| Scythians |
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 Approximate extent of East Iranian languages the 1st century BC is shown in orange. The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca |
| Total population |
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Unknown |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Eastern Europe Central Asia West Asia Northern India |
| Languages |
| Scythian language |
| Religion |
| Animism |
| Related ethnic groups |
The Scythians or Scyths[1] were a nation of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists originally of Iranian stock,[2] who dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity. The Scythian languages form a North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family and comprise the distinctive languagesspoken by the Scythian ( Sarmatian Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Daheans or Dahaeans (Dahae Δάοι Daoi, or Δάαι Daai) were a confederacy of three tribes who lived in the region to the immediate east of the The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, The Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Indo-Iranian Sakas ( Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia into Bactria, The Massageteans ( Massagetai; Massagetae or Massagetaeans were an Iranian people of antiquity known primarily from the writings of Herodotus Nāyar (Malayalam നായര് naːjar most commonly spelt Nair) is the name of a Hindu upper caste from the southern Indian state of Kerala A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered Nomadic pastoralism is a form of Agriculture where Livestock (such as cattle sheep goats and camels are taken to different locations in order to find fresh The term Pontic-Caspian steppe summarizes the vast Steppelands stretching from north of the Black Sea as far as the east of the Caspian Sea, from central Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean By Late Antiquity the closely-related Sarmatians came to dominate the Scyths in this area. Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες Much of the surviving information about the Scyths comes from the Greek historian Herodotus (c. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 440 BC) in his Histories, and archaeologically from the exquisite goldwork found in Scythian burial mounds in Ukraine and Southern Russia. The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
The name "Scythian" has also been used to refer to various peoples seen as similar to the Scythians, or who lived anywhere in a vast area covering present-day Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia — known until medieval times as Scythia. In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th The name was also used among early scholars studying the Proto Indo-Europeans, and within the framework of the Kurgan hypothesis the Scythians are considered a reasonable analogue for their Proto Indo-European ancestors. The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, who likely lived around 4000 BC, during the Copper Age and the The Kurgan hypothesis (also theory or model) is a model of early Indo-European origins, which postulates that the Kurgan culture of the Pontic steppe The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, who likely lived around 4000 BC, during the Copper Age and the
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History and archeology
Origins and pre-history (to 700 BC)
Scholars generally classify the Scythian language as a member of the Eastern Iranian languages, and the Scythians as a branch of the ancient Iranian peoples expanding into the steppe regions north of Greater Iran from around 1000 BC. The Scythian languages form a North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family and comprise the distinctive languagesspoken by the Scythian ( Sarmatian The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca Ancient Iranian peoples who settled Greater Iran in the 2nd millennium BC first appear in Assyrian records in the 9th century BC. Greater Iran (in Irān-e Bozorg, or fa ایرانزمین Irān-zamīn; the Encyclopedia Iranica uses the term [3][4][5]
The Histories of Herodotus provide the most important literary sources relating to ancient Scyths. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash According to Sulimirski,[4] Herodotus provides a broadly correct depiction but apparently knew little of the eastern part of Scythia. According to Herodotus the ancient Persians called all the Scyths "Saca" (Herodotus . VII 64). Their principal tribe, the Royal Scyths, ruled the vast lands occupied by the nation as a whole (Herodotus . IV 20); and they called themselves Skolotoi. Oswald Szemerényi devotes a thorough discussion to the etymology of the word Scyth in his work "Four old Iranian ethnic names: Scythian - Skudra - Sogdian - Saka". Oswald John Louis Szemerényi (born 7 September 1913 in London;died 29 December 1996 in Freiburg) was a Hungarian [3] The related words derive from *skuza, an ancient Indo-European word for archer, (cf. English shoot,) hence Iranian Ishkuzi = archers.
The Scythians first appeared in the historical record in the 8th century BC. [3] But Herodotus reported this version:[6]
| “ | There is also another different story, now to be related, in which I am more inclined to put faith than in any other. It is that the wandering Scythians once dwelt in Asia, and there warred with the Massagetae, but with ill success; they therefore quitted their homes, crossed the Araxes, and entered the land of Cimmeria. The Massageteans ( Massagetai; Massagetae or Massagetaeans were an Iranian people of antiquity known primarily from the writings of Herodotus | ” |
Around 770 BC, the Scythians (led by Ishpaki — Old Iranian *Spakaaya) in alliance with the Mannaens attacked Assyria. The Mannaeans (country name usually Mannea; Akkadian: Mannai, possibly Biblical Minni, מנּי were an ancient people of unknown origin Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The group first appears in Assyrian annals under the name Ishkuzai. According to the brief assertion of Esarhaddon's inscription, the Assyrian empire defeated the alliance. Esarhaddon (Greek and Biblical form Akkadian Aššur-ahhe-iddina " Ashur has given a brother to me" was a king of Assyria who reigned Subsequent mention of Scythians in Babylonian and Assyrian texts occurs in connection with Media. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. Both Old Persian and Greek sources mention them during the period of the Achaemenid empires, with Greek sources locating them in the steppe between the Dnieper and Don rivers. The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of For the rocket see Dnepr rocket. For other uses see Dnieper (disambiguation. The Don (Дон is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 Kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast
Classical Antiquity (600 BC to AD 300)
Herodotus provides the first detailed description of the Scythians. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash He classes the Cimmerians as a distinct autochthonous tribe, expelled by the Scythians from the northern Black Sea coast (Hist. See Cimmeria (Conan or Cimmeria (Poem for the fiction of Robert E 4. 11-12). Herodotus also states (4. 6) that the Scythians consisted of the Auchatae, Catiaroi, Traspians and Paralatae or "Royal Scythians. " Throughout his work Herodotus specifically distinguished between the nomadic Scythians in the south and the agricultural Scythians to the north.
In 512 BC, when king Darius the Great of Persia attacked the Scythians, he allegedly penetrated into their land after crossing the Danube. Darius I the Great (c 549 BC&ndash486 BC 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavahuš: "Possessing goodness" Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj Herodotus relates that the nomad Scythians succeeded in frustrating the designs of the Persian army by letting it march through the entire country without an engagement. According to Herodotus, Darius in this manner came as far as the Volga river.
During the 5th to 3rd centuries BC the Scythians evidently prospered. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC When Herodotus wrote his Histories in the 5th century BC, Greeks distinguished Scythia Minor in present-day Romania and Bulgaria from a Greater Scythia that extended eastwards for a twenty-day ride from the Danube River, across the steppes of today's East Ukraine to the lower Don basin. Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" (Μικρά Σκυθία Mikrá Skythia) was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj The Don (Дон is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 Kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast The Don, then known as Tanaïs, has served as a major trading route ever since. Tanais ( Greek: Τάναϊς Tánaïs) is the ancient name for the River Don in Russia. The Scythians apparently obtained their wealth from their control over the slave-trade from the north to Greece through the Greek Black Sea colonial ports of Olvia, Chersonesos, Cimmerian Bosporus, and Gorgippia. The history of slavery uncovers many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures throughout history The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey Colonies in antiquity were City-states founded from a mother- City Pontic Olbia or Olvia is the site of a colony founded by the Milesians on the shores of the Southern Bug estuary (Greek Hypanis) Chersonesos (Χερσόνησος Chersonesus Old East Slavic: Корсунь Korsun; Херсонес Khersones; also transliterated as Chersonese Cimmerian Bosporus redirects here For the ancient state see Bosporan Kingdom; for its rulers see Kings of Cimmerian Bosporus. Anapa (Ана́паАнапэ originally is a seaport for the Natkhuay tribe Adyghe_people, and now a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, They also grew grain, and shipped wheat, flocks, and cheese to Greece. Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Cheese is a Food made from Milk, usually the milk of cows, Buffalo, Goats or sheep, by coagulation.
