Ancient Scythians: their history, religion, culture. Ancient Scythians

1 Origin and settlementScythians(Greek Σκύθαι) - the common name of the main population of the steppe Eurasia (from the Carpathians to Altai), which consisted of related tribes of the North Iranian language group of the Indo-European family. The Scythians were related to the Sauromatians (Sarmatians), Massagets and Saks. The Scythians called themselves Skolots, and the Persians called them Saks. Some researchers consider them to be descendants of the bearers of the Srubnaya culture of the Bronze Age, who advanced from the 14th century. BC e. from the Volga region to the west. Others believe that the main core of the Scythians came from Central Asia or Siberia and mixed with the population of the Northern Black Sea region.

1Media occupied the territory of Northwestern Iran. The western part of the country, covering the regions of the Zagros mountain ranges near the borders with Assyria, later, in ancient historiography, was called Media Atropatena. To the east of Atropatena stretched the flat part of Media.

In III-II millennia BC. e. This territory was inhabited by tribes of sedentary farmers and pastoralists who spoke Kassite, Gutian, Hurrian and other non-Indo-European languages. Actually, the Medes and their kindred Persians, as already mentioned, spoke various dialects of the Iranian languages ​​\u200b\u200bthat belonged to the Indo-European language family.

It is currently believed that the ancestors of the Iranian-speaking tribes were the pastoralists of Eastern Europe, from where some of them went through the Caucasus and along the coast of the Caspian Sea to Iran and Central Asia. They invaded Iran at the turn of the 12th-11th centuries. BC e. and gradually spread throughout the territory in the first third of the 1st millennium BC. e. This penetration, however, did not have the character of a conquest; everywhere there was a mixture of newcomers with the local population, which, as a result of prolonged communication with the newcomers, gradually became Iranian-speaking. In many parts of the country in the IX-VIII centuries. BC e. the old, non-Iranian-speaking population was still predominant. However, from the second half of the 8th c. BC e. Iranians already made up the majority of the population in many areas of Western Iran, including Media. With these processes - the resettlement of Iranian-speaking tribes and their assimilation of the local population - the widespread distribution of the graves of armed horsemen is associated. The occupation of Iranian tribes by horse breeding is evidenced, in particular, by the indication of cuneiform texts about the regular payment of tribute by horses by these tribes to the Assyrian kings, as well as the fact that as early as the 8th century. BC e. The Babylonians borrowed an Iranian term for alfalfa, translated as "horse food". Finds of rich graves. in which there are a lot of artistic products, vessels made of gold, indicate the isolation of military leaders who are at the head of warlike cavalry squads. Assyrians in Media. Invasion of Asia Minor by the Cimmerians and Scythians. Starting from the 9th century BC. e. Assyrians began to make trips to the territory of Media in order to capture booty. At that time, in Northwestern Iran, there were dozens of small principalities in which lived both the Medes and the local population of Kutian-Kassite origin. The residences of the rulers of these small estates were fortresses and fortified strongholds of small towns. In their campaigns, the Assyrians reached the center of the Iranian plateau. For example, in 744 BC. e Tiglathpalasar made a trip to Mount Bikni (modern Damavend near Tehran) and received from the Medes as a tribute 9 tons of lapis lazuli and 15 tons of various bronze items. During the 8th century BC e. the Median regions were dependent on the Assyrians and paid them regular taxes, mainly handicrafts and cattle.

At the end of the 8th century BC e. the first major political associations began to emerge in Western Iran, headed by tribal leaders. One of these associations was the region of Manna, the core of the future Mannean kingdom, which occupied areas southeast of Lake Urmia. The need to resist the predatory Assyrian invasions undoubtedly accelerated the unification of a number of small Median principalities into a single state.

At the end of the 8th century BC e. the situation in Asia Minor became more complicated due to the invasion of Cimmerian tribes there from the Northern Black Sea region. At the beginning of the 7th century BC e. Following the Cimmerians from the Northern Black Sea region, Scythian tribes also invaded Asia Minor, some of which settled in the Sakasena region around Lake Urmia and from there began to raid Urartu and Assyria. Ethnically, the Scythians and Cimmerians were related both to each other and to the Medes and Persians. All of them spoke various dialects of Iranian languages. The Persians called all Scythian tribes Saks. The Greeks, on the other hand, called the nomadic tribes of South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia Scythians. In modern scientific literature, the name "Scythians" is usually applied to the ancient inhabitants of the Northern Black Sea region, and the Scythians of Central Asia are called Saks. The Cimmerian and Scythian cavalry, which consisted of well-trained riders who shot from a bow at full gallop, posed a considerable threat to the ancient Eastern states.

For a long time the Cimmerians were in Asia Minor, namely in the eastern part of Cappadocia and in the region of Manna. Around 715 BC e. they defeated the Urartian king Ruse I, and during the reign of Esarhaddon in Assyria (681-669 BC), they began to threaten its northern borders. In 679 BC. e. they invaded Assyria, but the Assyrians managed to defeat them. However, around 675 BC. e. the Cimmerians defeated the Phrygian kingdom in Asia Minor and again began to threaten the borders of Assyria. Meanwhile, the Scythians from the Sakasena region began to undertake predatory campaigns against the countries of Western Asia, and between 630 and 620. BC e. even reached the borders of Egypt, devastating Syria and Palestine.

2 The beginning of the well-known history of the Scythians is marked by their war with the Cimmerians, who were ousted by the Scythians from the Northern Black Sea region by the 7th century BC. e., and the campaigns of the Scythians in Asia Minor. In the 70s. 7th century BC e. the Scythians conquered Media, Syria, Palestine and dominated Asia Minor, but at the beginning of the 6th century BC. e. were expelled from there by the Medes. Traces of the presence of the Scythians are also noted in the North Caucasus.

The main area of ​​settlement of the Scythians is the steppes between the lower reaches of the Danube and the Don, including the steppe Crimea and areas adjacent to the Northern Black Sea coast. The northern border is unclear. The Scythians were divided into several large tribes. According to Herodotus, the dominant ones were royalScythians who lived in the steppes between the Dnieper and the Don. On the right bank of the lower Dnieper and in the steppe Crimea lived Scythian nomads. Between the Ingul and the Dnieper, interspersed with nomads lived Scythian farmers. In the basin of the Southern Bug, near the city of Olbia, lived callipids, or Hellenic-Scythians, to the north of them - alazones, and further north Scythian plowmen. The boundaries of the settlement of individual tribes of Scythia (especially the Scythian plowmen) are unclear.

Close relations with the slave-owning cities of the Northern Black Sea region, the intensive trade of the Scythians in cattle, bread, furs and slaves intensified the process of class formation in the Scythian society. It is known about the existence of a union of tribes among the Scythians, which gradually acquired the features of a kind of state of the slave-owning type, headed by the king. The power of the king was hereditary and deified. It was limited to the union council and the people's assembly. There was a separation of the military aristocracy, vigilantes and the priestly stratum. The political unity of the Scythians was facilitated by their war with the Persian king Darius I in 512 BC. e. At the turn of the V-IV centuries. BC e. King Atei eliminated the other Scythian kings and usurped all power. By the 40s. 6th century BC e. he completed the unification of Scythia from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Danube.

Archaeological research of the Kamensky settlement showed that in the heyday of the Scythian kingdom it was the administrative and trade and economic center of the steppe Scythians. Sharp changes in the social structure of the Scythians by the 4th century. BC e. reflected in the appearance in the Dnieper region of the grandiose burial mounds of the Scythian aristocracy, the so-called. "royal mounds", reaching a height of more than 20 m. They were buried kings and their combatants in deep and complex funerary structures. The burials of the aristocracy were accompanied by the burial of dead wives or concubines, servants (slaves) and horses. Warriors were buried with weapons: short akinaki swords with gold sheaths, a mass of arrows with bronze tips, quivers or goritas lined with gold plates, spears and darts with iron tips. Rich graves often contained copper, gold and silver utensils, Greek painted ceramics and amphoras with wine, various decorations, often fine jewelry made by Scythian and Greek craftsmen. During the burial of ordinary Scythian community members, basically the same rite was performed, but the grave goods were poorer.

In 339 BC e. King Atey died in the war with the Macedonian king Philip II. In 331 BC e. Zopyrion, governor of Alexander the Great in Thrace, invaded the western possessions of the Scythians, laid siege to Olbia, but the Scythians destroyed his army. By the end of the III century BC. e. The power of the Scythians was significantly reduced under the onslaught of the Sarmatians, who came from behind the Don. The capital of the Scythians was moved to the Crimea, where on the river. Salgir (within the boundaries of modern Simferopol) Scythian Naples arose, probably founded by the king Skylur. In addition to the Crimea, the Scythians continued to hold lands in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and the Bug.

The Scythian kingdom in the Crimea reached its peak in the 2nd century BC. BC e., when the Scythians sought to seize the foreign trade in bread, they subjugated Olbia and a number of possessions of Chersonesus. The political activity of the Scythians was temporarily weakened as a result of their defeat in the war against Diophantus, who took the side of Chersonesos. However, in the 2nd half of the 1st century, under the kings Farzoe And Inismee the Scythians strengthened again and repeatedly fought with the Bosporus state

Origin and settlement of the Scythians. In the first half of the 7th c. BC. Scythians appeared on the territory of Ukraine from the steppes of the Kuban region and the North Caucasus. Alone historians are convinced that the Scythians came here from Northern Iran, the second believe that they were located in the foothills of Altai, the third - in Western Asia, the fourth - in Central Asia, the fifth - in the Northern Black Sea region, which the ancestors of the Scythians left in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. North Caucasus for a long time remained a reliable rear for them, from where they drew agricultural products, non-ferrous metals, iron, replenishment in the army.

Eminent Greek historian Herodotus, who dedicated one of the nine books of his "History" to Scythia, singled out:

the Scythians proper (Scythian nomads), who inhabited the steppe regions east of the Dnieper;

royal Scythians, who roamed in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the steppe Crimea;

settled Scythian plowmen who lived in the forest-steppe zone of the Right Bank;

settled Scythians-diggers, located on the Left Bank of the Dnieper.

Dominant position in society occupied royal Scythians, who considered other tribes and ethnic groups of Scythia as slaves who were forced to constantly pay them tribute.

4. Culture burials Scythians, the most interesting items are decorated in animal style: covers of quivers and scabbards, sword handles, details of a bridle set, plaques (used to decorate horse harness, quivers, shells, and also as women's jewelry), mirror handles, buckles, bracelets, torcs, etc. Along with images of figures animals (deer, elk, goat, birds of prey, fantastic animals, etc.) they contain scenes of the struggle of animals (most often an eagle or a predator tormenting a herbivore). Images were made in low relief using forging, embossing, casting, embossing and carving, most often from gold, silver, iron and bronze. Ascending to the images of totem ancestors, in the Scythian time they represented evil and good spirits and played the role of magical amulets; in addition, they may have symbolized the strength, dexterity and courage of a warrior.

