| Umay | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Newborn Children and Souls | |
| Abode | Sky |
| Gender | Female |
| Ethnic group | Turkic peoples |
| Genealogy | |
| Siblings | Erlik Koyash Ay Tanrı Ülgen |
| Spouse | Tengri |
| Turkic mythology |
|---|
 |
Epics and heroes |
Umay (also known asUmai;Old Turkic:𐰆𐰢𐰖;Kazakh:Ұмай ана,Ūmai ana;Uzbek:Umay ona;Kyrgyz:Умай эне,Umay ene;Turkish:Umay Ana) is the goddess of fertility inTurkic mythology andTengrism and as such related to women, mothers, and children.[1] Umay not only protects and educates babies, but also may separate the soul from the dead, especially young children. She lives in heaven and is invisible to the common people. Souls of babies-to-be-born are kept in her "temple" of Mount Ymay-tas or Amay. The Khakas emphasize her in particular.[2] From Umai, theessence of fire (Od Ana) was born.[3]
TheTurkic wordumāy originally meant "placenta, afterbirth" and this word was used as the name for the goddess whose function was to look after women and children, and she is associated with fertility.[4][5] InMongolian,Umai means "womb" or "uterus", possibly reflecting acculturation of Mongols by Turks or ancient lexical ties between Mongols and Turks.[6] Similar phenomenon is observed in Japanese 生まれumare "birth",[7] seemingly cognate with Old Englishumba "child" ~ Old Englishwomb "belly, uterus" (of unknown origin),[8] all together offering an *(h)um-, *(kw)um- or *(k)uŋ- "to give birth, act of parturition; [secondary, mythologically] to bring life forth" as a subject for a linguistic research.
The name appears in the 8th centuryinscription ofKul Tigin in the phraseUmay teg ögüm katun kutıŋa "under the auspices of my mother who is like the goddess Umay".
Umay is a protector of women and children. The oldest evidence is seen in theOrkhon script monuments. From these it is understood that Umay was accepted as a mother and a guide. Also,khagans were thought to representKök Tengri. Khagan wives,katuns orhatuns, were considered Umays, too. With the help of 'Umay,katuns had babies and these babies were the guarantee of the empire. According toDivanü Lügat’it-Türk, when women worship Umay, they have male babies.Turkic women tie strings attached with small cradles to will a baby from Umay. This belief can be seen with theTungusic peoples in southernSiberia and theAltay people. Umay is always depicted together with a child. There are only rare exceptions to this. It is believed that when Umay leaves a child for a long time, the child gets ill andshamans are involved to call Umay back. The smiling of a sleeping baby shows Umay is near it and crying means that Umay has left.[9]
Potapov states that, as protector of babies, deceased children are taken by Umai to the heavens.[10]
In the view of theKyrgyz people, Umay not only protects children, but alsoTurkic communities around the world. At the same time Umay helps people to obtain more food and goods and gives them luck.
As Umay is associated with the sun, she is calledSarı Kız 'Yellow Maiden', and yellow is her color and symbol. She is depicted as having sixty golden tresses that look like the rays of the sun. She is thought to have once been identical withOd iyesi.Umay andEce are also used as female given names in the Republic ofTurkey.
Umay's representation of childbirth, growth and her connection to nature is also presented in Turkish culture today in a tree called "The Umay Nine Trees" at the Teos Archaeological Site. "Amidst these remnants of human endeavor, a silent guardian of nature and the circle of life stands tall – an olive tree believed to be nearly 1,800 years old, named after Umay Nine (Nana Umay), one of the most enduring figures of Anatolian and Central Asian mythologies."[11]
one wonders whether the agreement between the Turkic proper name and the Mongol word umay "womb", placenta" is the result of an incorporation of Turkic elements into Mongol ethnicity or should be viewed as an ancient, lexical heritage shared by Turks and Mongols.