Strabo (c. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. 63 BC - 24 AD) reports that king Ateas united under his power the Scythian tribes living between the Maeotian marshes and the Danube. Ateas (ca 429 BC&ndash339 BC was described in Greek and Roman sources as the most powerful king of Scythia, who lost his life and empire in the conflict with Philip In the geography of Antiquity the Maeotian marshes ( Palus Maeotis) lay where the Don River emptied into the Maeotian Lake (the Sea of Azov The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj His westward expansion brought him in conflict with Philip II of Macedon (reigned 359 to 336 BC), who took military action against the Scythians in 339 BC. Philip II of Macedon, ( Greek: Φίλιππος Β' ο Μακεδών &mdash φίλος = friend + ίππος = Horse Ateas died in battle and his empire disintegrated. In the aftermath of this defeat, the Celts seem to have displaced the Scythians from the Balkans, while in south Russia a kindred tribe, the Sarmatians, gradually overwhelmed them. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες
By the time of Strabo's account (the first decades of the first millennium AD), the Crimean Scythians had created a new kingdom extending from the lower Dnieper to the Crimea. For the rocket see Dnepr rocket. For other uses see Dnieper (disambiguation. Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым The kings Skilurus and Palakus waged wars with Mithridates the Great (reigned 120–63 BC) for control of the Crimean littoral, including Chersonesos and the Cimmerian Bosporus. Skilurus or Scylurus was the best known king of Scythia in the 2nd century BC. Palacus or Palakus was the king of Lesser Scythia who succeeded his father Skilurus. See Mithridates for people and concepts with the same name Mithridates VI (Μιθριδάτης 132&ndash63 BC also known as Mithridates Chersonesos (Χερσόνησος Chersonesus Old East Slavic: Корсунь Korsun; Херсонес Khersones; also transliterated as Chersonese Cimmerian Bosporus redirects here For the ancient state see Bosporan Kingdom; for its rulers see Kings of Cimmerian Bosporus. Their capital city, Scythian Neapolis, stood on the outskirts of modern Simferopol. Scythian Neapolis was a settlement that existed from the end of the 3rd century BC until the second half of the 3rd century AD Simferopol (English pronunciation ˌsɪmfəˈroʊpəl (Сімферополь Симферополь Aqmescit literally The white mosque) is the Capital of the The Goths destroyed it much later, in the 5th century AD. The Goths ( Gothic: Gothic usvg|14px|u]]Gothic asvg|14px|a]]Gothic s
Sakas
Asians, especially Persians, knew the Scythians in Asia as Sakas. The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, The Indo-Scythians had the name "Shaka" in South Asia, an extension on the name "Saka". Herodotus (VII. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 64) describes them as Scythians, called by a different name:
| “ | The Sacae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, and had on their heads tall stiff caps rising to a point. They bore the bow of their country and the dagger; besides which they carried the battle-axe, or sagaris. A bow is a Weapon that projects arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow They were in truth Amyrgian (Western) Scythians, but the Persians called them Sacae, since that is the name which they gave to all Scythians. | ” |
Indo-Scythians
In the 2nd century BC, a group of Scythian tribes, known as the Indo-Scythians, migrated into Bactria, Sogdiana and Arachosia. The Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Indo-Iranian Sakas ( Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia into Bactria, "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. History Hellenistic period The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great Arachosia (ˌærəˈkoʊʒə, Arakhōsia) or Arachotae (əˈrækəˌtiː, Arakhōtai) is the latinized form of Greek name of an Achaemenid The migrations in 175-125 BC of the Kushan (Chinese: "Yuezhi") tribes, who originally lived in eastern Tarim Basin before the Huns (Chinese: "Xiongnu") tribes dislodged them, displaced the Indo-Scythians from Central Asia. The Kushan Empire (c 1st &ndash 3rd centuries) was a Bactrian state that at its cultural zenith Circa 105 &ndash 250 The Yuezhi or Rouzhi ( Chinese: 月支 Pinyin: yuè zhī or ròu zhī; also 月氏 Pinyin: yuè shì The Tarim Basin ( is a large Endorheic basin occupying an area of more than 400000 km² The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy The Xiongnu ( Turkish: Doğu Hun were a confederation of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with a ruling class of unknown origin and other subjugated tribes Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Led by their king Maues, they ultimately settled in modern-day Punjab and Kashmir from around 85 BC, where they replaced the kingdom of the Indo-Greeks by the time of Azes II (reigned circa 35 - 12 BC). Maues (In Greek on his coins ΜΑΥΟΥ "Mauou") was an Indo-Scythian king who reigned circa 85 - 60 BCE, and invaded the Punjab ( ਪੰਜਾਬ پنجاب, पंजाब پنجاب also Panjab (پنجاب meaning "Land of the Five Rivers") (c This article is about the geographical region of greater Kashmir The Indo-Greek Kingdom (or sometimes Graeco-Indian Kingdom) covered various parts of the northwest and northern Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries Azes II (reigned circa 35-12 BCE was an Indo-Scythian king who completed the rule of the Scythians in northern India. Kushans invaded again in the 1st century, but the Indo-Scythian rule persisted in some areas of Central India until the 5th century. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
Hellenic-Scythian contact still focused on the Hellenistic cities and settlements of the Crimea (especially in the Bosporan Kingdom). Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым The Bosporan Kingdom or the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus was an ancient state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Greek craftsmen from the colonies north of the Black Sea made spectacular Scythian-style gold ornaments (see below), applying Greek realism to depict Scythian motifs of lions, antlered reindeer and gryphons. The griffin is a Legendary creature with the body of a Lion and the head and often wings of an Eagle.
Late Antiquity (AD 300 to 600)
In Late Antiquity the notion of a Scythian ethnicity grew more vague, and outsiders might dub any people inhabiting the Pontic-Caspian steppe as "Scythians", regardless of their language. Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in The term Pontic-Caspian steppe summarizes the vast Steppelands stretching from north of the Black Sea as far as the east of the Caspian Sea, from central Thus, Priscus, a Byzantine emissary to Attila, repeatedly referred to the latter's followers as "Scythians". Priscus was from Panium (in Thrace) living in the Roman Empire during the 5th century. In Attila's regime Edekon was the king of Scythians.
The Goths had displaced the Sarmatians in the 2nd century from most areas near the Roman frontier, and by early medieval times, the Turkic migration marginalized East Iranian dialects, and assimilated the Saka linguistically. The Goths ( Gothic: Gothic usvg|14px|u]]Gothic asvg|14px|a]]Gothic s The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Turkic migration as defined in this article was the expansion of the Turkic peoples across most of Central Asia into Europe and the Middle The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι,
Archaeology
Archaeological remains of the Scythians include kurgan tombs (ranging from simple exemplars to elaborate "Royal kurgans" containing the "Scythian triad" of weapons, horse-harness, and Scythian-style wild-animal art), gold, silk, and animal sacrifices, in places also with suspected human sacrifices. Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silk is a natural Protein Fiber, some forms of which can be woven into Textiles The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons Human sacrifice is the act of Homicide (the Killing of one or several Human beings in the context of a Religious ritual ( ritual killing Mummification techniques and permafrost have aided in the relative preservation of some remains. A mummy is a Corpse whose Skin and Flesh have been preserved by either intentional or Incidental exposure to Chemicals extreme This article is about frozen ground For other meanings see Permafrost (disambiguation. Scythian archaeology also examines the remains of North Pontic Scythian cities and fortifications.
Carbon-14 dating of kurgans has allowed archaeologists to trace their emergence in the Sayan-Altay area from about 3,000 BC, and their westward spread starting about 900 BC. Radiocarbon dating is a Radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring Radioisotope Carbon-14 (14C to determine the age of The Sayan Mountains (Саяны Sayany; Kokmen Mountains during the period of the Göktürks) are a Mountain range in southern
The spectacular Scythian grave-goods from Arzhan, and others in Tuva have been dated from about 900 BC onward. Tyva Republic (Респу́блика Тыва́ Respublika Tyva, rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva Тыва Республика Tyva Respublika) or Tuva One grave find on the lower Volga gave a similar date, and one of the Steblev graves from the eastern, European end of the Scythian area was dated to the late 8th century BC. [7]
Archaeologists can distinguish three periods of ancient Scythian archaeological remains:
- 1st period - pre-Scythian and initial Scythian epoch: from the 9th to the middle of the 7th centuries BC
- 2nd period - early Scythian epoch: from the 7th to the 6th centuries BC
- 3rd period - classical Scythian epoch: from the 5th to the 4th centuries BC
From the 8th century BC to the 2nd century BC, archeology records a split into two distinct settlement areas: the older in the Sayan-Altai area in Central Asia, and the younger in the North Pontic area in Eastern Europe. [8]
Kurgans
Large burial mounds (some over 20 metres high), provide the most valuable archaeological remains associated with the Scythians. They dot the Ukrainian and south Russian steppes, extending in great chains for many kilometers along ridges and watersheds. From them archaeologists have learned much about Scythian life and art. [9] The Ukrainian term for such a burial mound, "kurhan" (Ukrainian: Курган) as well as the Russian term kurgan, derives from a Turkic word for "castle". The Turkic languages constitute a Language family of some thirty languages spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the [10]
Tamgas
Scythian tribes and clans have left behind them as important ethnological markers their tamgas (brand-marks which identify individual possession), a must for pastoral societies with shared grazing-ranges. A tamga, or tamgha (Modern Turkish: damga stamp mark stigma brand) is an abstract seal or device used by Eurasian nomadic peoples and by Tamgas allow reconstruction of movements and family links where no written records have survived.
Besides identifying property, tamgas marked participation of members of the clan in collective actions (treaties, religious ceremonies, fraternization, public functions), and served as symbols of authority for minting coins. The tamga forms stayed unchanged for about 2000 years within kindred ethnic groups, but after the decline of some famous clan another clan would adopt its tamga.
