Turkmens believe that eating fish at least once a month enhances personal wealth and improves health. Turkmens leaving on the Caspian coast who were mainly engaged in fishery were eating fish even more often.

In addition, Turkmens used fish to treat some diseases. Many sanctuaries, which appeared next to healing water sources, had small pools with fish, which thought to be sacred owing to sacred place nearby. The sources were mineral and had healing effect. And water made good effect on diseased.

Sturgeon and beluga were specially honored in the Caspian Sea but Turkmens paid special tribute to salmon, which is related to the following legend. Once, Suleiman, who was thought to be a patron of water element, dropped his magic ring to the sea. Looking for the ring, he ended up with fishermen, who had bad fishing that day. Suleiman took and throw a dragnet himself. The net returned filled with fish. The catch had a salmon, which had a ring in his mouth. Having taken the ring, Suleiman decided to thank a fish and throw it back to the sea. Since that day, if a fisherman catch a salmon, wealth comes to his family and to all his relatives. In some Turkmen fairy tales, magic fish, which is returned back to the sea, turns into fox later and comes and helps the main character.

A picture of fish can be seen on the memorials of material culture like on stamped ceramics of Merv. Speaking about this, archeologists Egen Atagarriyev writes: “Image of fish, as an old symbol of happiness, is widely spread on stamped non-glazed and glazed ceramic items of medieval Turkmenistan”.

Roman Teplyakov