Features Scythian animal style are the extraordinary liveliness, specificity and dynamics of images, the remarkable adaptability of images to the shapes of objects. In the art of the Scythians IV-III centuries. BC e. images of animals received more and more ornamental, linear-planar interpretation. There were also stone, highly schematized statues of Scythian warriors, installed on mounds. From the 5th century BC e. Greek craftsmen made objects of decorative and applied art for the Scythians, in accordance with their artistic tastes. The most famous monuments of art of the Scythians who lived on the territory of the European part of the USSR (as well as ancient Greek works) were found in the Kelermes barrows and the barrows of Karagodeuashkh, Kul-Oba, Solokha, Chertomlyk, etc.; unique wall paintings discovered in Scythian Naples.

The Scythian kingdom with its center in the Crimea lasted until the second half of the 3rd century BC. and was destroyed goths. The Scythians finally lost their independence and ethnic identity, dissolving among the tribes of the Great Migration of Nations. The name "Scythians" (Scythians - the Greek name, they called themselves cleavages) ceased to be ethnic in nature and was applied to various peoples of the Northern Black Sea region.

Military art. Among the Scythians, the first among the peoples of the continent, the cavalry really became the main type of troops, numerically prevailing over the infantry, and during the Asiatic campaigns - the only force. In Scythia, for the first time, heavily armed cavalry appears in the steppes. The term "cataphractary" - a heavily armed warrior, which in ancient times was usually applied to the cavalry of the Parthians and Sarmatians, is much more suitable for the Scythians. The Scythian cavalry has all the features that are inherent in the cataphractarii cavalry - the presence of protective armor for a warrior and, possibly, a horse, the presence of long spears and long chopping swords, the use of a certain battle formation, primarily a close formation.

The Scythians were the first (as far as sources allow us to judge) in the history of wars to successfully use a strategic retreat in order to radically change the balance of power in their favor. They were the first to go for dividing the troops into two interacting parts with setting separate tasks for each of them. In military practice, they successfully applied the method of waging war, which ancient authors aptly called "small war". They demonstrated the skillful conduct of significant campaigns in a vast theater of military operations, leading to the expulsion of exhausted enemy troops (the war with Darius) or the defeat of significant enemy masses (the defeat of Zopyrion, the battle of Fata).

2 lessons. How and Cimmerians, Scythians were nomads. The main occupation of the Scythians was nomadic animal husbandry. The number of livestock determined the property status of the Scythians. The Scythians had workshops: weapons, blacksmiths, woodworking. A separate type of craft has become its most important branch - iron processing.

The second main occupation of the Scythians was military campaigns. The basis of the Scythian army was lightly armed infantry. But the main striking force was detachments of heavily armed horsemen, protected by shells, helmets and shields. The Scythians were excellent shooters, skillfully wielding a short sword.

1. The royal Scythians, who lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper along the left bank, were considered the main tribe. On the right bank of the lower Dnieper lived Scythian nomads, to the west of them - Scythian farmers and Scythians-plowmen on the middle Dnieper.

The main occupation of the Scythians was cattle breeding and agriculture. The Scythian farmers traded grain with the Black Sea Greek cities, from where the Greeks supplied grain to Hellas. According to the testimony of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, they grew "the best wheat in the world." The Scythians were well versed in crafts: they processed iron and bronze, made weapons, and made leather. 3 FormationScythianstatehood. Scythian nomads appeared in the Black Sea steppes in the 7th century. BC, having forced out the Cimmerians, the agricultural population was under the rule of the Scythians. Both the Scythian nomads and the local autochthonous population, who found themselves under the rule of the Scythians, lived in the conditions of a tribal pre-state system. The conquest and development of the vast expanses of the steppe by the Scythians chronologically coincided with the beginning of colonization by the ancient Greeks in the end. 7th-6th centuries BC. Northern Black Sea region and the foundation of permanent settlements, which soon turned into comfortable cities. In the 5th century BC, according to Herodotus and archeological data, the process of Scythian-Greek interactions took on a stable character. The Scythians, as a certain cultural and social association, existed for about 10 centuries, having gone a long way in the formation of statehood: from stable tribal relations, through the stage of military democracy, to the early state as an established civilizational institution. Three major stages can be distinguished along this path: Stage 1. 7th-6th centuries BC. marked by the decomposition of tribal institutions and the emergence of the first sprouts of statehood; Stage 2. 5th–4th centuries BC. associated with the formation of some early forms of statehood; Stage 3. 3rd century BC. - III century. AD -registration of the Scythian statehood as a special form of a nomadic state. And at each stage, the highly developed Greek cities of the Black Sea region had a powerful influence on the formation of the Scythian statehood. At the first stage, the contacts of the Scythians with the Greeks were episodic. The Scythians came into direct contact with the Greeks in the Crimea, on the Taman Peninsula, in the region of Olbia. Individual representatives of the Scythian elite, like Anacharsis, King Skill willingly visited Greek cities and fell in love with Greek customs. Some trade and cultural ties are being established. Greek writers are already well aware of the Scythian customs described by Herodotus. The process of cultural interaction intensified sharply and took on a stable character from the middle of the 5th century BC. BC. Quite close economic ties between the Scythians and the Black Sea cities are being established: bread, leather, slaves from Scythia go to the Greeks, Greek jewelers produce amazingly beautiful gold and silver vessels and jewelry, abundantly presented in unplundered burial mounds, on orders from the Scythian aristocracy. The Scythians penetrate the territory of a number of Greek cities - Olbia (the so-called Hellenic-Scythians or Mixellins of Herodotus). Greek wine and olive oil come to Scythia in a wide stream. Many noble Scythians settled on the territory of the Bosporus and merged into the Bosporan nobility. The influence of the Scythians on the Bosporus is so great that the Bosporus is sometimes called the Greco-Scythian kingdom. Archaeological studies have shown that Greek things are found on the territory of almost the entire modern Ukraine. An indicator of the maturity of Scythian production is the foundation of the main city of the steppe Scythians, the so-called Kamensky settlement (near modern Nikopol), where Scythian metallurgists, using the experience of Greek masters, created their handicraft products. Social differentiation in the Scythian society reached a high level. Trade with the Greeks enriched the Scythian nobility, slavery became widespread, and a significant part of the enslaved population was sold not only to the Black Sea cities, but even to Athens. In the V-III centuries. BC. a socio-economic foundation was created on which the formation of the Scythian statehood began. It was expressed in the transformation of the power of the leaders of a loose tribal union into royal power, transmitted by inheritance, the transformation of the power of regional tribal leaders into local rulers subordinate to the king, i.e. political unification of the Scythians, the conduct of state foreign policy. This is exactly what Scythia became under the famous king Atey. However, it was still early statehood, with remnants of tribal military democracy. More clearly, the main features of the state as a civilized fundamental institution developed among the Scythians in the 3rd century BC. BC, during the last stage of the Scythian dominion in the steppe Black Sea region, which lasted until the III century. AD This process was determined by three most important factors: the internal development of the Scythian society itself, interaction with the Greek city-states (with the assimilation of their state experience) and external influence (the invasion of the warlike Sarmatians into the territory of the steppe Scythia). Of particular importance was the factor of the Sarmatian invasion. The Sarmatians partially destroyed, partially pushed the Scythians to the Crimea and in the lower Dnieper region. It was here that the Late Scythian kingdom arose, which can be unequivocally defined as "mature statehood". It was able to withstand for six centuries both against the powerful Sarmatians, who forced them out of the Black Sea steppes, and against the aggression of the Greek coastal city-states, including the strong Bosporan kingdom and even powerful Rome.

signs of Scythian statehood appear in the Late Scythian period. a) A compact territory was clearly defined, which made it possible to determine the boundaries and ensure their protection, without which there can be no stable state; b) there is a certain ethnic consolidation of numerous tribal groups living in the steppe Crimea and the lower Danube, and the Scythians proper. Now the term Scythians actually means a new nationality in which the Scythians were only a part; c) the Scythians switched to a settled agricultural life, thus. there was a fundamental transformation of the entire Scythian culture; d) the Crimean Scythians founded their own cities and, above all, the capital Naples Scythian as an administrative, cultural and economic center. In addition, the Scythians captured in the III-I centuries. BC. a number of settlements and small towns that previously belonged to the Greeks, and included them in their state. Thus, a territorial administration was created, without which the existence of a classical state is impossible; e) the most important indicator of the civilization of the late Scythian society is the adoption by the Crimean Scythians of Greek writing and its introduction into the daily life of the Scythian elite, as evidenced by the inscriptions of the Scythian kings and their nobles from Scythian Naples that have come down to us; f) intensive interstate relations (military, diplomatic and economic) between the kingdom of Skilur-Palak, the Bosporan kingdom and Chersonesos speak of the Scythian kingdom as a strong, united, well-organized state. All these data indicate that if the Bosporan kingdom can be called a Greco-Scythian state, then the Crimean kingdom of the 2nd century. BC. - III century. AD can be roughly defined as a Scythian-Hellenistic state.

