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== Names ==
{{Main|Names of the Scythians}}
=== Etymology ===
The name is derived from the Scythian endonym {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|Skuδa}}, meaning {{lit|archers}}{{sfn|Szemerényi|1980|p=16}}{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005b|p=296}} which was derived from the Proto-Indo-European root ''{{PIE|skewd-}}'', itself meaning {{lit|shooter, archer}}.{{sfn|Szemerényi|1980|p=20-21}} This name was semantically similar to the endonym of the Sauromatians, {{transl|xsc|*Saᵘrumata}}, meaning "armed with throwing darts and arrows."{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005b|p=296}}
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From this earlier term {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|Skuδa}} was derived:{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=96}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|1999a|p=500-501}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2006|p=150}}
*the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] designation of the Scythians:
**{{transl|akk-x-neoassyr|Askuzāya}} ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒇽𒊍𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}}{{sfn|Parpola|1970|p=178}}<ref name="Asguzayu SCYTHIAN EN">{{cite web |title=Asguzayu [SCYTHIAN] (EN) |url=http://oracc.org/qcat/cbd/qpn-x-ethnic/x00000280.html |website=Q Catalogue |series=[[Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus]] |publisher=[[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]] |access-date=20 June 2024}}</ref>
**{{transl|akk-x-neoassyr|Ašguzāya}} ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒇽𒀾𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}}{{sfn|Parpola|1970|p=178}}<ref
**{{transl|akk-x-neoassyr|Asguzāya}} ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒇽𒊍𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}}{{sfn|Parpola|1970|p=178}}<ref
**or {{transl|akk-x-neoassyr|Iškuzāya}} ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒇽𒅖𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}}<ref>
* as well as the [[Ancient Greek]] name {{transl|grc|Skuthai}} ({{lang|grc|Σκυθαι}}), from which was derived the Latin name {{lang|la|Scythae}}, which gave the English name {{transl|en|Scythians}}.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}
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=== Modern terminology ===
{{See also|Scytho-Siberian world}}
==== Scythians proper ====
The name "Scythians" was initially used by ancient authors to designate specifically the Iranic people who lived in the Pontic Steppe between the Danube and the Don rivers.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=555}}{{sfn|Dandamayev|1994|p=37}}{{sfn|West|2002|p=439}}{{sfn|Yablonsky|2006|p=25}}
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The Late Babylonian scribes of the Achaemenid Empire used the name "Cimmerians" to designate all the nomad peoples of the steppe, including the Scythians and Saka.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=94}}{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=100}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=93}}
However, while the Cimmerians were an Iranic people<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=51}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=1996}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=517}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|
[[File:Herodotos Met 91.8.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|The 5th-century BC [[Greeks|Greek]] historian [[Herodotus|Herodotus of Halicarnassus]] is the most important literary source on the origins of the Scythians]]
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== History ==
{{overly detailed|section|date=June 2024}}
There are two main sources of information on the historical Scythians:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|
*[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] [[cuneiform]] texts from [[Mesopotamia]] which deal with early Scythian history from 7th century BC;
*and [[Greco-Roman world|Graeco-Roman]] sources which cover all of Scythian history, most prominently those written by [[Herodotus|Herodotus of Halicarnassus]], which are less reliable because the information they contain is mixed with folk tales and learnt constructs of historians.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=149}}
===Pre-Scythian period===
The arrival of the Scythians in [[Europe]] was part of the larger process of westwards movement of [[Central Asia
====Beginning of steppe nomadism====
The formation of genuine [[nomadic pastoralism]] itself happened in the early [[1st millennium BC]] due to [[Climate variability and change|climatic changes]] which caused the environment in the Central Asian and [[Siberia
These climatic conditions in turn caused the nomadic groups to become [[Transhumance|transhumant]] pastoralists constantly moving their herds from one pasture to another in the steppe,{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=27}} and to search for better pastures to the west, in [[North Caucasus|Ciscaucasia]] and the forest steppe regions of western Eurasia.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=552}}
====The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex====
The first wave<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=102}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=130}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=106}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|
The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex developed natively in the North Pontic region during the 9th to mid-7th centuries BC from elements which had earlier arrived from Central Asia, due to which it itself exhibited similarities with the other early nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe which existed before the 7th century BC, such as the [[Aržan culture]], so that these pre-Scythian early nomadic cultures were part of a unified Aržan-Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=35-37}}
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}}
[[File:Arzhan animal ring.jpg|thumb|Curled-up feline animal from [[Aržan-1]], circa 800 BC.<ref>{{cite book |title=Impact of the environment on human migration in Eurasia |date=2004 |pages=1–7 |publisher=Kluwer Academic |location=Dordrecht |isbn=1-4020-2655-2 |doi=10.1007/1-4020-2656-0_1 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/1-4020-2656-0_1#|quote=p.24 "Figure.2. Royal barrow Arzhan 1: funeral artifacts. 36-39"}}</ref>]]
Like the nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex, the Scythians originated, along with the [[Saka|Early Sakas]], in Central Asia and Siberia<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|
Therefore, the Scythians and the nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex were closely related populations who shared a common origin, culture, and language,{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=98}} and the earliest Scythians were therefore part of a common Aržan-Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia, with the early Scythian culture being materially indistinguishable from the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=36}}
Going further back, these various steppe nomads shared a common Central Asian origin with the other Iranic peoples such as the [[Medes]], [[Persians]], [[Parthia
The Scythians were already acquainted with quality [[
===Migration out of Central Asia===
The second wave of migration of Iranic nomads corresponded to the early Scythians' arrival from Central Asia into the Caucasian Steppe,{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=31}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=103}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=112-113}} which begun in the 9th century BC,{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=205}} when a significant movement of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe started after the early Scythians were expelled out of Central Asia by either the [[Massagetae]], who were a powerful nomadic Iranic tribe from Central Asia closely related to them,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=1985}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=167}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|
This western migration of the early Scythians lasted through the middle 8th century BC,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=111}} and archaeologically corresponded to the westward movement of a population originating from [[Tuva]] in southern Siberia in the late 9th century BC, and arriving in the 8th to 7th centuries BC into Europe, especially into Ciscaucasia, which it reached some time between {{c.|750}} and {{c.|700 BC}},{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=103}}{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} thus following the same migration general path as the first wave of Iranic nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=112-113}}
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In Ciscaucasia, the Scythians came into contact with a heterogeneous group of agrarian [[Maeotians|Maeotian]] tribes whom they subjugated,{{sfn|Petrenko|1995|p=18}} after which they dominated the Maeotians thanks to their mobility and their military units which they needed to conquer new areas and protect their herds.{{sfn|Petrenko|1995|p=5}}{{sfn|Yablonsky|2006|p=26}} There was significant social differentiation between the Scythians and their native subjects, especially the Maeotians, with the Scythian ruling class being buried in lavishly-equipped kurgans, while the Maeotians were buried in poorly furnished flat cemeteries.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=573}}
Since the Scythians needed agricultural and craft products from the native populations, they conquered these peoples and established interdependence systems: the Scythians obtained surplus through collecting tribute from the populations of the native [[Koban culture|Koban]] and [[Maeotian culture|Maeotian]] cultures of Ciscaucasia,{{sfn|Petrenko|1995|p=18}} who provided various goods to the Scythians, such as agricultural products and crafted goods like clay and bronze vessels, various weapons, [[
These interactions between the Scythians and Maeotians deepened through the 8th to 7th centuries BC so that it led to the creation of a mixed culture,{{sfn|Petrenko|1995|p=7}} and some of the local tribes were assimilated into the Scythians and therefore contributed to the growth of the Scythian population.{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=31}} Significant exchanges between the Scythians and the native inhabitants of the Caucasus region also occurred during this period:
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====Arrival in the Pontic Steppe====
From their base in the Ciscaucasian Steppe,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=109}} the Scythians during the 8th to 7th centuries BC conquered the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe|Pontic]] and [[History of Crimea|Crimean]] Steppes<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=98}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=561}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=576}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=31}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=38}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=28}}|{{harvnb|Batty|2007|p=205}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=117}}}}</ref> to the north of the Black Sea{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=109}} up to the [[Danube|Istros river]], whose mouth henceforth formed the southwestern boundary of Scythian territory,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Batty|2007|
=====Displacement of the Agathyrsi=====
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With the Cimmerian victory on Urartu and Sargon II's successful campaign there, both in 714 BC, having eliminated Urartu as a threat against the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Mannai had ceased being useful as a buffer zone for Neo-Assyrian power, while the Mannaeans started seeing the Neo-Assyrian imperial demands as an unneeded burden. Therefore, the Mannaean king Aḫšeri ({{reign|{{c.|675}}|{{c.|650 BC}}}}) welcomed the Cimmerians and the Scythians as useful allies who could offer both protection and favourable new opportunities to Mannai, which in turn allowed him to become an opponent of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, with him subsequently remaining an enemy of Sennacherib and his successors Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=747}}
