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DOI: 10.46698/VNC.2026.32.25.005

TO THE HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF THE IMAGE OF MADY MAYRAM

Tuallagov, Alan A.
Kavkaz Forum. 2026. Issue 25.
Abstract:

The article is devoted to the study of the image of the Ossetian goddess Mady Mayram, who occupies a special position in the Ossetian pantheon as the only female image. The relevance of this problem in the context of this situation lies in the lack of analysis of material monuments from the medieval period. The scientific novelty of this work is determined by the corresponding inclusion of figurative monuments of Alanian archaeology. The purpose of this work is to document the semantics of the compositions of these figurative monuments and their anthropomorphic characters in correlation with folklore and ethnographic research and in the context of Alanian-Ossetian cultural and historical continuity. The study utilized methods of visual analysis of figurative monuments and the initial identification of the features that comprise the images. Based on the materials used and analyzed, this study suggests that the development of the goddess’s image involved various stages of formation, chronologically and in terms of content, as traditional Alanian beliefs interacted with Christian sources. The first stage, represented in amulets, dates to the period before the official adoption of Christianity by North Caucasian Alania, and involves the adaptation of the Christian female image to the local population’s conception of their Great Goddess in one of her incarnations. Christian iconography facilitated the anthropomorphic embodiment of her image. The second (Christian) stage may have involved Christian influence on the already established anthropomorphic image of the local goddess. However, this influence on her image did not lead to a radical change or to its replacement with the image of the Mother of God, which is also characteristic of the image of the Ossetian Mada Mayram. The potential of this situation led, in some cases, to the preservation of the goddess’s image in the pantheon even within the patriarchal structure of traditional Ossetian society.

Keywords: images, Christianity, archaeological sources, Alans, Ossetians.
Language: Russian Download the full text  
For citation: Tuallagov, A.A. To the history of the formation of the image of Mady Mayram. KAVKAZ-FORUM. 2026, iss. 25 (32), pp. 128-139. (In Russian). DOI 10.46698/VNC.2026.32.25.005
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