5 SAVROMATS AND SARMATS The Savromats, according to the unanimous opinion of researchers, belonged to a rather unified massif of nomads of the Great Steppe in the cultural and ethnic sense. And among the great steppe peoples, both geographically and anthropologically and ethnically, they occupied an intermediate position between the European Scythians and the Asian Saks and Massagets. Savromats appeared in the Kuban region, in the ancient region of the Sinds. Ancient authors believed that the Savromats descended from the Amazons (militant women of the Sind-Gargars, or Cimmerians), who took husbands from among the Scythian youths (the Scythians, according to Herodotus, called the Amazons eorpata, "muzhisers"). This version is supported by documented historical facts: the participation of Sauromatian women in wars, and their great role in this, generally significant signs of matriarchy among Sauromates, the extremely free position of their women, even the power of women in society that remained until late times. Savromats were called woman-ruled. Herodotus outlined the version according to which the Amazons answered the young Scythians in this way, who offered them to live together: “We cannot live with your women. After all, our customs are not the same as theirs: we shoot from a bow, throw darts and ride horses; on the contrary, we are not accustomed to women's work. Your women do none of the above, they do women's work, staying in their tents, do not hunt and do not go anywhere at all. Therefore, we cannot get along with them. If you want, so that we may be your wives, and if you wish to show yourself honest, then go to your parents and receive your share of the inheritance. When you return, let us live on our own." And so it turned out, according to Herodotus, the people of the Savromats. Archaeologists have discovered early Savromatian burials of Amazonian warriors, with rich grave goods, with a large number of weapons, with characteristic female things and jewelry (mirrors, combs and hairpins, temporal rings, earrings). And the most amazing thing: sometimes these female burials were accompanied by male sacrifices... Gradually, with the course of the historical process, such male sacrifices in female graves become more and more rare, and, in the end, completely disappear. In the later stages of their existence, the Savromats no longer differ much from the surrounding peoples. In the last era, even male burials with sacrificed women are spreading, which reflects the process of gradual, but steady loss by women of their leading role in the life of Sauromatian society, and finally, the final reduction of women to the level of a powerless slave. .. From the Sindo-Cimmerian center of the Savromats in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, the Sarmatians splashed out widely, rapidly flooding the entire Scythian Black Sea region ... Many historians consider the Sauromatians to be one of the main tribes of the Sarmatian massif, which included the Sauromatians, Iazygs, Aorses, Roxolans and many others. Others believe that the Sauromatians somehow preceded the Sarmatians. But, in any case, the ethnonym Sarmatians was used long after the term Sauromatians fell into disuse (in the Middle Ages, and even before the New Age). The Sarmatians, like the Savromats, had obvious and strong remnants of matriarchy, and they are characterized by the active and widespread participation of women in wars. "Their women ride, shoot arrows, and throw javelins on horseback, and fight enemies while they are girls; and they do not marry until they have killed three enemies, and settle down with their husbands not before they have committed ordinary sacrifices. The one who gets married stops riding until it becomes necessary to go on a campaign without exception ... ". Some ancient authors, like Herodotus, even report that many Sarmatian women, being unable to meet such stringent requirements, die as old women without getting married. But can the people make such excessive demands on the military prowess of their women? After all, the main task of women is, after all, the birth and upbringing of children. And the more significant the deviation from this natural way of life, the greater the chance for the deviant people to disappear without leaving any offspring. Will any people want their death? Nevertheless, the Sarmatians became one of the strongest peoples in history! Probably, young women going to war with general mobilization eventually became an expressive symbol of the war itself (as if the war had become big, it came to women). And the current small skirmishes, requiring the constant participation of small forces in them, could be carried out by the forces of some men who were, so to speak, constantly in the saddle ... The Sarmatians in the 3rd century BC swept an unstoppable avalanche across the Scythian steppe and completely defeated the Scythians, destroying all their kingdoms and many Pontic cities of the Hellenes. A small Scythian kingdom was preserved in the steppe part of the Crimea, but it also became dependent on the Sarmatians. Information has been preserved about how a certain Sarmatian queen invaded the Crimea, captured the disobedient king of the Scythians, deprived him of power and killed him, and made the executed son a new, already completely submissive king. The Sarmatians subjected the possessions of Herodotus "Scythian plowmen" (farmer falcons) to a terrible defeat - approximately in the second century BC. X... Many tribes (unions of tribes) of the Sarmatian association are known: Savromats, Yazygs, Aorses, Alans, Roxolans and others. All of them were descendants of the Cimmers, Sinds and Scythians... The basis of the combat strength of the Sarmatians was the cavalry, but not light (like the Scythians), but heavy. The Sarmatian horseman was protected by armor made of horse hooves cut into plates sewn onto a leather base. Such hoofed armor was practically impervious to arrows and swords. The Sarmatians also protected their horses with armor. Such armored riders were called cataphracts. The main weapon of cataphracts was a long ram spear. Iron stirrups were not yet known at that time (?), so the horsemen faced certain difficulties when delivering a spear strike with both hands without a solid foothold. However, the cataphracts, attacking in a line in a clear formation, were a completely new branch of military history, and for a long time were considered invincible, spreading terror everywhere. The second most important weapon of the Sarmatians was a long and narrow, double-edged straight sword, designed for a dissecting action - a card. In addition, the Sarmatians also used a short Scythian akinak - as a dagger. The bow, unlike the Scythians, the Sarmatians almost did not use, trying to solve the matter in close combat.

Scythians (Greek Skythai), chipped, Ishkuza

• V. Abaev compared the ethnonym skuta with the Germanic *skut- (archer, to shoot).
• K. T. Vitchak and S. V. Kullanda explain the Scythian self-name as follows: other Greek. Σκόλοτοι< *skula-ta < *skuδa-ta < *skuda-ta (то есть «лучники», с закономерным переходом *d >*l in Scythian). Moreover, the form *skuδa-ta existed in the 7th century BC. e., when the Greeks began to contact the Scythians (that is why other Greek Σκύϑαι). Then the Assyrian campaign of the Scythians took place - that's why the Assyrians. Ašgūzai or Išgūzai. By the 5th century BC e. - the time of Herodotus' visit to Olbia - the transition *δ > *l has already occurred.

The transition of Old Iranian *δ into Scythian *l as a characteristic feature of the Scythian language is also confirmed by other Scythian words.

Language

The Scythian language is included in the northeastern subgroup of the Iranian languages. Very close in language and culture to the Scythians were Savromats (Sarmatians), Saks and Massagets.

Time of existence

Actually the history of the Scythians in the Northern Black Sea region - VIII century. BC e. - IV century. n. e. From the beginning of the war with the Cimmerians to the defeat of the Scythian kingdom by the Goths in the Crimea.

Origin

There are several legends of the origin of the Scythians -

1. Among the Scythians, there was a legend that their people were younger than all the others and that in their land, which was deserted, the first man Targitai was born from Zeus and the daughter of Borisfen. Targitai had three sons: Lipoksai, Arpoksai and Koloksai. Under them, golden objects fell from the sky: a plow, a yoke, an ax and a bowl. The older and middle brothers could not grab these objects: they immediately ignited. The younger son was able to safely take the wonderful gifts of heaven and therefore he was given the kingship.

• from the elder brother came the family of Avkhats,
• from the middle - the genera of catiars and traspians,
• from the younger - paralatov.

Here Herodotus says that the common name of the people is chipped off; the Greeks called them Scythians, and the Persians - Saks. It was the part of Scythia from the Danube to Meotida, especially known in Olbia, that was called primordial Scythia. A thousand years passed from Targitai to the time of Herodotus.

1. The Black Sea Greeks told Herodotus one more legend. Hercules, driving the cows of Gerion, entered Scythia, then not yet inhabited. When Hercules fell asleep, his horses left the yoke. He found them in Hylaea with a half-woman half-snake who lived in a cave, who agreed to return the mares to him if he marries her. Hercules lived with her for a long time and three sons were born from their marriage. Only after that did the hero get his horses back. When he left, he left his beloved a bow and a belt, so that one of his sons who could pull this bow and gird himself like a father would remain in possession of the land, and the other two would be removed. The task was completed by the youngest of them named Scythian, the ancestor of the Scythian kings. From the two elders - Agathirs and Gelon - the tribes of Agathirs and Gelons originated. In this myth one can clearly hear the Greek reworking of another native tradition, which differed from the previous one. It clearly refers to the crossing of newcomers (Hercules) and local ones (the snake-footed goddess) began in the Scythians, while in the first the local element sounds stronger, although the newcomer, perhaps, manifests itself in the fact that the future land of the Scythians was empty when they appeared .
2. Herodotus points out that there is, however, another story, which I myself most trust. According to this story, the nomadic Scythians who lived in Asia, being pressed by the war from the Massagets, crossed the Arak (Syr Darya) River and retired to the Cimmerian land.

At the moment, there are just three versions of where the Scythians appeared in the Black Sea region.

1. Grakov B.N. autochthonous theory. Grakov believed that the direct ancestors of the Scythians were the tribes of the semi-sedentary (shepherd) Srubna culture of the Bronze Age, which penetrated into the Northern Black Sea region from the Volga region. The resettlement took place for quite a long time from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. and the Herodotus migration of the Scythians - this can be said to be one of the last waves of migration. The Cimmerians, whom the Scythians met, are also one of the waves of the Srubnaya culture, but an earlier one, which eventually allowed related tribes to merge, forming a homogeneous ethnic element.
2. Artamonov M.I. Anterior Asian theory. Before the arrival of the Scythians in the Black Sea region, a log culture developed there and preceded the Scythian. The Scythians themselves came from Western Asia and were associated with the developed civilizations of that era (as the main element of the Scythian animal style). In his opinion, the Cimmerians are representatives of the Catacomb culture, who were ousted from the Black Sea region in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC.
3. Terenozhkin A. I. Central Asian theory. According to his version, there is no ethnic or cultural continuity between the population of the Northern Black Sea region and the newcomer Scythians. The Scythians penetrate the Black Sea region from Central Asia (Mongolia, Altai, East Kazakhstan) in an already culturally formalized form, which is based on the triad - characteristic type of armament, horse harness, artistic animal style.
   In turn, their movement to the west was led by the attack of the Massagetae, and they, in turn, were attacked by their eastern neighbors and, most likely, the great drought of 800 BC led to such a chain reaction.

Story

7th century BC. The war of the Scythians with the Cimmerians, which allowed the Scythians to oust the latter from the Black Sea region and occupy their territory.

685 Under the leadership of Spargapif, the Scythians migrated from the North Caucasus and the Kuban to the Northern Black Sea region. Most likely, Scythia at this time is divided into three regions -

• between the Don and the Volga, the clan of Ishpakaya-Partatua rules.
• between the Don and the Dnieper the genus Spargapif rules,
• between the Dnieper and the Danube, and possibly all of Scythia, Ariant rules.

70s 7th century BC. A series of Scythian campaigns in Media, Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor. As a result of which, the Scythians were able to establish themselves there.

Within the Eastern Transcaucasia (modern Azerbaijan and partly Iranian Azerbaijan), on the northern and partly on the southern banks of the Araks River, the state of the Scythians was founded, named in the sources of Ishkuz, which existed until the 6th century BC. BC, when the Scythians were expelled from Transcaucasia by the Medes.

679-674/73 BC. The Scythians under the leadership of Ishpakai (one of the first historically known leaders of the Scythians), in alliance with the Medes, Urartu and the kingdom of Manna, participated in the war against the Assyrian kingdom under the leadership of Assarhadon, during which Ishpakay died.

673-654 BC. Partatua (Prototius) becomes the leader of the Scythians, under whose leadership the Scythians left the anti-Assyrian coalition. According to one hypothesis, this happened due to the conclusion of a dynastic marriage - Partatua married the daughter of Assarhadon.

Dyakonov I.M.

Piotrovsky B.B., Belyavsky V.A., Grakov B.N., Artamonov M.I.

654-625 BC. Madai (Madiy), probably the son of Partatua, became the leader of the Scythians. At this time, the Scythians make a series of predatory campaigns throughout the Mediterranean - to Syria, Palestine, Egypt. At the same time, they remain true to allied relations with Assyria. 653/52 BC The Scythians, helping Assyria, defeat the Medes. According to the legend of Herodotus, from that time and for 28 years, Media paid tribute to them, while also being subjected to robberies. 645 BC The Scythians under the leadership of Madai in Transcaucasia, again helping Assyria, defeat the Cimmerians. 625 The campaign of the Scythians to Egypt. According to one version, Pharaoh Psammetik I bought them off with gifts, according to another, the Scythians were still afraid to enter into open conflict with the Egyptian troops. After 612 B.C. The Medes are pushing the Scythians out of all the Transcaucasian lands they had previously conquered. This was done thanks to the cunning of Cyaxares, the king of the Medes. After the destruction of Assyria, Cyaxares decided to get rid of the Scythians. He invited the kings of the Scythians to a feast, got them drunk, and then ordered them to be killed. The Scythians left without leaders left Transcaucasia.

