nazar (amulet)
{{short description|Eye-shaped amulet believed to protect against the evil eye}}
File:Kapadokya'dan Nazar Boncuğu.jpg
File:Blue eyes.JPG – for sale in a shop.]]
A naẓar (from Arabic {{wikt-lang|ar|نَظَر}} {{IPA|ar|ˈnaðˤar|}}, meaning 'sight', 'surveillance', 'attention', and other related concepts), or an eye bead is an eye-shaped amulet believed by many to protect against the evil eye. The term is also used in Azerbaijani, Bengali, Hebrew, Hindi–Urdu, Kurdish, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Turkish, and other languages.{{cite book|last=Khan|first=Abdul Jamil|title=Urdu/Hindi: An Artificial Divide: African Heritage, Mesopotamian Roots, Indian Culture & British Colonialism|year=2006 |publisher=Algora Publishing |language=en|isbn=9780875864389|page=138|quote=Arabic verbs have generated an enormous number of words for Urdu/Hindi as well as Persian. ... The word nazar, meaning eye, or sight, is part of the cultural idiom --
nazar lagnā, yā khānā, v. n. To be influenced"Clark-Decès, Isabelle; ed. (2011). A Companion to the Anthropology of India, p.228. Wiley. {{ISBN|9781405198929}}. "nazar lagana".
The nazar was added to Unicode as {{unichar|1F9FF|Nazar Amulet}} in 2018.{{cite web|url=https://emojipedia.org/nazar-amulet/|title=🧿 Nazar Amulet Emoji|website=Emojipedia}}
Amulet
A typical nazar is made of handmade glass featuring concentric circles or teardrop shapes in dark blue, white, light blue and black, occasionally with a yellow/gold edge.Lonely Planet Middle East. Lonely Planet; 6 edition, 2009, p. 559. "The bead is made of a mixture of molten glass, iron, copper, water, and salt, ingredients that are thought to shield people from evil."
"According to Turkish belief, blue acts as a shield against evil and even absorbs negativity." In the Middle East and the Mediterranean,Sinclair, H. R. (2022). [https://books.google.com/books?id=JBarEAAAQBAJ A Writer's Guide to Color]. H. R. Sinclair.Yablon, Alys R. (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=MffIBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT297 Field Guide to Luck]. Quirk Books. {{ISBN|9781594748363}}.Martinson, Barbara; DeLong, Marilyn; eds. (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=UbAYAAAAQBAJ&pg=PR2-IA82 Color and Design]. Bloomsbury. {{ISBN|9781847889539}}.Darke, Diana (2014). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dLaHAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 Eastern Turkey], p.31. Bradt Travel Guides. {{ISBN|9781841624907}}. The evil eye, "generally takes the form of a blue-eye, because foreigners, were more likely to have blue eyes, were also more likely to stare, thereby unwittingly contravening local convention, and, by admiring the children or possessions of their hosts, accidentally casting the evil eye upon them." "blue eyes are relatively rare, so the ancients believed that people with light eyes, particularly blue eyes, could curse you [one] with just one look. This belief is so ancient, even the Assyrians had turquoise and blue-eye amulets."Lynn, Heather (2019). Evil Archaeology, p.167. Red Wheel Weiser. {{ISBN|9781633411272}}.
Eye bead
File:Bracelet verre 5ème siècle - JC Prosnes Musée Saint-Remi 21092016.jpg
The Turkish {{lang | tr | boncuk}} (sometimes called a {{lang | tr | göz boncuğu}} or eye bead) is a glass bead characterized by a blue glass field with a blue white and black dot superimposed on a white or yellow center. A design of great antiquity, the blue bead has gained importance as an item of popular culture in modern Turkey. The bead probably{{original research inline|date=July 2024}} originated in the Mediterranean and is associated{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} with the development of glass-making. Written documentation and extant beads date from as early as the 16th century BC. Glass beads were made and widely used throughout the ancient world: from Mesopotamia to Egypt, from Carthage to ancient Greece, from Phoenicia to Persia, and throughout the Roman imperial period.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}
"The mythology behind it says that if one of the beads breaks down, it means a very strong nazar has hit you, and the bead stored it all up and broke down in order to protect the carrying person."
TurkishClass101.com (2017) [https://books.google.com/books?id=lnk7DwAAQBAJ&dq=Nazar+-david+-jacob+evil+blue&pg=PT85 Learn Turkish - Level 2: Absolute Beginner]. Innovative Language Learning.
Gallery
File:Nazar Amulet in Turkey.jpg|Nazar Amulet
File:Evil Eye Beads.jpg|Turkish Nazar Eye Beads
File:Nazar.jpg|Nazar-inspired sculpture in the Netherlands.
File:Evil eye.jpg|Nazar evil eye charms.
File:Cheshm-Nazar.JPG|A Persian cheshm nazar.
File:Nazar on the door.jpg|Nazar on a newborn baby's hospital room door in Turkey.
File:Jewish Amulets.jpg|A selection of Jewish amulets, an ayin mazal is visible next to the hamsa.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|author=Ronald T. Marchese|date=2005|title=The Fabric of Life: Cultural Transformations in Turkish Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1586842560|pages=103–107}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline|Nazar amulets}}
- {{cite web |title=Nazar Amulet – Blue Color Wards Off The Evil Eye According To Ancient Belief |url=http://www.ancientpages.com/2018/03/13/nazar-amulet-blue-color-wards-off-the-evil-eye-according-to-ancient-belief/ |website=Ancient Pages |access-date=13 July 2021 |date=12 March 2018}}
{{Amulets and Talismans}}
{{Superstitions}}
Category:Turkish words and phrases
Category:Superstitions of Asia