During the period corresponding to the reign of the Neo-Assyrian king [[Esarhaddon]] ({{reign|681|669 BC}}), the Scythians were active only on the western Iranian Plateau,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=62}} especially in Mannai and Media,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1999a|p=508}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}} with their first ever recorded mention being from the Neo-Assyrian records{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=99}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=107}} of {{c.|680 BC}}, which detail the first Scythian activities in West Asia and refer to the first recorded Scythian king, [[Išpakāya]], as an ally of the Mannaians.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=97}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=101}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1991|p=358}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=128}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=79}}|{{harvnb|Dandamayev|1994|
Around this time, Aḫšēri was hindering operations by the Neo-Assyrian Empire between its own territory and Mannai,{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=748}} while the Scythians were recorded by the Neo-Assyrians along with the eastern Cimmerians, Mannaeans and Urartians as possibly menacing communication between the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its vassal of [[Ḫubuškia]], with messengers travelling between the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Ḫubuškia being at risk of being captured by hostile Cimmerian, Mannaean, Scythian or Urartian forces.<ref>{{unbulleted list|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=128}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=87}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=40}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=61}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|
During these attacks, the Scythians, along with the eastern Cimmerians who were located on the border of Mannai,{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=358}}{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} were able to reach far beyond the core territories of the Iranian Plateau and attack the Neo-Assyrian provinces of [[Parsua|Parsuwaš]] and [[Bīt-Ḫambān]] and even until as far as Yašuḫ, Šamaš-naṣir and [[Zamua|Zamuā]] in the valley of the Diyala river.<ref>{{unbulleted list|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=358}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|
Meanwhile, Mannai, which had been able to grow in power under Aḫšēri, possibly because it adapted and incorporated steppe nomad fighting technologies borrowed from its Cimmerian and Scythian allies,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}} was able to capture the territories including the fortresses of Šarru-iqbi and Dūr-Illil from the Neo-Assyrian Empire and retain them until the {{c.|650s BC}}.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=102-103}}{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=747}}
The Urartian king [[Rusa II]] ({{
These allied forces of the Cimmerians, Mannaeans and Scythians were defeated some time between {{c.|680}} and {{c.|677 BC}} by Sennacherib's son [[Esarhaddon]] ({{reign|681|669 BC}}), who had succeeded him as the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=78-79}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=68}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} and carried out a retaliatory campaign which reached deep into Median territory until [[Mount Damavand|Mount Bikni]] and the country of Patušarra (Patischoria) on the limits of the [[Dasht-e Kavir|Great Salt Desert]].{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=103-104}}{{sfn|Dandamayev|Medvedskaya|2006}} Išpakāya was killed in battle against Esarhaddon's forces during this campaign, and he was succeeded as king of the Scythians by [[Bartatua]],<ref>{{unbulleted list|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=97}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999c|p=517}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993b|pp=326–327}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=749}}}}</ref> with whom Esarhaddon might have immediately initiated negotiations.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}
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The Neo-Assyrian Empire under Esarhaddon saw the then [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Kushite-ruled]] Egypt as its main military concern, and therefore chose to avoid spending resources on the other imperial borders by securing good relations with [[Tabal (state)|Tabal]], Elam, Urartu, and the Median city-states.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69}}
Furthermore, the Neo-Assyrian Empire did not remain on a defensive footing in response to the activities of the allied Cimmerian, Mannaean and Scythian forces, and it soon undertook diplomatic initiatives to separate Aḫšeri from his allies: it is in this context that the Esarhaddon had opened negotiations with Išpakāya's successor Bartatua to form friendly ties with the Scythians, and that he accepted when,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=69}}|{{harvnb|Dugaw|Lipschits|Stiebel|2020|p=66}}}}</ref> by 672 BC, Bartatua had asked for the hand of the eldest daughter of Esarhaddon, the Neo-Assyrian princess [[Šērūʾa-ēṭirat]], and promised to form an alliance treaty with the Neo-Assyrian Empire in an act of careful diplomacy.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1991|p=359}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=129}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=509}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|
The marriage between Bartatua and the Šērūʾa-ēṭirat likely took place:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Young|1988a|p=20}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1991|p=359}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=565}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=509}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|
The result of this marriage{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} was that the Scythians ceased to be referred to as an enemy force in the Neo-Assyrian records{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=92-93}} and the alliance between the Scythian kingdom and the Neo-Assyrian Empire was concluded,{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=8-9}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=28}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} following which the Scythian kingdom remained on friendly terms with the Neo-Assyrian Empire and maintained peaceful relations with it.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}
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Unions between Scythians and West Asians were not limited to royalty, and the appearance of jewellery decorated using [[Granulation (jewellery)|granulation]] and [[filigree]] in the core Ciscaucasian territory of the Scythian kingdom attests that Scythian men married or took as concubines West Asian women who followed them back to Ciscaucasia.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=114}}
Scythian troops appear to also have served in the Urartian army at this time, with the burial of a Scythian lord together with his horses under
The eastern Cimmerians meanwhile remained hostile to Assyria,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=94}} and, along with the Medes, were the allies of Ellipi against an invasion by the Neo-Assyrian Empire between {{c.|672}} and {{c.|669 BC}}.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=90-91}} The eastern Cimmerians attacked the Assyrian province of Šubria in alliance with Urartu during this time.{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}
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[[File:The Royal lion hunt reliefs from the Assyrian palace at Nineveh, the king is hunting, about 645-635 BC, British Museum (12254914313).jpg|thumb|150px|right|The Assyrian king [[Ashurbanipal]]]]
====Conquest of Mannai====
Some time in the late 660s or early 650s BC, the eastern Cimmerians left the Iranian Plateau and retreated westwards into Anatolia to join the western Cimmerians operating there.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=752-}}
Although Mannai had been powerful under its king Aḫšeri, this power had depended on his alliance with the Cimmerians and Scythians to protect his kingdom from attacks by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and their departure therefore provided Esarhaddon's son and successor to the Neo-Assyrian throne, [[Ashurbanipal]] ({{reign|669|631 BC}}), with the opportunity to carry out a campaign against Mannai over the course of 660 to 659 BC and recover some of the settlements which the Mannaeans had previously captured.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=115}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=71}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|
Aḫšeri tried in vain to stop the Neo-Assyrian advance, but he was otherwise able to withstand the Neo-Assyrian invasion. Aḫšeri had also depended on the Cimmerians to suppress internal opposition to his rule, and their absence weakened him enough that he was soon was overthrown by a popular rebellion and killed along with most of his dynasty by a peasant revolt. Aḫšeri's surviving son, Uallî, requested help from Ashurbanipal, which was provided through the intermediary of Ashurbanipal's brother-in-law, the Scythian king Bartatua,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=116}} who annexed Mannai into the Scythian kingdom{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=28}} while Uallî repressed the rebellion before ascending to the throne of Mannai and submitting to the Neo-Assyrian Empire.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=752-754}} Despite this defeat, Mannai remained a significant power until the rise of the Median Empire in the late 7th century BC.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}}
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==== The reign of Madyes ====
Bartatua was succeeded by his son with Šērūʾa-ēṭirat,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=565}} [[Madyes]],<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=130}}|{{harvnb|Vaggione|1973|p=526}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=99}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1991|p=359}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|
=====Conquest of Media=====
In 652 BC, Esarhaddon's eldest son, [[Šamaš-šuma-ukin]], who had succeeded him as [[List of kings of Babylon|king of Babylon]], rebelled against his younger brother Ashurbanipal:{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=117}} it took Ashurbanipal four years to fully suppress the Babylonian rebellion by 648 BC, and another year to destroy the power of [[Elam]], who had supported Šamaš-šuma-ukin,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}} and, although Ashurbanipal would nevertheless be able to maintain control over [[Babylonia]] for the rest of his reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire finally emerged
By 625 BC, the Medes had acquired knowledge of new ideologies and military technologies both from the sedentary powers like the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Urartu, and from the steppe nomads like the Cimmerians and the Scythians.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=73}} Thanks to the Median integration of these influences, the Median king [[Phraortes]] had been able to combine Scythian and Neo-Assyrian military practices and create an organised army composed of distinct divisions of spearmen, archers, and cavalry, thus transforming Media into the dominant power of the Iranian Plateau.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=73}}
When the revolt of Babylon broke out, Phraortes supported Šamaš-šuma-ukin, and Madyes helped Ashurbanipal repress the revolt externally{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=117-118}}{{sfn|Diakonoff|1993}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69}} by invading the Medes and imposing Scythian hegemony on Media.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=169}}|{{harvnb|Young|1988a|p=20}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1991|p=359}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|
