SOCİAL BELİEFS DEVELOPED AROUND DEATH İN RİZE PROVİNCE

Abstract

Rize is an important province in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey, located at a crossing point between the Caucasus and Anatolia. Rize province is an old Turkish settlement place as it is one of the first settlements of Kipchak Turks coming from the Black Sea, that is the north. In addition, because the province is adjacent to the Caucasus, it is a geography where the nations come and go from the Caucasus region, especially Georgians. The main cultural lines of the province was drawn by Turkish culture, and the other nations living in the region continued their existence under the umbrella of the Turkish culture. As in other nations, the transition periods of life in the Turkish nation have been accepted as important milestones of human life and various beliefs and rituals have emerged in order to prepare the individuals for the new stage, as well as to protect them from the evil things that may have happened during this transition. In this study, social beliefs compiled from region related to death, which is one of the most important transitional periods of life, will be examined from a folkloreic perspective.