Listed 22 sub titles with search on: The inhabitants for wider area of: "SKYTHIA Ancient country RUSSIA" .
The Attic mountains are Pentelicus , where there are quarries, Parnes , where there is hunting of wild boars and of bears, and Hymettus , which grows the most suitable pasture for bees, except that of the Alazones. For these people have actually bees ranging free, tamely following the other creatures when they go to pasture.
Perseus Encyclopedia
Anthropophagi, (Anthropophagoi). A people of Scythia who fed on human flesh. Herodotus calls them the Androphagi, and states that they lived in a more savage manner than any other nation, having no public distribution of justice nor established laws. He informs us also that they applied themselves to the breeding of cattle, clothed themselves like the Scythians, and spoke a peculiar language.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Mythical people who lived in constant darkness in North-Western Europe.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
Total results on 10/5/2001: 56 for Cimmerians, 4 for Kimmerians.
Amyrgii: A tribe of the Sacae. Sacae: A tribe in the N.E. of the Persian empire, Cyrus' designs against them, tribute to Persia, at Marathon, in Xerxes' army, as marines in Xerxes' fleet, with Mardonius at Plataea, their cavalry there, Masistes' design for a rebellion of the Sacae.
The Central-Asian steppe has been the home of nomad tribes for centuries.
Being nomads, they roamed across the plains, incidentally attacking the urbanized
countries to the south, east and west.
The first to describe the life style of these tribes was a Greek researcher,
Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century BCE. Although he concentrates on the
tribes living in modern Ukraine, which he calls Scythians, we may extrapolate
his description to people in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan and possibly Mongolia, even though Herodotus usually calls these eastern
nomads 'Sacae'. In fact, just as the Scythians and the Sacae shared the same life
style, they had the same name: in their own language, which belonged to the Indo-iranian
family, they called themselves Skudat ('archers'?). The Persians rendered this
name as Saka and the Greeks as Skythai. The Chinese called them, at a later stage
in history, Sai. Related subjects: - Armenia; - Behistun inscription; - Herodotus;
- Skunkha. A Scythian archer with bow and 'pointed hat'.
Tribes are, almost by definition, very loose organizations. Every
now and then, new tribal coalitions came into being, and sometimes, new languages
became prominent among the nomads from the Central-Asian steppe.
The oldest group we know of, is usually called Indo-Iranian. (The
old name 'Aryan' is no longer used.) There are no contemporary reports about their
migration, but it can be reconstructed from their language. It is reasonably certain
that at the beginning of the second millennium BCE, the speakers of the Proto-Indo-Iranian
language moved from Ukraine to the southeast. From an archaeological point of
view, their migration is attested in the change from the Yamnaya culture into
the Andronovo culture.
They invaded the country that was later called Afghanistan, where
they separated in an Iranian and an Indian branch. The first group settled in
Aria, a name that lives on in our word 'Iran', where they settled after 1000 BCE;
the second group reached the Punjab c.1500 BCE. From the second millennium on,
three groups of languages can be discerned: the Indian group (Vedic, Sanskrit...),
the Scythian group (in the homeland on the steppe), and the Iranian group (Gathic,
Persian...). Even when, in the sixth century, the Achaemenid empire was at its
most powerful and the Persians lived in comfortable towns, they still remembered
their earlier, nomadic life style:
The Persian nation contains a number of tribes, and the ones which
Cyrus assembled and persuaded to revolt were the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii,
upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the
most distinguished; they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring
the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all
of which are attached to the soil, the remainder -the Dahae, Mardi, Dropici, Sagarti,
being nomadic. (Herodotus, Histories 1.125; tr. by Aubrey de Selincourt).
The second group of nomads known to have gone south, is the tribe
of the Cimmerians. Their name Gimirru -given to them by the Assyrians- means 'people
traveling back and forth'; this name still exists in our word 'Crimea'. The Cimmerians
destroyed the kingdoms of Urartu (an old name for Armenia) and Phrygia (in Turkey)
in the first quarter of the seventh century BCE; other Scythians reached Ascalon
in Palestine. According to Herodotus, they ruled the northwest of Iran (which
Herodotus calls Media) for twenty-eight years.
