The Mother Goddess Across Cultures: From Anatolia to Gandhara

Ekata Nithya
Mar 31
27 min read

Anāhitā and the Sogdian Connection

Anāhitā (अनाहिता, immaculate) is the Old Persian form of a goddess earlier known as Aredvi Sura (Ārdrāvī Śūrā, आर्द्रावी शूरा) — “of the waters and mighty”. She was a central figure in ancient Iranian religion, symbolizing purity, fertility, and cosmic order. The Sanskritic parallels, such as Nirañjanā (निरञ्जना), suggest the cross-cultural transmission of her attributes.

Her cult thrived across Iran until the Sasanian iconoclastic reforms (224–651 CE), which suppressed goddess worship, yet her influence persisted further south and southwest of Sogdiana. Linguistic evidence from the Sogdian vocabulary—words like zrγwny (green), xwtʾynh / xātūn (queen), and smwtr / sǝmutr (ocean)—reveals clear Sanskritic roots, showing a synthesis of Iranian, Turkic, and Indic cultural spheres.

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Nana / Nanai: The Central Asian Goddess

The Bactrian goddess Nanā (Νανα, Ναναια) emerges as a syncretic figure blending Sumero-Babylonian Inanna-Ishtar with the local Zoroastrian goddess Harahvati Aredvi Sura Anahita. She appears in Kushan coinage, seals, and inscriptions (1st–5th century CE) across Bactria, Sogdiana, Gandhara, and Mathura, regions corresponding to modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and northwestern India.

Iconography: Four-armed in some depictions, seated or riding a lion, she embodies martial power, protection, wisdom, and fertility.
Cultural transmission: Nana’s imagery traveled via West Asian coinage, influencing Buddhist art in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Locally in Pashto, she is remembered as Nawi, “the bride.”

In South Asia, she merges with Durga / Mahishasura Mardini, the slayer of the buffalo demon, preserving her martial and protective aspects. The Hinglaj Devi of Balochistan, locally known as Nanai, is a direct continuation of this tradition, and in Iran she is synonymous with Anāhitā!

Umai, Tur-Ana, and the Proto-Turkic Mother

In the Central Asian steppes, the mother-ancestor Umai embodies Earth and Sun, integrating life-giving fertility with cosmic order. Worship of Umai involved natural sites—caves, mountains, trees, and rivers—representing the Earth as a living, sacred body. Caves symbolized the mother’s womb, holding the sulde or life essence of future generations.

Proto-Turkic goddesses, such as Tur-Ana, later influenced cultures in Anatolia, the Etruscan homeland, and even Japan and China. The ancient Aryan/Proto-Turkic homeland—covering Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, southwestern Turkmenistan, and western Kyrgyzstan—served as a crucible for these maternal archetypes, which later migrated along the Silk Road.

The Anatolian Crucible: Cybele and the Mother Goddess

Anatolia, as the “East” and land of rising light, is a pivotal center for the Mother Goddess tradition. The Phrygian goddess Cybele (Kybele/Kibele) embodies fertility, love, and protection. Her cult flourished in the Kütahya-Afyonkarahisar-Eskişehir triangle, where open-air temples, such as the Midas City Yazılıkaya, featured rock-cut altars, niches, and ceremonial terraces.

The pluralistic pagan tradition in Anatolia, integrating Sumerian, Hittite, Babylonian, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, and Gnostic influences, valued tolerance and coexistence.
The mother goddess archetype spread westward, influencing Artemis and Diana in Greece and Rome, and eventually the Virgin Mary in Christianity.

The earliest images, such as the Catalhoyuk Great Mother (~8,500 years ago), depict a seated goddess on a throne, flanked by lions, representing fertility, rebirth, and cosmic authority. These lions later inspired depictions of Durga’s lion mount in South Asia, showing a remarkable continuity across millennia and continents.

Goddess in Lived Religion: Devi, Durga, and Mahishasura Mardini

The worship of the goddess is central in Hindu lived religion:

The goddess illuminates the inner sky of the mind, destroying false associations (the buffalo demon) and guiding the seeker toward knowledge and self-awareness.
In Gandhara and Pakistan, Mahishasura Mardini is depicted with eight arms, holding weapons in a martial posture, seated on a black buffalo, representing the universe in chaos, echoing Kushan and Sasanian traditions of Nana/Durga.
Localized forms, such as Hinglaj Devi (Nanai), continue this lineage, tracing the goddess’s influence from Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent.

The Living Legacy

The Mother Goddess persists not only in temples and sacred geography but in embodied spiritual practice:

Women reclaim ancestral power through connection with their bodies, emotions, and creativity.
The goddess archetype teaches that pleasure, movement, and creativity are essential for consciousness, spiritual awakening, and the realization of one’s potential.

From Umai and Tur-Ana in Central Asia, to Cybele in Anatolia, to Durga and Hinglaj Devi in South Asia, the thread of the Great Mother Goddess spans millennia, linking cosmic, terrestrial, and human spheres, carrying forward wisdom, fertility, and protective power across civilizations.

