My wife and I both grew up in a relatively conservative culture. Our community has a “moral code” which I’ve posted about in the past, it’s called the Adyghe Xabze.
Our culture respect the elderly and women in a very strict way.
For example, if a woman enters a room everyone has to stand up. In the past, if a rider was on his horse and encounters a woman on the same road, he must dismount until he can’t see her anymore. Men don’t give their backs to women, women always walk in front of a man. If they are married, she walks on his front left side (that’s where he carries his weapon, signaling that she is under his protection, if not she walks on the right side. The only time a man walk in front of a woman is when entering or leaving a place, to ensure there is no danger. And the list goes on and on. So in a sense, we grew up in a somewhat unusual culture, very traditional, yet progressive when it comes to how it treats women and women empowerment.
Women worked hard in the fields, they are very independent, had many roles on the battlefield. It’s quite unique.
Circassians believe they are descendants from the Amazonians. Yes Wonder Woman type of ancient legends, as it was believed they lived in the Black Sea region.
So not really sure my definition of a Tradwife applies in what the word means here.
These are really interesting traditions!
The only things remotely similar I can recall in my own culture are:
- it used to be the norm for men to walk on the road side of the sidewalk relative to women, I believe to protect women’s clothes from being spattered with mud, though, not attacks 😂
- there are people who choose to sit at a table such that they always see the door, so that if a threat enters, they can act quickly
Where could I know more about Xabze ? Online resources provide rather flattened reports about it. Thanks for contributing and sharing alike.
Resource are scarce.
Here are some resources that can provide some great insights. The author (Amjad Jamoukha) is a close relative of mine. Look into all his writings. He is probably one of the most known Circassian Historians/Authors.
https://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/Circassian_Customs_and_Traditions.pdf
http://jaimoukha.synthasite.com/resources/Circassian%20Religion.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amjad_Jaimoukha
Тхьауегъэпсэу
How do you know this? 👀
Eagerly learning about anything related to those regions, varieties of people, and traditions.
That’s awesome! If you have question, more than happy to chat. 🫂
Thank you ! Sure. Thank's for the availability. Glad to keep in touch. (Wrote you privately already.)
Well, I still want to know more about Caucasian music 😅
nostr:note1ujwhzjk6ew94szj3g82v428gvlmy0g32ztgu7snm3vz2pc82nxxqetnffv
Sorry I missed this note. It’s mostly folklore music. There aren’t really a lot “bands” in the traditional sense.
Ooof where do I even start.
Ok these three amazing ladies are not Circassian, but from the Caucasus region, I think they are Georgians. But they are so playful, natural, and just pure joy:
https://youtu.be/EDK9KOfknTw
https://youtu.be/PkqfKt5m4c0
This playlist has amazing music: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l6chCoY-AKVm4c9v5Keqehd9061Zq1DCc&si=JpetSLqWb8Q4E6nK
The styles of music differ from one region to another, people who live by the shores had more up beat, playful style of music, people who are from inner city have more structured rigid music.
This amazing lady (Abida Womar), didn’t know any music theory, and just went on and invented her own style and is considered one of the most highly regarded artists and her music is played everywhere. This is one of the very few videos we have of her playing she was old here: https://youtu.be/xh2uXf60tno
I can’t but dance in my seat when I listen to these 🤣
Absolutely fantastic, thank you so much 🙏 Sophia and I love it 😁
Good evening : is there anyone here who could introduce me to any Adyghe language you know first hand - I'll be glad to contribute with Italian, English, French, and German, in return. -
I'm primarily interested in poetry, and epics such as the Nart Saga. - In particular, in relation to religious believes and practices - e.g. Адыгэхэр Хабзэ.
I've been asking around about this, in Circassians related group chats. Maybe, you can help with it.
Тхьашъуегъэпсэу.
I this guy Jonty Yamisha had a lot of content.
I’m also sure if yo reach out to him he will be able to guide to even more content and literature.
https://youtube.com/@jontylingo?si=MguOA0DlFIzu5FIS
Wpsew : it seems to be a valuable resource. I'll see, how far I get with that. He did a great job.
So, I'm using https://www.optilingo.com/ to learn Circassian : do you know which one it is exactly, among the north-caucasian languages ?
Can you share a screenshot?