What follows is the article "Scyhians" from the Encyclopædia Iranica. I have, however, made some modifications | |||
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Scythians | |||||
Encyclopædia Iranica | |||||
Askold Ivantchik, SCYTHIANS, Encyclopædia Iranica, online
edition, 2018, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/scythians | |||||
Abstract | |||||
SCYTHIANS, a nomadic people of Iranian origin who flourished in the steppe lands north of the Black Sea during the 7th-4th centuries BCE (Figure 1). | |||||
Contents | |||||
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1. History | |||||
The name | |||||
The English form Scythian is ultimately derived from Greek Skýthai via
Latin Scythai. The name is also attested in Akkadian texts: Á-gu-za-a-a, I-ku-za(-a-a) and in the Bible
in the form knz (an early corruption from .kwz: Gen. 10:3; 1 Chr. 1:6; Jer. 51:27). Comparison of the Greek
and the Semitic renderings makes it possible to establish the initial form of the ethnonym as *kuda- or *skuda-, with
a voiced interdental rendered by a Greek theta and a Semitic z. The first vowel in the Semitic form is prosthetic making
it possible to avoid a consonant cluster at the beginning. The etymology of the name is unclear. Herodotus also cites the form Skolotoi (4.6) as the self-designation of the Scythians, as opposed to the name that the Greeks used for them: Skýthai. The name Skolotoi is usually interpreted as a dialect form of the same name with the transition d > l, which has been recorded in other Scythian words as well and also in certain other Eastern Iranian languages, even if this interpretation causes some difficulties (Ivantchik, 2009, pp. 65-66 with references to previous publications). The last element of the word, -t.., can represent the plural suffix *-tæ (*/skuda-tæ > */skula-tæ > Skolotoi), which is common in Northeastern Iranian languages (cf. however Tokhtasev, pp. 72-84, on the problems connected with this suffix). The Scythian ethnonym has been recorded in the same dialect form in the names of Scythian kings Skýles (Hdt., 4.78-80), Scolopitus (Just., Epit. 2.4.1) < */skulapita( r)-, Scythians father, possibly also Skílouros (Strabo, 7.4.3, 6). | |||||
A highly interesting and very scientific discourse about a name - without telling you anything of interest about Scythians. | |||||
The Scythian people. | |||||
The history of the Scythians is known to us from two groups of sources, which are independent from each otherAkkadian cuneiform texts and Graeco-Roman sources. | |||||
Written by your classical humanist who only considers written sources of interrest. Archaeologists might disagree a this poin - but they will get some space later on. | |||||
The first group only relates to the earliest period of Scythian historythe
7th century BCE, while the second covers the whole of it. Greek sources, especially those concerned with the 7th and 6th
centuries BCE, are not always reliable. Historical information in them is often mixed with tales drawn from folklore and
learned constructs of historians, so that use of such sources required critical analysis. The earliest well-attested events in the history of the Scythians are their campaigns into the Near East. The Scythians are mentioned for the first time in the Assyrian Annals of Esarhaddon, which tell of the Assyrian rout of the Manneans with their allies, the Scythians, led by Ipakaia. These events date from between 680/79 and 678/7 BCE. In later cuneiform sources the Scythians are mentioned in connection with events in Mannea or Media, that is, on the northeastern and eastern borders of Assyria (for the sources, see Ivantchik, 1996). In approximately 672 BCE the Scythian king Partatua (Protothýes of Hdt., 1.103) asked for the hand of the daughter of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (see ASSARHADDON), promising to conclude a treaty of alliance with Assyria. It is probable that this marriage took place and the alliance also came into being (SAA IV, no. 20; Ivantchik, 1993, pp. 93-94; 205-9). The Scythians probably used to make periodic raids from the steppes to the north of the Caucasus, where they dwelt, into Transcaucasia and the territories stretching south as far as Media at least from the early 680s BCE, if not earlier. Yet, by the mid-620s their activities were confined to the territory east of Assyria, and for the Assyrians they remained an insignificant border people, whose might could not possibly be compared to that of the Cimmerians, the other group of nomads from the steppes. | |||||
We need to follow these "Cimmerians". Mayhave had some metallurgy and a hand in making akinakes?. | |||||
In the mid-620s, when Assyria was already finding it difficult to control the remains of its possessions, while the new states of Babylonia and Media had not yet become truly powerful, Scythian bands had gained more freedom of action. They took advantage of the situation to make lengthier campaigns. The Scythians reached the frontiers of Egypt, plundered several cities in Palestine, and routed the Cimmerians . |
These events were linked with the name of the Scythian king Madyes, whose father Protothyes/Partatua was perhaps married to an Assyrian princess. In the classical tradition they are reflected as the period of Scythian Rule over Asia, the duration of which was defined as 28 years by Herodotus and as 8 years by Pompeius Trogus . The importance of this event has been wildly exaggerated in the classical tradition under the influence of Scythian folklore: in reality, this is a question, not of rule, but one or several successful and lengthy raids, during which the Scythians never lost touch with their main territory, the steppes of the North Pontic region and the northern Caucasus . The fact, however, that the Scythian campaigns in the late-70s and mid-20s of the 7th century were led by a father (Protothyes) and son (Madyes) indicates that there were groups among the Scythians for whom the campaigns into the Near East were a traditional occupation over the course of several decades. According to the classical tradition, the Scythians also subdued Media, which was liberated from them by Cyaxares. He slew the Scythian leaders during a feast in his palace . The veracity of this episode is dubious. The Scythian raids into the Near East ceased in the last decade of the 7th century BCE. | |||