650-584 BC e. The king of the Scythians was Madiy. Long and quite successful campaigns of the Scythians in Transcaucasia and Western Asia begin. 624-585 BC. The reign of Cyaxares. But it is possible that he died earlier at the turn of the century. 616 BC Scythian invasion of Media. 614 BC Siege of Nineveh and Ashur by the Medes. Ashur was taken, the siege was lifted from Nineveh thanks to the Scythians - the allies of Assyria. 612 BC Nineveh was taken by allied forces - the Medes, Babylonians and Scythians, who sided with Media. The Scythians establish their dominance over Media for 28 years. 609 BC The Scythians defeated the Egyptian pharaoh. Turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. Cyaxares (or his son Aliattes) decide to destroy the Scythians and kill their leaders at a feast. After that, part of the Scythians returns to the Black Sea region, part submits to the Medes. 590-585 BC The war between Media and Lydia, as a result of which peace was concluded, according to which the Scythians, who fought on the side of Lydia, had to leave Transcaucasia.

650 BC The Scythian leader Ariant conducts a "census" of the population in the Black Sea region. He orders each Scythian to bring a tip. After that, he casts a large cauldron. The description is in Herodotus -

“In this area (near the upper reaches of the Hypanis - Bug) there is a copper vessel, perhaps six times larger than the vessel for mixing wine, which Pausanias, the son of Cleombrotus, ordered to dedicate to the gods and place at the entrance to Pontus (Black Sea). For those who have not seen this vessel, I will describe it: it can easily hold 600 amphoras, and the thickness of this Scythian vessel is six fingers. According to local residents, it is made from arrowheads. One Scythian king, named Ariant, wished to know the number of Scythians. For this, he ordered all the Scythians to bring one arrowhead each and threatened with death to anyone who did not obey. Then the Scythians brought so many arrowheads that the king decided to erect a monument to himself from them: he ordered this copper vessel to be made from the arrowheads and exhibited in Exampey. Here is the information that I received about the number of Scythians.

As previously indicated, there are opinions that Ariant owned the lands from the Dnieper to the Danube, but at the same time he could control Scythia as a whole.

Settlement of the Scythians according to Herodotus (Grakov B.N. Scythians - Moscow State University, 1971, p. 16-17.):

Many hypotheses have also been expressed about them, which, however, break down on the exact localization of the five main rivers: Istra, Tiras, Gipanis, Borisfen and Tanais. This allows us to outline the settlement of tribes in accordance with the data of Herodotus. This is how we see this settlement. From the Danube to the Dnieper, the coast is occupied by the Scythians: their northern border with the neurons is somewhere on the upper Dniester. Gipanis and the Dniester bring their course closer in the land of the Alazons: this convergence begins immediately above Nikolaev. Up along the Bug, Kallippids, otherwise Hellenes-Scythians, are closest to Olbia. Later, in the Olbian decree in honor of Protogenes (3rd century BC), they are called "mixelins", i.e. "mixed Hellenes". This confirms the accuracy of Herodotus' data. Above them lives the Scythian tribe of the Alazons, in the place where the Bug and the Dniester meet. Even higher are the Scythians-plowmen, somewhere in the interfluve of the same rivers. Exampey had their border with the Alazons. The fourth Scythian tribe, the Scythian farmers, lived along the Dnieper and beyond the Dnieper to Pantikap (Ingulets). It must be assumed that the Scythian farmers lived on both banks of the Borysfen, just as the Scythian nomads, who were located behind Panticap and further behind the farmers, obviously partly lived within the right bank. In other words, both tribes to some extent lived interspersed. Scythian nomads on the left bank of the Dnieper lived in the steppes, divided in half by Hypakiris, and reached the river Gerros (Konka). Further to the east and south lived the royal Scythians across the river Gerros. They occupied the steppe to Meotida and Tanais and the northern Crimea to the mountains where wild Tauri lived. Immediately above the Scythians along the Dnieper lived androfagi (cannibals). Herodotus says that they are the only cannibals of all the peoples of Scythia. They wear Scythian clothes, wander, but have their own language, different from the Scythians.

To the north of the Scythian plowmen and androphagi, according to Herodotus, between the fantastic lake from which the Dniester flows, and the Dnieper, the Nevri live immediately to the west of the Dnieper. In other words, the neurons occupied a vast space no longer in the steppes, since the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the Bug, as well as the right bank of the Dnieper adjacent to them, are already in the forest-steppe zone. At the same time, they somehow neighbored the boudins located to the east. A lot of amazing things were told about the neurons as werewolves and sorcerers. The neurons, according to Herodotus, had Scythian customs.

To the north of the royal Scythians on the left bank of the Dnieper and further to the east lived melanchlens, that is, people wearing black cloaks. Their eastern border is not clear, but somewhere closer to the Don they must have come into contact with the Boudins and, perhaps, with the Sauromates. This is a special, non-Scythian tribe, but its way of life is Scythian. Perhaps the Melanchlenians are called non-Scythian people because they had their own language, or because they were not part of the Scythian political grouping.

Above the Meotians, who occupied the delta and the very lower reaches of the Tanais-Don, three days' journey from its confluence with the Meotida, fifteen days' journey to the northeast, on the right bank of the river, the Sauromates lived in the treeless steppe. They allegedly originated from the marriages of the sons of free Scythians and warlike Amazon women. Their women were therefore warlike, and their language was spoiled Scythian through the fault of the Amazons who did not understand it. They retained political independence and were pure nomads.

Above the Savromats along the Don, beyond their steppe, but already in heterogeneous forests, that is, in the forest-steppe, lived the Boudins - a very large, according to Herodotus, and nomadic people. Their country, somewhere in the west, adjoined Nevris (the country of the Neuros), since a generation before Herodotus, the Neuros moved to the land of the Boudins. The Boudins spoke their own language. They, apparently, did not border on the Scythians and were, undoubtedly, politically completely independent. In their country there was a large wooden city of Gelon. It was inhabited by certain Gelons, who spoke either Scythian or Hellenic, revering the Greek gods, in particular Dionysus. They were sedentary and engaged in agriculture. Other writers, according to Herodotus, in vain considered the Gelons and Budins as one people.

Con. VII - beginning. 6th century BC e. Gnur, the son of Lik, the grandson of Spargapif, became the king of the Scythians in the Black Sea region.

90-50s 6th century BC. Savliy (Kaduit, Kaduin, Kalvid - in some sources) - the son of Gnur - becomes the king of the Scythians. According to the Herodotus version, the murderer of his brother - Anacharsis - one of the seven wise men.

End of the 6th century BC. Idanfirs, the son of Savlius, becomes the king of the Scythians, who participates in the war against Darius I. One of the leaders in this war was Skopasis, whose detachment (most likely, the Azov Scythians and Sauromatians) was the most combat-ready and mobile. Another leader known from Herodotus, Taksakis, led the army of the Gelons and Boudins.

514/12 BC The war of the Scythians with the Persian king Darius I.

Darius gathered a huge army of 700 thousand people - colorful and multilingual, consisting of representatives of 80 peoples. With this army, the Persian monarch passed through Asia Minor, crossed to the European side through the Bosphorus, crossed Thrace. And finally, having crossed the Danube on a bridge of ships built for him by mercenaries (Asia Minor Greeks), he entered the Northern Black Sea region - within the boundaries of Scythia. The trip was planned for two months.

The Scythians, well aware of the actions of the enemy, knew about his colossal numbers. They themselves, together with the allied tribes, could put up no more than 200 thousand soldiers. Realizing the depth of the danger looming over them, the Scythians nevertheless decided to fight to the end. To do this, they developed a general strategic plan for the campaign:

• avoid big battles;
• lure the enemy deep into their territory;
• to attack his supply routes;
• destroy by attacks mobile cavalry detachments and small groups of Persians who are separated from the main forces in search of food and water.

At the same time, retreating, the Scythians filled up wells and springs and burned vegetation - steppe grasses that served as feed for livestock.

The army of Darius with its huge convoy, pursuing the Scythians, managed, according to Herodotus, to reach Tanais (Don) and Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov) in a short time, after which it turned back. From hunger, deprivation, disease, and the constant attacks of the Scythian cavalry, the Persians suffered huge losses, without winning a single battle and without capturing any booty. Fortunately for Darius, the Greek mercenaries did not dismantle the bridge on the Danube after the agreed 60 days, and the remnants of his troops and he himself, having escaped death, returned to Persia.

480-460s 5th century BC. Ariapif became the king of the Scythians - the father of Skil, Oktamasad and Orik. During his reign, several important events took place -

• settled relations with the Odrysian kingdom (through dynastic marriage),
• established a protectorate over Olbia (although there is an opinion that this is not so).

He himself was killed by the king of the Agathirs (most likely a Thracian tribe) Spargapif. After the death of the king of the Scythians, Opia, the wife of Ariapif and the mother of Orik, ascended the throne. The question of whether this character is a real historical figure remains debatable.

OK. 465-447/45 BC. After a short reign of Opia, Skil, the son of Ariapif, comes to power. He was the son of a Greek woman and almost completely accepted Greek culture and, after becoming king, settled in Olbia, promoting the commercial interests of Istria. As a result of palace intrigues, he was executed by the Scythians themselves.

50s 5th century BC. Octamasad, also the son of Ariapif, became the king of the Scythians. He was a relative of the king of the Odrysses - Sitalka. Perhaps with his support to power in the Bosporus in 438 BC. came Spartocus. Orik, brother of Oktamasad, most likely ruled Olbia at the same time.

Con. V-beginning 4th century BC. King Atey destroys other kings of the Scythians and usurps power.

Appears Kamenskoe settlement (located near the city of Kamenka-Dneprovskaya and B. Znamenka, Zaporozhye region). From the side of the steppe, the ancient settlement was protected by an earthen rampart and a moat, and from the north and west by cliffs over the Dnieper, r. Konka and Belozersky estuary. In the southwestern corner was the acropolis, where the Scythian nobility lived. The main occupations of the inhabitants were the manufacture of bronze and iron tools, weaving, pottery, as well as agriculture and cattle breeding. Craftsmen lived in dugouts and pillared ground buildings, the nobility lived in stone houses. The settlement was a large craft and trade center, closely associated with the Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea region and the local population of Scythia. At the end of the III century. BC. the territory of the settlement was abandoned (with the exception of the acropolis, where life continued until the 3rd century AD).

358 BC The power of the Scythians is subject to Istria on the Black Sea coast.

344 BC The Scythians are waging a successful war with the Triballi, who lived on the territory of modern Bulgaria.

343 BC Subordinated to Callatis on the Black Sea coast.

40s 4th century BC. King Atey, having eliminated other kings, united the Scythian tribes from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov to the Danube.

339 BC e. War of the Scythians with Philip II of Macedon. According to legend, it was in this war that King Atey died at the age of 90.

From the source it is known that “both sides were irritated, a battle ensued, in which the Scythians, despite the superiority of their spiritual prowess and numbers, were defeated by the cunning of Philip; 20 thousand children and women were taken (by the Macedonian winners), a lot of cattle, but there was no gold and silver at all, which was the first evidence of the poverty of the Scythians; 20 thousand blood mares were sent to Macedonia to breed the breed” [Justin. Epitome of Pompey Trogus. "History of Philip" (IX, 2-3)].

