Mongolian Mat

Mongolian Mat

Indigenous Culture

Depicted on the rug is one of the supreme deities of Mongolian traditions known as Tengri. The name Tengri refers to the sky as Tengri is the supreme sky god of the old Xiongnu, Xianbei, Turkic, Bulgar, Mongolian, Hunnic and Altaic religions better known as Tengriism. In Tengriism, it is believed that Tengri ruled over the pantheon of gods and the entirety of existence itself, like that of Brahma in Hinduism. Tengri is depicted in various ways throughout the traditions do to the fact that he is believed to be infinite and timeless in his rule of the cosmos, meaning that he has no set Earthly form. 

Tengriism Authored by Jesse Russell & Ronald Cohn

New World Encyclopedia on Tengri

Elizabethtown College (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA)

Dr. William V. Puffenberger

Elizabethtown College retains all intellectual property rights to this image including, but not limited to, digital rights and any derivative works. For permission for reproduction, please contact the College’s Administrative Assistant for Humanities.

Medium sized mat/rug

Puffenberger #24

Mongolia