While in the 7th century the Greeks contacted Eurasian nomads (first the Cimmerians and later also the Scythians) mainly in Asia Minor, in the third quarter of the 7th century BCE (probably near its end) they were founding their first colonies in Scythian territorysettlements on the Black Sea island of Borysthenes (mod. Berezan) and near Taganrog on the Sea of Azov, later at Panticapaeum, Olbia, and elsewhere. From that time onward, they were in constant touch with the Scythians. Throughout the 6th century BCE, relations between the Greek colonies and the Scythians were mainly peaceful (cf. however new data about the possible destruction of Panticapaeum by the Scythians in the mid-6th century BCE: Tolstikov et al., 2017, p. 14). The Greek maintained especially active trading links, not with their closest neighbors, the Scythian nomads of the steppes, but rather with the settled population, which lived further away in the forest steppes. The main routes providing access to the forest steppes were the large rivers, which flowed into the Black Sea. | |||
The best known event in Scythian history of the 6th century BCE was the unsuccessful campaign of Darius I. Various dates have been suggested for this eventbetween 520 and 507 BCEbut the date which appears most likely is 513 BCE. The objectives and scale of that campaign are also questionable: its importance appears to have been exaggerated by Herodotus. Although the Scythians, after the campaign of Darius (they were probably referred to as Saka paradraya, overseas Saka, in Dariuss DSe and DNa inscriptions) were included in the lists of peoples conquered by the Persians, the campaignas also borne out in the Classical traditionended in failure. The Scythians victory over the previously undefeated Darius made a deep impression on their contemporaries, as a result of which the Scythians began to be viewed as invincible, a condition that was attributed to their nomadic way of life. Later, from the time of Ephoros (4th cent. BCE) onwards, the tradition of idealizing the Scythians began to take root in Classical literature, partly in connection with this idea of Scythian invincibility. | |||
In the 6th century and probably later as well, the Scythians were not united under the rule of one king. Herodotus (4.120) mentions three Scythian kings who ruled during the time of Dariuss invasion: Scopasis, Taxakis, and Idanthyrsos; the latter led the united forces of the Scythians and their neighbors. The power of the Scythian kings was hereditary: Herodotus (4.76) informs us of the genealogy of Idanthyrsos, who defeated the Persians: he was the son of Saulios (or rather Sauaios, both forms are attested in the manuscripts and are equally possible, cf Ivantchik, 2009, 72), grandson of Gnouros, great-grandson of Lykos and great-great-grandson of Spargapeithes. In the same passage Herodotus informs us that the renowned Scythian wise man, Anacharsis, came from the same royal family, being the son of Gnouros and brother of Sauaios/Saulios. Herodotus is the earliest author mentioning Anacharsis. Later he was to become a very popular figure in Greek literature, playing the part of the embodiment of Barbarian wisdom and being numbered among the Seven Sages. Some features of this idea are already to be noted in Herodotuss account (4.46, 76-77), and subsequently his image was used by Ephoros when creating his idealized image of the Scythians; later he was to become a well-loved figure for the Cynics, after he had been definitely transformed into the ideal man of Nature or noble sauvage, The Letters of Anacharsisa Cynic work of the 3rd century BCEwas ascribed to him (Reuters; Praechter; Kindstrand). It is not clear whether there is any historical foundation for the tradition regarding Anacharsis, that is, as to whether there had been a Hellenized Scythian prince by this name: it is quite possible. However, according to Herodotus, in his time the Scythians did not know about Anacharsis. In Olbia the tradition regarding Anacharsis existed in some form in the mid-5th century BCE: it was from there that the story of Anacharsis murder in Hylaia originated, when he offered a sacrifice to the Mother of the Gods, although the explanation for the murder (Anacharsis was allegedly punished for renouncing Scythian customs in preference for Greek ones) probably stems from Herodotus himself. The fact that an altar to the Mother of the Gods existed in Hylaia was confirmed by a graffito dating from 550-530 BCE (SEG XLII, 710). Yet, even if Prince Anacharsis had existed, virtually all the information provided about him by classical authors relates to the history of Greek literature, not that of Scythian history | |||
Soon after Dariuss campaign, important changes took place in the North Pontic region. There was a marked increase in the number of funerary monuments and a number of new elements appeared in the material culture. This can be explained with reference to the penetration of the North Pontic region by a new group of nomads arriving from the East in the second half of the 6th century BCE (Alekseev, 2003, pp. 168-93). One of the results of this penetration was the intensification of activity and aggressiveness of the Scythians. It is also possible that the need to resist the Persian invasion gave rise to political consolidation. One of the goals of Scythian expansion was Thrace. During one of the raids in the 490s they advanced as far as Thracian Chersonesos (Gallipoli; Hdt., 6.40, 84); however, in Thrace the Scythians came up against resistance from the Odrysian kingdom. Soon the border between the Scythian and Odrysian kingdoms became