Mami
8
9.9
- proper noun
- Literature
:
Mami
- Mami Wata
- manifestations of Mami
- sculpture of Mami
Examples
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Along coastal Benin and Togo, Mami Wata is much more than a single spirit: she is an entire pantheon.
Academic text (1999) -
Representations of animals, masks, or mythical figures like Mami Wata, the siren with protective and seductive powers, are rare.
Academic text (1995) -
PHOTO (COLOR): In a trance, a Mami-Wata devotee, right, climbs on a village shrine to obtain its power.
Academic text (1995) -
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): 8. Mamisi Walas, a Mami Wata priest, sculpts a clay portrait of Mami Wata.
Academic text (1990) -
Painted and unpainted clay portraits of Mami Wata by Mamisi Walas Ewe, Southern Togo, 1975.
Academic text (1990) -
In ancient Mesopotamia, the people prayed to Mami, the goddess of motherhood, for safe childbirth.
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Worshippers believed Mami played a crucial role in the fertility of the land.
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During ceremonies, they honored Mami as the protector of mothers and infants.
Synonyms
An ancient Sumerian mother goddess who helps plants and people grow and is linked to mountains
A goddess from ancient Mesopotamia who protects women during childbirth and helps people have babies
A mother goddess of ancient Mesopotamia who people worship for birth and life
A goddess from ancient Mesopotamia who helps women have safe births
Surface Forms
Etymology
Mami is the name of an ancient Mesopotamian mother goddess and comes from an old Sumerian form built from ma, a simple word for 'mother' often repeated like 'mama' to show warmth. So Mami was seen as a giver of life and childbirth, which is why her name feels like a caring 'mother' figure.