The narratives of doomsday in Mardin and its environment

The term "doomsday" literally means to "rise to one's feet" and in holy books, it is usually associated with the resurrection of all the dead and Armageddon. Qur'an also uses terms like " es-sâ'a" ( the big day), which means "the moment", "the day which is coming certain" to refer the doomsday. This thesis is based on compilatins doomsday narrations in Mardin and its surrounding area and we deal with the doomsday's narrations concerning their content and function. Cultural transivity of beliefs, common elements of different doomsday narrations in different beliefs and doomsday symbols of each different region in Mardin is another focal point of the thesis since Mardin is a multicultural place. Doomsday compilations are viewed according to oral composition theory, executive theory in the contexts of after dead, time-space, and Paradise-Hell. It is quite remarkable to have the oppotunity to mention common beliefs as well as transivities in doomsday narrations comming from a diverse source of civilizations as Mardin has been the host of many civilizations for many centuries. We establish the osmosis goes through from the Cristianity and the other beliefs -based on the history older than İslam- to Islamic narrations of the doomsday. Additonally, it is observed that doomsday narrations constitutes a fairly rich source of the extra words, stories, anecdots, poets, proverbs and terms, which still live in the city of Mardin and its surroundings.