International Journal of Turkic Dialects Research (JTDR)

Abstract

Although the beliefs and rituals of transitional periods in human life such as birth,
marriage and death are performed in different ways in societies around the world, they still
maintain their importance in our age. As it is believed that the newborn child brings hope and
happiness in every nation, in the Karaites, it is believed to bring happiness, joy and abundance
to their nation so many cultural and religious practices were made from birth.
In the first part of the study, which is divided into two main parts, under the title of
"Practices Related to Birth, Puerperium and Infant", important rituals such as "cradle, naming,
circumcision, breastfeeding" are mentioned. In the second part, under the title of "Practices
Related to the Growth of the Child", the prayer of the child who goes to the place of worship for
the first time and the prayer texts for the child who will start education are included. Thus, the
rituals that the Karaite Turks combined with the Jewish belief and combined with the culture
and beliefs brought from the roots of the Turkishness tree will be shown together. The
importance of this phase in the transition period in Karaite Turks will be shed light with the
prayer examples to be given from the Karaite religious texts.