established along the Danube, and the relations between the two dynasties were amicable ones giving rise to the arrangement of dynastic marriages (the Scythian king Oktamasades was the son of an Odrysian princess, daughter of Teres). Another direction of Scythian expansion was towards the north and northwest. Several fortified settlements in the forest steppes were destroyed; and the Scythians probably succeeded in asserting their control over their settled population. Simultaneously the Scythians were attempting for the first time to subjugate the Greek colonies of the North Pontic region, with which relations had previously been rather peaceful; there unfortified rural settlements existed around the Greek cities, and many cities had no defensive walls. In the first decades of the 5th century BCE, defensive installations appeared in a number of Greek cities, and at the same time the settlements in their environs (chorai) were destroyed or abandoned. In the necropoleis of the Greek cities, burials are found of men who had been killed by arrows with arrowheads of a Scythian type. | |||
This Scythian expansion had different consequences in various parts of the North Pontic region. The Scythians succeeded in establishing political control over the Greek colonies in the northwestern part of the Pontic region and the western Crimea (Nikonion, Tyras, Olbia, and Kerkinitis). The data provided by Herodotus (4.78-80) testify that the Scythian king Skyles had a residence in Olbia and appeared there every year, while his forces camped outside the city walls. Later on, silver coins were minted in Olbia bearing the name of Eminakos, perhaps borne by a governor of Oktamasades, Skyles successor, or by the Scythian king who succeeded Oktamasades (Kullanda and Raevskii, pp. 79-95, with references to earlier literature). In nearby Nikonion coins were issued bearing the name of Skyles himself (Karyshkovskii and Zaginailo, pp. 3-15). In the second half of the 5th century BCE the city of Kerkinitis (modern Eupatoria) used to pay tribute to the Scythians; this fact is attested by a direct epigraphic evidence (Vinogradov, 1994, p. 66, no. 3). | |||
The situation which existed in Olbia during the period of Scythian domination is well known to us. In the preceding period the whole of the territory around Olbia was covered with a dense network of non-fortified rural settlements (over 70 such settlements dating from the 6th century BCE have been recorded), where most of the grain was produced which was consumed in Olbia or exported. In the first quarter of the 5th century BCE all these settlements disappeared and Olbia lost its production base. Nevertheless, there were no signs of decline to be observed in Olbia, but on the contrary economic prosperity; nor was the grain trade in decline. It is possible that during that period grain was being produced not merely in the immediate vicinity of the city but also in the settled communities of the forest steppes, from which it was brought to Olbia by way of the Bug and Dnieper rivers; then the citizens of Olbia would sell it to Greece and receive other commodities there in exchange. Thus, a kind of division of labour emerged: the barbarians of the forest steppes produced grain, while Olbia, and probably other Greek colonies as well, assumed the role of trading agent, selling it on to gain profit for themselves. The system was subject to the control of the nomadic Scythians, who dwelt in the steppes separating the forest steppes and the coast and dominated over both of these regions (Vinogradov, 1989, pp. 81-109, cf. Marchenko). Thus, the loss of their agricultural hinterland for Olbia, Tyras and Nikonion, which obliged them to specialize in the trades, was the result of the deliberate economic policy of the Scythians. | |||
Scythian expansion in the Bosporan region, where there existed a good number of Greek cities, was less successful. Perhaps, they initially succeeded in subjugating Nymphaeum. Other Bosporan cities facing the Scythian threat joined forces in an alliance led by Panticapaeum. In a number of Bosporan cities (Panticapaeum, Myrmekion, Tyritake, Porthmeus) city walls were built or strengthened (Tolstikov). The Bosporan Greeks succeeded in defending their independence and on the basis of this alliance of cities a monarchy soon took shapethe Bosporan kingdom with its capital in Panticapaeum. | |||
In the lower reaches of the Don, where the Greek presence had been weaker, the consequences of Scythian expansion made themselves felt earlier. In the third quarter of the 6th century BCE the Taganrog settlementthe only Greek colony in the areawas destroyed. The Scythians, however, felt the need to continue trading with the Greeks and at the beginning of the 5th century BCE the settlement known as Elizavetovka came into being becoming the main intermediary in trading between the Greeks and the barbarian hinterland in that territory. The population of the Elizavetovka settlement was Scythian, although there may have been a small Greek presence within it (Marchenko, Zhitnikov, and Kopylov). Thus, the existence of a Greek colony was brought to an end as a result of Scythian expansion in this region, and trading with the Greeks now found itself directely in the hands of the Scythians. | |||
From Herodotus writing (4.76-80) we know the names of several Scythian kings who reigned in the 5th century BCE: Ariapeithes; Skyles, his son by a Greek woman from Histria, who succeeded him to the throne; and Oktamasades, Ariapeithes son by the daughter of the Thracian king Teres who ousted Skyles. The third son of Ariapeithes, Orikos, possibly never acceded to the throne. It would appear that this dynasty was not related by family ties to the dynasty of Idanthyrsos. They ruled over those Scythians who were in control of the northwestern part of the Pontic region (from the Danube to Olbia and its environs). It is not known how their domains extended eastwards and whether they ruled over all the Scythians or only some of them. | |||
