Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 68 (4), 453 – 465 (2015) DOI: 10.1556/062.2015.68.4.5 0001-6446 / $ 20.00 © 2015 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest LAMENTATIONS OF BENYAMIN TURŞU AND BERAḪA POYRAZ. TWO SONGS FROM A CRIMEAN MEJUMA DOROTA SMĘTEK Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland al. Niepodległości 24, 61-714 Poznań, Poland e-mail: dsmetek@amu.edu.pl The aim of this paper is to discuss two previously unknown literary works which depict events preceding the death of two Karaims, Benyamin Turşu and Beraḫa Poyraz. Although laments of this type can be found in critical editions of Crimean Karaim mejumas, their contents and language have not yet been thoroughly examined. The vast majority of mejumas do not consist of original Karaim literature, therefore each work which can be determined as of purely Crimean Karaim provenance should be considered a valuable source of linguistic material. Key words: Crimean Karaim, mejuma, folk literature, Karaites, laments, Samuel Kohen. 1. Crimean Karaim Folk Literature Recent academic research has enabled us to acquire a deeper understanding of Cri- mean Karaim folk literature. 1 It is well known that this type of literary endeavour is susceptible to disappearing, as it is primarily transmitted through an oral tradition. Moreover, it is in its very nature liable to changes in words and style. Despite inevita- ble alternations, its essence and basic qualities would, however, remain intact. The first step in maintaining their oral literary works was taken by the Karaims themselves, as they developed a tradition of writing everything down that was deemed noteworthy in manuscripts called mejumas. Kokenaj, in an article devoted to the matter in ques- tion, has expressed the unquestionable importance of handwritten books in which the 1 For thorough information on the history of Crimean Karaim literature, see a recent article by Jankowski (2012). The publication, inter alia, discusses articles written on this subject, such as the works of Poznanski from 1910, 1913, 1916, 1918, publications by Shapshal (Šapšal 1918), Za- jączkowski (1926), Shapira (2003), etc.