Under Scythian rule, the Medes adopted more Scythian weaponry and military tactics, especially in the domain of archery, and they also adopted mounted cavalry as the main form of cavalry warfare.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=92}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=21}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=114-115}}
=====Scythian hegemony in West Asia=====
The Scythian conquest of Media itself, in turn, marked the beginning of a nearly 30-year long period of Scythian hegemony in West Asia<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Barnett|1991|p=359}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=114}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=34}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=113}}}}</ref> which Graeco-Roman authors later called the "Scythian rule over Upper Asia,"<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|
=====Defeat of the Cimmerians=====
[[File:Kimerian.jpg|thumb|300px|right|An Assyrian relief depicting Cimmerian mounted warriors]]
======Cimmerian activities in Anatolia======
During the 7th century BC, the bulk of the Cimmerians were operating in Anatolia,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}} where they controlled a large territory{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=23}} bordering Lydia in the west, covering Phrygia, and reaching [[Cilicia]] and the borders of Urartu in the east.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=69}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=70}}
The disturbances experienced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire as result of the activities of the Cimmerians in Anatolia led to many of the rulers of this region to try to break away from Neo-Assyrian overlordship,{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=132}} so that the Cimmerians had effectively ended Neo-Assyrian control in Anatolia by the time that Esarhaddon had been succeeded as king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by [[Ashurbanipal]].{{sfn|Grayson|1991c|p=145}} By 657 BC, Neo-Assyrian records were referring to a Cimmerian threat against the western possessions of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the province of Que or even part of the [[Levant]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Brinkman|1991|p=53}}|{{harvnb|Brinkman|1991|p=53}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=645}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|
In 657 BC itself, the Assyrian divinatory records were calling the Cimmerian king [[Dugdammî]] (the Lygdamis of the Greek authors) by the title of {{transl|akk-x-neoassyr|šar-kiššati}} ({{lit|King of the Universe}}),{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}} which in the Mesopotamian worldview could belong to the King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and had been usurped by the Cimmerians and needed to be won back by the Neo-Assyrian Empire{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=100}} This situation remained unchanged throughout the rest of the 650s and the early 640s BC.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=105}}
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In 644 BC, the Cimmerians and Treres under the Cimmerian king Dugdammî and the Treran king Kōbos,{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=407}} and in alliance with the [[Lycians]] or Lycaonians, attacked Lydia for a second time in 644 BC:{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=405-406}} this time they defeated the [[Lydians]] and captured their capital city of [[Sardis]] except for its citadel, and the Lydian king [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]] died during this attack.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=406}}|{{harvnb|Braun|1982|p=36}}|{{harvnb|Cook|1982|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1982|p=452}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=643}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=645}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=104–105}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=39}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Dale|2015|p=160}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=71}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=106}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|p=20}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=758}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=215}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=217}}}}</ref>
After sacking Sardis, Lydgamis and Kobos led the Cimmerians and the Treres into invading the Greek city-states of the [[Troad]],{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} [[Aeolis|Aeolia]] and [[Ionia]] on the western coast of Anatolia,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=129}}|{{harvnb|Cook|1982|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|pp=91–92}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=70}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|
======Cimmerian activities in Cilicia======
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Despite these setbacks, the Lydian kingdom was able to grow in power, and the Lydians themselves appear to have adopted Cimmerian military practices such as the use of mounted cavalry, with the Lydians fighting using long spears and archers, both on horseback.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=74}}
Around {{c.|635 BC}},{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=408}} and with Neo-Assyrian approval,{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=9}} the Scythians under Madyes conquered Urartu,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}{{sfn|Bouzek|2001|p=39}} entered Central Anatolia{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=129}} and defeated the Cimmerians and Treres.<ref>{{unbulleted list|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=406}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=567}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=517}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=151}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=759}}}}</ref> This final defeat of the Cimmerians was carried out by the joint forces of Madyes's Scythians, whom [[Strabo|Strabo of Amasia]] credits with expelling the Treres from Asia Minor, and of the Lydians led by their king [[Alyattes]],{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=23-24}} who was himself the son of Sadyattes as well as the grandson of Ardys and the great-grandson of Gyges, whom Herodotus of Halicarnassus and [[Polyaenus|Polyaenus of Bithynia]] claim permanently defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat.<ref>{{unbulleted list|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=124–125}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|pp=74–75}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|
In Polyaenus' account of the defeat of the Cimmerians, he claimed that Alyattes used "war dogs" to expel them from Asia Minor, with the term "war dogs" being a Greek folkloric reinterpretation of young Scythian warriors who, following the Indo-European passage rite of the [[Kóryos|''{{PIE|kóryos}}'']], would ritually take on the role of wolf- or dog-warriors.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993b|p=311}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993b|
The Cimmerians completely disappeared from history following this final defeat,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} and they were soon assimilated by the populations of Anatolia.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}} It was also around this time that the last still-existing [[Syro-Hittite states|Syro-Hittite]] and Aramaean states in Anatolia, which had been either independent or vassals of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Phrygia, Urartu, or the Cimmerians, also finally disappeared, although the exact circumstances of their end are still very uncertain.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=72}}
Scythian power in West Asia thus reached its peak under Madyes, with the West Asian territories ruled by the Scythian kingdom extending from the Halys river in Anatolia in the west to the Caspian Sea and the eastern borders of Media in the east, and from Transcaucasia in the north to the northern borders of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the south.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=134}}|{{harvnb|Vaggione|1973|
Archaeologically, the movement of the Cimmerians and Scythians into Anatolia corresponds to the expansion of the Scythian culture into this region.{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}
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Therefore, the earliest {{transl|grc|emporia}} of the north Black Sea were built at [[Histria (ancient city)|Histria]] on the mouth of the Istros river, at [[Tyras]] on a promontory commanding the estuary of the [[Dniester|Tyras river]],{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124}} and especially on the [[Berezan Island|island of Borysthenēs]], near the joint estuary of the Hypanis and Borysthenēs rivers and therefore granting access to both of them.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=41}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=34}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=38}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=124}}}}</ref> The {{transl|grc|emporion}} of Borysthenēs would henceforth thrive during the rest of the 7th century BC, and throughout the following 6th century BC.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124}}
These {{transl|grc|emporia}} were themselves useful for the commercial ventures of their mother cities by acting as markets through which [[Cooking oil|oil]], [[wine]] and manufactured goods could be exchanged with the native populations in exchange for foodstuffs and rare raw materials such as [[grain]], [[Fish as food|fish]], animal products, [[
=====Decline in West Asia=====
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======Revolt of Media======
[[File:Qyzqapan tomb relief 2.jpg|thumb|150px|right|The Median king [[Cyaxares]]]]
By then, the Median king [[Cyaxares]] had grown powerful and started negotiations with the Scythians. The next year, in 625 BC, he invited the Scythian leaders at a feast in his palace, where he made them drunk and by assassinated them all, thus overthrowing the Assyro-Scythian yoke over the Medes and making them one of the first people to acquire independence from the Neo-Assyrian Empire.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Loehr|1955|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=9}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=130}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=119}}|{{harvnb|Young|1988a|
The assassination of the Scythian rulers by Cyaxares brought an end to the hegemony of the Scythian kingdom in West Asia,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=119}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=567}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=114}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=24}}}}</ref> after which its activities became limited to the eastern borderlands of the Neo-Assyrian Empire{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} and the importation of West Asian goods into the Scythian kingdom's core territories of the Ciscaucasian steppe ended.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}
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======Raid till Egypt======
[[File:Psammetique Ier T Pabasa.jpg|thumb|150px|left|The pharaoh [[Psamtik I]]]]
With the power of their former Neo-Assyrian allies crumbling during the mid-620s BC, and the newly ascending Neo-Babylonian and Median Empires having not yet consolidated themselves, the Scythians took advantage of the power vacuum to raid into the [[Levant]]<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Loehr|1955|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=133}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=567}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=28}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=517}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=74}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|
The Scythian raid into the Levant reached as far south as Palestine,{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=28}} and was foretold by the Judahite prophets [[Isaiah]], [[Jeremiah]] and [[Zephaniah]], who foretold of a pending "Disaster from the North" which they believed would result in the destruction of [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=9}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|
