Bibliotheca Polyglotta

name for a popular cult of spirits found in northeastern Africa and such adjacent regions as the Arabian peninsula – art. »zār« (A. Rouaud, T. Battain), in EI² .

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▪ »The zār ritual or practice seems to have originated in the Horn of Africa and, especially, in Ethiopia. According to E. Cerulli, the word (Ar zār, Amh zar, Som saar, etc.) may be said to derive from “the name of the supreme god of the pagan Cushitic peoples, the Sky-God called in Agaw (Bilen) ǧār, and in the Sidamo languages (Kaffa) yarō and (Buoro) darō ”. The Italian scholar further thought that, in the context of Ethiopian Christianity, this god must have been reduced to the role of an evil spirit, one which has been likewise retained among the Muslims and, probably, among the Falasha. These propositions do not provide answers to all the questions involved, but are still of value in so far as they have not been replaced by more information. Etymologies deriving zār from the Ar vb. zāra “to visit” seem fantastic, although current in Arab milieux« – art. »zār« (A. Rouaud, T. Battain), in EI².
▪ »a religious custom apparently originating in the Horn of Africa during the 18th century and later spreading throughout East and North Africa. Zār custom involves the possession of an individual (usually female) by a spirit. It is also observed in Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, southern Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East. / […] / The zār cult served as a refuge for women and effeminate men in conservative, Muslim-dominated Sudan. / In Ethiopia, zār also refers to malevolent demons. [… M]ental illness is often attributed to zār possession« – en.wiki

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▪ DRS 8 (1999)#[ZAR]: Te Tña Amh Gur zar, Ar zār ‘esprit mauvais’, Soq zehereh ‘sorcière’.

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▪ DRS 8 (1999)#[ZAR]: Ar < EthSem < Cush *‘sky; Sky-God’

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