: First monograph on the Syrian Êzîdîs, a double minority (Kurdish + religious). Field research in Afrin before 2018. Today a source for community life that has been lost.

26. Maisel, S. (2008): “Social Change Amidst Terror and Discrimination: Yezidis in the New Iraq”

  • Author: Sebastian Maisel
  • Year: 2008
  • Publisher/Journal: MERIA, Middle East Review of International Affairs 12/4
  • Access: partly archived online (originally Rubin Center)
  • Topic: Post-2003 Iraq, attacks on Êzîdîs
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Examines attacks on Êzîdîs after the US invasion, including the Sinjar/Qahtaniyah bombings of 2007 (796 dead; initial reports ~500). Paves the way for the analysis of the 2014 IS genocide.

27. Maisel, S. (2013): “Syria’s Yezidis in the Kurd Dagh and the Jazira: Building Identities in a Heterodox Community”

  • Author: Sebastian Maisel
  • Year: 2013
  • Publisher/Journal: The Muslim World 103/1, 24–40
  • DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2012.01388.x
  • Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2012.01388.x
  • Topic: Identity, Syria
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Comparison of the two Syrian Êzîdî communities (Afrin in the west, Jazira in the east). Important for diaspora history.

IX. Dimitri Pirbari + Nodar Mossaki

28. Pirbari, D., N. Mossaki & M. S. Yezdin (2020): “A Yezidi Manuscript: Mišūr of P’īr Sīnī Bahrī/P’īr Sīnī Dārānī, Its Study and Critical Analysis”

  • Author: Dimitri Pirbari (Êzîdî Spiritual Council, Tbilisi) + Nodar Mossaki + M. S. Yezdin
  • Year: 2020 (online 2019)
  • Publisher/Journal: Iranian Studies 53/1–2, 223–257
  • DOI: 10.1080/00210862.2019.1646120
  • Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2019.1646120
  • Topic: The Mişûr manuscript of Pîr Sînî Bahrî
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Edition + analysis of an authentic Êzîdî Mişûr (a Pîr genealogy charter), a historically genuine document, in contrast to the forged “Mishefa Reş”. Groundbreaking.

29. Pirbari, D. (2008): Йезиды Сархада [The Êzîdîs of Serhed]

  • Author: Dimitri Pirbari
  • Year: 2008
  • Publisher/Journal: Tbilisi/Moscow (in Russian)
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Êzîdîs in the Caucasus (Serhed region)
  • Trust: A · Language: RU
  • Short summary: Russian-language study of the Caucasian Êzîdîs (Armenia, Georgia): life cycles, rites, family structures.

X. Classics of field research

30. Lescot, Roger (1938): Enquête sur les Yezidis de Syrie et du Djebel Sindjār

  • Author: Roger Lescot (Institut Français de Damas)
  • Year: 1938
  • Publisher/Journal: Mémoires de l’Institut Français de Damas, Beirut
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Êzîdîs in Şingal + Syria (1930s field research)
  • Trust: B · Language: FR
  • Short summary: Classic field research of the 1930s. Lescot documents structures that have today partly disappeared. Caution: Orientalist terminology, but of high source value.

31. Furlani, Giuseppe (1930): Testi religiosi dei Yezidi

  • Author: Giuseppe Furlani (Università di Roma)
  • Year: 1930
  • Publisher/Journal: Zanichelli, Bologna (Testi e Documenti per la Storia delle Religioni 3)
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Êzîdî texts (Italian translation)
  • Trust: B · Language: IT
  • Short summary: Italian translation of early Êzîdî texts. Still contains the “Mishefa Reş”/“Kitêba Cilwe”, later recognised as forgeries, today itself a source for the history of the forgery.

XI. Exposure of forgeries + historiography

32. Mingana, Alphonse (1916): “Devil-Worshippers: Their Beliefs and their Sacred Books”

33. Guest, John S. (1993): Survival Among the Kurds: A History of the Yezidis

  • Author: John S. Guest (diplomat / historian)
  • Year: 1993 (previously 1987 as The Yezidis)
  • Publisher/Journal: Kegan Paul International, London
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Êzîdî history from Western sources
  • Trust: B · Language: EN
  • Short summary: First comprehensive English history of the Êzîdîs, based mainly on Western travel accounts + Ottoman archives. Good for the outside view, less so for theology.

XII. Post-2014 genocide research

34. Kizilhan, J. I. (2018): “PTSD of rape after IS («Islamic State») captivity”

  • Author: Jan Ilhan Kizilhan (Duale Hochschule BW Villingen-Schwenningen), himself an Êzîdî
  • Year: 2018
  • Publisher/Journal: Archives of Women’s Mental Health 21/5, 517–524
  • DOI: 10.1007/s00737-018-0824-3
  • Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00737-018-0824-3
  • Topic: PTSD after IS enslavement (study with 296 surviving women)
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Kizilhan helped build up Baden-Württemberg’s special contingent for around 1,100 Êzîdî women + children. First systematic study of the trauma consequences of IS captivity.