The Scythian raid reached the borders of the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Saite Egyptian kingdom]],<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1991|
The Scythians sacked several cities in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] while retreating,{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} including the temple of the goddess [[ʿAštart]] in [[Ascalon]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=130}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999a|p=517}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=151}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=21}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=34}}}}</ref> According to later Graeco-Roman authors, this the shrine of Ascalon was considered to be the most ancient of all temples to that goddess, as a result of which the perpetrators of this sacrilege and their descendants were allegedly cursed by ʿAštart with a "female disease" causing them to become a class of transvestite diviners called the [[Enaree|{{transliteration|xsc|Anarya}}]] ({{lit|unmanly}} in [[Pontic Scythian language|Scythian]]{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}).{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=1972}}
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=====Expulsion from West Asia=====
By the {{c.|590s BC}}, the ascending Median Empire of Cyaxares annexed Urartu,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=124}}{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=33}} after having already annexed Mannai in 616 BC.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=122}} This rise of Median power forced the Scythian kingdom to leave West Asia and retreat northward into the Ciscaucasian Steppe,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=9}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=133}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=119}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=38}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=28}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=107}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=115}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=130}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=22}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=24}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=113}}}}</ref> after which the Scythian activities in West Asia,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=107}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=22}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} as well as the ties between West Asians and the Scythians over the course of the 7th century BC,{{sfn|Petrenko|1995|p=21}} and West Asian influences on the Scythians, all came to an end around {{c.|610-600 BC}}.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=169}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=172}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|
Nevertheless, even after the Scythians' retreat from West Asia, complex relations continued to exist between the Median and Scythian kingdoms located, respectively, to the south and north of the Caucasus Mountains, with the Scythians continuing to be involved as partners and enemies of the Median kingdom in the Caucasian region.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=116}}
======Remnants in West Asia======
Some splinter Scythian groups nevertheless remained in eastern Transcaucasia, especially in the area corresponding to modern-day Azerbaijan, and did not retreat to the north.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=108}} Therefore, the area where they lived was called {{transl|xme|Sakašayana}} ({{lit|land inhabited by the Saka (that is, by Scythians)}}) by the Medes; this name was later recorded as [[Sakasene|{{transliteration|grc|Sakasēnē}}]] ({{lang|grc|Σακασηνη}}) by [[Ptolemy]], and its inhabitants were called the {{transliteration|grc|Skythēnoi}} ({{lang|grc|Σκυθηνοι}}) by Xenophon, as {{transliteration|grc|Sakesinai}} ({{lang|grc|Σακεσιναι}}) by Arrian, and as the {{transl|la|Sacassānī}} by Titus Livius.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=100}}
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====North Pontic Scythian kingdom====
[[File:Scythian kingdom in the Pontic steppe - detailed.jpg|thumb|500px|The Scythian kingdom in the Pontic steppe at its maximum extent in the 6th century BC|alt=The Scythian kingdom in the Pontic steppe at its maximum extent in the 6th century BC]]
After their expulsion from West Asia, the majority of the Scythians returned to the parts of the Ciscaucasian Steppe<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|
This movement of the Scythians into the Pontic Steppe was motivated by two main factors:{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=38}}
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The Pontic Steppe was therefore a particularly attractive territory for the Scythians to occupy, not only because it was an ideal terrain for their warrior pastoralist lifestyle, but also because it allowed them to obtain grain to supplement their diet from the mixed farmer population of the forest steppe to their north, and exotic luxury goods for their aristocracy to use as status markers from the Greek colonies on the shore of the Black Sea.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=113}}
Attesting of this Scythian movement out of Ciscaucasia and into the Pontic Steppe, as well as of their deepening of the connections with the Greek colonies, Ciscaucasian helmets ceased to be used by the Scythians in the 6th century BC, and were replaced by Greek ones, especially of the [[Attic helmet|Attic type]],{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=156}} while the female burial of the 2nd Kelermes kurgan contained
=====Pontic Scythian political and social formation=====
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=====Scythian influence in the Pontic Steppe=====
The westward migration of the Scythians was accompanied by the introduction into the north Pontic region of articles originating in the Siberian [[Karasuk culture]], such as distinctive swords and daggers, and which were characteristic of Early Scythian archaeological culture, consisting of cast bronze [[
It was at this time{{sfn|Jettmar|1971|p=13}} that the Scythians brought the knowledge of working [[iron]] which they had acquired in West Asia with them and introduced it into the Pontic Steppe, whose peoples were still Bronze Age societies until then.{{sfn|Jettmar|1971|p=8}} Some West Asian blacksmiths might also have accompanied the Scythians during their nortwards retreat and become employed by Scythian kings, after which the practice of ironworking soon spread to the neighbouring populations.{{sfn|Jettmar|1971|p=8}}
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[[File:Etruscan bronze funerary urn with Scythian mounted archer, mid-5th century BCE.jpg|thumb|Scythian mounted archer, [[Etruscan art]], early 5th century BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bronze statuette of a Scythian mounted archer Etruscan, Campanian Classical |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255955 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref>]]
======Raids to the west======
Once the centre of Scythian power had shifted into the Pontic Steppe, from around {{c.|600 BC}} the Scythians often raided into the adjacent regions, with Central and Southeast Europe being a frequent target of their attacks.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=109}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=130}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=205}} Attacks by the Scythians were directed not only at [[Transylvania]], [[Podolia]] and the [[Pannonian Steppe]],{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=109}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=113}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=119}} but might also have been directed at [[Southern Germany|southern Germania]], where they attacked the [[Lusatian culture]] and caused its destruction, and from there, until as far as [[Gaul]],{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=191}} and possibly even the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian peninsula]]:{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=107}} these Scythian incursions were not unlike those of the [[Huns]] and the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] during the Migration Period, and of the [[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongols]] in the mediaeval era, and were recorded in Etruscan bronze figurines depicting mounted Scythian archers.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=193}}
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[[Pontic Olbia]] was one of the most important cities founded during this second wave of colonisation, and was located on the mainland next to the {{transl|grc|emporion}} of Borysthenēs.{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=34}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=38}} The {{transl|grc|emporion}} itself was soon moved to Olbia due to the poor quality of the port facilities of the island of Borysthenēs,{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=41}} leading to Olbia soon overshadowing the colony Borysthenēs{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124}} to instead itself become an important cultural and commercial centre.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=583}}
In the Pontic Steppe, the Greek colonists also found appealing opportunities to trade with the Scythians{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=38}} by selling them wine, [[olive oil]], [[
An important gold trade route also connected Pontic Olbia with the inland areas, running north into the territory of the tribe of the Arotēres, and from there leading into inner Asia:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=157}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=186}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=583}}}}</ref> the Greek cities were able to grow and thrive quickly because they had been able to develop extensive trade relations with distant regions thanks to the rule of the Scythian kingdom over the Pontic Steppe and of its kings' establishment of a {{transl|la|Pax Scythica}} which ensured that traders were safe from robbers. This thriving trade route in turn was an important source of profits for the Scythian royalty and aristocracy thanks to which they obtained significant wealth.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=158}} The relations between the Scythian kingdom and the Greek traders were therefore mutually beneficial and influenced both the nomadic Scythians and the forest steppe populations, with the Scythian aristocracy profiting significantly from this trade.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=43}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=34}}
Line 621 ⟶ 627:
The importance of the Greek colonies of the north Black Sea coast drastically increased following the Persian Achaemenid Empire's [[First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt|conquest of Egypt]] in 525 BC by [[Cambyses II]], son of Cyrus II, which deprived the states of Greece proper of the Egyptian grain that they depended on.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124}}
These grain supplies were so important to the city-states of Greece, most especially of the then dominant Greek power of [[Classical Athens|Athens]], that this latter city started seeking new locations for producing grain on the north shore of the Black Sea. Therefore, Athens established very well defended new colonies on the north Black Sea coast near the already existing settlements, including [[Nymphaion (Crimea)|Nymphaion]] near Pantikapaion, [[Athēnaion (Crimea)|Athēnaion]] near [[Feodosia|Theodosia]], and [[Stratokleia]] near Phanagoreia, which would act as sites where grain of very good quality was produced to be exported to Athens to feed its citizenry.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124-125}}
The various Greek city-states of the [[Aegean Sea]] also imported fish, furs and slaves from Scythia during this period,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=125}} and in the mid-6th century BC the Greeks started employing Scythian [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] in the form of detachments of mounted archers to support their own hoplite armies.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=53}}
Line 634 ⟶ 640:
