� THE ART OF CARPET
Antique Carpets
Finally , this motif is a classic symbol of the Sun , with outgoing rays-arrows directed to the four cardinal directions . We also find more complex cross with rhombus and swirls in the bottom of horns in carpets from Altai to Turkey . Such a cross could be depicted independently , be inscribed in a medallion , and also appeared in combination with other elements . The stability of the sign , the unprecedented area of its distribution testifies its exceptional importance for the steppe peoples . That ’ s why we should study Tengrianism ( in the scientific literature it can be called shamanism ) as the main religion of the steppe peoples .
Tengrianism is the worldview and religion of many steppe peoples of Eurasia , which was based on the belief in Tengri , the god of the sky . This religion was a complex cult-worldview system , which also included totem cults , the cult of ancestors , mountains , land , water , and the practice of shamanism . During Turkic Kaganate ( 545-745 ) Tengrianism became the state religion .
Many medieval references evidenced that with the spread of Islam , it still retained its dominant position in the worldview system among the nomads in Central Asia .
In Tengrianism , the cross-sun with four diverging rays was the ideogram of the god Tengri . The identity of the Sun and Tengri was based on the fact that Tengrianism , as the worship of Heaven , was originally connected with the cult of the Sun , the main source of life on Earth . The cults of the Sky and the Sun always developed in connection . As a famous researcher of early forms of religion L . Sternberg noted : ‘ Whenever we meet with the deity of Heaven , we see that the cult of Sun is hidden behind the cult of the Sky ’. The correlation of the cross with a cult image is also confirmed by one of its surviving names - kaikalak - possibly from khaikal ( Uzbek statue , monument , i . e . idol ). It refers us to worshipful , iconic images . Tengrianism did not know anthropomorphism when depicting gods ( obviously , with the exception of Umai ), and , perhaps , this symbol was a kind of divine sign .
The pantheon of these religious beliefs is still an unreflected topic . Nonetheless , it is possible to assume that the cross is linked with other iconic characters . According to Tengrian cosmogony , the whole world is the interaction and union of masculine and feminine principles : Tengri ( sky , fire ) and Er-Su ( earth-water ). In this case Tengri could be positioned with a vertical , spirituality , masculine active principle , Er-Su with a horizontal ( feminine principle , materiality , stability ). Finally , a rhombus is placed at the intersection of the cross ’ rays , another archetypal symbol that expresses the idea of fertility . It , in turn , is associated with Umai , the mother-goddess , who gave rise to all living things . Thus , the cross can be viewed as a kind of cosmogram , a model of the world , which has absorbed the idea of the dual world and the source of its origin .
The appearance of horns at the ends of the cross , as a personification of a god / gods , is also logical . In archaic cultures , horns were associated not only with totem patron animals , but also gods . For example , an anthropomorphic image of Umai in a horned crown is known ( bronze pendant of a silk belt , Khakassia ); Buryat and Mongolian women ’ s headdresses also had the shape of a crown with huge horns . This tradition is associated with totemism , the deification of horned animals such as a bull , a ram , a goat or a cow , which the concepts of strength , potency , prosperity , fertility were associated with . The technique of depicting sacred animals with the help of horns ( kuchkorak ) is also very ancient , associated with a special attitude towards these animals . Such schematism served as a conditional expression of their secret powers and capabilities . Accepting the fact that we face the image of the horned deity , it is logical to translate the title motif kaykalak as kuy kalla , the head of a sheep or ram .
Gilam . Uzbeks or Kyrgyz . Fergana Valley , 1940s , Samarkand State Museum of Cultural History of Uzbekistan
Perhaps , the movements of the nomads led to the adaptation of the symbol by other peoples . So , the Slavs had an equilateral cross with curls horns from the XII century . It was a popular amulet , meaning the four-part spell of space , ‘ so that trouble does not come from either side of the world ’. There is an assumption that over time it was the Tengrian cross-Sun that became the basis for the Christian iconography of the cross .
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