The extract below may throw light on the Eurasia-wide Shining or Luminous goddess cults of Eurasia and the possible provenance of the Amaterasu goddess:
MYSTERIES OF THE GOLDEN WOMAN OF UGRA by Paul Stonehill
Siberia is a part of the Asian territory of the Russian Federation between the Ural Mountains in the West and the mountains of the Russian Far East; and between the Arctic Ocean in the North and the steppes of Kazakhstan and Mongolia in the South. It is divided into Western Siberia (occupying predominantly Western lowlands and Altai mountains) and Eastern Siberia (comprising elevation occupying mostly the Mid Siberian plateau).
Western Siberia occupies the territory between the Ural Mountains in the East, and the Yenisey River in the West.
Konda is a river in Western Siberia, a tributary of the mighty Ob. The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, is located in the central part of the Ob-Irtysh basin, by far the largest in Eurasia. Marshy forests surround Konda’s shores. Vast swamps, numerous rivers and lakes, richly forested, are the hallmarks of this territory. Winters are very cold, and snow covers the land for many months. Summers are humid, infamous for their floods and myriads of mosquitoes. Those who have lived in the area would keep fires in their huts year round to save themselves from swarms of ever-present insects.
This is the Ugra land, a place of some heretofore-unsolved ancient mysteries.
The land has populated by various tribes since ancient times, as far back as the Mesolithic age.
They left behind many tombs, settlements, artifacts and unsolved mysteries. One of them is the legend of the Golden Woman (Zolotaya Baba in Russian; baba is an archaic term for a woman; used today mostly as a slang word, demeaning to women; it also means grandma). …
Yugra or Iuhra (Old Russian Югра, c.f. Byzantine Greek Οὔγγροι[clarification needed]) was the name of the lands between the Pechora River andNorthern Urals in the Russian annals of the 12th–17th centuries, as well as the name of the Khanty and partly Mansi tribes inhabiting these territories, later known as Voguls
The Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia is also called Yugra.
See map at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Herberstein-Moscovia-NE.png
Yugra (Iuhra), “the place of origin of Hungarians” (inde ungaroru origo) on Sigismund von Herberstein‘s 1549 map ofMoscovia. Herberstein placed the label Iuhraeast of the Ob River, while Aureanus (Golden Lady?), a.k.a. Slata baba (“Golden Laby”/”Golden Idol”) can be seen west of the Ob.
The 12th century missionary and traveller Abu Hamid al-Gharnati gives one of the earliest accounts of the region, which he calls Yura in Arabic:
“But beyond Wisu by the Sea of Darkness there lies a land known by the name of Yura. In summers the days are very long there, so that the Sun does not set for forty days, as the merchants say; but in winters the nights are equally long. The merchants report that Darkness is not far (from them), and that the people of Yura go there and enter it with torches, and find a huge tree there which is like a big village. But on top of the tree there sits a large creature, they say it is a bird. And they bring merchandise along, and each merchant sets down his goods apart from those of the others; and he makes a mark on them and leaves, but when he comes back, he finds commodities there, necessary for his own country…” (Al Garnati:32)
The Golden Lady of the Obians was apparently an idol of the Yugrans. The first reports of the Golden Lady are found in the 14th-century Novgorod Chronicles, with reference to Saint Stephan of Perm. Next, the golden idol is mentioned in the 16th century by the subjects of the Grand Duke of Moscow, commissioned to describe the trade and military routes of the expanding Russia. The first non-Russian we know of to comment on the golden lady is Mathias from Miechov, Professor of Krakow University. The golden idol appeared on Sigismund von Herberstein‘s map of Moscovia published on 1549, and on a number of later maps, e.g. Gerhard Mercator‘s “Map of the Arctic (1595)”, where it is labeled Zolotaia Baba (from Russian Золотая баба– “Golden Lady” or “Golden Idol“).
In connection with Yermak‘s campaign, the Siberian Chronicle also tells us about the golden woman: a hetman of Yermak’s, by the name of Ivan Bryazga, invaded the Belogorye region in 1582 and fought the Ob-Ugrians there, who were defending their holiest object – the golden woman. (See Karjalainen 1918:243-245, Shestalov 1987:347.) And Grigori Novitski‘s statement that in earlier days there used to be in one shrine in Belogorye together with the copper goose “the greatest real idol”, and that the superstitious people “preserved that idol and took it to Konda now that idol-worshipping is being rooted up”, has also been regarded as relating to the golden woman (Novitski:61). Actually, no European has ever seen that idol and most probably it never existed in the described form (as a full-length woman made of gold).
Of the “Copper Goose” Novitski wrote the following:
“The goose idol very much worshipped by them is cast of copper in the shape of a goose, its atrocious abode is in the Belogorye village on the great river of Ob. According to their superstition they worship the god of waterfowls – swans, geese and other birds swimming on water… His throne in the temple is made of different kinds of broadcloth, canvas and hide, built like a nest; in it sits the monster who is always highly revered, most of all at the times of catching waterfowls in nests… This idol is so notorious that people come from distant villages to perform atrocious sacrifice to it – offering cattle, mainly horses; and they are certain that it (the idol) is the bearer of many goods, mainly ensuring the richness of waterfowls…”
Comparisons of different Yugran traditions indicate that the goose was one of the shapes or appearances of the most popular god of the “World Surveyor Man”, and that Belogorye is still sometimes referred to as his home. Novitsky also describes a site for worshipping this “World Surveyor” or “Ob Master”:
“The home of the Ob Master was presumably near the stronghold Samarovo in the mouth of the river Irtysh. According to their heathen belief he was the god of the fish, depicted in a most impudent manner: a board of wood, nose like a tin tube, eyes of glass, little horns on top of the head, covered with rags, attired in a (gilt breasted) purple robe. Arms – bows, arrows, spears, armour, etc – were laid beside him. According to their heathen belief they say about the collected arms that he often has to fight in the water and conquer other vassals. The frenzy ones thought that the atrocious monster is especially horrifying in the darkness and in the large waters, that he comes through all the depths where he watches over all fish and aquatic animals and gives everyone as much as he pleases.” (Novitsky: 59).