By the end of the 6th century BC, the Scythians had lost their territories in the [[Kuban steppe|Kuban Steppe]] to the Sauromatians, and the Scythian earthworks in this region were abandoned,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=172}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=195}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=573}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=32}}}}</ref> except for those in its westernmost part which included the Sindic Chersonese, where the Scythian Sindi tribe formed a ruling class over the native Maeotians independently of the bulk of the Scythians in the Pontic Steppe,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=195}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=572}} due to which this country was named Sindica. By the 5th century BC, the Scythians had completely retreated from Ciscaucasia,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=193}} and Sindica was the only part of this region where the Scythian culture still survived.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=572}}
This process resulted in a wave of Sauromatian nomads crossing the Tanais river, immigrating into Scythia, settling near the Royal Scythians in the region of the Maeotian Sea on the right bank of the Tanais up to the Borysthenēs,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=175}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=111}} and intermarrying with the local nomad inhabitants of the Pontic Steppe.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=590}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=111}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|
Introduced in Scythia by the Sauromatian immigrants in the late 6th century BC was a new funerary rite, where the deceased were inhumated in "catacombs" made of one or more burial chambers branching from a vertical entrance well. These "catacomb" burials would become more commonly used for aristocratic burials in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=159}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=193}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|
This Sauromatian immigration also introduced new social norms into Scythia thanks to which women were now allowed to become warriors.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=141-142}} Thus, the graves of Scythian women from this period and later contained the burials of armed women, mostly belonging to ordinary nomads, and more rarely to richer nomads, with 37% of Scythian women's burials containing the graves of armed women.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=106}} The grave goods of these tombs reflected influences from the east, such as bronze daggers characteristic of the [[Tagar culture]], as well as human individuals with East Asian features,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=195}} and one deceased woman was buried in a grave whose location corresponds to present-day Novosilka near [[Lypovets]] along with a [[Bactrian camel|Central Asian camel]].{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=195}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=141}}
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In the late 6th century BC, the Achaemenid Persian Empire started expanding into Europe, beginning with the Persian annexation of all of Thrace,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=42}} after which the Achaemenid king of kings [[Darius the Great|Darius I]] crossed the Istros river in 513 BC<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=9}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=190}}|{{harvnb|Batty|2007|p=208}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=42}}}}</ref> and attacked the Scythian kingdom with an army of 700,000 to 800,000 soldiers,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=101}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=29}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=22}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=42}}}}</ref> possibly with the goal of annexing it.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=42}}
In response, the Scythian king Idanthyrsus summoned the kings of the peoples surrounding his kingdom to a council to decide how to deal with the Persian invasion.{{sfn|Herodotus|Godolphin|1973|p=143}} The [[Budini]], [[Gelonians|Geloni]] and Sauromatians joined the Scythian-led alliance in resisting the Persian invasion,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=10}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=111}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=65}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=122}}}}</ref> and Idanthyrsus led the joint forces of the Scythians and their allied neighbours in resisting the Persian invasion.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} Meanwhile, the Agathyrsi, [[Androphagi]], [[Melanchlaeni]], [[Neuri]] and Tauri refused to support the Scythians.{{sfn|Herodotus|Godolphin|1973|p=145}}{{sfn|Fol|Hammond|1988|p=241}}
According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Scythian-led alliance's strategy was to adopt the tactic of retreating before the Persian army and staying one day's march ahead of them instead of directly fighting them, while also employing [[Scorched earth|scorched earth tactics]] so as to goad the Persian army deeper into the deserted parts of Scythian territory. The Persian army eventually crossed the Tanais river and built fortifications there,{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=100}} but the Scythians continued their tactics until the Persian army was no longer at a safe distance from the Istros, allowing the Scythians to launch guerrilla attacks on it.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=101}}{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=39}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=43}}
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The retreat of the Scythians from Ciscaucasia{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=572}} and the arrival of the Sauromatian incomers into the Pontic Steppe in the late 6th century BC caused significant cultural changes in Scythia, giving rise to the Middle or Classical Scythian period,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=572}}|{{harvnb|Alekseyev|2005|p=42}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=111}}}}</ref> which itself was a hybrid culture originating from a combination of a continuation of the material culture reflected in the Ciscaucasian Scythian burials with Sauromatian elements.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=193}}
Among the changes in Scythia in this period was a significant increase in the number of monumental burials: it was from the Middle Scythian period that the largest number of Scythian burials in the Pontic Steppe were made, with the Scythian upper classes starting to bury their dead within the Pontic Steppe itself largely in the region of the rapids of the Borysthenēs river (possibly the country of {{transl|grc|Gerrhos}} mentioned by Herodotus), although some aristocratic burials were also located in the forest steppes.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|
*some significant sites in the region of the Borysthenēs river rapids, such as the {{ill|Hostra Tomakivska mohyla|uk|Гостра Томаківська могила}}, the [[:w:uk:Перша Завадська Могила|1st barrow of the Zavadska Mohyla]], the 5th barrow of the {{ill|Novohryhorivka mohyla|uk|Новогригорівка могила}}, Baby mohyla, and {{ill|Rozkopana mohyla|uk|Розкопана могила}};
*some in the Tauric Chersonese, such as the {{ill|Zoloty kurhan|uk|Золотий курган}} and {{ill|Kulakivsky kurhan|uk|Кулаківський курган}}.
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Under these conditions, the grain and slave trade continued, and Pontic Olbia not only did not decline, but instead experienced economic prosperity.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=52}}
The Scythian aristocracy also derived immense revenue from these commercial activities with the Greeks,{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=104}} most
There was a very significant stratification in Scythia in terms of social and property among both the aristocratic and commoner the Scythians during this period, and Scythian commoners did not obtain any benefits from this trade, with luxury goods being absent from their tombs.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=105}} That this economic success was limited to the Scythian aristocracy is reflected by how Scythian art in this period largely portrayed elements of prestige, as well as the divinisation of royal power, the cults of ancestral heroes, and celebrated military valour.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=106}}
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===== The city of Kamianka =====
Internal tribal migrations within the Scythian kingdom during the 5th century BC appear to have caused central power to move to the region of the bend of the Borysthenēs,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=181}} so that much of the Scythian settlements of the 5th and 4th centuries BC were located in the valley of the Borysthenēs and of its tributaries until the coastal region:{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=193}} the site of Kamianka, located in the Borysthenēs bend region and built in the late 5th century BC, was the largest and most important of the Scythian city-sites,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=199}}{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}} measuring 12 square kilometres, and was protected by earthen ramparts, moats, the rivers and the salt lake of [[Bilozerka (river)|Bilozerka]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=104}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=35}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|
The "acropolis" of Kamianka was located high above the Konka river and was separated from the outer city by double-shell earthworks and a rampart topped by a Greek-style mudbrick wall. Large amounts of Greek red-figure pottery, wine {{transl|la|amphorae}}, black [[lacquerware]], [[Krater|{{transl|grc|krātēres}}]] for mixing wine and water, imported jewellery, and bones of [[Game (hunting)|game animals]] killed during [[Hunting|hunts]] have been found in the "acropolis" of Kamianka by archaeologists,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=119}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=129-131}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=79-81}} implying that it was the location of the seasonal royal Scythian headquarters;<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=199}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=104}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}}}</ref> much of the goods from the "acropolis" of Kamianka, such as the Greek pottery, were Bosporan-imported, attesting of the close links between the Scythian and Bosporan kingdoms at this time.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=197}}
By the Middle Scythian period, the centre of Scythian [[metallurgy]] had shifted into the steppe,{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=35}} in the "outer city" of Kamianka, which was considerably larger than the acropolis,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=129}} and was the residence of an agriculturalist population as well as of the metalsmiths who manufactured objects from copper, lead and zinc, gold- and silverwork, such as tools, simple jewellery, as well as weapons and armour and horse trappings used by the nomadic population of the steppe.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=119}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|
An open tract in was also located in the southeast of the "outer city," and was perhaps used for grazing cattle, sheep and goats{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=129}} or for defensive purposes.{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=79}}
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In 313 BC, the Agaros attempted to invade the territory to the south of the Istros again, but was defeated by the Macedonian king of Thrace, the [[Diadochi|diadoch]] [[Lysimachus]].{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=118}}
In 309 BC, Agaros participated in the [[Bosporan Civil War]] on the side of [[Satyrus II|Satyros II]], son of Pairisadēs I, against his half-brother [[Eumelus of Bosporus|Eumēlos]].{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=29}} Agaros provided Satyros with 20,000 infantrymen and 10,000 cavalrymen,{{sfn|Olkhovsky|1995|p=72}} and after Satyros was defeated and killed, his son, also named Paerisades, fled to Agaros's realm for refuge.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=118}}|{{harvnb|Alekseyev|2005|p=45}}|{{harvnb|Batty|2007|p=204}}|{{harvnb|Batty|2007|
