Umay
Umay , also known as Umai : (Kazakh: Ұмай ана , Russian: Ума́й or Ымай ), is a goddess of fertility and virginity known from Turkish mythology and Tengrism . In this sense Umay resembles an earth mother goddess (cf. also Gaia ), as she can also be found in other world religions.
Word origin
In Mongolian, Umai means uterus, with the mother symbolizing the earth. The Turkish root umāy, on the other hand, originally referred to the placenta or the mother cake and, in a figurative sense, referred to a deity whose function is to protect women, mothers and children.
It is possible that the - also etymologically comprehensible - meaning affinity of the two terms finds its expression here, as the terms for mother in both original languages (Mongolian eje or eej; Old Turkish eçe) have similarities. Umay is also a feminine given name common in the Turkish language.
Goddess of children
The name Umay probably appears for the first time in the 8th century. from the Kül-Tigin inscription , which is one of the first written literary works of the Turks:
Umay teg ögüm katun kutıŋa. | Under the auspices of my mother who is like the goddess Umay .
Umay is the protector of women and children. The oldest evidence of this is seen in the Orkhon runes , which suggest that Umay was regarded and recognized as mother and leader, also with secular symbolic power: The wives of the Turkish rulers were also considered to be Umay and so, with Umay's help, the future became of the empire secured.
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Clauson, Gerard (1972). An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century Turkish. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 164-165