…. Next, the golden idol is mentioned in the 16th century by the subjects of the Grand Duke of Moscow, commissioned to describe the trade and military routes of the expanding Russia. The first non-Russian we know of to comment on the golden lady is Mathias from Miechov, Professor of Krakow University. The golden idol appeared on Sigismund von Herberstein‘s map of Moscovia published on 1549, and on a number of later maps, e.g. Gerhard Mercator‘s “Map of the Arctic (1595)”, where it is labeled Zolotaia Baba (from Russian Золотая баба– “Golden Lady” or “Golden Idol“).
In connection with Yermak‘s campaign, the Siberian Chronicle also tells us about the golden woman: a hetman of Yermak’s, by the name of Ivan Bryazga, invaded the Belogorye region in 1582 and fought the Ob-Ugrians there, who were defending their holiest object – the golden woman. (See Karjalainen 1918:243-245, Shestalov 1987:347.) And Grigori Novitski‘s statement that in earlier days there used to be in one shrine in Belogorye together with the copper goose “the greatest real idol”, and that the superstitious people “preserved that idol and took it to Konda now that idol-worshipping is being rooted up”, has also been regarded as relating to the golden woman (Novitski:61). Actually, no European has ever seen that idol and most probably it never existed in the described form (as a full-length woman made of gold).
Of the “Copper Goose” Novitski wrote the following:
“The goose idol very much worshipped by them is cast of copper in the shape of a goose, its atrocious abode is in the Belogorye village on the great river of Ob. According to their superstition they worship the god of waterfowls – swans, geese and other birds swimming on water… His throne in the temple is made of different kinds of broadcloth, canvas and hide, built like a nest; in it sits the monster who is always highly revered, most of all at the times of catching waterfowls in nests… This idol is so notorious that people come from distant villages to perform atrocious sacrifice to it – offering cattle, mainly horses; and they are certain that it (the idol) is the bearer of many goods, mainly ensuring the richness of waterfowls…”
Comparisons of different Yugran traditions indicate that the goose was one of the shapes or appearances of the most popular god of the “World Surveyor Man”, and that Belogorye is still sometimes referred to as his home. Novitsky also describes a site for worshipping this “World Surveyor” or “Ob Master”:
“The home of the Ob Master was presumably near the stronghold Samarovo in the mouth of the river Irtysh. According to their heathen belief he was the god of the fish, depicted in a most impudent manner: a board of wood, nose like a tin tube, eyes of glass, little horns on top of the head, covered with rags, attired in a (gilt breasted) purple robe. Arms – bows, arrows, spears, armour, etc – were laid beside him. According to their heathen belief they say about the collected arms that he often has to fight in the water and conquer other vassals. The frenzy ones thought that the atrocious monster is especially horrifying in the darkness and in the large waters, that he comes through all the depths where he watches over all fish and aquatic animals and gives everyone as much as he pleases.” (Novitsky: 59).
There are three or four known proto-states of the Yugran inhabitants, both Khanty and Mansi. The Principality of Pelym (largely Khanty) was located in the basin of the Konda river and stretched from the mouth of the Sosva River near Tavda up to Tabory. The stronghold of the Pelym princes was also a significant religious centre; a sacred Siberian larch grew in its surroundings and even in the 18th century people used to hang the skins of sacrificed horses on its branches. Near the sacred tree was a worship storehouse with five idols of human figure, and smaller storehouses with high pillars and human-faced peaks around it for storing sacrificial instruments. The bones of sacrificial animals were stored in a separate building (Novitski: 81). The Principality of Konda (mainly Mansi) formed a large semi autonomous part of the Pelym principality, according to the tax registers from 1628/29 it was inhabited by 257 tax-paying Mansi. The treasures of Prince Agai of Konda who was imprisoned by the Russians in 1594 gives us a good picture of the wealth of the Yugran nobles of this period. Namely, the Russians confiscated two silver crowns, a silver spoon, a silver beaker, a silver spiral bracelet, “precious drapery” and numerous pelts and precious furs (Bahrushin 1955,2: 146). The third part of the Pelym principality was the region of Tabary, in which inhabited 102 adults in 1628/29. Preceding the coming of the Russians the Mansi of this region were farmers and according to the tradition Yermak collected tribute in the form of grain (Bahrushin 1955,2: 147).
It is believed that the Yugran people or Ob-Ugrians had made trade with many countries far and wide since the earliest times. This trade was described in journals attributed to Abu Hamid al-Gharnati the Arab traveller during the 12th century:
“And from Bolghar merchants travel to the land of heathens, called Wisu; marvellous beaver skins come from there, and they take there wedge-shaped unpolished swords made in Azerbaijan in their turn… But the inhabitants of Visu take these swords to the land that lies near the Darkness (Yugra) by the Black Sea (now known as the White Sea), and they trade the swords for sable skins. And these people take the swords and cast them into the Black Sea; but Allah the Almighty sends them a fish which size is like a mountain (a whale); and they sail out to the fish in their ships and carve its flesh for months on end.” (ibid:58-59)
JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY & FOLKLORE 