In the early 3rd century BC, the Scythian kingdom started declining economically as a result of competition from Egypt, which under the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]] had again become a supplier of grain to Greece.{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=85}}
====End of Pontic Scythia====
In the early 3rd century BC, the Scythian kingdom faced a number of interlocking unfavourable conditions, such as climatic changes in the steppes and economic crises from overgrazed pastures and a series of military setbacks, as well as the intensifiation of the arrival from the east of the [[Sarmatians]],<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=107}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=44}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=30}}|{{harvnb|Olkhovsky|1995|p=72}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=110}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|
The Sarmatian tribe responsible for most of the destruction of the Pontic Scythian kingdom were the [[Roxolani]], who had in the 4th century BC lived the trans-Araxes region, and from there crossed the Tanais river and captured the Pontic Steppe up to the Borysthenēs,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=199}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=144}} where they may have become a mixed Scytho-Sarmatian tribe at this time.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=122}}
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As a consequence of the sudden end of the Pontic Scythian kingdom, the material culture of the Scythians also disappeared in the early 3rd century BC,{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} with the large Scythian kurgans stopping being built and the large cities, such as the one at [[Gelonus]], being abandoned at that time,{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=213}} and there being no known Scythian or Sarmatian monuments from this period.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=144}} With the end of the Scythian kingdom, the peoples of the forest steppe became independent again returned to their original mixed farmer sedentary lifestyle while all Scythian elements disappeared from their culture.{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=55-56}}
With the end of the Pontic Scythian kingdom, grain exports
Following the invasion, the Sarmatian tribes became the new dominant force of the Pontic Steppe,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=118}} resulting in the name "{{transl|la|Sarmatia Europa}}" ({{lit|European Sarmatia}}) replacing "{{transl|la|Scythia}}" as the name of the Pontic Steppe,{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=212}} and the name "Sarmatians" replacing that of "Scythians" as the generic designation of the peoples of the Pontic-Caspian Steppes until the invasion of the Huns.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=116}}
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===Late period===
[[File:Simferopol, Scythian Neapolis, 2016.06.17 (04) (29608182661).jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.35|Remains of [[Scythian Neapolis]] near modern-day [[Simferopol]], Crimea. It served as the capital of the Little Scythia in the Tauric Chersonese.]]
With the Sarmatian invasion and the collapse of the Pontic Scythian kingdom, the Scythians were pushed to the fringes of the northern Pontic region where urban life was still possible, and they retreated to a series of fortified settlements along the major rivers and fled to the two regions both known as "Little Scythia,"{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=213}} which remained the only places where the Scythians could still be found in by the 2nd century BC were:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=199}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=107}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=45}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=57}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|p=30}}|{{harvnb|Olkhovsky|1995|p=72}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|
* the first [[Scythia Minor (Crimea)|Little Scythia]], whose capital was Scythian Neapolis, was composed of the territories of the Tauric Chersonese and the lower reaches of the Borysthenēs and Hypanis rivers;
* the second [[Scythia Minor (Dobruja)|Little Scythia]] was located in the northeast of Thrace immediately to the south of the mouth of the Istros river and the west of the Black Sea, in the territory corresponding to present-day Dobruja.
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With sedentarisation, both fortified and unfortified settlements replaced the older nomadic camps in the basin of the lower Borysthenēs river, which prevented the remaining Scythians from continuing to maintain a steppe economy.{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=56-57}} Therefore, the number of fortified settlements in the Tauric Chersonese increased with the retreat into this territory and away from the steppe of the Scythian aristocracy, who was then rapidly embracing a Hellenistic lifestyle.{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=132}} By the 1st century BC, these Scythians living in the Tauric Chersonese had fully become sedentary farmers.{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=214}}
These later Scythians slowly intermarried with the native [[Tauri]] and the infiltrating Sarmatians,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=198}} and their culture had little to do with the earlier classical Scythian culture, instead consisting of a combination of those with the traditions of the Tauroi from the mountains of the Tauric Chersonese and of the Greeks of the coasts, and
In the 1st century BC, both Little Scythias were destroyed and their territories annexed by the king [[Mithridates VI Eupator]] of the [[kingdom of Pontus]]{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=214}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} despite the Scythians' alliance with their former enemies, the Roxolani, against him.{{sfn|Olkhovsky|1995|p=73}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=121-122}}
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These Cimmerians and Scythians also influenced the developments in West Asia through the spread of the steppe nomad military technology brought by them into this region, and which were disseminated during the periods of their respective hegemonies in West Asia.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=75}}
[[File:Xerxes detail three types of Sakas cleaned up.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|For the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]], there were three types of Sakas:
* the ''Sakā tayai paradraya'' ("beyond the sea", presumably the Scythians between the Greeks and the [[Thracians]] on the Western side of the [[Black Sea]]),
* the ''[[Sakā tigraxaudā]]'' ([[Massagetae]], "with [[Phrygian cap|pointed caps]]"),
* the {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} ("who lay down [[Haoma|Hauma]]", furthest East).
Soldiers in the service of the [[Achaemenid army]], [[Xerxes I]] tomb detail, circa 480 BC.{{sfn|Schmitt|2003a}}]]
The inroads of the Cimmerians and Scythians in West Asia over the course of the late-8th to late-7th century BC led to significant changes in this region.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=60}}
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======According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus======
[[Herodotus|Herodotus of Halicarnassus]] wrote a legendary account of the arrival of the Scythians into the lands of the Cimmerians:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|
* after the Scythians were expelled from Central Asia by the Massagetae, they moved to the west across the Araxes, and took possession of the Cimmerians' lands after chasing them away;
* the approach of the Scythians led to a civil war among the Cimmerians because the "royal tribe" wanted to remain in their lands and defend themselves from the invaders, while the rest of the people saw no use in fighting and preferred to flee;
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====Modern period====
[[File:Eugène Delacroix - Ovide chez les Scythes (1862).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|[[Eugène Delacroix]]'s painting of the Roman poet, Ovid, in exile among the Scythians{{sfn|Lomazoff|Ralby|2013|p=63}}]]
=====Modern pseudohistory=====
Drawing on the Biblical narrative and the Graeco-Roman conflation of the Scythians and Celts, [[Early modern period|early modern]] European scholars believed that the Celts were Scythians who were descended from Japheth's son [[Gog and Magog|Magog]], and that they were related to the [[Gauls]], whom they believed were descended from Japheth's other son [[Gomer]]. It therefore became popular among [[Pseudohistory|pseudohistorians]] of the 15th and 16th centuries who drew on this historiography to claim that the Irish people were the "truest" inheritors of Scythian culture so as both to distinguish and denigrate Irish culture.{{sfn|Lennon|2008|p=9}}[[File:Scythians at the Tomb of Ovid c. 1640.jpg|thumb|''Scythians at the Tomb of [[Ovid]]'' (c. 1640), by [[Johann Heinrich Schönfeld]]]]
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===Location===
====Early phase in the western steppes====
After migrating out of Central Asia and into the western steppes, the Scythians first settled and established their kingdom in the area between the Araxes, the [[Caucasus Mountains]] and the [[Sea of Azov|Maeotian Sea]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=553}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|
====In West Asia====
In West Asia, the Scythians initially settled in the area between the [[Aras (river)|Araxes]] and [[Kura (river)|Kura]] rivers before further expanding into the region to the south of the [[Kura (river)|Kuros river]] in what is present-day [[Azerbaijan]], where they settled around what is today [[Mingachevir|Mingəçevir]], [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Gəncə]] and the [[Mugan plain|Muğan plain]], and [[South Caucasus|Transcaucasia]] remained their centre of operations in West Asia until the early 6th century BC,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|page=282}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|
During the peak of the Scythians' power in West Asia after they had conquered Media, Mannai and Urartu and defeated the Cimmerians, the Scythian kingdom's possessions in the region consisted of a large area extending from the [[Kızılırmak River|Halys]] river in Anatolia in the west to the Caspian Sea and the eastern borders of [[Media (region)|Media]] in the east, and from Transcaucasia in the north to the northern borders of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] in the south.{{sfn|Phillips|1972}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|1954|page=294}}{{sfn|Vaggione|1973}}
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To the north of the steppe proper were the forest steppes, which covered the area of the Dnipro hills, the middle reaches of the Dnipro river itself, and stretched from part of the Dnipro Lowland up to the middle Don river. The characteristic features of the forest steppe were the large forest tracts and woodless tracts of meadow steppe.{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=27}}
The Scythian kingdom covered the territory of the treeless steppe immediately north of the [[Black Sea]]'s coastline, which was inhabited by nomadic pastoralists, as well as the fertile black-earth forest steppe area to the north of the treeless steppe, which was inhabited by an agricultural population,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|pages=
Until the late 6th century BC, the Scythians' territory also included the Ciscaucasian steppe around the Kuban river, although by the 5th century BC the Scythian kingdom no longer included Ciscaucasia and had become limited by the Don river to its east.{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=32}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=68}}
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=====Neighbouring populations=====
The neighbours of the Scythians in the Pontic Steppe included:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|
* the Thracian [[Getae]], who lived to the west of Scythia, across the Danube and Pyretos rivers.