In the last quarter of the 5th century BCE, the political situation in the North Pontic region changed. The Greek cities were probably not more controlled by Scythians and began to reconstitute their chorai. At the end of the 5th century and during the 4th century BCE, Olbia not only re-established control over the rural territory that had belonged to it in the Archaic period, but expanded it; approximately 150 settlements of this period have been recorded (Vinogradov, 1989, pp. 135-50; Kryzhitskii et al., pp. 96-151). At the same time the rural hinterlands of Tyras and Nikonion were also being re-established. This indicates the absence of any major military threat from the Scythian side. At the end of the 5th century the Scythians lost control of Nymphaeum as well; the city was incorporated into the Bosporan kingdom, which in its turn had subjugated a number of barbarian territories on the Asian side of the Bosporus. Archeological data enable us to assume that in the last third of the 5th century BCE there had been some inner conflicts among the Scythians. It is possible also that a new wave of nomads from the East had appeared who intermingled with the other Scythians, thus destabilizing the situation, which, however, soon grew calmer. | |||
The 4th century BCE saw a flowering of Scythian culture; it is precisely from this time that the vast majority of known Scythian monuments dates. Of the 2,300 monuments recorded in the Scythian steppes by the beginning of the 1980s, some 2,000 have been dated to the 4th century BCE (Chernenko et al., 1986, p. 345). The richest royal burials also date from this period. Relations between the Greek colonies and the Scythians were mainly peaceful, and there probably existed dynastic ties between their kings and the rulers of the Bosporan kingdom. In Scythian culture, particularly that of the Scythian élite, rapid and far-reaching Hellenization can be inferred from the Greek influences on the art of this period and from other archeological data (see below, iii). | |||
A large share of the events from the political history of the Scythians in the 4th century BCE known to us are linked with the name of the king Ateas. His activity concerns the southwest of Scythia and Thrace and dates from between the sixties of the 4th century BCE and 339 BCE, when he perished in a battle against Philip of Macedonia aged over 90. Ateas initially waged war successfully against the Triballoi and the Istrianoi. Subsequently he allied himself with the Macedonians and perished in the war, which began after that alliance had been burst asunder. It is not clear whether Ateas was king of the whole of Scythia or merely reigned over the Scythians in the western part of the steppe zone. The latter assumption would seem the more likely (Andrukh, pp. 71-80). His coins have been recorded, which probably were issued in the Greek city of Callatis in the territory of Thrace (Stolyarik, pp. 21-34). This fact and also the relations between Ateas and Philip indicate that he was for a time in control of part of the territories to the south of the Danube, which traditionally were considered to be beyond the borders of Scythia. The Scythians loss of these territories and possibly part of the territories north of the Danube as well, would appear to be the result of Ateass defeat and death. Yet a Scythian population did live on below the Danube, in Dobruja, as can be seen from the archeological evidence. | |||
The next known event from Scythian history is the campaign of Alexander the Greats general Zopyrion, which took place in 331/30 BCE and was directed against the Getae and the Scythians (Just., Epit., 12.1, 4). The Macedonian army of 30,000 men reached Olbia and laid siege to it, but was unable to take it and was completely routed by the Scythians. Zopyrion himself met his death. | |||
One other Scythian king of the 4th century BCE mentioned in the sources was Agaros, who had probably taken part in the internecine war between the sons of the Bosporan king Pairisades in 310/9 on the side of Satyros II; after his defeat, Satyross son Pairisades sought refuge with Agaros (Diod. Sic., 20.22-26). He was probably king of those Scythians who dwelt in the Crimean steppes immediately adjacent to the Bosporus. | |||
Scythian culture, as it pertains to the steppes of the North Pontic region, suddenly disappears at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE . The reasons for its demise are unclear and are the subject of discussion. Probably a number of negative factors coincided (climatic changes, an economic crisis resulting from over-grazing of pastures, and so on), and an important role was played by expansion of the Sarmatiansa new wave of nomads coming from the East (Alekseev, 2003, p. 251; and for a variety of points of view, see the collection of articles in Maksimenko). The 3rd century BCE is the dark period of Scythian history. We know neither of any Scythian nor of any Sarmatian monuments in the North Pontic steppes from that time, and to date there is no satisfactory explanation for this. Nevertheless, there are no doubts with regard to the beginning of Sarmatian expansion in the 3rd century BCE. By approximately 280 BCE the Sarmatians were penetrating the Crimea and had even made their way to the environs of Chersonesos, as is borne out by the epigraphic evidence (Vinogradov, 1997). | |||
