The Myth of Twins Amu and Sy

I've taken a creative license on one of the ancient myths about the origin of Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the most important rivers in Central Asia. In an old Turkic language, "darya" means "river." Both rivers start in the high mountains of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan and are fed by numerous small rivers, glaciers and spring rains. They run through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, hugging the Kyzylkum and Karakum deserts and falling into the Aral Sea. As both rivers are extensively used for power generation and irrigation, the Aral Sea is rapidly disappearing and is considered to be one of the largest human-caused ecological disasters of the 20th century. On the map below, the original sea (Aral Kum) is marked in light yellow, and the blue on top of it is what remains of the sea today.

A long time ago, the hot-tempered Sun god was married to the beautiful and thoughtful Moon goddess. They had twin daughters named Amu (which in the ancient Turkic language means "rich, powerful, plentiful") and Sy (meaning "mystery"). The twins looked exactly the same, but had different personalities: Amu was hot-tempered and passionate like her father and Sy was quiet, mysterious, and thoughtful like her mother the Moon goddess. The twins were inseparable and loved each other very much.

Living among other celestial bodies, the twins grew up with no worries and with plenty of love from their parents. However, when they turned into beautiful young women, they got bored with their care-free life in the sky. Especially because they could see that their father and mother were leaving regularly to visit the mysterious planet Earth inhabited by humans. One day, Amu and Sy asked their parents to let them go to Earth as well.

"Never!" the Sun god exclaimed.

"But why, Father, why?" the twins asked at the same time.

"Indeed, dear, why? Why not let the girls have some fun?" the Moon goddess chimed in.

"What if they fall in love with some undeserving humans who will break their hearts? Or worse yet, who will fall in love with them and take our daughters away from us?" the Sun god replied.

"You seriously think that they will stay with us forever?"

"Of course! As long as they stay with us here in the sky, they will be immortal. But if they fall in love with humans they will become human as well and die!"

"What if they don't meet anyone who they fall in love with? What if they just go to Earth, have some fun, and come back to us?"

"I would rather them not have that temptation at all!"

So they argued and argued, and no matter what the girls and their mother said the Sun god would not budge. He was so scared of losing his daughters that he didn't want to hear anything about their visit to Earth. But then he also saw how bored and sad they were when left alone in their celestial home. One day, when he finally realized how grown up the twins were and under the pressure from the Moon goddess, the Sun god finally said,

"Alright, Amu and Sy, you are adults now and I admit I should not keep you locked up at home. You can go to Earth as a right of passage, to see what humans are all about. But promise me you will come back."

"We promise, Father!" the young women said and flew to Earth. Their human bodies concealed their celestial shine but they couldn't hide their beauty.

Their appearance was immediately noticed. People on Earth have never seen such beauty before, especially in a twinned version. The people thought the sisters were Princesses from some faraway land. Men fell in love with them at first sight and wanted to marry them. They arranged for combat tournaments to compete for the sisters' hands in marriage. Amu liked this attention to them, but the quiet Sy already knew who would be her chosen one: She fell in love with a handsome warrior from a faraway Persian tribe. He was strong, dark, tall and masterful with all kinds of weapons. He noticed Sy right away as well and told her that he would fight anyone for the right to marry her. Sy was scared for him, and she also remembered the promise the twins gave to their Father, to come back. So Sy told her beloved that she'd have to go see her parents and ask for their blessing. She promised him to come back.

When the twins returned to the sky, they told their Mother the Moon goddess about their adventures on Earth and how much they loved being among humans. When Sy dreamily told about her beloved, the Moon goddess said, "But that is exactly what your Father was afraid of, that you would fall in love with some human and would want to stay there. Because the only way for you to be together is if you go to Earth and become a mortal human as well."

"I am ready to do that, Mother," Sy responded, "I cannot imagine how I would live without my love!"

"And I will follow my sister anywhere," Amu said. "Maybe I will find love on Earth as well."

"But I am not ready to lose you," the Sun god said, eavesdropping on their conversation behind his wife's bedroom door.

So when the twins asked for the permission to go to Earth again, the Sun god pretended to be generous and allowed them another visit. However, he also turned into a human and followed them to Earth.

The men who were eagerly waiting for the twins' return immediately started to challenge each other in a warrior competition. Except that this time, they had a new claimant - the Sun god - who challenged Sy's beloved to a fight. The brave Persian fought well, but he was no match to a god and when in the heat of the battle he tried to steal a glance from Sy who watched the battle intensely, the disguised Sun god struck the young warrior with his sword right into his heart. The young man died almost instantly and Sy could not believe what she saw with her own eyes. The Sun god snuck back to the sky unrecognized, leaving the people to deal with the consequences and hoping that the twins would return to the celestial palace shortly after. He was quite pleased with himself as he was sure Sy would come back, seeking her parents' comfort and consolation.

But Sy was so heartbroken she ran into the nearby high mountains. The mountains were covered with dense forests, so Sy soon realized she was lost. Tired and desperate, she sat down on a rock and started to cry. Sy cried so much that a small river formed from her tears and the more she cried the bigger the river grew.

Meanwhile, Amu went into the mountains to look for her sister. It took her a long time, but she finally saw the new river and followed it to its beginning. There, she found Sy crying. Amu tried to persuade her sister to go back to the sky, to her parents' house. But Sy was inconsolable. Rivers of tears flowing out of her eyes, Sy looked up at her sister and exclaimed, "I don't want to live without my love, either on Earth or in the sky!" And with those words, she turned herself into the eternal river.

"And I will not be able to live without you!" Amu said, sat onto the same rock and started to cry as well. Just like her sister, she turned herself into a river curving and flowing in a similar way on the other side of the great hot desert.

Meanwhile in the celestial palace, the Moon goddess learned of her daughters' demise. The grief-stricken Sun god told her the truth about killing Sy's love. The Moon goddess could not forgive her husband for the death of her daughters and they separated. Ever since then, the Sun god and the Moon goddess visit the Earth at different times of the day to mourn their daughters and admire the power and beauty of the mighty rivers they have become.