Mother Goddess Transmission Map: Conceptual Flow

1. Central Asia – Proto-Turkic & Aryan Homeland (~7000 BCE – 1st millennium BCE)

Regions: Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, southwestern Turkmenistan, Western Kyrgyzstan (Pamir-Badakhshan, Wakhan Valley, Fergana, Alai Mountains)
Key Goddesses / Archetypes:
- Umai / Tur-Ana – Mother-Ancestor, connected with Earth, Sun, fertility, and life essence (sulde)
- Nanā / Nanai / Ardokhsho – Four-armed, lion-mounted, martial and fertile goddess
Cultural Influence: Silk Road migrations; transmitted archetypes and symbols (lion, buffalo, throne, cosmic fertility)

Iconography / Symbols:

Lion mount → rebirth, protection
Buffalo → universe / chaos
Caves / mountains → womb, sacred earth

2. Sogdiana & Bactria – Silk Road Nexus (1st – 5th century CE)

Regions: Northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Key Goddess: Nana
- Seated on a lion, holding cornucopia-like palmettes, associated with fertility, waters, wisdom
- Connected with Iranian Anāhitā and Indian Durga / Mahishasura Mardini
Transmission Path: Through coins, inscriptions, Buddhist art in Afghanistan & Pakistan

Notes:

Local Pashto name: Nawi (“Bride”)
Spread via Kushan territories (Gandhara, Mathura, Bactria)

3. Anatolia – Phrygian & Hittite Lands (~9000 BCE – Roman Period)

Regions: Kütahya, Afyonkarahisar, Eskişehir triangle (“Second Cappadocia”)
Key Goddess: Cybele / Kybele / Kubaba
- Great Mother of fertility, love, abundance
- Throne imagery (Catalhoyuk, 8500 BCE) → mother’s lap as seat of authority
Cultural Features:
- Open-air temples (Midas City, Yazılıkaya)
- Integration of Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian, Babylonian, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Gnostic, and later monotheistic influences
Legacy: Artemis & Diana in Greece & Rome → Virgin Mary in Christianity

Symbols / Practices:

Lions → rebirth & protection
Rock-cut altars, caves → womb / sacred earth
Tolerance & pluralism embedded in cultic tradition

4. South Asia – Gandhara, Pakistan, India (5th – 8th century CE)

Regions: Peshawar Valley, Swat, Dir, Bajaur, Kabul Valley, Potwar Plateau, Hinglaj (Balochistan)
Key Goddesses:
- Mahishasura Mardini / Durga – Eight arms, seated on black buffalo, holding chakra, khadga, trishula, bow, arrow, shield, tarjani mudra
- Hinglaj Devi / Nanai – Localized continuation of Nanā/Anāhitā
Cultural Connections:
- Kushan influence from Central Asia
- Sasanian aesthetic and martial attributes

Symbols / Practices:

Buffalo demon → chaos / false associations
Lion mount → protection, rebirth
Martial weapons → knowledge overcoming ignorance

5. Cross-Cultural Continuity / Themes

Mother Goddess Archetype: Fertility, cosmic order, protection, abundance
Symbols: Lion, buffalo, throne, caves, mountains, rivers
Transmission:
- Silk Road migrations
- Coinage, sculpture, oral tradition
- Integration into local pantheons (Cybele → Artemis/Diana → Virgin Mary; Nanā → Durga/Mahishasura Mardini)
  
  Core Message: Goddess embodies Earth, Sun, fertility, cosmic life, and inner transformation

Core -KIBELE-NANA…

IONS ARE NON-GREEK but ANATOLIAN LOCAL KİBELE

In Sumer; In Inanna Babylon; Ishtar in AstarteEgypt; In IsisSyria; Atargatis; (Lat.) in Canaan region (Palestine) and Phoenicia; Anat and Astarte in Crete; Rhea103

In Kültepe tablets; Kubaba

In Hittite sources; hepat

in Hittites; Sun Goddess of Arinna

in Phrygia; Kybele, Agdistis

in Lydia; Kybebe, Dome

His name in Lycia; Cybele

Komana Pontika (Black Sea Ereğlisi, 9 km. northeast of Tokat region) and Kappodokia; Ma105

in Ephesus; Artemis in Greece and Rome; Gaia, Rhea, Demeter, Mater, Magna

Mater, Dindymos, Dindymene

in Italy (in the region of Lake Nemi); Venus, Vesta in Armenia and Arabian tribes; Hubal and Qibla in India; Aditi

In addition, the regional character of the goddess is expressed by adding the word Meter in Greek and Mater in Latin to adjectives derived from some place names: The adjective Sipylene indicates that she is the goddess of Mount Ida, which dominates Ida and Troy in Crete, from Sipylos (Manisa); most common of these

The one is called Dindymene, which means the goddess of Dindymos mountain.

In the periods after the Phrygians, it takes the title of Mater Turrita107 or Turrigera (Lat. The Mother with a Tower or a Tower) with its turreted head seen in Artemis of Ephesus. She is called Magna Mater (Great Mother) in the Romans.

