Transition periods in Dargeçit folk culture

Dargeçit is one of the districts of Mardin province and is a settlement located in the east of Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization also called the "Fertile Crescent". The history of the district dates back to ancient times. It is known that the first people to settle in the district were Mardoke people. Apart from the Mardocians, Macedonians, Persians and Romans took over the region and changed hands. When the Artuqids dominated the region, the district and its surroundings gained great importance. After this, the Assyrians ruled in the region, although the exact date is unknown. Muslims came to the region in the early 1900s. Therefore, the folk culture of the district, which has a long history, also varies. It is seen that there are many common points in the folk cultural practices of Assyrian and Muslim people within the framework of the culture of living together. Human life begins with birth and ends with death. While a human being is a defenseless creature at birth, he grows and matures within the framework of rituals, traditions and customs. With marriage, she experiences a new transition period by establishing her own family after the family she was born into. While human life ends with death, those who remain behind on the journey to eternal life ensure that the deceased is more peaceful in eternal life with the examples of their practices. In this study, transition periods were examined within the framework of the folk culture of Dargeçit district. The stages of human life from birth to death and related application examples have been recorded through field compilation work. Beliefs and traditional practices regarding the periods of birth, marriage and death in Dargeçit district are presented by evaluating the data obtained from the interviews with the source people, together with similar and different examples in the literature. Keywords: Dargeçit, Birth, Marriage, Death, Transition Periods.