It would seem that, from the beginning of the 3rd century, the Scythians began their expansion against the Greek settlements in western Crimea, which up to that time had been under the control of Chersonesos. By the mid-3rd century BCE Chersonesos had lost all its possessions in northwestern Crimea, including the cities of Kalos Limen and Kerkinitis, and was only able to hang on to the territories immediately adjacent to it (Shcheglov). In the 2nd century BCE, the presence of the Scythians was only to be found in the territory of the Crimea, the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, and Dobruja, which had come to known as Scythia Minor. In the Crimea the Scythians had, to some extent, retained their nomadic way of life, but were adopting a more and more settled existence and intermingling with the local population, particularly the Tauroi, who inhabited the Crimean mountains. The Crimean Scythians were evidently establishing a new kingdom in the mid-2nd century BCE. The city of Scythian Neapolis (on the site of modern Simferopol), which had been founded in the second quarter of the 2nd century BCE, became its capital. Despite the fact that no continuity can be traced archeologically between Late Scythian culture and the Scythian culture of the 4th century BCE (cf. below), it was probably realized at least in the upper strata of society: the kings of Scythian Neapolis called themselves Kings of Scythia (Vinogradov and Zaitsev). Both the ancient authors and the Greeks of the North Pontic region regarded them as Scythians. | |||
The new Scythian kingdom was very much Hellenized and was more similar to the Hellenistic monarchies with a dynasty of barbarian origin than to the 4th-century kingdom of Scythian nomads. The Late Scythian kingdom maintained close ties with the Bosporan kingdom, and their ruling dynasties were linked together through marriages. A very important position in this kingdom was occupied by Argotos, whom the Bosporan queen Kamasarye (widow of Pairisades II and mother of Pairisades III) took as her second husband (CIRB, no. 75; cf. the inscription from the mausoleum of Argotos in Scythian Neapolis: Vinogradov and Zaitsev, pp. 44-53=SEG LIII, no. 775); it is not clear whether he was a Scythian or a Greek. Argotos would appear to have died in approximately 125 BCE. The best known Late Scythian king Skiluros seems to reign in this period. Skiluros controlled not only central and western Crimea (with the exception of Chersonesos), but also a number of territories in the northwestern part of the North Pontic region. Olbia was politically dependent on Skiluros, who issued coins there bearing his name. Skiluros maintained friendly relations with the Bosporus, and one of his daughters was married to one of the members of the Bosporan royal family, who bore the name of Heraclides (SEG XXXVII, no. 674). Skiluros continued to pursue a hostile policy towards Chersonesos. The Scythian kingdom was routed by the forces of the Pontic king Mithradates Eupator led by his general Diophantes. Relying on support from the long-term enemy of the Scythian kingdom, Chersonesos, Diophantesin the course of three campaigns between 110 and 107 BCEput to rout the last king of Crimean Scythia, Palakos, son of Skiluros (who had died by then) and seized all the Scythian fortresses, including the capital, Neapolis (IosPE I2, no. 352). Former Scythian possessions including Olbia now came under the control of Mithradates. | |||
Scythia Minor, which existed in Dobruja (Andrukh), was of far less significance than the Crimean kingdom. We know of its existence thanks to rare mentions by ancient authors and to inscriptions, and also thanks to the fact that its kings issued their coins in Greek cities in the western part of the Pontic region. From inscriptions and coins we know the names of six Scythian kings from Dobruja: Tanusakos, Kanitos, Sariakos, Akrosakos, Kharaspos and Ailios, who reigned between the second half of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 1st century BCE. Scythia Minor in Dobruja, just like the Scythian kingdom in the Crimea ceased to exist as a result of the expansion of Mithradates Eupator. | |||
In the post-Mithradatic period the Scythian population, which by then had completed the transition to a settled way of life, continued to exist both in the Crimea and in the north-western part of the Pontic region (the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Dobruja), and it was gradually being assimilated among other ethnic groups. In the 1st century CE, the Scythians became stronger again, and in the sixties of that century they laid siege to Chersonesos, which was obliged to turn for help to Rome . The governor of the province of Lower Moesia, T. Plautius Silvanus, organized a campaign against them, and the Scythians were defeated; after that, Roman garrisons were stationed in Chersonesos and also at certain other points. In the sources from that period frequent mention is made of the Tauro-Scythians, which reflects the mixed nature of the Crimean population. According to archeological data (see below), in the second half of the 1st and the first half of the 2nd century CE the Late Scythians had to a significant extent been assimilated by the Sarmatians. Greek sources continue to mention the Scythians for a long time afterwards, until the end of the Byzantine period, but from the 4th century BCE on, this term was often used as a collective name for the northern barbarians and could designate peoples who had nothing to do with the historical Scythians. Byzantine authors, for example, used it to denote Slavs or Turkic nomads. The term Scythians was also used in a similar way in a number of sources from the Roman period. | |||
2. Arch aeology | ||||
The term Scythian culture is used in archeological literature in both a narrow sense and a broad one. Strictly speaking, the Scythian archeological culture was a culture of the steppes and the forest steppes of Eastern Europe (approximately from the Danube to the Don) in the 7th-4th centuries BCE. Some characteristics of this culture (similar, although not identical, shapes for horses bridles, weapons , and works of art in the Animal Style, the so-called Scythian trias) are close to those of cultures of the same period, which existed in other parts of the Eurasian steppes, even as far away as Mongolia. For this reason, some researchers speak of the Scythian cultures of Siberia, the Altai, the Urals region, and so on. This extended use of the term is unfortunate and gives rise to a number of errors. The archeological term Scythian culture, even in its narrow sense, is still wider than the concept culture of the historical Scythians. The Scythian archeological culture embraces not only the Scythians of the East-European steppes, but also the population of the forest steppes, about whose language and ethnic origins it is difficult to say anything precise, and also the Cimmerians . | ||||