* the [[Melanchlaeni]] and the [[Androphagi]], who lived to the east of the middle Dnipro river, in the forest steppe bordering the territory of the Royal Scythians to the north, respectively in the valleys of the Donets and Sula rivers. These populations were either of Scythic or of mixed Scythic and native origin.
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===Ethnicity===
====Central Asian Iranic origins====
The originally nomadic Scythians who migrated out of Central Asia were an Eastern Iranic people<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Minns|1913|p=36}}|{{harvnb|Rostovtzeff|1922|p=13}}|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=7}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=48}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|
This origin from Central Asia, which was also ultimately the case with other Iranic peoples such as the Medes, Persians, Parthians, and Sogdians, was visible until at least the 5th century BC in how these various peoples shared common myths as well as styles of dress and ornaments such as the wearing of tunics and trousers.{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=7}}{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=38}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=78}}
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The Borysthenēs river thus marked a cultural boundary between the sedentary farmers in the west and the pastoral nomads in the east:{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=10}} these various populations constituting the overarching Scythian political structure were furthermore organised into tribes which were themselves headed by local lords. These tribes were in turn subject to the dominant tribe of the Royal Scythians, who formed the tribal aristocracy of the Scythians and whose ruling lord was the king of all Scythians.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=104}}
The Scythians were composed of a number of tribal units,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=547}} including:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|
* the '''Royal Scythians''' were an Iranic tribe who nomadised in the Pontic Steppe, in an area limited by the Dnipro river in the west, and the Don river and the port of Krēmnoi in the east, as well in the Tauric Chersonese up to the Cimmerian Bosporus in its east. Herodotus of Halicarnassus called them the "bravest of the Scythian tribes."
**The Royal Scythians were the main Scythian tribe as well as the ruling dominant tribe of the whole of Scythia{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=573-577}} to whom all the other tribes were subjects, with the high king of all the Scythians coming from the tribe of the Royal Scythians.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=104}}
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**The Alazones led semi-nomadic lives, with those of them who lived in the steppe being pastoral nomads and those who lived in the valleys of the Southern Buh and nearby rivers being farmers who cultivated [[wheat]], [[onion]]s, [[garlic]], [[lentil]]s and [[millet]]. The {{transl|grc|Alazones|italics=no}} were the southern neighbours of the Aroteres and, like them, might have been of mixed Thracian and Iranic origins. The {{transl|grc|Alazones|italics=no}} were themselves in turn the northern neighbours of the Callipidae.
* the '''Scythian Ploughmen''' or '''Scythian Husbandmen''', or '''{{transl|grc|Arotēres|italics=no}}''' ({{langx|grc|Αροτηρες}}) who were the northern neighbours of the Alazones, were sedentary agriculturists who lived in a region with fertile black earth corresponding to the modern-day part of Ukraine which lies to the west of the Dnipro river until the region of [[Vinnytsia]]. Their neighbours to the north were the Baltic [[Neuri]], and to the south were the Alazones.
** The Aroteres were large sedentary Thracian or proto-
* the '''Callipidae''' ({{langx|grc|Καλλιπιδαι|Kallipidai}}) were a semi-nomadic population of mixed Greek-Scythian origin who lived across a wide section of land adjacent to the shores of the Black sea ranging from the estuary of the [[Southern Buh]] river to the area of modern-day [[Odesa]] or even until the estuary of the Dnister. The western neighbours of the Callipadae across the Dnister river were Thracian tribe of the Getae in Bessarabia, while Thracian populations under Scythian rule lived on the coast. Their northern neighbours were the {{transl|grc|Alazones|italics=no}}.
**The Callipidae were a considerably Hellenised tribe consisting of a large settled Thracian population with a Scythian ruling class who had significantly intermarried with Greek settlers.
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====Related populations====
The Scythians were closely related to other Iranic nomads who occupied the Eurasian steppe during Antiquity, such as:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=54}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=98}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=2}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|
*the [[Cimmerians]] of the Caspian Steppe;
*the [[Sauromatians]] of the Volga-Ural region;
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====Scythian exports====
The Scythians exported iron, [[grain]] and slaves to the Greek colonies,{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=288}} and animal products, grain, [[Fish as food|fish]], [[honey]], [[wax]], forest products, [[Fur clothing|furs]], [[Hide (skin)|skins]], [[Lumber|wood]], horses, cattle, sheep, and slaves<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=11}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|
Other Scythian exports to Greece included various metals smelted from ores and processed into ingots by the Scythians themselves at their industrial centre in their capital city of Kamianka. Ingots of these metals were shipped down the rivers of Scythia till Pontic Olbia, where they were sold to the Greeks.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=131}}
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======Athenian commercial ventures======
The importance of the Greek colonies of the north Black Sea coast drastically increased in the later 6th century BC following the Persian Empire's conquest of Egypt, which deprived the states of Greece proper of the Egyptian grain that they depended on.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124}} These grain supplies were so important to the city-states of Greece, most especially of the then dominant Greek power of Athens, that this latter city started seeking new locations for producing grain on the north shore of the Black Sea. Therefore, Athens established very well defended new colonies on the north Black Sea coast near the already existing settlements which would act as sites where grain of very good quality was produced to be exported to Athens to feed its citizenry.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=124-125}}
======Scythian-managed grain trade======
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The Scythians also imported large amounts of Scythian-type precious metal items decorated in the "Animal-style" type of art made mainly by Greek craftsmen in the Greek colonies.{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}
Among the Greek colonies, the Pontic Olbia served the demands of the Scythian aristocracy of the Borysthenēs river valley, and Pantikapaion supplied the Scythian aristocrats in the Tauric and Sindic Chersoneses,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=119}} although Pontic Olbia started declining in the late 5th century BC due to most of the trade passing through it then shifting to transiting through the cities of the Cimmerian Bosporus
===== Importation of wine =====
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Scythian garments were sewn together from several pieces of cloth, and generally did not require the use of [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] to be held in place, unlike the clothing of other ancient European peoples.{{sfn|Gleba|2008|p=21}} Scythian dress consisted of combination of various leathers and furs designed for efficiency and comfort on horseback, and was expensively and richly decorated with brightly coloured embroidery and applique work as well as facings of pearl and gold.{{sfn|Rolle|1989|p=59}}
The Scythians wore clothing typical of the steppe nomads, which tended to be soft, warm, and close-fitting, made from wool and leather and fur and felts, and decorated with {{transl|fr|appliqué}}d and golden ornaments:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Minns|1913|
*the clothing of Scythian men consisted of:
**long-sleeved [[jacket]] made of embroidered leather;
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[[File:Scythians shooting with bows Kertch antique Panticapeum Ukrainia 4th century BCE.jpg|thumb|Scythian archers using the [[Composite bow|Scythian bow]], [[Kerch]] (ancient [[Panticapeum]]), [[Crimea]], 4th century BC. The Scythians were skilled archers whose style of archery influenced that of the [[Achaemenid army|Persians]] and subsequently other nations, including the Greeks.{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}{{sfn|Potts|1999|p=345}}]]
[[File:Scythian Bronze Arrowheads c700-300 BC.jpeg|thumb|right|Scythian bronze arrowheads, c700-300 BC]]