Most of the researchers who interpret the cultural history of Anatolia date the beginning of the cult of the Mother Goddess in the BC. They date back to 3000 years. There are also archaeologists investigating the names of the "Magna Mater" cult in the historical process.

If they ask where is the homeland of Kybele, you can get different answers. Is Kybele or "Kumbaba" the most well-known cult of the Mother Goddess? Or is it "Artemis"? It's hard to say. It depends on which country you live in. IIn the Lycian and Pisidia regions. Most of the historical ruins are from the Roman period. BC, when Roman domination was felt in Anatolia. It can be said that between 200 and 350 AD, the civilizations before this period formed an eclectic structure by fusing with the cultural heritage of Hellenic, Persian, Lycian, Hittite and prehistoric periods, respectively, in the syncretization process.

The Phrygian region, which coincides with the dark period of the ancient Anatolian geography, BC. It focuses on the hypothesis that the Thracian peoples, who came from Thrace or Macedonia and formed an empire by mingling with the local people in the period dated to 1200-600 BC, were the homeland of the Phrygians, with the new name. Especially after the Trojan War, there are those who claim that immigration started through Thrace and the Balkans.

The works of the thinkers who documented that period start from the Hellenic period. Strabo is one of these important people. On the other hand, there is no historian, writer or poet from any of the Anatolian kingdoms of the pre-Hellenic period. Even if there is, there is no artifact. It's a dark period. There is no manuscript of Gallos, a Phrygian priest. The works of a Lycian or Lycian priest are missing. I wonder why? Why is there no one documenting this richness in lands that host such rich cultures? The existence of Lycian and Lydian historians is known.

The analysis of tablets from the pre-Hellenic period will certainly shed light on some issues.

The Cimmerians attacked the Lydian kingdom this time. They defeated the Lydian King Gyges and plundered Sardes.

Phrygian cities never forgot their king Midas and their goddess Cybele. Anatolia is a geography that can no longer be shared with its fertile plains and natural resources. The homeland of the Phrygians is constantly under occupation. Each new powerful king tries to influence the Phrygians. Cybele's children continue their struggle to preserve their culture.

“The Phrygians came to Anatolia during the Aegean migrations and settled in BC. They established a state based in Gordion (Polatlı) in 800 years. The Persians put an end to the Phrygians, who came under the rule of the Cimmerians coming from the Caucasus.”

“In order to follow the structuring process in Anatolia properly, it is necessary to look at the cultural structure and social history of Anatolia. As it is known, Anatolia is the "East" and the light rises from the East. Anatolia is the homeland of the Mother-Goddess, that is, Cybele, and ancient myths were born and flourished in Anatolia; Since all gods (beliefs) are the children of Cybele, they are brothers and Cybele's compassion prevails among them. Later, pagan teachings and traditions were fused with these myths. The pluralistic nature of the pagan tradition contains tolerance at its core; Everyone respects each other's beliefs. The arrival of monotheistic religions in Anatolia created pressure with the iconoclast (idol-breaking) attitude and therefore pushed the ancient teachings underground and reinforced the esoteric organization. Ionian philosophical tradition, Dionysos and Orpheus Tradition, Delphic Temple and Pythagorean School-Shrine formed a crucible and transformed later beliefs and traditions in its own crucible (alchemy). The pluralistic structure in Anatolia is not limited to this.

Besides the ones mentioned above, Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian, Babylonian cultural heritage, Buddhist tradition, Zoroastrianism, Gnostic Christianity, Sufi Islam, Karmatism, Bâtinism are the seeds planted in this cultural soil. The most ancient teaching of Anatolia, which has just recently joined our knowledge, is the teaching of the Luwians and they are called 'children of the light'."

The importance of Cybele could not be explained better than this. Kybele defines the limits of tolerance. So there is no limit. Mevlana defends the same thesis a thousand years later.

Religion in the Phrygians

The belief system of the Phrygians is the continuation of the traditional Luwian-Anatolian goddess cult. Considering the historical3 process of esotericism, each culture has developed its own belief system.

In secondary education, the student is indexed to the idea that this people, the Phrygian people, emerged with foreign migration and established a civilization and then disappeared. It is unclear what is meant by the concept of "ending" a civilization here. This is done as part of a cultural policy. No one has the intention of protecting the five thousand-year-old cultural heritage in Ancient Anatolian History. No matter which ancient city you go to, these areas have been left to Western researchers. This was the case before the Republican era and so after. The universities of the Republic talk about the Turkmen tribes who came from the Central Asian steppes and conquered Anatolia in 1071. They do not establish any connection with the ancient people of Anatolia. It is not a secret that the Nationalists and the Ottomanists, who undermine each other in two poles, defend diametrically opposite cultural policies. Ottomanists want to go back to the seventeenth century. Nationalists, on the other hand, to the 1920s.

The thesis that Anatolian culture and civilizations are foreign to the people of the modern Turkish republic is used as the main theme in education. Historical engineering is being done on the opinions of the people. It is clear that these wrong policies will go bankrupt as the historical facts emerge over time. The fact that the ancient peoples of Anatolia multiplied by mixing with the newcomers actually means the bankruptcy of the fascist ideology that imposed the "pure race" hypothesis.

