Yer Tanrı

Yer Tanrı (or feminine form in Turkish: Yer Tanrıça) is the goddess of earth in Turkic mythology. Also known as Yer Ana.

With her father Gök Tanrı and her brother and husband Kayra, she was the parent of Ay Tanrı, Umay, Ülgen, Koyash, and Erlik. As a fertility goddess, she was recognized as the giver of crops and abundance. In the Spring and in the Autumn — before the beginning of the agricultural season and after the harvest — she was worshiped with sacrifices of food.

Yer Tanry (Yer Tanrıça, "The Earth Goddess") was considered to be both a mother and wife to Gok-Tengri. She appeared as a force of nature. In ancient Turkic mythology there was a theory that mortals were the product of the union of Tengri and Yer (Earth). In the Orkhon Stone it says: “In the beginning there was a blue sky above, a dark land below, and human sons in-between." (Üze kök tengri asra yagiz yir kilindukda ikin ara kişi oğlı kılınmış.) The Turkic people revered the Earth Goddess (Yer Ana) as a giver of crops and abundance. In the Spring, before the beginning of the agricultural season and in the Autumn, after the harvest, as a sign of gratitude for the abundance of food and happiness, the ancient Turkish community and Mongols made a sacrifice to the Earth Goddess. Milk, kumys and tea were offered, and pleas were made for a fertile land and a rich yield.