Religious syncretism in the funeral and memorial rites of the Crimean Tatars in modern times

The author touches upon the funeral and memorial customs and rituals of the Crimean Tatars, in particular their content and transformation. The main purpose of the study is to examine the mutual influence of religions and identify elements of ancient pre-Islamic beliefs in the funeral culture of the Crimean Tatars during the late XVIII-early XX centuries. Based on this, the author of the work had two main tasks: 1. To highlight and characterize the main customs and rituals that formed the funeral and memorial complex during the specified period; 2. to highlight the rituals that are conditioned by religious prescriptions and rituals formed as a result of the mutual influence of ancient Turkic views with Islamic religious norms. In general, based on the fact that customs and traditions imply an inherited set of behavior, studying the ritual component will allow us to assess the stability of the development of the spiritual culture of the Crimean Tatars. An analysis of ethnographic descriptions, diaries and records of travelers published in the XIX - early XX century was carried out on this topic. The 20th century allows us to reconstruct the funeral rite and identify elements not related to religious dogmas. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the conducted rituals are considered through the prism of Islamic doctrine, which allowed us to partially determine the degree of religious syncretism in the culture of the Crimean Tatars and identify specific elements associated with ancient pre-Islamic views. As part of the study, it can be concluded that Muslim religious norms were generally observed. Among them: the order for the speedy burial of the body, the correct corpse laying and the vestments of the deceased. At the same time, there are separate descriptions of the funeral rite, where some variability in the performance of rituals is presented, in particular, improper sitting of the corpse and the presence of inventory, which is explained by religious competence and the preservation of echoes of ancient pre-Islamic cults. The echoes of ancient cults are mainly traced in memorial rites, through a ritual meal. Cooking, especially the food that the deceased loved, refers us to the veneration of the cult of ancestors, which was represented among the Turkic-speaking tribes before the adoption of Islam. At the same time, since the meals were accompanied by the recitation of prayers for the deceased, they were firmly associated with religious norms among the inhabitants.

Crimea, Crimean Tatars, customs, funeral rites, rituals, memorial, Islam, religion, syncretism, ethnography