The Hellenization and Romanization of the Seleucid kings, where the belief of "Magna Mater", which is the "Magna Mater" of the Phrygians, was continued by the eunuchs in the holy city of Pessinus, despite the end of the Phrygian domination in 400 BC. It is known that it continued to exist even during the empire period.

Two-day tent camping in the region between Eskişehir and Afyonkarahisar would be an exciting trip. We were going to camp for one night in the homeland of Kybele, one of the most important of the legendary Anatolian Mother Goddess cult. I was going to touch Kybele. It is also surprising that the worship of the "Mother Goddess" in Anatolia has essentially the same almost monolithic features, albeit at different times and under different names. The cult of "Magna Mater" has a history of thousands of years. It would not be correct to date the cult of Cybele only to the Phrygian domination period. Moreover, it can be misleading. According to the sources I scanned, there are even those who date the mother goddess cult to eight thousand years ago. It is not limited to Anatolian geography. From North to South, East to West An extension of the ubiquitous worship of goddesses in the Bronze Age. Kybele is known as a Phrygian Goddess in the archeology world. The cult of Cybele, meaning "Magna Mater"

The "Sun Language Theory", that is, the Turks spread from Central Asia to the whole world and the basis of every language is Turkish.

Solving the Phrygian language will bring solutions to many issues. At least, it will be possible to understand what is written on the rock temples. The articles were read by Kazım Mirshan.

It is impossible not to feel an indescribable inferiority complex while looking at the light of the sun hitting the sacred rock at sunrise in Yazılıkaya. That open-air temple that has stood for two thousand five hundred years is still waiting to be discovered. Foreign archaeologists excavating in the Phrygian region have not been able to decipher the Phrygian script for nearly three hundred years because it is read in Old Turkish.

In almost all sources, Phrygians' BC. In the 12th century, during the great migrations, it entered Anatolia through the Thrace and the Bosphorus line and merged with the local peoples, and today's Eskişehir,

There is talk of a tribe that established an empire that would last 400 years on the borders of Kütahya and Afyon provinces and called themselves "Thrace".

It is known that the priest kings, the main theme of the Thracian civilization, represented the cult of the mother goddess Cybele. The belief in Cybele, which continued for hundreds of years after the collapse of the empire, also gained the identity of being the official religion of the Roman Empire. As a matter of fact, the Roman consuls had to accept the cult of Cybele as the fifth official religion of Rome in order to defeat Hannibal, based on the "Sybille Prophecies" during the Hannibal political and military crisis during the Punic wars: taken to Rome. It is placed in the temple built in the name of Cybele in Rome with a great ceremony. There are also those who hypothesize that there is a goddess statue made of stone in the part of the tomb in Yazılıkaya, which looks like the bedinkapi.

“There is no other god known as the Mother Goddess in mythology, which is called by various names. This plurality of names and adjectives proves that the Mother Goddess has gained a universal character. Its name is found as Kubaba in Kültepe inscriptions. It is called Kybebe in Lydia, and Kybele in Phrygia. The Sun Goddess of Arinna in Hittite sources Hepat, Inanna in Sumer, Isis in Egypt, Lat in Syria, Rhea in Crete, Artemis in Ephesus, Venus in Italy, Astarte in Lebanon, Ishtar in Babylon, Armenia and in Arab tribes, Hubel, Aditi in India, Gaia, Rhea, Demeter, Mater, Magna Mater in Greece and Rome, Dindymos, Dindymene, Gümenek in the Tokat region and Kemer in the Kayseri region, its name is mentioned as Ma, which is a very old Anatolian name. With its turreted headdress seen in Ephesus Artemis, it takes the title of Mater Turrita or Turrigera, that is, the Mother with a Tower or a Tower”5

All researches show that the cult of "Kubaba", which is dominant in the Syrian region, played an important role in the formation of the cult of Cybele. On the other hand, the cult of Kybele, the Mother Goddess "Mater", dates back to BC in Anatolia. It is also known that it has existed since the 8 thousandth year.

The holy city of Pessinus is the most important religious center of the Phrygians. It is also noteworthy that this city is full of temples of the goddess Cybele, who descended from the sky.

As Cybele is the oldest mother goddess, she has been called by many names. as Phrygian goddess

Many temples were built in the area known as the Phrygian plateau. The symbolism of the black meteor stone falling from the sky appears once again. A myth of ascension and descent from the sky was created by associating the black meteorite with Cybele. Every belief system has its myths. There are two main myths for Cybele. The first is the black stone descending from the sky, and the other is the castration of his beloved Attis under a pine tree.

Kybele and her lover Attis are depicted in relief on stones as the two main figures of Phrygian belief. The awakening of nature and the death of nature are always associated with the relationship of Kybele and Attis. As a matter of fact, the Greek and Roman civilizations that followed the Phrygian civilization also used these legends.