The main Scythian armament were the bow and arrows:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=7}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=155}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|
*the typical weapon of the Scythians was the very [[recurve bow|recurved]] or reflex [[Composite bow|composite]] bow that was easy to use for mounted warriors. Scythian bows were the most complex composite bows in both their recurved profiles and their cross-sections, highly engineered and made from wood, horn, sinew, and sturgeon fish glue through laborious craftsmanship, and were capable of delivering military draw weights;:{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}{{sfn|Loades|2019|p=162-163}}{{sfn|Loades|2019|p=217-219}}
*although the shape of Scythian arrows changed with time, they maintained a basic structure. Scythian arrows had shafts made of reed or birch wood, with arrowheads mostly of bronze, and more rarely iron and bone.{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}}{{sfn|Loades|2019|p=222-223}}{{sfn|Kramberger|2014|p=5-9}}
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The shafts and foreshafts of Scythian poisoned arrows were painted with zigzag and diamond patterns emulating the scaly designs of snake skins.{{sfn|Campbell|2014|p=285}}{{sfn|Loades|2019|p=223}}
======Other weapons======
In addition to the bow and arrow, the Scythians also used weapons such as:{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=155}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=75-77}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}
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=====Armour=====
Some Scythian warriors wore rich protective armour and belts made of metal plates,{{sfn|Gleba|2008|p=19}} including:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=77}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=156}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1995|
*commoner warriors used leather or hide armour;
*aristocrats used [[scale armour]] made of scales of bone, bronze, and iron sewn onto leather along the top edge;
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The difference in height between these upper class Scythians and the Scythian commoners was of around 10 to 15 centimetres, with the height difference being a symbol of status among the upper-class men. Analysis of skeletons shows that Scythians had longer arm and leg bones and stronger bone formation than present-day people living in their former territories.{{sfn|Rolle|1989|p=55-56}}
Due to his unfamiliarity with Scythian dress, Pseudo-Hippocrates
In ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'', the 5th-century BC Greek historian Herodotus describes the [[Budini]] of Scythia as [[red hair|red-haired]] and grey-eyed.<ref name="Day55">{{harvnb|Day|2001|pp=55–57}}</ref> In the 5th century BC, Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] argued that the Scythians were [[light skin]]ned.<ref name="Day55" /> In the 3rd century BC, the Greek poet [[Callimachus]] described the Arismapes (Arimaspi) of Scythia as [[fair-haired]].<ref name="Day55" /> The 2nd-century BC [[Han China|Han Chinese]] envoy [[Zhang Qian]] described the Sai (Saka), an eastern people closely related to the Scythians, as having yellow (probably meaning hazel or green) and blue eyes.<ref name="Day55" /> In the late 2nd century AD, the [[Christian theology|Christian theologian]] [[Clement of Alexandria]] says that the Scythians and the [[Celts]] have long [[auburn hair]].<ref name="Day55" /> The 2nd-century Greek philosopher [[Polemon of Laodicea|Polemon]] includes the Scythians among the northern peoples characterised by red hair and blue-grey eyes.<ref name="Day55" /> In the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD, the Greek physician [[Galen]] writes that Scythians, Sarmatians, [[Illyrians]], Germanic peoples and other northern peoples have reddish hair.<ref name="Day55" /> The fourth-century bishop [[Gregory of Nyssa]] wrote that the Scythians were fair skinned and blond haired. The 5th-century physician [[Adamantius (physician)|Adamantius]], who often followed Polemon, describes the Scythians as fair-haired.<ref name="Day55" />
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[[File:Scythian cultures and their genetic makeup.png|thumb|Approximate genetic makeup of different [[Scythian cultures|Scythian groups]]]]
{{Main|Scytho-Siberian world#Genetics}}
The Scythians (specifically Western or Pontic Scythians, as in differentiation from Eastern Scythian [[Saka]]) primarily emerged
=== Maternal haplogroups ===
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===Kings of Early Scythians===
* [[Išpakāya]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Spakāya}}<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2018}}: "The names attested in cuneiform inscriptions are (1) NAssyr. {{transl|akk-x-neoassyr|Iš-pa-ka-a-a}} (the leader of the Scythian troops defeated about 675 BCE by king Esarhaddon) = OIr. ("Scyth.") {{transliteration|xsc|*Spak-aya-}}, a hypocoristic based on {{transliteration|xsc|*spaka-}} "dog" (see Schmitt, 2009, pp. 93f.) "|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2009|
* [[Bartatua]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Pr̥ϑutavah}}<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2000}}|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2011|
* [[Madyes]] ([[Median language|Median]]: {{transl|xme|*Mādava}}{{sfn|Bukharin|2013|p=61-64}}), {{
===Kings of Pontic Scythians===
* [[Spargapeithes (Scythian king)|Spargapeithes]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Spargapaiϑah}}<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Hinz|1975|p=226}}|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2003b|p=5}}|{{harvnb|Kullanda|Raevskiy|2004|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtasyev|2005b|p=306|loc=Footnote 118.}}|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2011|p=342}}|{{harvnb|Kullanda|2014|p=81}}|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2018}}}}</ref>), {{
* Lykos ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Lū̆ka}}<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2003b|p=12}}|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2011|p=230}}|{{harvnb|Bukharin|2013|p=57}}}}</ref>), {{
* Gnouros, {{
* Sauaios or Saulios, {{
* [[Idanthyrsus]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Hiϑāmϑrauša}}{{sfn|Schwartz|Manaster Ramer|2019|p=359-360}}), {{
:Sub-kings:
:*Scopasis, {{
:*Taxacis ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Taxšaka}}{{sfn|Kullanda|Raevskiy|2004|p=94}}), {{
* Argotas ?, {{
* [[Ariapeithes]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Aryapaiϑah}}<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Hinz|1975|page=40}}|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2003b|
* [[Scyles]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Skula}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}), {{
* [[Octamasadas]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Uxtamazatā}}<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Schmitt|2003b|
* Eminakes ? ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Aminaka}}{{sfn|Kullanda|Raevskiy|2004|p=91-92}}), {{
* [[Ateas]] or Ataias ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]: {{transl|xsc-x-pontic|*Haϑaiya}}{{sfn|Kullanda|Raevskiy|2004|p=92-93}}{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005a|p=74-75}}), {{
* king with unrecorded name, {{
* Agaros, {{
== See also ==
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* {{cite journal |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |date=2003b |title=Die skythischen Personennamen bei Herodot |trans-title=Scythian Personal Names in Herodotus |language=de |url=http://opar.unior.it/487/1/R._Schmitt_pp.1-31_pdf.pdf |journal=Annali dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli l'Orientale |trans-journal=Journal of the University of Naples "L'Orientale" |publisher=[[University of Naples "L'Orientale"]] |volume=63 |issue= |pages=1–31 |doi= |access-date=20 June 2024 }}
* {{cite book |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |date=2009 |series=Iranische Onomastik |title=Iranisches Personennamenbuch |trans-title=Book of Iranian Personal Names |language=de |volume=7.1a |url= |location= |publisher=[[:de:Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften]] |isbn=978-3-700-16608-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |date=2011 |series=Iranische Onomastik |title=Iranisches Personennamenbuch |trans-title=Book of Iranian Personal Names |
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |title=Scythian language |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/scythian-language |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |date=2018 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation]]; [[Brill Publishers]] |location=[[New York City]], [[United States]] |access-date=9 August 2022 }}
* {{cite book |author-last1=Schwartz |author-first1=Martin |author-last2=Manaster Ramer |author-first2=Alexis |author-link2=Alexis Manaster Ramer |editor-last1=Hintze |editor-first1=Almut |editor-link1=Almut Hintze |editor-last2=Durkin |editor-first2=Desmond |editor-last3=Naumann |editor-first3=Claudius |date=2019 |title=A Thousand Judgements: Festschrift for Maria Macuch |chapter=Some Interlinguistic Iranian Conundrums |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/38499565 |location=[[Wiesbaden]], [[Germany]] |publisher=[[Harrassowitz Verlag]] |pages=357–362 |isbn=978-3-447-11094-5 }}
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