Wide use of tamgas originated from western Turkestan and Mongolia no later than the beginning of the 6th century BC. Turkestan (literally meaning "Land of the Turks" is a region in Central Asia, which today is largely inhabited by Turkic peoples. Mongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East Analysis of tamgas for most powerful clans and for the kings of the Bosporus has allowed scholars to define precisely their genealogy and their relations with territories from where their forefathers migrated to Europe: Chorasm, Kang-Kü, Bactria, Sogdiana. Cimmerian Bosporus redirects here For the ancient state see Bosporan Kingdom; for its rulers see Kings of Cimmerian Bosporus. Khwarezm were a series of States centered on the Amu Darya River delta of the "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. History Hellenistic period The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great [11]
Pazyryk culture
Some of the first Bronze Age Scythian burials documented by modern archaeologists include the kurgans at Pazyryk in the Ulagan district of the Altay Republic, south of Novosibirsk in the Altay Mountains of southern Siberia. The Pazyryk (Пазарык is the name of an ancient Nomadic people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia south of the modern city The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a The Pazyryk (Пазарык is the name of an ancient Nomadic people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia south of the modern city Altai Republic (Респу́блика Алта́й Altay: Алтай Республика is a federal subject of Russia (a Republic) History The city was founded in 1893 as the future site of the Trans-Siberian Railway bridge crossing the great Siberian river Ob, and was known as The Altai Mountains (Алтай Altay; Алтай 阿尔泰山脉 are a Mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Archaeologists have extrapolated the Pazyryk culture from these finds: five large burial mounds and several smaller ones between 1925 and 1949, one opened in 1947 by Russian archaeologist Sergei Rudenko. See also Pazyryk The Pazyryk culture (ca 5th century BC) refers to an Archaeological culture identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko ( January 16, 1885, Kharkov - July 16, 1969, Leningrad) was a prominent Russian The burial mounds concealed chambers of larch-logs covered over with large cairns of boulders and stones. A cairn ( carn in Irish is an artificial pile of stones often in a conical form
Pazyryk culture flourished between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC in the area associated with the Sacae. The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC. The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι,
Ordinary Pazyryk graves contain only common utensils, but in one, among other treasures, archaeologists found the famous Pazyryk Carpet, the oldest surviving wool-pile oriental rug. An authentic oriental rug is a handmade Carpet that is either knotted with pile or woven without pile Another striking find, a 3-metre-high four-wheel funerary chariot, survived superbly preserved from the 5th century BC.
Although some scholars sought to connect the Pazyryk nomads with indigenous ethnic groups of the Altay, Rudenko summed up the cultural context in the following dictum:
| “ | All that is known to us at the present time about the culture of the population of the High Altay, who have left behind them the large cairns, permits us to refer them to the Scythian period, and the Pazyryk group in particular to the fifth century BC. This is supported by radiocarbon dating. | ” |
Belsk excavations
Recent digs(see:Gelonus) in Belsk near Poltava (Ukraine) have uncovered a "vast city", with the largest area of any city in the world at that time. Gelonus, (also transliterated Helonus, Гелон Helon,, was the capital of Scythia (now in Ukraine) and the biggest gord in Europe Belz (Белз Polish: Bełz Yiddish: בעלז a small Town in the Lviv Oblast ( province) of western Ukraine, near Poltava (Полтава Połtawa is a City in central Ukraine. It has been tentatively identified by a team of archaeologists led by Boris Shramko as the site of Gelonus, the purported capital of Scythia. Boris Shramko (Борис Андрійович Шрамкo Born 1921 Ukrainian historian (professor Gelonus, (also transliterated Helonus, Гелон Helon,, was the capital of Scythia (now in Ukraine) and the biggest gord in Europe The city's commanding ramparts and vast area of 40 square kilometers exceed even the outlandish size reported by Herodotus. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Its location at the northern edge of the Ukrainian steppe would have allowed strategic control of the north-south trade-route. Trade is the willing exchange of goods, services, or both Trade is also called Commerce. Judging by the finds dated to the 5th and 4th centuries BC, craft workshops and Greek pottery abounded. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC.
Tillia tepe treasure
A site found in 1968 in Tillia tepe (literally "The golden hill") in northern Afghanistan (former Bactria) near Shebergan consisted of the graves of five women and one man with extremely rich jewelry, dated to around the 1st century BC, and generally thought to belong to Scythian tribes. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. Sheberghān or Shaburghān (,also spelled Shebirghan and Shibarghan, is the Capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Altogether the graves yielded several thousands of pieces of fine jewelry, usually made from combinations of gold, turquoise and lapis-lazuli. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Turquoise is an opaque blue-to-green Mineral that is a hydrous Phosphate of Copper and Aluminium, with the Chemical
A high degree of cultural syncretism pervades the findings, however. Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought Hellenistic cultural and artistic influences appear in many of the forms and human depictions (from amorini to rings with the depiction of Athena and her name inscribed in Greek), attributable to the existence of the Seleucid empire and Greco-Bactrian kingdom in the same area until around 140 BC, and the continued existence of the Indo-Greek kingdom in the northwestern Indian sub-continent until the beginning of our era. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. The putto (pl putti) is a figure of a pudgy Human baby, almost always male often naked and having wings found especially in Italian Renaissance ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i The Gr(aeco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 The Indo-Greek Kingdom (or sometimes Graeco-Indian Kingdom) covered various parts of the northwest and northern Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries These artifacts also appeared intermixed with items coming from much farther afield, such between as a few Chinese artifacts (especially Chinese bronze mirrors) as well as a few Indian ones (decorated ivory plates). Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today This type of mirror has been found by India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country This testifies to the richness of cultural influences in the area of Bactria at that time. "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel.
Scythian influences
China
Ancient influences from Central Asia became identifiable in China following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories from the 8th century BC. Gold entered China from Central Asia between the 8th and the 7th centuries BC, and Chinese jade-carvers began to make imitations of the designs of the steppes. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 In physical Geography, a steppe ( German, from степь - "a flat and arid land" степ - /stɛp/ тал - tal дала - /dɑlɑ/ pronounced The Chinese adopted the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (descriptions of animals locked in combat), particularly the rectangular belt-plaques made of gold or bronze, and created their own versions in jade and steatite. Jade is an Ornamental stone. The term jade is applied to two different rocks that are made up of different Silicate minerals. Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a Metamorphic rock, a talc- Schist. [12]
Following their expulsion by the Yuezhi, some Scythians may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China. The Yuezhi or Rouzhi ( Chinese: 月支 Pinyin: yuè zhī or ròu zhī; also 月氏 Pinyin: yuè shì Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilization of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing. History Zhuan Qiao, once a Chu (state general attack Yunan in about 279 BCE. The Caucasian race, sometimes the Caucasoid race, is a term of Racial classification, coined around 1800 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach for the " [13]
Northeastern Asia
Scythian influences have been identified as far as Korea and Japan. Various Korean artifacts, such as the royal crowns of the kingdom of Silla, are said to be of Scythian design. Silla (57 BC – 935 AD was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. [14] Similar crowns, brought through contacts with the continent, can also be found in Kofun era Japan. The is an era in the History of Japan from around 250 to 538 The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.
Scythian language
The Scythian language and its various dialects formed part of the Indo-European language-family. The Scythian languages form a North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family and comprise the distinctive languagesspoken by the Scythian ( Sarmatian The Scythian languages form a North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family and comprise the distinctive languagesspoken by the Scythian ( Sarmatian The personal names found in the contemporary Greek literary and epigraphic texts suggest that the language of the Scythians and the Sarmatians (who spoke a dialect of Scythian according to Hist. 4.117 Herodotus) belonged to the Northeast Iranian branch. Epigraphy (ἐπιγραφολογία from Greek ἐπιγραφή — "inscription" is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs engraved The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca An alternative theory suggests that at least some Scythian tribes, such as the Meotians (Sindi), spoke Indo-Aryan dialects. Maeotae or Mæotæ or Maeotici ( Greek:) were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis (to which they lent their name in antiquity The Sindi ( Greek:, Herod iv 28 were an ancient people in the Taman Peninsula and the adjacent coast of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea in the district The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family [15]
Naming and etymology
The Scythians known to Herodotus (Hist. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 4. 6) called themselves Skolotoi. The Greek word Skythēs probably reflects an older rendering of the very same name, *Skuδa- (whereas Herodotus transcribes the unfamiliar [ð] sound with Λ; -toi represents the North-east Iranian plural ending -ta). Lambda (uppercase Λ, lowercase λ; Λάμβδα or el Λάμδα Lamda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. The word originally means "shooter, archer", and it ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *skeud- "to shoot, throw" (compare English shoot, German Schütze). English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Schütze is a rank of the Armed Forces of Germany which dates back to the First World War. [3][16][17]
Scythian society
Scythians lived in confederated tribes, a political form of voluntary association which regulated pastures and organized a common defence against encroaching neighbors for the pastoral tribes of mostly equestrian herdsmen. There are a number of hypotheses on many of the key issues regarding the domestication of the horse. While the productivity of domesticated animal-breeding greatly exceeded that of the settled agricultural societies, the pastoral economy also needed supplemental agricultural produce, and stable nomadic confederations developed either symbiotic or forced alliances with sedentary peoples — in exchange for animal produce and military protection.