As a result, Cybele went down in history as a Phrygian goddess, although she was actually a deeply rooted Anatolian goddess; King Midas was considered the son of the goddess and the founder of the temple at Pessinus. The sacred plateau between Eskişehir and Afyonkarahisar, 8th century BC. These rock structures, which were built between the 6th century and the 6th century to represent the temples of the goddess, are the product of a great effort.

The most famous of these rock surfaces is undoubtedly the 17 m. Tomb of Midas due to the Phrygian inscription containing the name MIDAS=Midas. high inscribed Rock Monument. However, this monument was not used as a tomb, but again as a front of worship. As in the other Phrygian carved rock facades, 8th century BC. The face of the “Midas Monument”, which belongs to the second half of the century, also faces east. This ornate facade, created by carving a rock surface from the top down, represents the front section of a saddle-roofed Phrygian temple. The most important part of this façade is a door-shaped rock niche in which the goddess statue stands.

This monument is actually a sanctuary built for the Phrygian Great Goddess. For this reason, it is thought that a statue of Kybele stood in the niche in the central part of the monument. The place where Mother Earth Kybele was most worshiped was the city of Pessinous (Ballıhisar). In this city, the belief that the goddess was a deity descended from the sky was dominant. Again in this city, it was accepted that the goddess united with her lover Attis and that this gave life to nature.

This place was adopted by the Phrygians as a cult center and religious ceremonies were held here. A black meteoric stone represented the goddess in the city near the Sivrihisar district of Eskişehir. The Phrygians sacrificed more bulls for their goddesses. Some rock monuments with triangular pediments (Bakseyiş, Maltaş, Deliktaş) near Kütahya and Eskişehir were built for such victims. There is a deep well behind the monuments symbolizing a temple façade. The blood of bulls slaughtered for the goddess was collected in these wells. The Phrygians adopted this goddess so much that they considered all their states and countries the property of the Cybel of Pessinus. As a result, Cybele went down in history as a Phrygian goddess, although she was actually a deeply rooted Anatolian goddess; King Midas was considered the son of the goddess and the founder of the temple at Pessinous. His worship continued into the Roman Imperial Age. Cybele, its sacred monuments, were usually built on rocky areas in the mountains. The rock monuments represented temples of the goddess. The facades of some rock monuments, the product of great labor, are decorated with reliefs. They had geometric, vegetal and sometimes animal motifs on them. The magnificent monument, called the Midas tomb because of the Phrygian inscription containing the name MIDAI=Midas, is located in a place known as the city of Midas, near Eskişehir. This monument is not a tomb but a front of worship (open air temple).

Aslantaş and Aslankaya, the two most well-known monumental rock works of the Midas Age, one with a burial function and the other with a temple function, are identical with each other in the union of the lion and Cybele. While the lions stood on their hind legs on both sides, they surrounded the Mother Goddess sitting like a cult sculpture in the altar of the rock temple, which means "sella"; On the tomb alcove, they reach for the abstract painting “Kybele” rising from the middle of the door on both sides. There is no doubt that Aslankaya is a temple; There can be no doubt that Aslantaş would be called a "temple" if there was no burial chamber. Indeed, P.Z. According to Spanos, “the burial chamber has a secondary meaning in Aslantaş; For this reason, the monument should primarily be a cult monument of the goddess of the mountains, Cybele or Orgiea thea.

The similarity between the two rock monuments is also highlighted by the presence of an unfinished lion relief on the left rock wall of the tomb; The lion is also on the right side of the temple. While all these similarities suggest a similarity in function, this expectation regarding worship in the bey burial is met by the stepped altar floor with offering bowls on the roof; an open-air sanctuary for the cult of the dead. After all, Aslantaş is revered as a temple of the dead; as a cult monument of the local deified brain... The connection with Urartu is directly influenced by the cult floors on the roof of Atabindi Bey tomb and the "rock-marked" altars there, in the cult area behind the Phrygian Hamamkaya temple burial, and its origin goes back to the Hittite king/prince tomb in Gavurkale. descends. It has no analogues in Hellenia; because in Greek thought, a mortal is not deified, he is "heroized", heroized. In another important issue, the Anatolianness of the Phrygians is documented.

According to the legends, the Phrygian Cybele priests (Koribants) used talisman stones, were masters of prophecy, magicians and doctors. The stone called Kybele black stone is the most famous of the talismanic stones. This black stone in the city of Pessinus was a meteorite and was to be carried to the temple on the Platinus hill in Rome in 204 BC. This meteorite still stands there. The Coribants also did the work of cleansing from sin. The reliefs of Kybele are a reduced model of the monumental works carved from the rock such as Aslankaya, and these works serve as the Lord of the Mother Goddess. On the other hand, the Aslantaş rock tomb in Göynüş has also been interpreted primarily as a cult area of Kybele. Actually it is a temple of the dead. The king was likened to a rock because he was deified. The comparison of the dead to gods and tombs to temples in the late Phrygian inscriptions can only be understood with the continuation of the tradition in the early periods.”

