THE LOST FACE OF MESOPOTAMIA: DEQ

THE LOST FACE OF MESOPOTAMIA: DEQ

 It is very difficult to say any exact data on the history of drawing permanent shapes on the body, because it dates back thousands of years.  The shapes on the bodies of Egyptian mummies made with reed and leaf dyes, BC.  It is said to belong to the 2000s.  There are many assumptions about the first application date of this tradition, which is called tattoo today;  but tattooing is done in Mesopotamia where mostly Kurds lived for thousands of years.  In ancient times in Mesopotamia, each tribe had a different tattoo.  There is certain information that each different religion has different symbols and each tribe has different tattoos.  Today, tattoos that are traditionally only seen on older Kurdish women in the region are not seen in young people.

 The tattoo, which is spoken in different ways and finds a different meaning in every language, is in the form of Deq, daq, vesm, tatun, in, daqi.

 DEQs MAKERS

 Tattoos;  It carries deep traces of shamanism, paganism, animism, sabism, Taoism, Buddhism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism.  Tattoo motifs and symbols actually tell a story, story and the glazed, mystical and mythological values ​​of the past.

 Tattooing is the art of embroidering a dye that is compatible with the body, on the lower surface of the skin in patterns that will not appear for a lifetime.  The people who do it are of a kind of Romani (Gypsy) origin, which is defined as "karaci" in the region.  These people are also known as people who came from the Karachi region of India and could not settle down.  They are mostly known for dance and playing musical instruments.  These people equip the local people with tattoos for a fee.  It has been observed that this culture, which is not popular nowadays but replaced by temporary and pressure tattoos, is still embroidered by young men.  It is not possible to come across with karachers who traveled from village to village and did this job before.  Tattoo art was a kind of livelihood.  These people, whom we have excluded in villages and cities, have lost their livelihoods in this way.

 Men who do tattoo work are called "dekkak", women are called "dekkabe", men who get tattoos are called "medkuk", women are called "medkuke".

 MAKING DEQS

 Tattoo paint is prepared, the raw material of this paint is obtained from the milk of the mother who gave birth to a baby girl, animal gall, the heat of the lamp and some additives.  Whichever part of the body the tattoo will be embroidered, its shape is drawn with a thin litter.  Then, with three, five, seven or nine needles, the top of the figure is pinned for hours.  It is passed under the skin and processed all over.  Then, these areas of the body need to be crusty for a week.  After the shell heals and lifts, the shape we call as tattoo or until appears.

 An indescribable pain is felt during tattoo making;  this is a pleasant pain.  This pain then adds beauty to your body.  "JIN" now carries the happiness, elegance and nobility of embroidering what he dreams of on his own body.

 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEQ MAKER

  * It should not be someone who is married and divorced.

  * It should be healthy,

  * Not someone who has given birth to a dead child or whose child has died

  * It is thought that the bad fate of the person who made it was passed on to the person who was tattooed, so it must be believed by the society that his destiny is beautiful.

 It is the primary choice of the person who has the tattoo done by an experienced person who has tattooed before.

 DEQ FOR MEN AND WOMEN

 Male and female tattoos are different.  The woman has Déq to show her elegance and beauty, and the man to show her strength and power.

 Déq is applied to different parts of the body in men and women.

 Usually tattoos on women;  It is applied between two eyebrows, on the cheek and nose, on the chin and throat area, on the toes, on the abdomen, back, ankle to knee area, lower jaw to nipples.

  Men are usually tattooed on the temple area and the outer part of the hands.

 WHY ARE WOMEN'S LOWER LIPS DYE BLUE

 Most women have tattoos on their lower jaws.  This means that in response to a concubine woman's lip being bitten by a man, all women covered their lower lips with tattoos.  After the act of painting her lips blue to protect the concubine, this tradition became commonplace.  We can call this event the first feminist action in history.

 PURPOSE OF MAKING THE DEQ

 The purposes for tattooing are also different.  Some of them work on their body to protect themselves from magic and evil eyes, some to immortalize their loved ones in their bodies, some because they are the hallmarks of their tribe, and others because they are mythological-religious ornaments.  Cultural interaction also has an effect on this.  Every motif and every figure engraved by women on their bodies is full of symbolic codes.  According to researchers, all of the shapes in tattoos are based in a way on the blessing of the mother goddess.  The source of life symbolizes the mother's fertility, offspring and fertility, the developmental stages of the fetus, and finally life and death.

 People have attributed special meanings to tattoo shapes.  Some people try to explain that they are beautiful with the sun and moon tattoos on their foreheads.  In gazelle-like tattoos, it means that the woman compares herself to a gazelle.  Tattoos that will cover the whole wrist on the hand mean loyalty and devotion.  Comb and scissor-shaped tattoos on the toes mean the opening of the fortune.  Some tattoos are seen in shapes such as cross, triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon.

 SOME OF THE MOTIFS MADE

 Moon motif: It symbolizes the source of life, the desire for eternal life.

 Ceren motif: It is a ceren motif starting from under the chin, continuing on the neck and shaped on two breasts.

 Comb and mirror motif: It is the comb and mirror shapes seen on the upper hand and ankles of women.

 Ring motif: Ring motifs on the ankles have an important place among tattoo designs.

 Cross motif: Although the cross motif is known as a symbol of Christianity, the history of this motif goes way back.  It is believed that it conveys auspicious direction with its colors and counteracts the effect of bad looks.  The circle pierced by the arrow pointing inward symbolizes fertility and fertility as an indicator of fertilization.

 Sun motif: Sun course made with nine points on the right temples of men, there are rumors that the person carrying it will always be discreet, wise and intelligent, and will not burn in the hereafter.  Common sun and moon motifs symbolize the source of life, the desire for eternal life.  The sun motif is usually seen on the foreheads of all Yazidi women, which is due to the belief in the sun.

 Tree of life motif: The tree of life motif descending from the neck to the chest of women originates from the belief of the Mother Goddess.  The source of life symbolizes the mother's fertility, the stages of fetal development and finally life and death.