Herodotus relates that three main tribes of the Scythians descended from three brothers, Lipoxais, Arpoxais, and Colaxais:[18]
| “ | In their reign a plough, a yoke, an axe, and a bowl, all made of gold, fell from heaven upon the Scythian territory. The oldest of the brothers wished to take them away, but as he drew near the gold began to burn. The second brother approached them, but with the like result. The third and youngest then approached, upon which the fire went out, and he was enabled to carry away the golden gifts. The two eldest then made the youngest king, and henceforth the golden gifts were watched by the king with the greatest care, and annually approached with magnificent sacrifices. [19] | ” |
Herodotus also mentions a royal tribe or clan, an elite which dominated the other Scythians:
| “ | Then on the other side of the Gerros we have those parts which are called the “Royal” lands and those Scythians who are the bravest and most numerous and who esteem the other Scythians their slaves. [20] | ” |
| “ | The elder brothers then, acknowledging the significance of this thing, delivered the whole of the kingly power to the youngest. From Lixopais, they say, are descended those Scythians who are called the race of the Auchatai; from the middle brother Arpoxais those who are called Catiaroi and Traspians, and from the youngest of them the “Royal” tribe, who are called Paralatai: and the whole together are called, they say, Scolotoi, after the name of their king; but the Hellenes gave them the name of Scythians. Thus the Scythians say they were produced; and from the time of their origin, that is to say from the first king Targitaos, to the passing over of Dareios [the Persian Emperor Darius I] against them [512 BC], they say that there is a period of a thousand years and no more. Darius I the Great (c 549 BC&ndash486 BC 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavahuš: "Possessing goodness" Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed [21] | ” |
This royal clan is also named in other classical sources the "Royal Dahae". The rich burials of Scythian kings in (kurgans) is independent evidence for the existence of this powerful royal elite. Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a
Although scholars have traditionally treated the three tribes as geographically distinct, Georges Dumézil interpreted the divine gifts as the symbols of social occupations, illustrating his trifunctional vision of early Indo-European societies: the plough and yoke symbolised the farmers, the axe — the warriors, the bowl — the priests. Georges Dumézil ( March 4, 1898 – October 11, 1986) was a French comparative Philologist best known for his analysis of Sovereignty The Trifunctional Hypothesis is a controversial conjecture proposed by French mythographer Georges Dumézil. The society of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE existed during the Bronze Age (roughly fifth to fourth millennium BC and has been reconstructed [22] According to Dumézil, "the fruitless attempts of Arpoxais and Lipoxais, in contrast to the success of Colaxais, may explain why the highest strata was not that of farmers or magicians, but rather that of warriors. "[23]
Ruled by small numbers of closely-allied élites, Scythians had a reputation for their archers, and many gained employment as mercenaries. Archery is the practice of using a bow or Crossbow to shoot Arrows Archery has historically been used in Hunting and Combat and has A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by Scythian élites had kurgan tombs: high barrows heaped over chamber-tombs of larch-wood — a deciduous conifer that may have had special significance as a tree of life-renewal, for it stands bare in winter. Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a Larches are Conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Burials at Pazyryk in the Altay Mountains have included some spectacularly preserved Scythians of the "Pazyryk culture" — including the Ice Maiden of the 5th century BC. The Pazyryk (Пазарык is the name of an ancient Nomadic people who lived in the Altai Mountains lying in Siberian Russia south of the modern city The Altai Mountains (Алтай Altay; Алтай 阿尔泰山脉 are a Mountain range in central Asia, where Russia,
Scythian women dressed in much the same fashion as men, and at times fought alongside them in battle. A Pazyryk burial found in the 1990s contained the skeletons of a man and a woman, each with weapons, arrowheads, and an axe. In the 1998 NOVA documentary "Ice Mummies", an archaeologist explains that, "The woman was dressed exactly like a man. Nova is a Popular science Television series from the US produced by WGBH Boston This shows that certain women, probably young and unmarried, could be warriors, literally Amazons. The Amazons (in Greek, grc Ἀμαζόνες are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology, who were possibly historical It didn't offend the principles of nomadic society. "
As far as we know, the Scythians had no writing system. A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language. Until recent archaeological developments, most of our information about them came from the Greeks. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Ziwiye hoard, a treasure of gold and silver metalwork and ivory found near the town of Sakiz south of Lake Urmia and dated to between 680 and 625 BC, includes objects with Scythian "animal style" features. The Ziwiye hoard is a treasure hoard containing gold silver and ivory objects included a few Luristan pieces that was uncovered on the south shore of Lake Urmia The Ziwiye hoard is a treasure hoard containing gold silver and ivory objects included a few Luristan pieces that was uncovered on the south shore of Lake Urmia Lake Urmia ( Daryacheh-ye Orumieh; ارومیه گولو, ارومیه گولی ancient name Lake Matiene) is a Salt lake in northwestern Iran Animal style (also known as Zoomorphic style) is a type of Imagery used in Northern Europe during the ancient and medieval periods characterized One silver dish from this find bears some inscriptions, as yet undeciphered and so possibly representing a form of Scythian writing.
Homer called the Scythians "the mare-milkers". Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Herodotus described them in detail: their costume consisted of padded and quilted leather trousers tucked into boots, and open tunics. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash They rode with no stirrups or saddles, just saddle-cloths. For the bone see Stapes. For other uses of the word stirrup see Stirrup (disambiguation. Herodotus reports that Scythians used cannabis, both to weave their clothing and to cleanse themselves in its smoke (Hist. Cannabis, also known as marijuana or marihuana, or ganja (from Hindi / Sanskrit: गांजा gānjā hemp) is a 4. 73-75); archaeology has confirmed the use of cannabis in funeral rituals. The Scythian philosopher Anacharsis visited Athens in the 6th century BC and became a legendary sage. "He marvelled that among the Greeks those who were skillful in a thing vie in competition those who have no skill judge" Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's
Scythians also had a reputation for the use of barbed and poisoned arrows of several types, for a nomadic life centered around horses — "fed from horse-blood" according to Herodotus — and for skill in guerrilla warfare. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc
Art
Scythian contacts with craftsmen in Greek colonies along the northern shores of the Black Sea resulted in the famous Scythian gold adornments that feature among the most glamorous artifacts of world museums. Ethnographically extremely useful as well, the gold depicts Scythian men as bearded, long-haired Caucasoids. Ethnography ( Greek ethnos = people and graphein = writing is a genre of writing that uses Fieldwork to provide a descriptive The Caucasian race, sometimes the Caucasoid race, is a term of Racial classification, coined around 1800 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach for the " "Greco-Scythian" works depicting Scythians within a much more Hellenic style date from a later period, when Scythians had already adopted elements of Greek culture. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca
Scythians had a taste for elaborate personal jewelry, weapon-ornaments and horse-trappings. They executed Central-Asian animal motifs with Greek realism: winged gryphons attacking horses, battling stags, deer, and eagles, combined with everyday motifs like milking ewes. The griffin is a Legendary creature with the body of a Lion and the head and often wings of an Eagle. A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera
In 2000, the touring exhibition 'Scythian Gold' introduced the North American public to the objects made for Scythian nomads by Greek craftsmen north of the Black Sea, and buried with their Scythian owners under burial mounds on the flat plains of present-day Ukraine, most of them unearthed after 1980. The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe.