Three main stages can be singled out in the development of Scythian culture. The first of these came to be known as Early Scythian culture. In the southern part of Eastern Europe, this culture replaced the so-called sites of the Novocherkassk type. The date of the transition from these to Early Scythian culture is disputed; various dates between the mid-8th and the late 7th century BCE have been proposed. The dating of the emergence of Early Scythian culture to the second half of the 8th century appears to have been most convincingly substantiated. During the incursions into the Near East in the late 8th and 7th centuries BCE, the Cimmerians and Scythians, from an archeological point of view, belonged to the Early Scythian culture, but not to its earliest phase (the nomadic burials in Norsuntepe and Imirler and finds of objects of a Scythian type in the Urartian fortresses at Teiebaini, Bastam, Ayanis-kale, et al., as well as at other sites in Asia Minor and the Near East; Ivantchik, 2001a, pp. 21-96). Early Scythian culture ceased to exist in the second half or at the end of the 6th century BCE | ||||
My interest, up to a point, is restricted to this "earlier Scythian culture" since it is close enough to the early days of "complex" iron technology. The main task then is to find out which akinakes are from this era. | ||||
Early Scythian culture is known mainly from funerary sites, since the Scythians
were nomads and did not have permanent settlements. The settlements have been found only in the forest steppes, where the
population was settled. The most important Scythian sites of the 7th and 6th century BCE are on the northwestern and southeastern
edges of the Scythian territories, in the forest steppes of the Dnieper region and in the Northern Caucasus, while in the
steppes separating those two regions only a few Scythian sites have been recorded. This should be explained not by the fact
that these steppes were not occupied by Scythians (as is sometimes assumed), but by their burial customs; they used to bury their dead at the edge of the territory they occupied. In the Northern Caucasus, a number
of Scythian necropoleis consisting of burial-mounds have been recorded, some of which are distinguished by their great wealth
and have been defined as royal or aristocratic ones. The most important of these are near the village of Kelermesskaya (Galanina),
near the Krasnoe Znamya farmstead (Petrenko), Novozavedennoe II (Petrenko, Maslov, and Kantorovich), Nartan (Batchaev),
near the village of Ulskiy (Ulyap; Ivantchik and Leskov), and the burial-mound near the village of Kostromskaya (Olkhovskii,
1995). The burials were deposited under tumuli, the size of which depended upon the status of the deceased. As a rule the burials were in large rectangular or square pits covered over with wood, or, they were deposited in wooden or stone vaults erected on the ground surface and later covered over by a burial-mound. The deceased were usually laid out in an extended position on their back. The burials were accompanied by horses buried complete with harness, the number of which corresponded to the status of the deceased and could run into tens (Figure 2). In some cases, not only riding-horses have been discovered in burials, but also draught horses together with the remains of chariots. The burial ritual used in the royal tumuli of this period, especially in Kelermes tumuli, corresponds quite precisely to the description of the funeral of Scythian kings provided by Herodotus. | ||||
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In some of the tumuli no burials have been found and these would appear to be not funerary monuments but sanctuaries (some of the Ulskiy tumuli, including the largest with a height of 15 meters, contained skeletons of more than 400 horses). In burial-mounds dating from the 7th century BCE, the same period as the Scythians incursions into the Near East (the Kelermes and Krasnoznamenskii burial-mounds and some of those from the Nartan burial-ground), objects of Near Eastern origin have been discovered, which had evidently been brought back from those campaigns. Some of them, for example the sword and poleaxe from Kelermes (Figure 3), combine Scythian and Near Eastern features and had probably been made by Near Eastern craftsmen at the behest of Scythian chieftains. In the later burial-mounds (since the last quarter of the 7th century BCE), there were no Near Eastern imports, but objects of Greek production appeared, a development which tied in with the beginning of contacts with Greek colonists. | ||||
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Another area in which Early Scythian sites were clustered, including some rich ones, were the forest steppes along the Dnieper River. The most important of these was the Litoi (or Melgunov) burial mound, which had been excavated at the end of 1763 on the border between the steppe and forest steppe zones and had contained a royal burial (Pridik). Objects of Near Eastern origin discovered in this burial site were very similar to those found in the Kelermes tumuli. The swords in gold sheaths found in the Melgunov and Kelermes burial mounds had probably been manufactured in one and the same workshop. The main group of sites was situated further north along both banks of the Dnieper River and its tributaries (Ilinskaya, 1968; idem, 1975; Kovpanenko, 1981; Skoryi, 2003). The most important of these were the following burial-mounds: Perepyatikha (Skoryi, 1990), Zhabotin 524, Darevka (Ilinskaya, 1975, pp. 20, 58-59), Starshaya Mogila, Volkovcy 2/1866, Popovka 8 (Ilinskaya, 1968, pp. 24-26, 45, 59), Steblevo 15 (Klochko and Skoryi, pp. 71-84), and, among the later examples, Gulyai Gorod 38, Bobrica 35 (Ilinskaya, 1975, pp. 14-15), Sinyavka 100 (Ilinskaya and Terenozhkin, p. 271), Medvin 2/III (Kovpanenko, 1977), Repyakhovataya Mogila (Ilinskaya, Mozolevskii, and Terenozhkin), Solodka 2, Shumeiko, Popovka 3 (Ilinskaya, 1968, pp. 32-33, 43-44, 157-158). The burials under the tumuli were deposited in pits covered over with wood, or in wooden vaults built on the ground surface, or let into the pits. In some cases vaults were set on fire before the tumuli were built. The funerary rite was similar but not identical to the one found at contemporary Scythian sites of the Northern Caucasus. |
