Ma (goddess)
Anatolian goddess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ma was a local goddess at Comana in Cappadocia. Her name Ma means "Mother", and she also had the epithets "Invincible" and "Bringer of Victory".[1]
History
Ma has been interpreted as a mother goddess, but at the same time as a warrior goddess, as her name and epithets indicate both.[1]
She was associated with the transition of adulthood of both genders, and sacred sex rituals were practiced during her biennial festivals.[1]
Ma was also seen as a moon goddess, being associated with the Anatolia moon god Mēn, with a temple estate dedicated to Mēn Pharnakou and Selene at Ameria, near Cabira, in the Kingdom of Pontus, being an attempt to counter-balance the influence of the Moon goddess Ma of Comana.
Ma has been identified with a number of other deities, indicating her function. She has been compared to Cybele and Bellona. The ancient Greeks compared Ma to the goddess Enyo and Athena Nicephorus.[2] Plutarch likened her with Semele and Athena.[1] Ma was introduced and worshiped in Macedonia together with other foreign deities.[3][4]
Ma-Enyo, a fusion between the Anatolian goddess Ma and the Greek Goddess, Enyo, was considered the great west Asian nature-goddess, with Comana's temple and its fame in ancient times as the place where the rites of this, a variety of the nature goddess, were celebrated with much solemnity.