On the way back, the Macedonian army was ambushed by the Triballi.

331 BC Zopyrion is left by Alexander the Great as governor of Thrace, Pontus (or Scythia). Wanting to prove himself collects 30 thousand. army and goes to war against the Scythians. Most likely, he reached Olbia, but then he had to flee. As a result, he was overtaken by the Scythians, defeated, while losing almost the entire army. He himself dies somewhere in Bessarabia.

313 BC Lysimachus, the ruler of Thrace, inflicted a severe defeat on the Scythians across the Danube.

310-309 BC e. Dynastic war in the Bosporan kingdom. Agar, the leader of the Scythians, supported Satyr, but as a result of the battle on the Fat River, another pretender to the throne, Eumela Bosporus, Satyr's brother, won.

280-260 AD BC. The Sarmatians invade Scythia and in fact completely take over the northern Black Sea region, destroying and driving out the Scythians. Subsequently, part of the Scythians remained at the mouth of the Dnieper and on the Crimean peninsula. The other part crosses the Danube and settles there, the territory is called Lesser Scythia (Istria-Dobruja).

Con. III - beginning. 2nd century BC. Great changes are taking place in Scythia. The pressure of the Sarmatians is intensifying, as mentioned earlier, the Kamenskoe settlement ceases to exist (except for the acropolis, which continues to function) on the Dnieper. Throughout the Northern Black Sea region, archaeologists have noted the change of the Scythian culture to the Sarmatian. At the same time, the Scythians in the Crimea began to settle down, engage in agriculture, fishing, and crafts.

130-114/13 AD BC. The reign of the Scythian king Skilur in the Crimea. He was able to unite the entire territory of the Scythians in the Crimea, up to the mouth of the Dnieper and South. Bug. He turned Scythian Naples (near modern Simferopol) into the capital. To fight against Pontus, he began to attract Sarmatians (Roxalans), led by Tasius. Skilur managed to take possession of Kerkinitida, the Beautiful Harbor and Fortifications, the cities of the western coast of Crimea, which until then were part of the Chersonesos Republic.

114/13-111 BC.(110-107 BC) The reign of Palak, the son of Skilur. In three expeditions, Diophantus successively defeated Palak, conquered the mountain Taurians, occupied the Scythian fortresses of Khabei and Naples in the Crimea, and subjugated the Scythians to Mithridates of Pontus.

Later, the Scythians retreated again and Diophantus again went against them, liberated Kerkinitida and the Fortifications and began to besiege the Beautiful Harbor. Palak moved towards him, but was defeated in such a way that, according to the Chersonesos inscription in honor of Diophantus, "no one escaped from the infantry, and only a few escaped from the horsemen." In the spring, Diophantus moved to Khabei and Naples and forced the Scythians to ask for peace.

The Scythians who lived in the Bosporus revolted against Perisades, the last nominal king of the Bosporus from the previous dynasty, who transferred power to Mithridates VI, but retained his title. The uprising was led by the Scythian Savmak, perhaps the foster slave of Perisad. The king was killed, Savmak seized power, but Diophantus liquidated this uprising, subordinating Chersonese, the Bosporus and the Steppe Crimea to Mithridates of Pontus.

Through these wars, Taurus Scythia was divided into several dominions and no longer represented a single kingdom.

Ser. 1st century BC. The Getae under the leadership of Birebista cross the Danube and destroy Olbia. The city ceased to exist. Later, the Scythians persuaded the escaped inhabitants to rebuild the city, but he no longer recovered from such a blow. This had a very serious impact on the very trade of the Scythians with the Greeks.

80 BC The Pontic stateg Mithridates Neoptol defeated the fleet of the Scythians, took Tire and Olbia from them. And a little later, in the Kerch Strait, he also breaks the fleet of the Scythians, and in winter on the ice he defeats the allied forces of the Bosporus and the Scythians. The power and authority of the Scythians have been shaken, but they continue to influence the politics of their region.

1st century BC. - II century. AD According to archaeological data, a strong mixing of the Scythians and Sarmatians begins, since their cultures actually coincide, and it is already quite difficult to separate one culture from another.

257 AD The arrival is ready in the Crimea. They attack the Bospro kingdom. From the same time, the Scythian kingdom ceased to exist as such.

70s 4th century Invasion of the Huns. They sweep away the remnants of the Scythians both in the Crimea and in Istria on the Danube. The Scythians, one might say, completely dissolve in the ethnic environment surrounding them.

social organization

Traces of the presence of the Scythians are also noted in the North Caucasus. The main territory of the settlement of the Scythians is the steppes between the lower reaches of the Danube and the Don, including the steppe Crimea and areas adjacent to the Northern Black Sea coast. The northern border is unclear. The Scythians were divided into several large tribes. According to Herodotus, the royal Scythians, who lived in the steppes between the Dnieper and the Don, were dominant. Nomadic Scythians lived along the right bank of the lower Dnieper and in the steppe Crimea. Between the Ingul and the Dnieper, Scythian farmers lived interspersed with nomads. In the basin of the Southern Bug, near the city of Olbia, the Callipids, or Hellenic-Scythians, lived, to the north of them - the Alazons, and even further north - the Scythians-plowmen. The boundaries of the settlement of individual tribes of Scythia (especially the Scythian plowmen) are unclear (see the map above).

Close relations with the slave-owning cities of the Northern Black Sea region, the intensive trade of the Scythians in cattle, bread, furs and slaves intensified the process of stratification in the Scythian society. It is known that the Scythians had a union of tribes, which gradually acquired the features of a kind of state of the slave-owning type, headed by the king.

From the end of the 7th century BC e. Scythian society knew different gradations of social status:

• slaves of various origins and exploited in various ways;
• "hippotoxotes" (mounted shooters) - free community members;
• the poor, who had the opportunity to fight only on foot;
• different levels of aristocracy from the heads of wealthy families to nomarchs-skeptukhs;
• kings from local to three leading kings with a senior in position at the head.

By the beginning of the VI century. BC. social stratification reaches large proportions. The grounds for saying so are given by the burials of that era. Grandiose royal mounds with murdered servants and concubines and simple burial pits with a minimum of inventory. Most of the free community members fought on horseback and had some property, but already at that time “octopuses” appeared. These are Scythians on foot who had only a couple of oxen to harness to the wagon, hence the name. There were even poor people who had nothing. Of these, the Scythian infantry was formed, which, over time, grew more and more numerically.

A stratum of slaves, originally foreigners, also appeared. In the legends and descriptions of Herodotus, the slaves were the local population, in the territories captured by the Scythians.

Royal power was hereditary, but there were several kings. This can be seen, for example, from the wars with Assyria, when one or another king could be an enemy and ally of Assyria. We see the same during the invasion of Darius, when the Scythians formed three detachments, each headed by its own king. At the same time, power apparently belonged to one dynasty.

Until the 5th century BC. royal power was limited to a council of kings or a military assembly. In other cases, the power of the king was unlimited. An encroachment on her was followed by beheading, or death at the stake.

Already in the IV century. Atheus ruled Scythia with absolute power, having other rulers in submission, named in one of the Olbian inscriptions as basileus, i.e. kings.

economy

Herodotus indicates that part of the Scythian tribes was engaged in cultivating the land. Wheat, barley, millet, beans, onions, and garlic were grown. Hemp is also indicated, from which the canvas was made and some kind of drug for smoking.

The bulk of the Scythians were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding. It was year round. In winter, tebenevka was common (the cattle themselves got their food from under the snow). Part of the nomads migrated to the Azov region to the estuaries of the rivers, where tall grass was preserved. Felt yurts were on wheels and a pair of oxen were harnessed to them. Such caravans of wagons were accompanied by mounted male warriors.

Judging by the excavations of the Kamensky settlement, the composition of the herds was as follows:

• horses - 40%
• cattle - 40%
• small cattle (sheep, goats) - 18%
• dogs, game game: deer, saiga, beaver - 2%

Interestingly, the Scythians did not breed pigs even in the settled centers of their state.

Accordingly, not only meat was used, but also skins and wool. They sewed sheepskin coats, felt felt, dressed leather. Milk was also used as food; it was not for nothing that the Scythians were called milkers of mares and mammals.

Iron-smelting workshops were found in a large number in the Kamensky settlement. Copper was mined in small quantities near Donetsk, and also, most likely, went along trade routes from the Caucasus and the Southern Urals. Zinc for bronze was mined on the Lower Dnieper, the origin of tin is still unclear.

Iron was in sufficient quantities in the swamps of the Dnieper floodplains. Iron smelting was extremely uneconomical, 40-60% remained in the slag. Judging by the excavations, large patriarchal families were engaged in iron-making - about 900 hectares in the Kamensky settlement were dotted with large houses (150-300 m³ each), in which there were forges for the production of various weapons and equipment.

Next to the metallurgists lived joiners, whose tools (chisels, axes, adzes) were also found in large quantities, both in the settlement and in the barrows. The fact that carpenters were still specialization says that yurts on wheels have many wooden parts. In addition, there were permanent dwellings - winter roads, which also had to be serviced by carpenters.

Pottery was developed. The potter's wheel was little used, the dishes were molded by hand from clay bundles. We find analogies of the Scythian utensils in the Late Srub culture. The utensils are mostly round-sided pots with a vertical, slightly flared neck or with a gently turned edge. They also find narrow-necked dishes with a spherical body.

Weaving was also widespread in the Scythian environment. find a lot of clay and lead whorls. They are found in settlements and as an obligatory element in female burials. The material for the fabric is sheep wave and hemp. In addition to fabrics, mats were woven, and felt and felt were also used.

Starting from the 7th century BC. the trade of the Scythians with the Greek cities of the Black Sea takes on a regular character. The main goods that the Scythians supplied to the markets were bread and slaves. Moreover, the scope of the grain trade was large. Even on the coins of the Scythian kings an ear of wheat was depicted. It was on such trade that the Bosporus kingdom arose (the export of bread accounted for the lion's share of exports). Grain trade was developed until the III century. BC. until the invasion of the Sarmatians, then it began to gradually subside, giving way to the cattle trade. Along with the cattle, furs were also exported, which came from the forest-steppe strip, through the lands of the Scythians. Honey and wax were also exported.

A substantial share in trade belonged to the export of slaves. Starting from the VI century. BC. The names of Scythian slaves appear in ancient inscriptions. At the same time, the Scythians come in large numbers to Greece to participate in wars. In addition to the Scythians, a large number of slaves came from the tribes of the Getae, Triballi, Sarmatians and Meotians. At the turn of III and II centuries. BC. the flow of Scythian slaves weakened.

As for imports into Scythia itself, it is worth highlighting wine, which came in huge quantities from Greece. As a result, Greek dishes are widely used - not only amphoras for wine, but also vessels for incense, ointments, perfumes, which are often found in the graves of rich and simple Scythians.