Apart from funerary sites, numerous settlements, both fortified and non-fortified, have been investigated in the forest steppe zone; the number of the first type so far recorded run into several tens, and there are much more of the second type. The most important sites in the Dnieper region are the city-sites of Trakhtemirovo (600 hects., 7th-6th cent.; Fialko and Boltrik), Motroninskoe (approx. 200 hects., 7th cent.-first quarter of the 5th; Bessonova and Skoryi), and Pastyrskoe (approx. 18 hects., 6th-3rd cent. BCE; Yakovenko, 1968). To the east of these on Vorska River, a western tributary of the Dnieper, there is the largest city-site of the forest steppe zone, namely Belskoe (Figure 4), which dates from the 8th-4th centuries BCE. It occupies an area of 4,400 hectares, the length of its outer rampart is over 30 kilometers and inside the rampart there are three acropoleis with additional fortifications occupying 120, 67 and 15 hectares respectively (Shramko). Of particular significance is the Nemirovskoe city-site in the middle reaches of the southern Bug; it dates from the 7th-6th centuries BCE and occupies an area of 100 hectares (Smirnova). A distinctive feature of this site is the presence of a significant amount of imported Greek pottery dating from the last or even the third quarter of the 7th century (Vakhtina), which testifies to active trade links with the first Greek colony in the North Pontic region, founded approximately in 625 BCE on the island of Berezan in the estuary of the Bug River. Early Scythian city-sites in the forest steppes have large dimensions and are surrounded by ramparts and moats; often inside them an area with additional fortifications is set apart, the acropolis. In a number of city-sites traces of metal-working have been recorded. The dwellings have walls of adobe supported on a wooden frame; they are built above the ground or sunk into it. In the large city-sites only a relatively small area of the site is taken up with buildings, and in some cases this only applies to the acropolis. It is possible that the areas without buildings were set aside for the camps of nomadic Scythians, who only seasonally visited the city-sites, and for penning livestock. | |||||
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A number of important Early Scythian sites have also been recorded in the territories separating the Northern Caucasian and forest steppe groups. The Krivorozhskii burial mound on the eastern bank of the Severskii Donets (Mantscevich, 1958; Alekseev, 2003, pp. 111-13) and the Temir-gora burial-mound in the Crimea (Yakovenko, 1972) both date from the 7th century BCE. Painted Greek vessels found in those tumuli represent the earliest known Greek imports in Scythian burial sites. The first of them contained also the silver head of a bull and a golden hoop of Near Eastern origin. | |||||
A similar range of artifacts with minor local variations characterizes Early Scythian sites. A typical horse bridle (Figure 5) consists of a bronze bit with stirrup-shaped ends or an iron bit with looped ends and cheek-pieces joined to these with straps. The cheek-pieces are usually made of iron with three loops and a curved or straight end, or they are made of bone with three holes in and with ends decorated with depictions in Animal Style; less often they are made of bronze and have three holes. Wooden cheek-pieces with bone ends were also used. These bridles also incorporated separators at the points where straps crossed, so that they would not become tangled, and also decorative plaques. Nose-plates were also used in horse harnesses. The most widespread type of weapon was a bow and arrows (Figure 6). Scythian bows were composite ones; they were sigmoid in shape and rather small, which made them convenient to use for mounted warriors. The arrowheads used were of bronze, less frequently of bone and iron. The bronze arrowheads were complete with a socket and bi- or tri-lobate. The shape of the arrowheads changed over time, but the basic structure remained the same. Bronze arrowheads of Scythian shape and also the bow that was used with them were the most advanced types of firing weapon of that time. This is why no later than the end of the 2nd century BCE, they had been adopted by the armies of the Near East, into which the Cimmerians and Scythians used to direct their incursions; soon afterwards, they were to be found everywhere. Gorytoi (quivers with special sections for a bow hanging from the warriors belt) were used to carry bows and arrows in. Extensive use was made of spears, which were between 1.70 and 2.20 meters in length; the spearheads were made of iron and in the shape of a bay leaf. Sometimes these spears had ferrules at the bottom. | |||||
