Khaltesh-Anki

{{Short description|Siberian goddess of Earth}}

{{more citations needed|date=February 2024}}

Khaltesh-Anki (also Kaltesh, Kaltes), 'Gold Woman', is an Ob-Ugrian goddess (of the Khanty and Mansi peoples), associated with childbirth, fertility, fate, and the earth{{Cite journal |last=Lintrop |first=Aado |date=1997 |title=Little Mos'-woman: the story of a (fairy-)tale |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=224178 |journal=Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore |volume=03 |language=English |issue=3 |pages=9–35 |doi=10.7592/FEJF1997.03.litlemos |issn=1406-0957}}{{Cite journal |last=Lintrop |first=Aado |date=2001 |title=The Great Oak and Brother-Sister |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=264569 |journal=Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore |language=English |issue=15–17 |pages=34–56 |issn=1406-0957}}

As a goddess of birth and fate, Kaltesh is responsible for a person's lifespan, and keeps a record book.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBoSAQAAIAAJ&q=Khanty+Kaltesh |title=Pro ethnologia: Eesti Rahva Muuseumi üllitised : publications of the Estonian National Museum |date=1997 |publisher=Eesti Rahva Muuseum |isbn=978-9985-9000-7-9 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Honko |first1=Lauri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZ7YAAAAMAAJ&q=Khanty+Kaltesh |title=The Great Bear: A Thematic Anthology of Oral Poetry in the Finno-Ugrian Languages |last2=Timonen |first2=Senni |last3=Branch |first3=Michael |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-521092-7 |language=en}} She was believed to protect women in childbirth.

Kaltesh may have been the wife - or, in other variations of the story, the daughter or sister - of the god Nuri-Toorum.{{Cite book |last=Auty |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75e5RRqIhMQC&dq=%22Kaltes%22+goddess&pg=PA213 |title=Traditions of Heroic and Epic Poetry: The traditions |date=1980 |publisher=MHRA |isbn=978-0-900547-72-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Eliade |first1=Mircea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyIkAAAAYAAJ&q=Kaltes+ugric |title=The Encyclopedia of Religion |last2=Adams |first2=Charles J. |date=1987 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-02-909480-8 |language=en}} Kaltesh was the mother (or, depending on the legend, the aunt, or sister) of a key figure in myth, World-Surveyor Man.