“Pessinos is the largest commercial center in that part of the world, and the temple of the highly revered Mother of Gods is here. They call it Agdistis. In ancient times, priests were also rulers and reaped the blessings of the priesthood. But now the priests' authority has been greatly reduced, even though the trading post is still standing. The sanctuary was built by the Attalos, by adding a temple and porticos made of white marble, as befits a holy place. The Romans made the temple famous by attempting to take the statue of the goddess there in line with the prophecy of Cybele, just as they did to Asklepios in Epidauros.”

*  “Meter Alassene”

*  “Meter Kadmene”

*  “Meter Oreia”

*  “Oinoanda”

*  “Meter Kubeliya”

*  “Meter Theon”

*  “Kitanaura”

*  “Korydalla”

*  In Sumer; Inanna

*  In Babylon; Ishtar, Astarte

*  In Egypt; Isis

*  In Syria; Atargatis (Lat.)

*  In the Canaan region (Palestine) and Phoenicia; Anat and Astarte

*  In Crete; Rhea103

*  In the Kültepe tablets; Kubaba

*  In Hittite sources; Hepat

*  In the Hittites; Sun Goddess of Arinna

*  In Phrygia; Kybele, Agdistis104

*  In Lydia; Kybebe, Kubebe

*  In Lycia, her name; Kybele

*  In Komana Pontika (9 km northeast of Karadeniz Ereğlisi, Tokat region) and Cappadocia; Ma105

*  In Ephesus; Artemis

*  In Greece and Rome; Gaia, Rhea, Demeter, Mater, Magna

*  Mater, Dindymos, Dindymene106

*  In Italy (in the Lake Nemi region); Venus, Vesta

*  In Armenia and among Arab tribes; Hubel and Qibla

*  In India; Aditi

The Hittite pantheon is remarkably rich, shaped by both masculine and feminine deities that sustained the Hatti belief system for centuries. The Hatti mother goddess Kumbaba later became known as Cybele (Kybele), taking her place in the pantheon during the Phrygian period.

The Phrygians constructed open-air sanctuaries, carving monumental, two-dimensional temples directly into massive rock formations. Among these, the temples of Cybele became indispensable centers of worship within Phrygian cities.

During my visit to Yazılıkaya, I encountered a striking Cybele temple measuring approximately 17 meters in length and 16 meters in width. I photographed the site at both sunrise and sunset, when thousands of tones—from deep brown to pale yellow—were reflected across the geometric surfaces of the האבן. The upper section of the temple resembles the roof of a house. However, the relief at its highest point has been destroyed—likely removed by looters using unknown methods. The temple niche has also suffered significant damage.

Where altars and statues once stood, only wind now passes through. Even the traces of structures in the ceremonial areas have largely disappeared, though it is evident that additional supporting constructions must once have existed around the altars. The condition of the rock-cut cavities, believed to have housed monks or ritual practitioners, is even more deteriorated.

Phrygian inscriptions remain on the side walls of the temple. According to the sources I reviewed, these texts are still undeciphered. Yet, perhaps the most tragic aspect lies elsewhere.

Despite the many academic institutions offering archaeological education, there appears to be little initiative to study or revive the Phrygian language. The question remains: where would one learn it, and who would teach it? As a result, we still do not know how Cybele’s ceremonies were performed between 600–200 BC. What exists are largely hypotheses, often based on Roman accounts and open to interpretation.

While visiting the region, it is difficult not to notice the shortcomings in preservation efforts. Many of the remains are not adequately protected. The “seismometer” installed at Yazılıkaya is only one of the measures that should be taken, and far from sufficient. Another reality is that some locals perceive these ruins not as cultural heritage, but as obstacles to development.

Many of the makeshift adobe houses, now equipped with satellite antennas, stand in partial ruin. Life in the village appears stagnant, prompting migration to larger cities. What remains is a landscape gradually shaped by abandonment and destruction—one that continues to fade, with little chance of renewal.

Attributes of the Goddess

The Mother Goddess is not merely a figure—she is a living principle.She is the pulse behind creation, the silent intelligence moving through fertility, sexuality, birth, nurturing, and transformation.

In Anatolia, she is the embodiment of the feminine essence itself—the original field from which all life emerges. She is the womb of existence.

As the Mother of Nature, she does not only give life; she sustains its rhythm. She turns the wheel of becoming—birth, growth, decay, and rebirth. She is both the giver and the receiver. What she creates, she can also dissolve.

Cybele carries this paradox within her.She gives life, and she takes life.

She is the Lady of the Mountains—of wild, untamed spaces. In the caves of Mount Ida, she births gods into existence, reminding us that creation does not come from order, but from the deep, dark, fertile unknown.

Cybele in the Lands of Lykaonia

Çatalhöyük — The First Memory of the Mother

There are places on Earth where memory does not fade.Çatalhöyük is one of them.

Dating back to 6500–5500 BC, this ancient settlement holds one of the earliest imprints of the Mother Goddess. Here, she appears seated, grounded, sovereign—often on a throne.

But she is not only giving birth to a child.She is giving birth to life itself.