Fabrics and clothes also came to the steppe - this is reported by Greek writers. Jewelry was in large quantities - mirrors, glass and paste beads, earrings and various jewelry. The Scythians also often acted as intermediaries in trade with the more northern forest-steppe and forest tribes.

Sources

• B.N. Grakov. Scythians. Popular science essay. Moscow: MGU Publishing House, 1968.
• Archeology of the USSR. Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time. M.: Publishing house "Nauka", 1989.
• M.I. Artamonov. Cimmerians and Scythians. L .: Publishing house of Leningrad State University, 1974.
• IN AND. Gulyaev. Scythians: the rise and fall of a great kingdom. 2006

Once upon a time, starting from the second half of the VIII - beginning of the VII century. BC e., in the vast expanses of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eurasia from the Black Sea region to the Sayano-Altai, mysterious peoples roamed. Ancient writers and historians called them "Scythians".

But already the ancient authors themselves invested different meanings in this concept. Under the "Scythians" were understood both the tribes who lived only in the Northern Black Sea region, and other peoples who lived in territories quite remote from each other. Later, the term "Scythians" was often applied to all the peoples who inhabited the Eurasian steppes, whether they were nomadic tribes or our Slavic ancestors. Even the Russian state in some medieval writings was called Scythia.

Centuries passed. For a long time the Scythians remained a mystery. As early as the beginning of the 20th century. this image remained fanned with legends and served as fertile ground for poets, writers, and artists. Everyone is well aware of the famous lines of Alexander Blok: “Yes, we are Scythians! Yes, we are Asians! With slanting and greedy eyes! ..».

But what was the real appearance of the Scythians, where did they come from and where did they disappear in the waves of history?

There is no definitive answer to all the questions of Scythian history, and it is hardly possible to get them. But much has been learned by archeology, which has opened up the wonderful world of Scythian burial mounds, examples of magnificent unique art, grandiose burial structures. The antiquities of the Scythians became known to science already in the 18th century. But the scientific base of Scythian archeology was created in the 20th century. by the efforts of many scientists. Thanks to archeology, the meager lines of ancient writings about the Scythians sounded in a new way.

In modern science, both a narrow and an extended interpretation of the concept of "Scythians" is accepted. In the first case, "Scythians" is the name of only one people of the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region between the Danube and the Don. Then other representatives of various cultures related to the Scythians are called the peoples of the Scythian world. These are the Savromats who lived to the east of the Black Sea Scythians, the Saks in the steppes of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, the Meots in the Kuban region and others whose names history has not preserved.

In the second case, they are called all the peoples who lived on a vast territory, but once had a common origin and had similar features of the economic structure and culture. The closeness of culture is expressed in some features of everyday life, rituals and worldview. In archeology, all these features are combined in the so-called "Scythian triad". It includes weapons (bronze arrowheads, iron daggers and swords, battle axes), horse equipment (a kind of bridle) and art objects of the Scythian animal style. Very similar types of these items were widespread in the cultures of the peoples who inhabited the steppe and forest-steppe of Eurasia from the second half of the 8th century. BC e. until the first centuries of the new era. Together, these grains of knowledge open before us a world that has retained its originality for many centuries and left its own special page in the annals of world civilization.

Scythians: who are they and where are they from

The origin of these cultures and their further fate are extremely mysterious. The reason for this is the lack of their own written language among the peoples of the Scythian world and conflicting data about the Scythians in the stories of other peoples.

Studying ancient texts in which ancient and eastern historians mention the names of Scythian leaders, some Scythian words, scientists can still understand something about the origin of the Scythians. They spoke the language of the Iranian group of the Indo-European language family, and other peoples of the Scythian world had similar languages.

But where and when did they come representatives of the Scythian culture to the European steppes, where they met them, who left the most complete descriptions of this people? Before the arrival of the Scythian tribes, peoples lived here who also spoke Iranian languages. The most famous of them were the Cimmerians. The history of the Cimmerians is also full of secrets. To date, it has not been precisely established who the Cimmerians are. Some researchers believe that the Cimmerians are nomadic peoples related to the Scythians who existed with them at the same time. Other scholars suggest that the concept of "Cimmerians" may be one of the names of the ancient Scythians themselves. According to a legend cited by a Greek historian of the 5th c. BC e. Herodotus, the nomadic Scythians who came from Asia, expelled the Cimmerians from the territory of the Northern Black Sea region. But the same Herodotus in his "History" cites other legends of the Scythians. According to them, this civilization in the Northern Black Sea region lived from eternity.

Legends do little to help resolve the issue of the origin of the Black Sea Scythians. Do not give a direct answer and archaeological sources. After all, most of the Scythian tribes led a nomadic economy and could travel great distances in a short time. And it is very difficult to single out their ancestors among the many related tribes with similar cultural features. Nevertheless, most scientists are inclined to believe that the main core of the Scythians of the Black Sea region were tribes that came from the east, from beyond the Volga.

And here the disputes of researchers begin again. Where did the characteristic features of the Scythian culture develop?

Some of them believe that Scythians came to Europe as a well-formed people. In their culture, all the features of the “Scythian triad” already existed: the types of weapons that distinguished them, horse equipment and jewelry. This hypothesis was called "Central Asian".

Proponents of another theory, "Anterior Asian", do not agree with them. No, they say, all these features of the Scythians developed during their campaigns in the 7th century. BC e. beyond the Caucasus Range, to Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, which are known from written sources and archeological data. There they borrowed advanced types of weapons and some art scenes, incorporated them into their culture and brought them back to the steppes. Only after that it is possible to speak about the Scythian culture as something integral.

Both theories have strong arguments in their favor. Both in Central and Western Asia there are weapons and decorations similar to the Scythian ones. But none of these centers has the entire set of cultural elements characteristic of the Scythians.

But archeological research does not stand still. More and more arguments appear in the third hypothesis of the origin of the Scythian culture - "polycentric". In the vast expanses of the Eurasian, at the same time, cultures of the Scythian type, similar in general terms, began to emerge.

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For the Laconians have long hair, and from them all Hellenism ... Scythians the first began to cut their hair, which is why they are called " oxidized(gr. απεσκυθισμενοι )».

Myths about the origin of the Scythians

At the same time, other fundamentally important evidence of Herodotus is often ignored.

IV.7. This is how the Scythians tell about the origin of their people. They think, however, that from the time of the first king of Targitai to the invasion of their land by Darius, just 1000 years passed (approximately 1514-1512 BC; commentary). The Scythian kings carefully guarded the mentioned sacred golden objects and revered them with reverence, bringing rich sacrifices every year. If someone at the feast falls asleep in the open air with this sacred gold, then, according to the Scythians, he will not live even a year. Therefore, the Scythians give him as much land as he can go around on a horse in a day. Since they had a lot of land, Kolaksais divided it, according to the stories of the Scythians, into three kingdoms between his three sons. He made the largest kingdom where gold was stored (not mined). In the region lying even further north of the land of the Scythians, as they say, nothing can be seen and it is impossible to penetrate because of flying feathers. Indeed, the earth and air there are full of feathers, and this interferes with vision.

8. This is how the Scythians themselves talk about themselves and about their neighboring northern countries. The Hellenes, who live on Pontus, convey differently (claiming to have a deeper memory: commentary). Hercules, chasing the bulls of Gerion (more often - cows), arrived in this then still uninhabited country (now it is occupied by the Scythians). Geryon lived far from Pontus, on an island in the Ocean near Gadir behind the Pillars of Heracles (this island is called Erythia by the Hellenes). The ocean, according to the Greeks, flows, starting from the rising of the sun, around the whole earth, but they cannot prove this. From there, Hercules arrived in the now so-called country of the Scythians. There he was caught by bad weather and cold. Wrapped in a pigskin, he fell asleep, and at this time his draft horses (he let them graze) miraculously disappeared.

The absence of “gold” in the legend about the origin of the Scythians from Hercules, in particular, indicates its great antiquity compared to the legends of the Scythians themselves about the times of Targitai. At the same time, according to one version, the Scythians existed even before Hercules, who was taught archery by the Scythian Tevtar.

According to a number of modern linguists, "chipped" is a form of iran. *skuda-ta- “archers”, where -ta- is an indicator of collectiveness (in the same meaning -tæ- is preserved in modern Ossetian). It is noteworthy that the self-name of the Sarmatians "Σαρμάται" (Sauromatæ), according to J. Harmatta, had the same meaning.

The transition of Old Iranian *d to Scythian l as a characteristic feature of the Scythian language is also confirmed by other Scythian words, for example:

• Scythian Παραλάται - a tribal name, meaning, according to Herodotus (IV, 6), the ruling Scythian dynasty and explained by him in other places using the expression ΣκύÞαι βασιλητοι, that is, "royal Scythians";< иран. *paradāta-«поставленный во главе, по закону назначенный», авестийское paraδāta- (почетный титул владыки, букв. «поставленный впереди, во главе»)

At the same time, there are other scientific versions of the etymology of these ononyms - from other Indo-European, Turkic, Ugric and Semitic languages.

Story

emergence

Scythian culture is actively studied by supporters of the Kurgan hypothesis. The formation of a relatively generally recognized Scythian culture, archaeologists date back to the 7th century BC. e. . There are two main approaches to interpreting its occurrence:

Formation of statehood

The beginning of the relatively generally recognized history of the Scythians and Scythia - VIII century BC. e., the return of the main forces of the Scythians to the Northern Black Sea region, where the Cimmerians ruled for centuries (Homers in a number of sources).

The Cimmerians were forced out by the Scythians from the Northern Black Sea region by the 7th century BC. e. , and campaigns of the Scythians in Asia Minor. In the 70s. 7th century BC e. the Scythians invaded Media, Syria, Palestine and, according to the characteristics of Herodotus, "dominated" in Asia Minor, where they created the Scythian Kingdom - Ishkuz, but by the beginning of the 6th century BC. e. were expelled from there. Traces of the presence of the Scythians are also noted in the North Caucasus.

The main area of ​​settlement of the Scythians is the steppes between the lower reaches of the Danube and the Don, including the steppe Crimea and areas adjacent to the Northern Black Sea region. The northern border is unclear. The Scythians were divided into several large tribes. According to Herodotus, the dominant ones were royal Scythians- the easternmost of the Scythian tribes, bordering the Savromats along the Don, also occupied the steppe Crimea. To the west they lived Scythian nomads, and even to the west, on the left bank of the Dnieper - Scythian farmers. On the right bank of the Dnieper, in the basin of the Southern Bug, near the city of Olvia lived callipids, or Hellenic-Scythians, to the north of them - alazones, and further north Scythian plowmen, and Herodotus points to agriculture as differences from the Scythians the last three tribes and specifies that if the Kallipids and Alazons grow and eat bread, then the Scythian plowmen grow bread for sale. According to Herodotus, the Scythians collectively called themselves "chipped" and were divided into four tribes: paralates("first") avhaty(occupied the upper reaches of Gipanis), traspium And catiars.

