Overview
Every year in February communities in Iraq honour Alkhidr, a holy figure who, according to ancient beliefs, grants worshippers their wishes particularly those in need. In northern Iraq, during the last three days of the month, families gather on a hill where the sanctuary of Alkhidr is thought to be. Dressed in traditional clothes they enjoy specially prepared dishes and perform a popular dance called the dabkka. In the centre of Iraq, community members join on the bank of Tigris, which they believe is the sanctuary of Alkhidr. They deliver sugar, salt, henna, sweets and myrtle leaves and at night send lit candles on wood along the river, making vows for their wishes to be granted. If the candles go out before reaching the other side, the wishes are said to come true. In the south of Iraq, myrtle leaves are also brought but only one candle lit. If the candle goes out before reaching...
This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.
Community and Authority
- Communities
- Iraq
- Languages
- Not specified in UNESCO dataset
- Cultural territories
- Iraq
- Countries
- Iraq
How the System Works
Every year in February communities in Iraq honour Alkhidr, a holy figure who, according to ancient beliefs, grants worshippers their wishes particularly those in need. In northern Iraq, during the last three days of the month, families gather on a hill where the sanctuary of Alkhidr is thought to be. Dressed in traditional clothes they...
Sources and Evidence
Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.
Field-Level Provenance
- title
- UNESCO DataHub field title_en
- preferredTitle
- UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
- summary
- UNESCO DataHub field description_en
- type
- UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
- countries
- UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
- categories
- ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
- relationships
- UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
- sourceUrl
- UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
- rights
- UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url
Original Source Metadata
Why This Record Is Credible
This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.
Cultural Access
Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.
Relationships
Review and Corrections
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