Amulets Associated with Female Fertility
Amulets
In ancient times, the connection between symbols was more natural, concrete, and motivated by the living conditions of people. This brings us back to the magical connection of fist-shaped amulets with an intimate female issue.
According to elderly women from Leninabad, in the past, some families, especially those where women had difficult childbirths, kept pouches with fist-shaped amulets. These amulets were usually carved from hawthorn with branches that spread out, resembling fingers and the palm of a hand. Raw branches were gently bent - as if "clenching into a fist," then wrapped in cloth in that position and left until they completely dried. After some time, the wrapping was removed, and the amulet was "ready for use." Right before childbirth, the midwife would moisten the amulet in a vessel of warm water. It was believed that if the branches of the amulet swelled and straightened quickly, mimicking the opening uterus, the childbirth would be easy. Otherwise, the midwife would take other measures to facilitate the delivery. It seems to us that this custom embodies only one aspect of the rich tradition of honoring the hand. Incidentally, the semantics of this ancient custom of using the named amulet closely resonates with the semantics of another group of amulets from the collection of the State Hermitage, referred to as "medical." A large number of pouches from these amulets are also preserved. These are amulets depicting a key at the mouth of the uterus. O.Ya. Neverov, who prepared the publications of these amulets, believes that they served as a symbol protecting against conception and the cessation of menstruation. This explanation is not linked to the traditional symbolism of the key. In this case, the key evidently served as a magical symbol facilitating childbirth. For example, among the population of Khorezm, there was a custom to open doors and unlock locks in the house to ease childbirth, and in cases of difficult, prolonged labor, a teapot was unexpectedly smashed next to the woman in labor. From what has been said, we can conclude that the so-called "medical amulets," like the Hojent parallels, possibly belonged to women who used them right before childbirth.
As seen from this brief overview, the semantics of the fist has a largely universal character. Depending on the ethnicity, level of material and spiritual culture, forms of thinking, economic structure, and other factors actively contributing to the formation of human consciousness, it could serve as a protective charm, a symbol of faith, fertility, decoration, etc.
Amulets related to female fertility and phallic cult.
By the number of finds, the Kurkat crypts are genuine treasure troves of history. Let’s consider just a few of them.
Amulet in the shape of a female breast. A figurine plate cast from bronze. Discovered in crypt IX. The back side of the amulet is flat, while the front prominently features a female breast. The amulet somewhat resembles schematic female figures (with an emphasized gender characteristic) from the Bronze Age. However, others see in it a flying butterfly. At the top of the amulet is a loop. It evidently was part of a female ornament and served as a protective charm against the evil eye. Dated to the 5th-6th centuries.
Amudaty-genitalia. In crypts No. 1 and No. 3, amulets of a characteristic shape resembling genitalia were discovered.
Type I. The amulet is carved from white river pebbles in an elliptical shape, with a groove along the longitudinal part resembling a boat, pierced in the center. Amulets similar to the described ones are found among bone artifacts from the Northern Black Sea region.
Type II. Bead-amulets carved from river pebbles, triangular in shape. The front side is slightly convex, the back is flat. In the center of the triangle is a wide perforation. There are five specimens in total.
Phallus amulet. A pendant cast from green glass with a slight bend in the center and widening at the mouth. At the end of the phallic shape is a loop. Length 17 mm, diameter 8 mm. The pendant is teardrop-shaped, elongated, and widens at the mouth. It is cast from purple glass.
Foot amulet. Also discovered in crypt IX. Carved from fine-grained porphyrite, four-sided, flat. The surface is carefully polished, imitating a foot up to the knee. Dimensions: 28 x 10 x 6 mm.
Amulets imitating internal organs. An amulet made of black jade, round in shape. Carved in the shape of half a kidney. A wide channel is drilled in the center of the amulet. The surface is smooth, reaching a shine, which is undeniable evidence of its long use. Another amulet is carved from amber. It is heart-shaped. Dimensions: 43 x 30 x 15 mm. A bead of such massive volume could only be worn as a separate pendant.
According to ancient beliefs, jade alleviated kidney colic and pains in the liver and kidneys. Moreover, the very word "jade" (Greek) means "kidneys." The traditional jade deposit, according to Biruni and other medieval sources, was located near Kashgar and the city of Hotan.
Anthropomorphic amulets. A bead amulet carved from black minrodiolite, round, flattened, anthropomorphic in shape.
One side is flat, disc-shaped, while the other features a stylized image of a face in profile. The face is rendered through careful processing of the side surfaces. The resulting oval depressions of 2-3 mm give the perforation a stylized image of a face, with extremely skillful representation of the chin, eyebrows, nose, cheeks, and other facial details. The holes of the channel passing across the image imitate eyes. Such stylization in depicting facial features is especially characteristic of idols found in the settlements of Mugtepa, Kairagach, and some other areas of Central Asia from the 5th-7th centuries. According to some researchers, they depict an owl.
Bead amulet, stamped from purple glass mass. An oval disc features a mask with facial features. Lush hair is represented by vertical strokes. These finds are characteristic of the antiquities of Hotan, which were apparently brought along the Silk Road from cities in the Northern Black Sea region. In our collection, there are two of them. Another such mask was found in layers from the 4th-5th centuries at the Mugtepa settlement.
On the Semantics of Pendants. Part - 2