Close relations with the slave-owning cities of the Northern Black Sea region, the intensive trade of the Scythians in cattle, bread, furs and slaves intensified the process of class formation in the Scythian society. It is known about the existence of a union of tribes among the Scythians, which gradually acquired the features of a kind of state of the early slave-owning type, headed by the king. The power of the king was hereditary and deified. It was limited to the union council and the people's assembly. There was a separation of the military aristocracy, vigilantes and the priestly stratum. The political unity of the Scythians was facilitated by their war with the Persian king Darius I in 512 BC. e. - at the head of the Scythians were three kings: Idanfirs, Skopas and Taksakis. At the turn of the V-IV centuries. BC e. King Atei eliminated the other Scythian kings and usurped all power. In the 40s. 4th century BC e. he completed the unification of Scythia from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Danube.

heyday

Archaeological research of the Kamensky settlement (about 1200 hectares) showed that in the heyday of the Scythian kingdom it was the administrative and trade and economic center of the steppe Scythians. Sharp changes in the social structure of the Scythians by the 4th century. BC e. reflected in the appearance in the Dnieper region of the grandiose burial mounds of the Scythian aristocracy, the so-called. "royal mounds", reaching a height of more than 20 m. They were buried kings and their combatants in deep and complex funerary structures. The burials of the aristocracy were accompanied by the burial of dead wives or concubines, servants (slaves) and horses.

Warriors were buried with weapons: short akinaki swords with gold sheaths, a mass of arrows with bronze tips, quivers or goritas lined with gold plates, spears and darts with iron tips. Rich graves often contained copper, gold and silver utensils, Greek painted ceramics and amphoras with wine, various decorations, often fine jewelry made by Scythian and Greek craftsmen. During the burial of ordinary Scythian community members, basically the same rite was performed, but the grave goods were poorer.

Sarmatian conquest of Scythia. Tauroscythia.

Between 280-260 AD BC e. the power of the Scythians was significantly reduced under the onslaught of their kindred Sarmatians, who came from behind the Don.

The capital of the Scythians was moved to the Crimea, and, according to the latest data, in the settlement of Ak-Kaya, where excavations have been carried out since 2006. Based on the results of comparisons of excavation plans with aerial and space photography, it was determined that a large city with a fortress that existed on two centuries earlier than Scythian Naples. “The unusual size of the fortress, the power and nature of the defensive structures, the location of groups of“ royal ”Scythian mounds near the White Rock - all this suggests that the Ak-Kaya fortress had a metropolitan, royal status," the expedition leader Yu. Zaitsev believes.

In the 30s. 2nd century BC e. on the river Salgir (within the boundaries of modern Simferopol), Scythian Naples was built on the site of the existing settlement, probably under the leadership of Tsar Skilur.

The Scythian kingdom in the Crimea reached its peak in the 30-20s. 2nd century BC e., under Tsar Skilur, when the Scythians subjugated Olbia and a number of possessions of Chersonesus. After the defeat in the war with the Pontic kingdom, Tauroscythia ceased to exist as a single state.

disappearance

The Scythian kingdom with its center in the Crimea lasted until the second half of the 3rd century BC. n. e. and was destroyed by the Goths. The Scythians finally lost their independence and ethnic identity, dissolving among the tribes of the Great Migration of Peoples. The Greek name "Scythians" ceased to have an ethnic character and was applied to various peoples of the Northern Black Sea region, including medieval Rus'.

Saks and Sarmatians

Saks disappeared in the early Middle Ages under the onslaught of other nomads (Tokhars, Huns and other Turks, Sarmatians, Hephthalites).

Scythian heritage

Numerous Scythian items have been found on the territory of Ukraine, southern Russia and Kazakhstan.

The names of many rivers and regions of Eastern Europe are of Scythian-Sarmatian origin.

Peoples of Scythia

Among the "Scythians" three main branches can be distinguished:

European Scythians

The European Scythians were Iranian-speaking nomads who dominated the Black Sea region until the 4th-3rd centuries BC. e. Significant data on the European Scythians are contained in ancient Greek sources, especially in Herodotus. Often, under the name of the Scythians, it is precisely the European Scythians that are understood.

The Scythians themselves, according to Herodotus, are called skolots, and the Persians called them Saks.

saki

Saks are Scythian tribes that inhabited the territory of modern Central Asia. The Asian peoples, especially the Persians, called them "Saki". Ancient Greek authors called the Saks "Asiatic Scythians". It is noteworthy that the Persians, on the contrary, called the European Scythians "overseas Saks".

Sarmatians

The tribes of the Sarmatians or Savromats, related to the Scythians, originally lived in the Volga region and the Ural steppes. According to Herodotus, the Sarmatians descended from the union of the Scythian youths and the Amazons. Herodotus also reports that "Sauromatians speak the Scythian language, but distorted since ancient times." From the 4th century BC e. there are several wars between the Sarmatians and the Scythians proper, as a result of which the Sarmatians took a dominant position in European Scythia, which was later called Sarmatia in ancient sources.

From the language of the Sarmatians, the only surviving form of the Scytho-Sarmatian language, the Ossetian language, is derived.

Other peoples of Scythia

It is believed that some of the European Scythian tribes mentioned in ancient sources were not Iranian-speaking.

culture

In science, attempts are intensifying to trace the cultural genesis of the peoples of Eurasia since the Paleolithic. In particular, variants of burial rites, a number of symbols and images, elements of the animal style (the horse of the Paleolithic Sungiri), etc. find analogues in 20 - 23 thousand in the cultures of the Eurasian peoples.

Art

Among the artistic items found in the burials of the Scythians, the most interesting are items decorated in the animal style: quiver and scabbard covers, sword hilts, details of the bridle set, plaques (used to decorate horse harness, quivers, shells, and also as women's jewelry), mirror handles, buckles, bracelets, hryvnias, etc.

Along with images of animal figures (deer, elk, goat, birds of prey, fantastic animals, etc.), there are scenes of animals fighting (most often an eagle or other predator tormenting a herbivore). Images were made in low relief using forging, embossing, casting, embossing and carving, most often from gold, silver, iron and bronze. Ascending to the images of totem ancestors, in the Scythian time they represented various spirits and played the role of magical amulets; in addition, they may have symbolized the strength, dexterity and courage of a warrior.

An undoubted sign of the Scythian belonging of this or that product is a special way of depicting animals, the so-called Scythian-Siberian animal style. Animals are always depicted in motion and from the side, but with their heads turned towards the viewer.

The peculiarities of the Scythian animal style are the extraordinary liveliness, specificity and dynamics of images, the remarkable adaptation of images to the shapes of objects. In the art of the Scythians IV-III centuries. BC e. images of animals received more and more ornamental, linear-planar interpretation. There were also stone, highly schematized statues of Scythian warriors, installed on mounds. From the 5th century BC e. Greek craftsmen made objects of decorative and applied art for the Scythians, in accordance with their artistic tastes.

According to scientists, the Scythians and the ancient Greeks had a significant impact on many peoples who lived on the territory of the European part of the former USSR, for example, they had such an impact on the Meotian culture, which can be seen from the artifacts found in the Kelermes Kurgans, Karagodeuashkh and others. The mounds are also indicative: Kul - Both, Solokha, Chertomlyk, Thick Grave, etc.; unique wall paintings discovered in Scythian Naples.

Costume

Main article: Scythian clothing

Mythology

The mythology of the Scythians has numerous Iranian and Indo-European parallels, which was shown in a number of works on paganism by Academician B. A. Rybakov and Professor D. S. Raevsky and is being developed by modern research.

Warfare

Among the Scythians, the first among the peoples of the continent, the cavalry really became the main type of troops, numerically prevailing over the infantry, and during the Asiatic campaigns - the only force.

The Scythians were the first (as far as sources allow us to judge) in the history of wars to successfully use a strategic retreat in order to radically change the balance of power in their favor. They were the first to go for dividing the troops into two interacting parts with setting separate tasks for each of them. In military practice, they successfully applied the method of waging war, which ancient authors aptly called "small war". They demonstrated the skillful conduct of significant campaigns in a vast theater of military operations, which led to the expulsion of exhausted enemy troops (the war with Darius) or the defeat of significant enemy masses (the defeat of Zopyrion, the battle of Fata).

In the second century BC. e. Scythian military art is already outdated. The Scythians are defeated by the Thracians, Greeks and Macedonians.

The Scythian military craft received two continuations: among the Sarmatians and Parthians, with an emphasis on heavy cavalry, adapted for close combat and operating in close formation, and among the eastern nomads: Saks, Tokhars, later - Turks and Mongols, with an emphasis on long-range combat and related with the invention of fundamentally new bow designs.

Legendary history and chronology of the Scythians

Chronological indications related to the ancient history of the Scythians are found in a number of ancient authors. They not only operate with the usual round numbers for approximate information, but often contradict each other, which makes their direct comparison with archaeological data illegal.

Justin also gives a story about the young men of the royal family Plin and Skolopite, their death and the origin of the Amazons. These events are placed about two generations before the Trojan War, and the campaign of the Scythian prince Panasagora against Athens - one generation.

The Christian historian Orosius, using the work of Justin as a whole, could not accept his dates, because they contradicted the biblical dating of the flood (it is noteworthy that in the Chronicle of Eusebius there is no information about the ancient history of the Scythians at all). The achievement by the Scythians of dominance in Europe and Asia Orosius attributed to the period 1500 years before Nin, which falls on 3553 BC. e. Orosius rearranged the sequence of wars. He dates the victory of the Assyrian king Nin over the Scythians 1300 years before the founding of Rome (2053 BC), Vesosis is at war with the Scythians 480 years before the founding of Rome (1233 BC). Thus, in Orosius, as in Herodotus, this war is dated shortly before the Trojan, but the outcome of the war, like in Justin, is the victory of the Scythians. The story of Skolopith, Pliny and the Amazons in Orosius coincides with Justin.

Jordan, also talking about the victory of the Gothic king Tanauzis over the Egyptian pharaoh Vesosis, places it shortly before the Trojan War, also mentioning the origin of the Amazons, but omits the names of Skolopit and Plina.

Notable Scythians

mythical

see also Scythia and the Caucasus in ancient Greek mythology#Scythia

historical

Dynasties (kings) of the Scythians and representatives of the dynasty, known from Assyrian sources:

Dynasties (kings) of the Scythians and representatives of the dynasty mentioned by Herodotus:

Dynasties (kings) of the Scythians and representatives of the dynasty, known from other sources:

Dynasties (kings) and representatives of the dynasty of the Scythian kingdom in the Crimea (Tauroscythia) (~ 250 BC - 250 AD):

Also:

• Kanit - ok. 270 BC e.
• Harasp - II century. BC e.
• Akros - II century. BC e.
• Thanos - ok. 100.
• Zariax - 1st c. BC e.
• Elias - before 70 BC. e., ok. 70 BC e. Sarmatian conquest

Scythians in antiquity

The Scythians, as the main tribe of the Northern Black Sea region, were known in antiquity as a nomadic pastoral people who lived in wagons, ate milk and meat of cattle, and had cruel warlike customs, which allowed them to gain the glory of invincibility. The Scythians became the personification of barbarism (either a condemning or idealizing model of attitude towards the barbarians).

