Masara zetun is the annual making of olive oil at the Yezidi holy temple of Lalish. The oil, made exclusively from olives harvested at Lalish, is used for the soaking of cotton wicks which are lit at Lalish's nishanga, holy sites of which there are many; as well during special ceremonies. The laborious work of making the oil, pressed by bare feet, lasts for as many days as necessary to use all of the olives stored over the winter. The process is exact, preserving the holiness of the oil at every step. Hundreds of Yezidis participate at least for the first day.
Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to visit that first day of masara zetun, where as always the Yezidi joy and camaraderie was infectious. Below are photos that follow the process.
I thank the Yezidi community for welcoming me.
You are also invited to visit companion sites www.beyondbordersphotography.com and worldpeeks.blogspot.com
All photographs are protected by copyright law. Permission from the photographer is needed. Requests for use should be sent to robleutheuser@gmail.com.
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| Taking the olives harvested last year out of storage |
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| Washing |
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| Cleaning washed olives |
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| Carrying cleaned olives to the bagging area |
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Sewing closed the burlap bags of cleaned olives
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Pressing the bagged olives with heated water from
Kania Spi (White Spring) |
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| Skimming separated olive oil out of collection pool |
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Pouring oil into fire-heated cauldron to boil off last water
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Ladling olive oil into cans to be carried to temple
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Carrying finished olive oil to the temple of Sheikh Adi
(photo from another photographer) |
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Placing olive oil-soaked wicks in nishanga
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