In some depictions, she births the bull—the force that tills the soil, that feeds humanity. The message is clear: life feeds life. Creation is circular.

This is where the idea of “Mother Earth” begins to take form—not as metaphor, but as lived reality. The land is woman. Woman is divine. And from this union emerges the understanding that all existence is born from a single, fertile source.

The soil that nourishes everything…the body that births everything…are one and the same.

Even today, her presence remains. A small clay figurine, often called Cybele, rests in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara—a quiet witness to a time when humanity still remembered.

Beyşehir & Seydişehir — Echoes of the Forgotten Names

Between mountains, along ancient passage routes, the memory of the Mother continues to echo.

In what is now known as Sızma—once called Zizima or Zizime—the Goddess was worshipped as Zizimene. Another name. Another face. The same presence.

Names shift across time:Didyme… Zizimene… Kybele…

Yet they all point to the same source—the Mother behind the many forms.

On the summit of Elvas Hill, carved into stone, are niches and offering bowls. Silent altars where rituals once flowed. The presence of Cybele statues confirms what the land already whispers: this was a sacred space.

Across Lykaonia, Phrygia, and even into the mountains of Cilicia, similar traces appear—rock monuments, carved sanctuaries, places where humans once met the divine not in temples built over nature, but within it.

Rock Altars — Where Stone Becomes Temple

Near Karahisar, about 11 km from Beyşehir, a relief of Cybele emerges from the rock face—elevated, facing the south, open to the sun.

It is not a constructed temple.It is revealed from the earth itself.

Carved niches gather together—some small, some larger, some framed, some bare. They feel less like architecture and more like portals. Spaces of offering. Points of contact.

These altars echo other sacred sites—Trysa, Limyra—suggesting a shared language of devotion carved across landscapes.

And yet, what remains today is only a fragment.

Empty spaces where rituals once lived.Hollowed forms where presence once gathered.

Still, the stone remembers.

If you listen closely, beyond the time, beyond the silence—you can still feel her.

Not as a distant goddess,but as the living field beneath your feet.

Open-Air Temple

Near the summit of the hill, at the site known as the Gavur Tomb north of Karahisar village, a ceremonial terrace quietly holds the traces of an ancient presence.

This is not a single structure, but a constellation of sacred forms—niches carved into stone, stepped altars, seated platforms, offering bowls…each one part of a larger ritual landscape.

This open-air temple is not built upon the earth.It is revealed from within it.

The Phrygians shaped these spaces in devotion to the Mother Goddess, not by enclosing her, but by meeting her in the openness of sky and stone. Their temples had no roofs, no boundaries—only the horizon, the wind, and the living rock.

Among these sacred sites, one of the most powerful expressions still stands between Eskişehir and Afyon: the Yazılıkaya monument of Midas City. A vast stone façade, both geometric and mystical, holding the imprint of a civilization that understood how to speak with the land.

And yet, this was not an isolated practice.Across Beyşehir, Seydişehir, and beyond, the cult of Cybele continued to live, to breathe, to be practiced—carried through generations, enduring even into the Roman period.

What we see today are fragments.

But once, these places were alive—with movement, with offerings, with voices rising into the open sky.

And perhaps that is the essence of these temples:they were never meant to contain the sacred,but to dissolve into it.

Mother Goddess Cult

History, as we know it, begins with writing.It is the attempt to fix memory onto surfaces—to define time, place, and event through recorded words.

But what came before writing is often called prehistory—a term that suggests absence.Yet nothing was absent.

For this reason, it feels more true to call it Oral History.A time not without knowledge, but without inscription.A time when meaning lived in symbols, myths, gestures, and lived experience—rather than in text.

Oral History is not linear.It does not follow the logic of the modern mind.It moves through feeling, intuition, and archetype.

To understand it, one must not only study ancient languages, customs, and symbols,but also enter the emotional and perceptual world of early humanity.It requires seeing as they saw—a world alive, responsive, and filled with unseen forces.

In these early times, belief systems were not called religions, but cults—living practices that connected humans to the rhythms of existence.Today, the word “pagan” often carries distortion or dismissal,yet these ancient traditions hold essential keys to understanding how humans once related to life itself.

Thousands of years ago, as humans began to encounter and interpret their natural surroundings,their attention turned upward—toward the sky.

The sun became their first teacher.

With its rising came warmth, light, safety.Predators withdrew, the land awakened, and life could continue.The sun was not just a celestial body—it was the source of existence.

At night, the sky revealed another mystery:countless shimmering points stretching into infinity.These too were perceived as sacred—distant fires echoing the power of the sun.

But perhaps the greatest mystery was not above—it was within.

The body of the woman.

How could life emerge from life?How could a human give birth to another human?

Observing this, early humans began to perceive a deep connectionbetween the fertility of women and the life-giving power of the sun.

Both became recognized as sources of continuity.Both became sacred.

And so, the image of the Mother Goddess emerged.

These early figurines were not portraits.They were symbols.

Their faces were often undefined—no eyes, no mouth, no individual identity.Because they were not meant to represent a person,but a force beyond the human.