In 2001, the discovery of an undisturbed royal Scythian burial-barrow illustrated for the first time Scythian animal-style gold that lacks the direct influence of Greek styles. Forty-four pounds of gold weighed down the royal couple in this burial, discovered near Kyzyl, capital of the Siberian republic of Tuva. Kyzyl ( Tuvan and Кызы́л is a city, and is the capital of the Tuva Republic, Russia. Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Tyva Republic (Респу́блика Тыва́ Respublika Tyva, rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva Тыва Республика Tyva Respublika) or Tuva
Religion
The religious beliefs of the Scythians was a type of Pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion and differed from the post-Zoroastrian Iranian thoughts. The religion and mythology of the Scythians is not directly attested except for sparse accounts in Greek ethnography. [24] Foremost in the Scythian pantheon stood Tabiti, who was later replaced by Atar, the fire-pantheon of Iranian tribes, and Agni, the fire deity of Indo-Aryans. Atar ( ātar, Avestan) is the Zoroastrian concept for "burning and unburning fire" and "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza 1987389 Agni is a Hindu and Vedic deity. The word agni is Sanskrit for "fire" (noun cognate with Latin ignis [24] The Scythian belief was a more archaic stage than the Zoroastrian and Hindu systems. The use of hemp to induce trance and divination by soothsayers was a characteristic of the Scythian belief system. [24]
Historiography
Herodotus
Herodotus wrote about an enormous city, Gelonus, in the northern part of Scythia[25]
| “ | The Budini are a large and powerful nation: they have all deep blue eyes, and bright red hair. Gelonus, (also transliterated Helonus, Гелон Helon,, was the capital of Scythia (now in Ukraine) and the biggest gord in Europe There is a city in their territory, called Gelonus, which is surrounded with a lofty wall, thirty furlongs [Polytonic | ” |
Herodotus and other classical historians listed quite a number of tribes who lived near the Scythians, and presumably shared the same general milieu and nomadic steppe culture, often called "Scythian culture", even though scholars may have difficulties in determining their exact relationship to the "linguistic Scythians". A partial list of these tribes includes the Agathyrsi, Geloni, Budini, and Neuri. Agathyrsi were a people of Scythian, Thracian, or mixed Thraco-Scythic origin who in the time of Herodotus occupied the plain of the Maris ( Mures The Gelonians ( Geloni) are mentioned as a nation in northwestern Scythia by Herodotus ( Histories 4 The Budini were an ancient people who lived in Scythia, in what is today Ukraine. According to Herodotus the Neuri were a tribe living beyond the Scythian cultivators one of the nations along the course of the river Hypanis ( Bug
Herodotus presented four different versions of Scythian origins:
- Firstly (4. 7), the Scythians' legend about themselves, which portrays the first Scythian king, Targitaus, as the child of the sky-god and of a daughter of the Dnieper. For the rocket see Dnepr rocket. For other uses see Dnieper (disambiguation. Targitaus allegedly lived a thousand years before the failed Persian invasion of Scythia, or around 1500 BC. He had three sons, before whom fell from the sky a set of four golden implements — a plough, a yoke, a cup and a battle-axe. Only the youngest son succeeded in touching the golden implements without them bursting with fire, and this son's descendants, called by Herodotus the "Royal Scythians", continued to guard them.
- Secondly (4. 8), a legend told by the Pontic Greeks featuring Scythes, the first king of the Scythians, as a child of Hercules and a monster. The term Pontic Greeks, Pontian Greeks, Pontians or Greeks of Pontus (Πόντιοι Ποντιακός Ελληνισμός or gr Έλληνες Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena.
- Thirdly (4. 11), in the version which Herodotus said he believed most, the Scythians came from a more southern part of Central Asia, until a war with the Massagetae (a powerful tribe of steppe nomads who lived just northeast of Persia) forced them westward. The Massageteans ( Massagetai; Massagetae or Massagetaeans were an Iranian people of antiquity known primarily from the writings of Herodotus
- Finally (4. 13), a legend which Herodotus attributed to the Greek bard Aristeas, who claimed to have got himself into such a Bachanalian fury that he ran all the way northeast across Scythia and further. Aristeas was a semi- Legendary Greek Poet and miracle-worker, a native of Proconnesus in Asia Minor, active ca According to this, the Scythians originally lived south of the Rhipaean mountains, until they got into a conflict with a tribe called the Issedones, pressed in their turn by the Cyclopes; and so the Scythians decided to migrate westwards. The Issedones were an ancient people of Central Asia at the end of the trade route leading north-east from Scythia, described in the lost Arimaspeia In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, a cyclops (ˈsaɪklɒps or kyklops ( Greek) is a member of a primordial race of
Persians and other peoples in Asia referred to the Scythians living in Asia as Sakas. layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, Herodotus (IV. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 64) describes them as Scythians, although they figure under a different name:
| “ | The Sacae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, and had on their heads tall stiff caps rising to a point. They bore the bow of their country and the dagger; besides which they carried the battle-axe, or sagaris. Sagaris was the Greek name for a weapon used by Scythian tribes by the Persians, Mossynoeci, and others and according to Aristarchus They were in truth Amyrgian (Western) Scythians, but the Persians called them Sacae, since that is the name which they gave to all Scythians. | ” |
Strabo
In the 1st century BC, the Greek-Roman geographer Strabo gave an extensive description of the eastern Scythians, whom he located in north-eastern Asia beyond Bactria and Sogdiana:[26]
| “ | Then comes Bactriana, and Sogdiana, and finally the Scythian nomads. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. History Hellenistic period The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. History Hellenistic period The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great | ” |
Strabo went on to list the names of the various tribes among the Scythians, probably making an amalgam with some of the tribes of eastern Central Asia (such as the Tochari):[27]
| “ | Now the greater part of the Scythians, beginning at the Caspian Sea, are called Dahae, but those who are situated more to the east than these are named Massagetae and Sacae, whereas all the rest are given the general name of Scythians, though each people is given a separate name of its own. The Tocharians were the Tocharian -speaking inhabitants of the Tarim basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged Sea. The Daheans or Dahaeans (Dahae Δάοι Daoi, or Δάαι Daai) were a confederacy of three tribes who lived in the region to the immediate east of the The Massageteans ( Massagetai; Massagetae or Massagetaeans were an Iranian people of antiquity known primarily from the writings of Herodotus The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, They are all for the most part nomads. But the best known of the nomads are those who took away Bactriana from the Greeks (i. "Bactrian" redirects here For the camel see Bactrian camel. e. Greco-Bactrians), I mean the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli, who originally came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes River that adjoins that of the Sacae and the Sogdiani and was occupied by the Sacae. The Gr(aeco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 Asii, also written Asio Osii Asiani etc is the name of a people believed to be followers of Scythian culture a section of whom had moved out from Alai The Tocharians were the Tocharian -speaking inhabitants of the Tarim basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity Syr Darya (Сырдария Сирдарё Sirdaryoسيردريا also transliterated Syrdarya or Sirdaryo) is a River in Central Asia The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, History Hellenistic period The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great And as for the Däae, some of them are called Aparni, some Xanthii, and some Pissuri. The Daheans or Dahaeans (Dahae Δάοι Daoi, or Δάαι Daai) were a confederacy of three tribes who lived in the region to the immediate east of the Now of these the Aparni are situated closest to Hyrcania and the part of the sea that borders on it, but the remainder extend even as far as the country that stretches parallel to Aria. Hyrcania was the the name of a Satrapy located in the territories of present day Golestan, Mazandaran, Gilan and part of Turkmenistan This article is about the musical term "aria" For other meanings or uses of the word see Aria (disambiguation. |
” |
Indian sources
Sakas receive numerous mentions in Indian texts, including the Puranas, the Manusmriti, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Mahabhashya of Patanjali, the Brhat Samhita of Varaha Mihira, the Kavyamimamsa, the Brhat-Katha-Manjari and the Kaṭha-Saritsagara. The Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Indo-Iranian Sakas ( Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia into Bactria, The Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Indo-Iranian Sakas ( Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia into Bactria, The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" The Manu Smriti ( Sanskrit: मनुस्मृति is a work of Hindu law and ancient Indian society The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki The Mahābhāṣya ("great commentary" attributed to Patañjali, is a commentary on selected rules of Sanskrit grammar from Pāṇini 's treatise Patañjali ( Devanāgarī पतञ्जलि (fl 150 BCE or 2nd c The Bṛhat Saṃhitā is a 6th century Sanskrit encyclopedia by Varahamihira of wide ranging subjects of human interest including Astrology Daivajna Varāhamihira ( Devanagari: वराहमिहिर 505 &ndash 587 also called Varaha or Mihira was an Indian Astronomer, Mathematician
Hebrew Bible
The people briefly mentioned in the Bible as "Ashkenaz" — perhaps as a result of ancient Hebrew alphabet misreading: אשכנז instead of the correct אשכוז (= Ashkūz), in Genesis x. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. 3 and I Chronicles i. 6 — traced their ancestry back through Gomer to Noah's third son, Japheth. Gomer ( גֹּמֶר, Standard Hebrew Gómer, Tiberian Hebrew Gōmer, go'mer) is the eldest son of Japheth, and father Noah (or Noe, Noach;; Nūḥ; Arabic: نوح; "Rest") was according to the Bible, the tenth and last of Japheth (ˈdʒeɪfɪθ Hebrew. יפת Greek Ιάφεθ, Iapheth, Latin Iafeth or Iapetus Arabic يافث The Book of Jeremiah li. Jeremiah ( jirmɛ'jahu; Septuagint Greek: Ἰερεμίας was one of the 'greater prophets ' of the Hebrew Bible. 27, 28, mentions Ashkenaz in connection with the kingdoms of Ararat and Minni (in the Taurus Mountains), together with the Medes — and portrays them all as hostile to Babylon. Ashkenaz is Gomer 's first son brother of Riphath, and Togarmah (Gen The Mannaeans (country name usually Mannea; Akkadian: Mannai, possibly Biblical Minni, מנּי were an ancient people of unknown origin For the Taurus Mountains on the moon see Montes Taurus. For Mount Taurus outside Cold Spring New York, see Bull Hill. The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. They are also mentioned in 2 Maccabees 4:47.