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Other typical Scythian weapons were iron swords and daggers, so-called akinakai (Figure 7) They were mainly short (50-70 cms), but in the Early Scythian period long swords were also used. Both the daggers and the swords had a cross-guard in the shape of a heart or in a similar shape (so called butterfly or kidney-shaped), and the terminal in the shape of a bar. Sometimes bimetallic pick-axes were used; they had an iron blade and a bronze socket. Other kinds of combat axes were also used. Remains of armor were found even at the most ancient sites; they consisted of bronze and iron plates sewn onto a leather base along the top edge. Helmets of the so-called Kuban type were also used; they were cast of bronze and had an opening for the face (on Scythian weaponry and armor, see Melyukova, 1964; Chernenko, 1968). In Scythian burials, particularly élite ones, terminals are often found in the form of large hollow bells of various shapes with slits in and a small ball inside positioned on a high socket and often crowned with a molded representation of the head or complete figure of an animal or bird. They were usually made of bronze and, less frequently, of iron. They had a cultic function; in a number of cases they were found with the remains of carts and chariots or with the skeletons of horses, but they were also often found without any of them (Perevodchikova, 1980). One of the typical attributes of Early Scythian culture was the large bronze mirror, on the back of which in the center there would be a handle in the form of a plaque raised on two small posts or in the form of a loop (Kuznetsova). In these burials cast-bronze cauldrons of large dimensions and with a round body on a high foot were also often found. Their vertical handles were arranged on the edge of the vessels and they were sometimes in the shape of animal figures. Anthropomorphic stelae were erected on the top of burial mounds to serve as gravestones (Olkhovskii and Evdokimov). Various articles found at Scythian sites were decorated with depictions in the Animal Style (Figure 8). Stylistic differences between various local groups of Scythian culture have been noted, but, on the whole, this style is one of the most characteristic features of Early Scythian culture. The origins of Early Scythian culture have not been conclusively identified and are the subject of controversy. A number of its elements are of Central Asian origin, but this culture would appear to have assumed its definitive form within the territory of the North Pontic region, partly under the influence of the cultures of the Northern Caucasus and, to a small extent, that of the Near East. With regard to certain categories of the material, links to pre-Scythian cultures of the North Pontic region can be noted. | |||||
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Important changes can be detected in the material culture of the Scythians in the second half of the 6th century BCE; then, from the end of the 6th century BCE, a new period begins, which lasts till the end of the 4th or beginning of the 3rd century BCE. Certain scholars regard this as a new stage in the development of Scythian Culture (Classical-Scythian or Mid-Scythian culture), while others refer to it as the emergence of a new archeological culture (Alekseev, 2003, pp. 168-93, with bibliography). As in the preceding period, Scythian culture of this time is represented mainly by funerary sites. The main area of their distribution changes; most of these sites, including the richest ones, are within the territory of the Pontic steppes. The zone where there is a particular concentration of élite burial mounds is within the area of the Dnieper rapids (Mozolevskii, 1986). The Northern Caucasus at that time would appear to have no longer been under the control of the Scythians; the rich burial mounds such as the Seven Brother mounds and those at Elizavetovka or Ulyap, which contain elements of Scythian culture, would appear to have been of the local population. In the forest steppes, burial mounds of the 5th and 4th century, including aristocratic ones (e.g., Ryzhanovka; see Chochorowski and Skoryi), have also been recorded, although they are not as significant as those in the steppes. | |||||
Among the burial mounds dating from the end of the 6th and 5th century, particularly significant sites are Ostraya Tomakovskaya Mogila (Ilinskaya and Terenozhkin, pp. 98, 103), Zavadskaya Mogila 1 (Mozolevskii, 1980, pp. 86-112), Novogrigorevka 5 (Samokvasov, pp. 121-23), Baby, Raskopana Mogila (Evarnitsckii; Ilinskaya and Terenozhkin, pp. 99-101; Alekseev, 1987) in the region of the Dnieper rapids and the Zolotoi (Koltukhov 1999a), and Kulakovskii (Koltukhov, 1998) burial-mounds in the Crimea. Yet the largest and richest burial-mounds denoted as royal date from the 4th century BCE. These are Solokha (Mantsevich, 1987), Bolshaya Cymbalka (OAK 1867, pp. XII-XVI; Ilinskaya and Terenozhkin, p. 149), Chertomlyk (Rolle, Murzin, and Alekseev), Oguz (Fialko), Alexandropol (Lazarevskii; Ilinskaya and Terenozhkin, pp. 136-38), and Kozel (Ilinskaya and Terenozhkin, pp. 149-50). The second richest group of burial mounds, which are referred to for the sake of convenience as aristocratic, include the following: Berdyanskii (Boltrik, Fialko, and Cherednichenko), Tolstaya Mogila (Mozolevskyi, 1979), Chmyreva Mogila (Alekseev, 1985), Five Brothers 8 (Shilov, p. 150), Melitopolskii (Terenozhkin and Mozolevskii), Zheltokamenka (Mozolevskii, 1982), Krasnokutskii (Melyukova, 1981). In addition, approximately 3,000 Scythian funerary sites dating from the 4th century BCE have been excavated in the territory of the steppes of the Black Sea region, a quantity that considerably exceeds the total number of Scythian sites from all previous periods. Funerary sites with Scythian features also existed in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE within the territory of certain Greek cities. This applies to a number of rich burials dating from the 5th century BCE in the necropolis at Nymphaeum (Silanteva) and the extremely rich Kul-Oba tumulus (Grach) not far from Panticapaeum, a Greek town on the eastern shore of Crimea. These burials were probably those of representatives of the Scythian aristocracy, which enjoyed particularly close ties, perhaps family ties, in the first instance with the élite of Nymphaeum and, in the second instance, with the royal family of the Spartokids or the Bosporan aristocracy. | |||||
Continue: Part 2 |
© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)