Shopan Ata is the patron spirit of sheep in Kazakh folk religion, the 'shepherd-father' under whose care the flocks that clothe and feed the herding household are placed. Shepherds invoke him at lambing and for the fatness and safety of the flock, and his name is joined with that of Qambar Ata, guardian of horses, in the reckoning of the tutelary ata of livestock. His veneration is concentrated in Mangystau, where the ancient underground mosque and vast necropolis of Shopan-ata form one of the holiest pilgrimage sites of the western steppe. As with the other livestock patrons, an older pastoral spirit-cult here wears the outward form of a revered Muslim saint.