Genetics
Genetic research in modern populations reveals[28] that the same paternal Y-chromosome haplogroup (R1a1) represents a genetic lineage currently found in central, western and south Asia, and in Slavic populations of Europe. The Y chromosome is the sex-determining Chromosome in most Mammals including Humans In mammals it contains the gene SRY, which triggers A Subclade of R1, R1a is a Y-chromosome haplogroup found at high frequency in the extreme north of India among the Kashmiri Pandits Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The distribution of this haplogroup has been posited to represent the spread of peoples from the Ukrainian steppelands which served as an ice-age refuge during the LGM, in the eneolithic succeeded by the Pit Grave ("Kurgan") culture. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM refers to the time of maximum extent of the Ice sheets during the last Glaciation (the Würm or Wisconsin glaciation) approximately The Chalcolithic (Greek khalkos + lithos ' Copper stone' period or Copper Age period known as the '''Eneolithic''' ('''Æneolithic''' is a The Yamna (from Russian / Ukrainian яма "pit" also known as Pit Grave or Ochre Grave culture) is a late copper age /early This latter culture is associated with the spread of Indo-European languages in the "Kurgan hypothesis". The Kurgan hypothesis (also theory or model) is a model of early Indo-European origins, which postulates that the Kurgan culture of the Pontic steppe The R1a allele thus far predates the Scythians, and its distribution consequently cannot be used simplistically to trace Scythian migrations in particular.
The distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroup (G2) from Pakistan and northwest India and out to Spain rather closely mirrors the spread of the Scythians, Sarmatians, and their offshoot, the Alans. The Y chromosome is the sex-determining Chromosome in most Mammals including Humans In mammals it contains the gene SRY, which triggers In Human genetics, Haplogroup G (M201 is a Y-chromosome Haplogroup. The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people Haplogroup G2 reaches its highest worldwide concentration in the Caucasian Russian Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, and the present-day Ossetians, who speak a Scythian Northeast Iranic language are the last remnant of the ancient Alans. The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (Респу́блика Се́верная Осе́тия–Ала́ния Ossetic: Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани The Ossetians (ирæттæ irættæ are an Iranic Ethnic group indigenous to Ossetia, a region that spans the Caucasus Mountains Ossetic or Ossetian (Ирон ӕвзаг Iron ævzag or Иронау Ironau) also sometimes called Ossete, is an Iranian Although this may be indirect evidence of Scythian "genetic legacy", it is likewise of Neolithic origin and cannot be used as a one-to-one identification of Scythian ancestry.
Mitochondrial DNA extracted from skeletal remains obtained from excavated Scythian kurgans have produced a myriad of results and conclusions. Mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA) is the DNA located in Organelles called mitochondria. Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a Analysis of the HV1 sequence obtained from a male Scytho-Siberian's remains at the Kizil site in the Altai Republic revealed the individual possessed the N1a maternal lineage. The study also noted that haplogroup mtDNA N1a was found at a relatively high frequency in the southern fringes of the Eurasian steppe, Iran (8. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. 3%), and within the Indian Havik group (8. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country 3%), an upper Brahman caste. Brahman ( bráhman-, Nominative bráhma sa ब्रह्म is a concept of Hinduism. From this, a possible link to ancient populations presumed to have come from Europe that lived in the neighboring Central Asian parts of India and Iran was suggested. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. [29]
Additionally, mitochondrial DNA has been extracted from two Scytho-Siberian skeletons found in the Altai Republic (Russia) dating back 2,500 years. Both remains were determined to be of males from a population who had characteristics "of mixed Euro- Mongoloid origin. " One of the individuals was found to carry the F2a maternal lineage, and the other the D lineage, both of which are characteristic of East Eurasian populations. [30]
Maternal genetic analysis of Saka period male and female skeletal remains from a double inhumation kurgan located at the Beral site in Kazakhstan determined that the two were most likely not closely related and were possibly husband and wife. The HV1 mitochondrial sequence of the male was similar to the Anderson sequence which is most frequent in European populations. Contrary, the HV1 sequence of the female suggested a greater likelihood of Asian origins. The study's findings were in line with the hypothesis that mixings between Scythians and other populations occurred. This was buttressed by the discovery of several objects with a Chinese inspiration in the grave. No conclusive associations with haplogroups were made though it was suggested that the female may have derived from either mtDNA X or D. [31]
Post-classical "Scythians"
Migration period
- See also: Sarmatians, Alans, and Ossetians
Although the classical Scythians may have largely disappeared by the 1st century BC, Eastern Romans continued to speak conventionally of "Scythians" to designate Germanic tribes and confederations[32] or mounted Eurasian nomadic barbarians in general: in 448 AD two mounted "Scythians" led the emissary Priscus to Attila's encampment in Pannonia. The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people The Ossetians (ирæттæ irættæ are an Iranic Ethnic group indigenous to Ossetia, a region that spans the Caucasus Mountains This is a list of Germanic peoples. Classical philosophy The Greeks assigned names to populations they considered distinct based on the city-state ( For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Priscus was from Panium (in Thrace) living in the Roman Empire during the 5th century. Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, The Byzantines in this case carefully distinguished the Scythians from the Goths and Huns who also followed Attila. The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy
The Sarmatians (including the Alans and finally the Ossetians) counted as Scythians in the broadest sense of the word — as speakers of Northeast Iranian languages — but nevertheless remain distinct from the Scythians proper. The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people The Ossetians (ирæттæ irættæ are an Iranic Ethnic group indigenous to Ossetia, a region that spans the Caucasus Mountains [33]
Byzantine sources also refer to the Rus raiders who attacked Constantinople around 860 AD in contemporary accounts as "Tauroscythians", because of their geographical origin, and despite their lack of any ethnic relation to Scythians. Rus’ (Русь rusʲ Русичи Русы are an ancient people whose name survives in the cognates Russians, Rusyns, and Ruthenians The Tauri ( also Scythotauri, Tauri Scythae, Tauroscythae ( Pliny, H Patriarch Photius may have first applied the term to them during the Siege of Constantinople (860).
Early Modern usage
Owing to their reputation as established by Greek historians, the Scythians long served as the epitome of savagery and barbarism in the early modern period. Shakespeare, for instance, alluded to the legend that Scythians ate their parents in his play King Lear:
| “ | The barbarous Scythian Or he that makes his generation messes |
” |
Characteristically, early modern English discourse on Ireland frequently resorted to comparisons with Scythians in order to confirm that the indigenous population of Ireland descended from these ancient "bogeymen", and showed themselves as barbaric as their alleged ancestors. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Edmund Spenser wrote that
| “ | the Chiefest [nation that settled in Ireland] I Suppose to be Scithians . Edmund Spenser (c 1552 &ndash 13 January, 1599) was an important English Poet and Poet Laureate best known for The . . which firste inhabitinge and afterwarde stretchinge themselves forthe into the lande as theire numbers increased named it all of themselues Scuttenlande which more brieflye is Called Scuttlande or Scotlande. [35] | ” |
As proofs for this origin Spenser cites the alleged Irish customs of blood-drinking, nomadic lifestyle, the wearing of mantles and certain haircuts and
| “ | Cryes allsoe vsed amongeste the Irishe which savor greatlye of the Scythyan Barbarisme. | ” |
William Camden, one of Spenser's main sources, comments on this legend of origin that
| “ | to derive descent from a Scythian stock, cannot be thought any waies dishonourable, seeing that the Scythians, as they are most ancient, so they have been the Conquerours of most Nations, themselves alwaies invincible, and never subject to the Empire of others. William Camden ( 2 May 1551 &ndash 9 November 1623) was an English Antiquarian and historian [36] | ” |
In the 17th and 18th centuries, foreigners regarded the Russians as descendants of Scythians. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending It became conventional to refer to Russians as Scythians in 18th century poetry, and Alexander Blok drew on this tradition sarcastically in his last major poem, The Scythians (1920). Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (Александр Александрович Блок &ndash August 7, 1921 waswas one of the most gifted lyrical poets produced by Russia In the nineteenth century, romantic revisionists in the West transformed the "barbarian" Scyths of literature into the wild and free, hardy and democratic ancestors of all blond Indo-Europeans. "Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person either in a general reference to a member of a nation or Ethnos perceived
Descent-claims
Some modern ethnic groups have claimed descent from the Scythians as a means to extend back in time their national history, and to provide a prestigious connection with classical antiquity.