35. Cetorelli, V., I. Sasson, N. Shabila & G. Burnham (2017): “Mortality and Kidnapping Estimates for the Yazidi Population in the Area of Mount Sinjar, Iraq, in August 2014”

  • Author: Cetorelli, Sasson, Shabila, Burnham (LSE + Johns Hopkins)
  • Year: 2017
  • Publisher/Journal: PLOS Medicine 14/5, e1002297
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002297
  • Open-access link: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002297
  • Topic: Quantification of the genocide
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: First demographically grounded estimate: c. 3,100 Êzîdîs killed, c. 6,800 abducted in August 2014. Source basis for UN reports, canonical figure for ezdixan.de.

36. UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (2016): “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis”

  • Author: UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria
  • Year: 15 June 2016
  • Publisher/Journal: UN Human Rights Council, A/HRC/32/CRP.2
  • Open-access link: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A_HRC_32_CRP.2_en.pdf
  • Topic: Classification of the genocide under international law
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: The decisive UN report that classifies the IS crimes against the Êzîdîs as genocide in the sense of international law. Basis for later recognitions (including the German Bundestag in 2023).

XIII. Linguistics + Kurmancî

37. MacKenzie, D. N. (1961/62): Kurdish Dialect Studies (2 volumes)

  • Author: David Neil MacKenzie (SOAS / Göttingen)
  • Year: 1961/1962
  • Publisher/Journal: Oxford University Press, London
  • Access: Print / library
  • Topic: Kurmancî dialects (incl. Şêxan/Şingal variants)
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Foundational linguistic work. Documents dialects from Hakkari, Şêxan, Şingal and elsewhere, important for Êzîdî Kurmancî with its own lexemes.

38. Haig, Geoffrey & Y. Matras (2002): “Kurdish Linguistics: A Brief Overview”

  • Author: Geoffrey Haig (Bamberg) + Yaron Matras (Manchester)
  • Year: 2002
  • Publisher/Journal: Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung (STUF) 55/1, 3–14
  • DOI: 10.1524/stuf.2002.55.1.3
  • Link: https://doi.org/10.1524/stuf.2002.55.1.3
  • Topic: Overview of the Kurdish language family
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Solid introduction to Kurdish linguistics. Explains the relationship Kurmancî / Soranî / Zazaki / Goranî. Helpful for situating the Êzîdî liturgical language.

39. Haig, Geoffrey (2018): “The Iranian Languages of Northern Iraq”

  • Author: Geoffrey Haig
  • Year: 2018
  • Publisher/Journal: in: Haig & Khan (eds.), The Languages and Linguistics of Western Asia, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin
  • DOI: 10.1515/9783110421682-009
  • Link: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110421682-009/html
  • Topic: Languages of northern Iraq (incl. Êzîdî Kurmancî)
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Up-to-date overview of the languages in the area where the Êzîdîs live. Important for language-preservation strategies in the diaspora.

XIV. Early Orientalist classics (with source criticism!)

40. Layard, Austen Henry (1849): Nineveh and Its Remains (Vol. I, chapter on the Şêxan Êzîdîs)

  • Author: Austen Henry Layard (British diplomat/archaeologist)
  • Year: 1849
  • Publisher/Journal: John Murray, London
  • Open-access link: https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008734812
  • Topic: First detailed Western description of the Êzîdîs
  • Trust: C · Language: EN
  • Short summary: First detailed Western description of Lalîş + Cejna Cemayîyê (1846). Strongly shaped by Orientalism, but of inestimable source value for the state of affairs in the 19th century. Read CRITICALLY!

41. Empson, R. H. W. (1928): The Cult of the Peacock Angel

  • Author: R. H. W. Empson (British colonial official)
  • Year: 1928
  • Publisher/Journal: H.F. & G. Witherby, London
  • Access: Print / library (public domain)
  • Topic: British colonial report
  • Trust: C · Language: EN
  • Short summary: A typical British colonial report. Important not for facts, but as a source for the construction of the “devil-worshipper” stereotype. Read with source criticism!

XV. Current diaspora + genocide research (German-language + Vienna)

42. Tagay, Şefik & Serhat Ortaç (2016): Die Eziden und das Ezidentum: Geschichte und Gegenwart einer vom Untergang bedrohten Religion

  • Author: Şefik Tagay + Serhat Ortaç, both themselves Êzîdîs
  • Year: 2016
  • Publisher/Journal: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Hamburg
  • Open-access link: https://epub.sub.uni-hamburg.de/epub/volltexte/2016/60975/ (full-text PDF, free)
  • Topic: Overview of Êzîdîsm in German
  • Trust: A · Language: DE
  • Short summary: THE German standard work, written by two Êzîdîs. Completely freely accessible, required reading for the German-speaking diaspora.