Conclusions of geneticists

Most of the Scythian skeletons found in the burials of Siberia and Central Asia contain the haplogroup R1a1.

Scythians in medieval tradition

Russian chronicles emphasized that the peoples of Rus' were called by the Greeks "Great Scythia".

see also

• askuzes (ashkuzes)
• The peoples of ancient Scythia: Boruski, Agathyrs, Gelons, Nevri (Nervii), Arimaspians, Fissagetes, Iirks, Budins, Melanchlens, Getae, Avkhats (Lipoksai), Katiars (Arpoksai), Traspii (Arpoksai), Paralats (Coloksai, Chips), Issedons , Sarmatians, Taurians, Argippei, Androphages, Sakas (tribes), Massagets.

Notes

1. TSB
2. Encyclopedia "Round the World"
3. Ancient scholia to the Iliad. II. 11 // V. V. Latyshev. News of ancient writers about Scythia and the Caucasus
4. Harmatta, J. (1996), "Scythians", History of Humanity Volume III: From Seventh Century B.C. to the Seventh Century A.D., Routledge for UNESCO, p. 182
5. History of the Ancient East. M., 2004. S.545
6. Herodotus. History IV 11
7. History of the Ancient East. M., 2004. S.546
8. Roller pottery culture // BDT. T.4. M., 2006.
9. Cimmerian period // BRE. T.13. M., 2008.
10. Cimmerians // BRE. T.13. M., 2008.
11. Herodotus. History IV 17
12. justin. Epitoma Pompey Troga
13. Latyshev VV News of ancient writers about Scythia and the Caucasus. Bulletin of ancient history. 1947-1949; Index 1950: Saks, Massagets: comparison of versions. Analogues on the Internet.; Sosanov Koshali History of Kazakhstan. Help Guide, Almaty: "Ol-Zhas Baspasy", 2007. - 112 p. ISBN 9965-651-56-6
14. Herodotus. History IV 110-116
15. Herodotus. History IV 117
16. Ethnocultural interaction in Eurasia. RAS program. Sections and publications
17. INTRODUCTION
18. The main problems in the study of Meotian culture
19. Herodotus. History IV 62
20. Herodotus. History IV 59
21. Monuments of the pre-Scythian and Scythian times in the south of Eastern Europe // Materials and research on archeology of Russia, no. 1 / Ed. R. M. Munchaev, V. S. Olkhovsky. M., 1997; and etc.)
22. Herodotus. History IV 5
23. Herodotus. History IV 7
24. Herodotus. History II 103, 110
25. after Sesostris Feron ruled, and after Feron - Proteus, under which Alexander and Helen arrived in Egypt (Herodotus. History II 111-116)
26. Herodotus. History IV 8-10
27. Ivanchik A. I. On the eve of colonization. Northern Black Sea region and steppe nomads of the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. in the ancient literary tradition. M.-Berlin, 2005, especially p. 213, 219
28. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga II 1, 5-21
29. Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library II 43, 3-6
30. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga II 3, 8-14
31. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga II 3, 17
32. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga I 2, 13
33. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga I 6, 16
34. complex development of the version taking into account many factors: http://www.proza.ru/avtor/zolinpm&book=15#15; http://www.proza.ru/avtor/zolinpm&book=10#10 ; http://www.proza.ru/avtor/zolinpm&book=8#8 ; works by G. V. Vernadsky, B. A. Rybakov, N. I. Vasilyeva and other authors
35. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga II 4, 1-16
36. Justin. Epitome Pompey Troga II 4, 28
37. Ivanchik A. I. On the eve of colonization. Northern Black Sea region and steppe nomads of the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. in the ancient literary tradition. M.-Berlin, 2005. S.208-209
38. Orosius. History Against the Gentiles I 4, 2
39. Orosius. History against the Gentiles I 14, 1-4
40. Orosius. History Against the Gentiles I 15, 1
41. Jordan. Getika 44, 47-48; for dates, see comm. E. Ch. Skrzhinskaya in the book. Jordan. Getica. St. Petersburg, 2001. S.373-374
42. Jordan. Getica 49-52
43. Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (FGrHist) 31 F30 ( Herodorus Heracleensis)
44. Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum (FHG) Vol.II, Lib.I, s.34 ( Herodorus Heracleensis) F23
45. Myths of Ancient Greece. Triptolemus and Dimetra.
46. Ivanchik A.I. before colonization. Northern Black Sea region and steppe nomads of the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. in the ancient literary tradition. M.-Berlin, 2005. S.209
47. History of the Ancient East. Book 2. M., 2004. S.548
48. Herodotus. History I 103; History of the Ancient East. Book 2. M., 2004. S.554
49. Herodotus. History I 81

The Scythians dominated the present territory of Russia for almost a millennium. Neither the Persian Empire nor Alexander the Great could break them. But suddenly, overnight, this people mysteriously disappeared into history, leaving behind only majestic burial mounds.

Who are the Scythians

Scythians is a Greek word, with the help of which the Hellenes denoted nomadic peoples living in the Black Sea region between the courses of the Don and Danube rivers. The Scythians themselves called themselves Saki. For most Greeks, Scythia was an outlandish land inhabited by "white flies" - snow, and cold always reigned, which, of course, did not correspond to reality.

It is this perception of the country of the Scythians that can be found in Virgil, Horace and Ovid. Later, in the Byzantine chronicles, Slavs, and Alans, Khazars or Pechenegs could already be called Scythians. And the Roman historian Pliny the Elder wrote back in the 1st century AD that “the name“ Scythians ”is transferred to the Sarmatians and Germans,” and believed that the ancient name was assigned to many of the peoples most distant from the Western world.

This name continued to live on, and in The Tale of Bygone Years it is repeatedly mentioned that the Greeks called the peoples of Rus' “Scythians”: “Oleg went to the Greeks, leaving Igor in Kiev; he took with him many Varangians, and Slavs, and Chuds, and Krivichi, and Meryu, and Drevlyans, and Radimichi, and Polyans, and Severians, and Vyatichi, and Croats, and Dulebs, and Tivertsy, known as interpreters: these were all called Greeks "Great Scythia".

It is believed that the self-name "Scythians" means "archers", and the beginning of the emergence of the culture of the Scythians is considered to be the 7th century BC. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, in whom we find one of the most detailed descriptions of the life of the Scythians, describes them as a single people, breaking up into various tribes - Scythian farmers, Scythian plowmen, Scythian nomads, royal Scythians and others. However, Herodotus also believed that the Scythian kings were the descendants of the son of Hercules, the Scythian.

The Scythians for Herodotus are a wild and rebellious tribe. One of the stories tells that the Greek king went mad after he began to drink wine “in the Scythian way”, that is, without diluting it, as was not customary among the Greeks: “From now on, as the Spartans say, every time when they want to drink stronger wine, they say: "Pour it in the Scythian way."

Another demonstrates how barbaric the customs of the Scythians were: “Everyone has, as usual, many wives; they use them together; they enter into a relationship with a woman by placing a stick in front of the dwelling. At the same time, Herodotus mentions that the Scythians also chuckle at the Hellenes: "The Scythians despise the Hellenes for their Bacchic frenzy."

Thanks to the regular contacts of the Scythians with the Greeks, who actively colonized the lands surrounding them, ancient literature is rich in references to the nomadic people. In the VI century BC. the Scythians drove out the Cimmerians, defeated Media and, thus, took possession of all of Asia. After that, the Scythians retreated to the northern Black Sea region, where they began to meet with the Greeks, fighting for new territories. At the end of the 6th century, the Persian king Darius went to war against the Scythians, but despite the crushing power of his army and huge numerical superiority, Darius failed to quickly break the nomads.

The Scythians chose a strategy to wear down the Persians, retreating endlessly and circling around Darius's forces. Thus, the Scythians, having remained undefeated, earned themselves the glory of impeccable warriors and strategists.
In the 4th century, the Scythian king Atey, who lived for 90 years, united all the Scythian tribes from the Don to the Danube. Scythia in this period reached its highest peak: Atey was equal in strength to Philip II of Macedon, minted his own coin and expanded his possessions. The Scythians had a special relationship with gold. The cult of this metal even became the basis for the legend that the Scythians managed to tame griffins guarding gold.

The growing power of the Scythians forced the Macedonians to undertake several large-scale invasions: Philip II killed Atheus in an epic battle, and his son, Alexander the Great, went to war against the Scythians eight years later. However, the great commander failed to defeat Scythia, and had to retreat, leaving the Scythians unsubdued.

During the 2nd century, the Sarmatians and other nomads gradually ousted the Scythians from their lands, leaving behind them only the steppe Crimea and the basin of the lower Dnieper and Bug, and as a result, Great Scythia became Lesser. After that, Crimea became the center of the Scythian state, well-fortified fortifications appeared in it - the fortresses of Naples, Palakiy and Khab, in which the Scythians took refuge, fighting with Chersonesus and the Sarmatians. At the end of the 2nd century, Chersonese found a powerful ally - the Pontic king Mithridates V, who went to war against the Scythians. After numerous battles, the Scythian state was weakened and bled dry.

Disappearance of the Scythians

In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Scythian society could hardly be called nomadic: they were farmers, rather strongly Hellenized and ethnically mixed. The Sarmatian nomads continued to push the Scythians, and in the 3rd century the Alans began to invade the Crimea. They devastated the last stronghold of the Scythians - Scythian Naples, located on the outskirts of modern Simferopol, but could not stay on the occupied lands for a long time. The invasion of these lands by the Goths soon began, declaring war on the Alans, the Scythians, and the Roman Empire itself.

The blow to Scythia, therefore, was the invasion of the Goths around 245 AD. All the fortresses of the Scythians were destroyed, and the remnants of the Scythians fled to the south-west of the Crimean peninsula, hiding in hard-to-reach mountainous areas.

Despite the seemingly obvious complete defeat, Scythia continued to exist for a short time. The fortresses that remained in the southwest became a refuge for the fleeing Scythians, and several settlements were founded at the mouth of the Dnieper and on the Southern Bug. However, they soon fell under the onslaught of the Goths.

The Scythian war, which, after the events described, was waged by the Romans with the Goths, got its name due to the fact that the name "Scythians" began to be used to refer to the Goths who defeated the real Scythians. Most likely, there was some truth in this false name, since thousands of defeated Scythians joined the Gothic troops, dissolving in the mass of other peoples who fought with Rome. Thus, Scythia became the first state to collapse as a result of the Great Migration of Nations.

The Huns completed the work, in 375 they attacked the territories of the Black Sea region and killed the last Scythians who lived in the Crimean mountains and in the Bug valley. Of course, many Scythians again joined the Huns, but there was no longer any question of any independent identity.

The Scythians as an ethnic group disappeared in the whirlpool of migrations, and remained only on the pages of historical treatises, with enviable persistence continuing to call "Scythians" all new peoples, usually wild, recalcitrant and unbroken. It is interesting that some historians rank Chechens and Ossetians among the descendants of the Scythians.

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