The Scythians feature in some post-Medieval national origin-legends of the Celts. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts
British historian Sharon Turner in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, concluded
- “The migrating Scythians crossed the Araxes, passed out of Asia, and suddenly appeared in Europe in the sixth century B. Sharon Turner ( September 24, 1768 - February 13, 1847) was a Historian. History of the Anglo-Saxons is a writing by English historian Sharon Turner written between 1799 and 1805. C. ”
Citing many ancient sources, Turner identified the Scythians ("Sakai") as the ancestors of the Anglo Saxons. Sharon Turner ( September 24, 1768 - February 13, 1847) was a Historian. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south However, that conclusion remains controversial.
Traditions of the Turkic Kazakhs and Yakuts (whose endoethnonym is "Sakha"); and the Pashtuns of Afghanistan connect these peoples to Scythians. The Kazakhs (also spelled Kazaks, Qazaqs; Kazakh: Қазақтар qɑzɑqtɑr Russian: Казахи the English name is transliterated Yakuts, self-designation Sakha, are a Turkic -speaking people associated with the Sakha (Yakutia Republic. Pashtuns ( Pashto: پښتون Paṣtūn, Paxtūn, also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns) also called Some legends of the Picts; the Gaels; the Hungarians; Serbs and Croats (among others) also include mention of Scythian origins. The Picts were a Confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman times until the 10th century Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, Croats (Hrvati are a South Slavic people mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries In the second paragraph of the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath the élite of Scotland claim Scythia as a former homeland of the Scots. The Declaration of Arbroath was a declaration of Scottish independence, and set out to confirm Scotland 's status as an independent, sovereign Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Some romantic nationalist writers claim that Scythians figured in the formation of the empire of the Medes and likewise of Caucasian Albania, the precursor in antiquity of the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic. Romantic nationalism (also National Romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of Nationalism in which the state derives The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This region should not be confused with modern-day Albania in south-eastern Europe. Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South Claims of Scythian origins also play a role in both Pan-Turkism and Sarmatism. Pan-Turkism is a political movement aiming to unite the various Turkic peoples into a modern political State, a Confederation, or an economic union closely Sarmatism embodied the dominant Lifestyle, Culture and Ideology of the Szlachta ( Nobility) in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Various Frankish and Carolingian sources traced royal Merovingian ancestry to the Germanic tribe of the Sicambri. The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the The Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic The Sicambri (var Sicambers Sicambres Sigambrer Sugumbrer or Sugambri) were a Germanic people living in what is now called the Netherlands Gregory of Tours documents in his History of the Franks that when Clovis was baptised, he was referred to as a Sicamber with the words "Mitis depone colla, Sicamber, adora quod incendisti, incendi quod adorasti. Saint Gregory of Tours ( November 30, c 538 &ndash November 17, 594) was a Gallo-Roman historian and bishop of Tours "'. The Chronicle of Fredegar in turn reveals that the Franks believed the Sicambri to be a tribe of Scythian or Cimmerian descent, who had changed their name to Franks in honour of their chieftain Franco in 11 BC. The Chronicle of Fredegar is a Chronicle that recounts the events of Frankish Gaul from 584 to around 641 The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group
References
- ^ Scythians are pronounced /'sɪθɪən/ or /'sɪðɪən/. Scyths are pronounced /'sɪθs/. From Greek Σκύθης. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Note Scytho- /'saɪθəʊ/ in composition (OED). The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English
- ^ Scythian, member of a nomadic people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in the 8th and 7th centuries BC - The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition - Micropaedia on "Scythian", 10:576
- ^ a b c d Oswald Szemerényi, "Four old Iranian ethnic names: Scythian - Skudra - Sogdian - Saka" (Sitzungsberichte der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 371), Vienna, 1980 = Scripta minora, vol. The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc Oswald John Louis Szemerényi (born 7 September 1913 in London;died 29 December 1996 in Freiburg) was a Hungarian 4, pp. 2051-2093. [1]
- ^ a b Sulimirski, T. "The Scyths" in Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 2: 149-99 [2]
- ^ Grousset, Rene. "The empire of the Steppes," Rutgers University Press, 1989, pg 19 Jacbonson, Esther. "The Art of Scythians," Brill Academic Publishers, 1995, pg 63 ISBN 90-04-09856-9 Gamkrelidze and Ivanov Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Typological Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture (Parts I and II). Tbilisi State University. , 1984 Mallory, J. P. . In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth. Thames and Hudson. Read Chapter 2 and see 51-53 for a quick reference. (1989) Newark, T. The Barbarians: Warriors and wars of the Dark Ages, Blandford: New York. See pages 65, 85, 87, 119-139. ,1985 Renfrew, C. Archeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European origins, Cambridge University Press, 1988 Abaev, V.I. and H. W. Bailey, "Alans," Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. Andrew Colin Renfrew Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn (b in Stockton-on-Tees) is an English Archaeologist, noted for his work on the Radiocarbon revolution Vaso (Vasily Ivanovich Abaev (Ossetian Абайты Васо, Russian Василий Иванович Абаев, also transilterated as Abaity and Sir Harold Walter Bailey (December 16 1899 - January 11 1996 who published as H 1. pp. 801-803. ; Great Soviet Encyclopedia, (translation of the 3rd Russian-language edition), 31 vols. , New York, 1973-1983. Vogelsang, W J The rise & organisation of the Achaemenid empire — the eastern evidence (Studies in the History of the Ancient Near East Vol. III). Leiden: Brill. pp. 344. , 1992 ISBN 90-04-09682-5. Sinor, Denis. Inner Asia: History — Civilization — Languages, Routledge, 1997 pg 82 ISBN 0-7007-0896-0 ; "Scythian. " (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 7, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service Masica, Colin P. Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge University Press, 1993, pg 48 ISBN 0-521-29944-6
- ^ Herodotus 4. 11 trans. G. Rawlinson.
- ^ SOME PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT NOMADIC CULTURES IN EURASIA (9TH - 3RD CENTURIES BC. A. YU. ALEKSEEV, N. A. BOKOVENKO, YU. BOLTRIK, et alia. GEOCHRONOMETRIA Vol. 21, pp 143-150, 2002. Journal on Methods and Applications of Absolute Chronology. Available at http://www.geochronometria.pl/pdf/geo_21/geo21_17.pdf
- ^ A. Yu. Alekseev et al. , "Chronology of Eurasian Scythian Antiquities. . . "
- ^ John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, N. G. L. Hammond. The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. January 16, 1992, pg 550. Events 27 BC - The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar)
- ^ "kurgan. " Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (10 October 2006). Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ S. A. Yatsenko, Tamgas . . .
- ^ Mallory and Mair, The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West, 2000)
- ^ "Les Saces", Iaroslav Lebedynsky, p. 73 ISBN 2877723372
- ^ Crowns similar to the Scythian ones discovered in Tillia Tepe "appear later, during the 5th and 6th century at the eastern edge of the Asia continent, in the tumulus tombs of the Kingdom of Silla, in South-East Korea. A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a Mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves "Afganistan, les trésors retrouvés", 2006, p282, ISBN 9782711852185
- ^ Rjabchikov 2004
- ^ B. N. Puri, "The Sakas and Indo-Parthians" in Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, János Harmatta, Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ, Edmund Bosworth. History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Motilal Banarsidass Publ, 1999. excerpt:""The Indo-Greeks in Kabul impeded further Saka progress and compelled them to move westwards in the direction of Herat and thence to Sistan. This country was finally named Sakastan after them. "
- ^ Jane Hathaway, "A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen". SUNY Press, 2003. excerpt:"Sistan (Sakastan) takes its name from the Scythians"
- ^ Traces of the Iranian root xšaya — "ruler" — may persist in all three names.
- ^ Herodotus. History, Book IV, verse 5.
- ^ Herodotus. History, Book IV, verses 19-20.
- ^ Herodotus. History, Book IV, verses 6-7.
- ^ The first scholar to compare the three strata of Scythian society to the Indian castes, Arthur Christensen, published Les types du premiere homme et du premier roi dans l'histoire legendaire des Iraniens, I (Stockholm, Leiden, 1917). Castes are Hereditary systems of occupation, Endogamy, social culture, Social class, and Political power.
- ^ Quoted in Wouter Wiggert Belier. Decayed Gods: Origin and Development of Georges Dumezil’s "Ideologie Tripartie". Brill Academic Publishers, 1991. ISBN 90-04-06195-9. Page 69.
- ^ a b c J. Harmatta: "Scythians" in UNESCO Collection of History of Humanity - Volume III: From the Seventh Century BC to the Seventh Century AD. Routledge/UNESCO. 1996. pg 182
- ^ Herodotus 4. 108 trans. Rawlinson.