43. Six-Hohenbalken, Maria (2019): “The 72nd Firman of the Yezidis: A ‚Hidden Genocide’ during World War I?”

  • Author: Maria Six-Hohenbalken (ÖAW / University of Vienna)
  • Year: 2019
  • Publisher/Journal: Genocide Studies International 13/1, 52–76
  • Link: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/741234
  • Topic: The 72nd Ferman in the First World War, flight to Armenia
  • Trust: A · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Examines the genocidal persecutions of the Êzîdîs in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War (the 72nd Ferman of the Êzîdî count) and the emergence of the diaspora in Armenia (c. 12,000 refugees).

XVI. Early US study + Iraqi insider perspective

44. Joseph, Isya (1919): Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz

  • Author: Isya Joseph (Assyrian-Christian author)
  • Year: 1919
  • Publisher/Journal: Richard G. Badger, Boston
  • Open-access link: https://archive.org/details/devilworshipsacr00jose
  • Topic: Early US study of the Êzîdîs (with caution!)
  • Trust: C · Language: EN
  • Short summary: Contains the “sacred books” later recognised as forgeries. Today of source value as a document of the spread of the forgery in Western academia. Read together with Mingana (#32)!

45. Salloum, Saad (2013): Minorities in Iraq: Memory, Identity and Challenges (chapter on the Êzîdîs)

  • Author: Saad Salloum (Baghdad / Masarat Foundation)
  • Year: 2013
  • Publisher/Journal: Masarat for Cultural and Media Development, Baghdad
  • Link: https://masaratiraq.org (list of publications)
  • Topic: Êzîdîs + other minorities in Iraq
  • Trust: A · Language: EN (Arabic original)
  • Short summary: Written by an Iraqi minority-rights activist. Offers a rare Iraqi-Arab insider view of the situation of minorities. Important for interreligious dialogue.

Statistics

  • Total: 45 titles (as of 2026-06-11; 6 unverifiable entries of the previous version deleted, 2 entries replaced/added)
  • Languages: EN: 41 · DE: 1 · FR: 1 · IT: 1 · RU: 1 (KU texts embedded in EN works)
  • Must-have authors ✓: Kreyenbroek: 4 · Açıkyıldız: 3 · Omarkhali: 4 · Asatrian+Arakelova: 2 · Spät: 3 · Rodziewicz: 4 · Allison: 4 · Maisel: 3 · Pirbari+Mossaki: 2 · Lescot + Mingana: ✓
  • Trust distribution: A = 39 · B = 3 · C = 3

Top 10 must-reads

If you can read only 10 books/papers:

  1. Kreyenbroek 1995 (#1), Yezidism, THE standard work
  2. Tagay & Ortaç 2016 (#42), the German standard work, completely open access
  3. Kreyenbroek & Rashow 2005 (#2), God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect, the Qewl corpus
  4. Açıkyıldız 2010 (#5), The Yazidis, architecture + history
  5. Omarkhali 2017 (#8), Religious Textual Tradition, methodologically groundbreaking
  6. Asatrian & Arakelova 2014 (#12), Religion of the Peacock Angel
  7. Mingana 1916 (#32), exposure of the Mishefa Reş forgery, source criticism!
  8. Rodziewicz 2014 (#17), Yezidi Eros, freely accessible
  9. UN report 2016 (#36), They came to destroy, required reading on the genocide
  10. Allison 2008 (#24), Unbelievable Slowness of Mind, critique of the history of research

As of 2026-06-11 (full link check + editorial corrections) · Curated for ezdixan.de · For questions or broken links: [email protected]

XVIII. Digitized Archives, Historical Press and Full-Text Repositories

This section gathers freely accessible digitized sources on the Êzîdîs: public-domain full texts, searchable newspaper portals and living community archives. All links were checked in June 2026. Historical titles often carry the exonym “Yezidi/Devil-Worshippers”; it must be read source-critically as an outsider designation typical of its time, not as fact.

A) Further public-domain primary sources and travel accounts (full text freely readable)

B) Searchable newspaper and archive portals (historical press worldwide)

In these full-text portals, historical press reports on the Êzîdîs can be searched in a targeted way. Recommended search variants per language: Yezidis, devil worshippers, Sheikh Adi, Sinjar (EN); Jesiden, Jeziden, Yeziden, Teufelsanbeter (DE); Yézidis, adorateurs du diable (FR); Jezidi's, duivelaanbidders (NL).

C) Academic open-access full texts (modern)

D) Living community archives and genocide documentation

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