Country file · Asia & the Middle East

Cryptids of Kazakhstan

What cryptids are in Kazakhstan? The best-known is Zhalmauyz Kempir.

Kazakh folk tales are dominated by Zhalmauyz Kempir, the “devouring old woman,” a seven-headed, shape-shifting witch who eats people and kidnaps children, but who can be outwitted by brave heroes. She appears in epics such as Er Tostik, and scholars treat her as a demonological figure of Turkic epic.

  • 1 cryptid

Cryptids reported in Kazakhstan

Humanoid · Oral tradition

Zhalmauyz Kempir

Kazakh steppe Zhalmauyz Kempir, the “devouring old woman” of Kazakh fairy tales: a seven-headed shape-shifting witch outwitted by heroes in epics like Er Tostik. Folklore

The legends of Kazakhstan

Her tales reflect the dangers of nomadic life on the open steppe, and similar figures are found across Central Asia.

Hotspots

  • Kazakh steppe

    The open landscape in which the old woman’s tales are set.

Nearby

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