- ^ Strabo, Geography, 11.8.1
- ^ Strabo, Geography, 11.8.1
- ^ Semino et al. The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y Chromosome Perspective, Science, 290, 1155-1159, 2000
- ^ Ricaut, F. et al. 2004. Genetic Analysis of a Scytho-Siberian Skeleton and Its Implications for Ancient Central Asian Migrations. Human Biology. 76 (1): 109–125
- ^ Ricaut,F. et al. 2004. Genetic Analysis and Ethnic Affinities From Two Scytho-Siberian Skeletons. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 123:351–360
- ^ Clisson, I. et al. 2002. Genetic analysis of human remains from a double inhumation in a frozen kurgan in Kazakhstan (Berel site, Early 3rd Century BC). International Journal of Legal Medicine. 116:304–308
- ^ see Zosimus, Historia Nova, 1. Zosimus ( ''fl'' 490s-510s was a Byzantine historian who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius 23 & 1. 28, also Zonaras, Epitome historiarum, book 12. Joannes (John Zonaras ( Greek:; ''fl'' 12th century was a Byzantine chronicler and theologian, who lived at Constantinople. Also the title "Scythika" of the lost work of the 3rd century Greek historian Dexippus who narrated the Germanic invasions of his age
- ^ The Ossetes, the only Iranian people presently resident in Europe, call their country Iriston or Iron, though North Ossetia now officially has the designation Alania. Dexippus is also a genus of Jumping spiders. Not to be confused with Dexippus of the fourth century A Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (Респу́блика Се́верная Осе́тия–Ала́ния Ossetic: Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Alania was a medieval kingdom of the Alans (proto- Ossetians) that flourished in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day Circassia They speak an North-Eastern Iranian language Ossetic, whose more widely-spoken dialect, Iron or Ironig (i. Ossetic or Ossetian (Ирон ӕвзаг Iron ævzag or Иронау Ironau) also sometimes called Ossete, is an Iranian e. Iranian), preserves some similarities with the Gathic Avestan language, another Iranian language of the Eastern branch. The word "Gātha" means a "hymn of praise" in the earliest Indo-Iranian poetry Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta.
- ^ King Lear Act I, Scene i. King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606 and is considered one of his greatest works
- ^ A View of the Present State of Ireland, c. 1596.
- ^ Britannia, 1586 etc. , English translation 1610.
Further reading
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| Kurgan hypothesis Anatolia · Armenia · India · PCT |
| Indo-European studies |
- Alekseev, A. Albanian (sq ''Gjuha shqipe'' ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million peoplewhile others claim that it derives from Daco - The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family's Centum branch The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages The Anatolian languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages which were spoken in Asia Minor, the best attested of them being the Hittite language The Paleo-Balkan languages were the Indo-European languages that were spoken in the Balkans in Ancient times. The Dacian language was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Dacia. The Phrygian language was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians a people from Thrace who later migrated to Asia Minor. The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe Tocharian or Tokharian is one of the branches of the Indo-European language family. } Albanians (Shqiptarët are an Ethnic group and a Nation, in the sense of sharing a common Albanian culture speaking the Albanian language The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large The Balts or Baltic peoples (People who live by the Baltic Sea) defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European Modern Celts are those peoples who are speakers of Celtic languages, or who consider themselves or have been considered by others to participate in a Celtic culture This is a list of Germanic peoples. Classical philosophy The Greeks assigned names to populations they considered distinct based on the city-state ( The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. Latin European peoples are those who speak Romance languages, descended from Vulgar Latin, spread during the time of the Roman Empire. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established Luwian (sometimes spelled Luvian) is an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic Illyrians has come to refer to a broad ill-defined " Indo-European " group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans ( Illyria, roughly Ancient peoples of Italy are all those peoples that lived in Italy (including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia) before the Roman domination The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity The Tocharians were the Tocharian -speaking inhabitants of the Tarim basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity Indo-Iranian peoples consist of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples that is speakers of Indo-Iranian languages The Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi- Nomadic pastoralists subdivided into temporary settlements ( vish, viś and headed Ancient Iranian peoples who settled Greater Iran in the 2nd millennium BC first appear in Assyrian records in the 9th century BC. The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, who likely lived around 4000 BC, during the Copper Age and the The society of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE existed during the Bronze Age (roughly fifth to fourth millennium BC and has been reconstructed The existence of similarities among the deities and religious practices of the Indo-European (IE peoples allows glimpses of a common Proto-Indo-European The question of the homeland ( Urheimat) of the Proto-Indo-European peoples and their Proto-Indo-European language has been a recurring topic in Indo-European The Kurgan hypothesis (also theory or model) is a model of early Indo-European origins, which postulates that the Kurgan culture of the Pontic steppe The Anatolian hypothesis is also called Renfrew's NDT; it proposes that the dispersal ( Discontinuity) of Proto-Indo-Europeans originated in Neolithic The Armenian hypothesis of the Proto-Indo-European Urheimat, based on the Glottalic theory suggests that the Proto-Indo-European language The Out of India theory ( OIT, also called the Indian Urheimat Theory) is the proposition that the Indo-European language family originated in The Paleolithic Continuity Theory (or PCT,Italian La teoria della continuità) is a Hypothesis suggesting that the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies is a field of Linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct Yu. et al. , "Chronology of Eurasian Scythian Antiquities Born by New Archaeological and 14C Data". Radiocarbon, Vol . 43, No 2B, 2001, p 1085-1107.
- Davis-Kimball, Jeannine. 2002. Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines. Warner Books, New York. 1st Trade printing, 2003. ISBN 0-446-67983-6 (pbk).
- Gamkrelidze and Ivanov (1984). Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Typological Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture (Parts I and II). Tbilisi State University.
- Harmatta, J. , "Studies in the History and Language of the Sarmatians", Acta Universitatis de Attila József Nominatae. Acta antique et archaeologica Tomus XIII. Szeged 1970 [3]
- Lebedynsky, I. (2001). "Les Scythes: la civilisation nomade des steppes VIIe - III siècle av. J. -C. " / Errance, Paris.
- Lebedynsky Iaroslav (2006) "Les Saces", Editions Errance, ISBN 2877723372
- Mallory, J. P. (1989). In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth. Thames and Hudson. Chapter 2; and pages 51-53 for a quick reference.
- Newark, T. (1985). The Barbarians: Warriors and wars of the Dark Ages. Blandford: New York. See pages 65, 85, 87, 119-139.
- Renfrew, C. (1988). Archeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European origins. Cambridge University Press.
- Rolle, Renate, The world of the Scythians, London and New York (1989).
- Rjabchikov, S. V. , The Scythians, Sarmatians, Meotians and Slavs: Sign System, Mythology, Folklore. Rostov-on-Don, 2004 (in Russian)
- Rybakov, Boris. Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov ( Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в June 3 1908 — December 27 2001 Paganism of Ancient Rus. Nauka, Moscow, 1987 (in Russian)
- Sulimirski, T. "The Scyths", in Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 2: 149-99 [4]
- Szemerényi, O. , "Four Old Iranian Ethnic Names: SCYTHIAN - SKUDRA - SOGDIAN - SAKA", Vienna (1980) [5]
- Torday, Laszlo (1998). Mounted Archers: The Beginnings of Central Asian History. Durham Academic Press. ISBN 1-900838-03-6.
- Yatsenko, S. A. , "Tamgas of Iranolingual antique and Early Middle Ages people". Russian Academy of Science, Moscow Press "Eastern Literature", 2001 (in Russian)
External links
- "A chronology of the Scythian antiquities of Eurasia based on new archaeological and C-14 data", Alekseev, A.Y. et al A detailed scholarly article on pre-Scythian, early Scythian and classical Scythian archaeological sites and their dating, by the Hermitage Museum's director of archaeology and others.
- "Some problems in the study of the chronology of the ancient nomadic cultures in Eurasia (9th - 3rd centuries BC)", Alekseev, A.Y. et al More of the same.
- "Scythian Gold From Siberia Said to Predate the Greeks" A journalist's article on the Arzhan finds, quoting Hermitage experts
- A Scythian warrior found at a height of 2600 metres in the Altay Mountains in an intact burial mound (August 25, 2006)
- Scythians overview by Chris Bennet
- Livius website articles on ancient history, entry on Scythians/Sacae by Jona Lendering
- The early burial in Tuva
- Scythian myth and culture; map
- Color illustrations of Scythian gold
- Published excavations of royal Scythian kurgan (barrow) at Chertomlyk reviewed
- all known Scythian kings listed on Regnal Chronologies
- Herodotus, Histories, Book IV - translated by Rawlinson, the 1942 edition
- Livio Stecchini, "The Mapping of the Earth: Scythia": reconstructing the map of Scythia according to the conceptual geography of Herodotus
- Livio Stecchini, "The Mapping of the Earth: Gerrhos"
- 1998 NOVA documentary: "Ice Mummies: Siberian Ice Maiden" Transcript
- on Sarmatian (a related Iranian group) trade and ethnic connections
- Scythia Group (a Yahoo group for discussing the Scythians)
- Ryzhanovka
- Genetics
- Media files
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