Their forms were full, rounded, abundant—reflecting fertility, nourishment, and the generative power of nature itself.

The spherical head echoed the sun.The body echoed the earth.

In these small forms, sky and soil were united.

From the distribution of these figurines, it becomes clear that such symbolic systems spread across vast regions—suggesting that the roots of the sun and Mother Goddess cults reach deep into Asia, extending both westward and eastward over tens of thousands of years.

Across cultures, the Mother appears under many names.

Tur-Ana among ancient Turkic traditions.Turan in Etruscan culture—echoing migrations and shared linguistic roots.Kubaba in Anatolia, later known as Cybele.Inanna in Sumer.Isis, Hathor, and Maat in Egypt.

Different names, different lands—yet the same archetypal presence.

Hathor, often depicted with the sacred cow, embodies love, nourishment, and abundance.The symbolism of the cow—still considered sacred in India today—reflects the same principle:fertility, sustenance, and the continuity of life.

And in Anatolia, this presence found one of its most powerful expressionsin the land of the Phrygian Valley tretching across Kütahya, Afyonkarahisar, Midas, and Eskişehir.

A landscape where stone, sky, and memory still holdthe silent imprint of the Mother

-Nitya Ekata

Anatolia — Land of the Mother Goddess

To truly understand the formation of Anatolia, one must look beyond timelines and into its cultural fabric and social memory.

Anatolia is the East—and light rises from the East.

This land is the homeland of the Mother Goddess—Cybele.It is here that ancient myths were born, rooted, and expanded. Within these mythic structures, all gods are understood as the children of the Mother, and therefore as siblings—held together under the compassion of a single source.

In this early worldview, multiplicity was not conflict.It was harmony.

Pagan traditions and teachings emerged through this mythic ground, blending into a pluralistic structure that naturally carried tolerance within it. Belief was not imposed—it coexisted. Each path was allowed its space, each expression its validity.

With the arrival of monotheistic religions in Anatolia, a different dynamic began to unfold. The iconoclastic impulse—the rejection of images and forms—introduced pressure upon these ancient systems. As a result, many of the primordial teachings withdrew from the visible world, moving inward—into hidden, esoteric lineages.

Yet Anatolia did not lose its capacity to transform.

The Ionian philosophical tradition, the Dionysian and Orphic currents, the Temple of Delphi, and the Pythagorean school-temple all became part of a vast alchemical vessel—absorbing, reshaping, and transmitting knowledge across time.

And this plurality does not end there.

The cultural soil of Anatolia has been seeded by many civilizations and traditions:Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian, Babylonian inheritances;Buddhist influences;Zoroastrian thought;Gnostic Christianity;Sufi Islam;Karmatian and Batini teachings.

Each one a layer.Each one a memory.

Among these, one of the most ancient and only recently re-emerging streams is that of the Luwians—who referred to themselves as “the children of light.”

The Land of Mothers

Turkey, known in its deeper identity as Anatolia, carries a name that itself whispers memory.

Anadolu is often interpreted as “full of mothers” or “land of the mothers.”Whether linguistic coincidence or intuitive truth, the meaning aligns with what the land reveals.

Here, women are believed to have sown the first seeds of what would become civilization. With the emergence of early agricultural societies—many of them matriarchal—the figure of the Mother Goddess also came into form.

This is not accidental.

The cultivation of land and the recognition of fertility—of soil, of body, of life—are reflections of the same principle. And so Anatolia may be understood not only as a geographical region, but as the birthplace of a worldview in which life itself is sacred and cyclical.

Memory in the Land

Every human being is shaped by the land they inhabit—by climate, by resources, by culture, by the ways in which life is sustained.

For those who observe deeply, each culture becomes a doorway.Its art, its myths, its symbols—each revealing a fragment of how humanity has understood existence.

Çatalhöyük — The First Urban Consciousness

The history of Anatolia stretches far beyond written record.

Human presence in this region dates back to the Paleolithic era, and by around 7000 BCE, a remarkable Neolithic city had already emerged: Çatalhöyük.

Located near the twin-peaked Hasan Dağ—whose obsidian became a source of trade and wealth—this settlement represents one of the earliest known intersections of economy, spirituality, and social organization.

Çatalhöyük was not simply a habitation site.It was a center of meaning.

Obsidian from this region traveled across vast distances, reaching deep into the Mediterranean, as far as Jericho. At its height, Jericho itself was only half the size of Çatalhöyük—revealing the scale and significance of this early urban formation.

Carbon dating places its oldest layers around 6500 BCE. What emerges from these layers is not a primitive settlement, but a planned city—organized, intentional, and deeply symbolic.

Situated near rivers and fertile plains rich with wildlife, its inhabitants developed:domestic architecture,wall paintings,ceramic traditions,figurative art.

But beyond material culture, they left something even more profound:a vision of the cosmos.

A way of seeing the universe not as separate from human life,but as something lived, embodied, and continuously created.

Anatolia is not only a place.It is a field of memory.

And beneath every stone, every symbol, every forgotten name—the Mother still breathes.