In the sixth, fifth and fourth centuries BCE, the Persians discerned
several nomad tribes on the Central-Asian steppe. As we have seem, they called
them Saka. We know the names of these tribes from Persian royal inscriptions and
can add information from Herodotus and other Greek authors.
•The Saka haumavarga ('haoma-drinking Sacae') were subjected by Cyrus
the Great. Herodotus calls them Amyrgian Scythians. Haoma was a trance
inducing drink, made from fly agaric. This mushroom does not occur south of the
river Amudar'ya (Oxus). Consequently, we may assume that these nomads lived in
Uzbekistan. Herodotus informs us that they wore trousers and pointed caps; they
fought as archers. He also mentions their use of the battle ax (which they called
sagaris).
•The Saka tigrakhauda ('Sacae with pointed hats') were defeated in
520/519 BCE by the Persian king Darius the Great, who gave this tribe a new leader.
One of the earlier leaders was killed, the other, named Skunkha, was taken captive
and is visible on the relief at Behistun. (It is possible that Darius created
a new tribe from several earlier tribes.) Herodotus calls the Saka tigrakhauda
the Orthocorybantians ('pointed hat men'), and informs us that they lived
in the same tax district as the Medes. This suggests that the Saka tigrakhauda
lived on the banks of the ancient lower reaches of the Amudar'ya, which used to
have a mouth in the Caspian Sea south of Krasnovodsk. The pointed hat is a kind
of turban.
•The Apa Saka ('Water Sacae') are also known as the Pausikoi, as Herodotus
prefers to call them. Later authors, like Arrian (in his Anabasis) and Ammianus
Marcellinus (in his Roman history) call them the Abian Scythians; still later,
we encounter them as the Apasiaki, first east and later southwest of Lake Aral.
They must be situated along the ancient lower reaches of the Amudar'ya.
• The tribe that Herodotus calls 'Massagetes' must have been called something
like Mah-Saka in Persian, which means 'Moon Sacae', but this is confusing.
Ma-Saka means Moon Sacae, and it is known that the Massagetes venerated only one
god, the Sun. The Massagetes were responsible for the death of the Persian king
Cyrus the Great (in December 530). From Herodotus' description, it is clear that
they lived along the Syrdar'ya (Jaxartes).
•The nomad tribe known as Daha, which means 'robbers', is mentioned
for the first time in the Daiva inscription of Xerxes; he must have subjected
them. Herodotus calls the Dai a Persian nomad tribe, but they can not have lived
in Persia proper, because they are mentioned in the Anabasis of Arrian as living
along the lower reaches of the Syrdar'ya. In the days of the Macedonian king Alexander
the Great, they were famous for their mounted archers. It is possible that this
tribe desintegrated after the fall of the Achaemenid empire; one of the tribes
that came into being, was that of the Parni, who went south in the third century
BCE and founded the Parthian empire.
•The Saka paradraya ('Sacae across the sea') were living in Ukraine.
These are the nomads that the Greeks called Scythians. In 514 or 513 BCE, king
Darius launched a disastrous campaign against the Saka paradraya. Herodotus gives
a long description of their way of life and discerns many tribes in the neighborhood.
The Royal Scythians lived in the southern part of Ukraine,
immediately north of the Greek towns.
The Scythian-Farmers seem to be identical with the archaeological
culture known as Chernoles, which has been identified with the Iron Age Slavs.
Probably, we may identify the Neuri with the so-called Milograd
culture, the archaeological remains of which have been found on the confluence
of the rivers Dnepr and Pripyat, north of modern Kiev. They may be the ancestors
of the Balts.
Herodotus' story about the Man-eaters received some confirmation
with the excavation of human remains that were gnawed at by human jaws; these
excavations were along the river Sula, to the southeast of Kiev.
The Argippaeans are sometimes identified with the ancestors
of the Calmucs.
The Issedones may be identical to the Wu-sun who (according
to Chinese texts) lived on the shore of Lake Balchash.
•The Sauromatae are mentioned by Herodotus as the descendants of Scythian
fathers and Amazon mothers. Of course, this is a legend, but the tribe did exist
and was to move to the west after 130 BCE. In the process, they assimilated the
Royal Scythians (above). In the late first century BCE, the Sarmatian coalition
consisted of four tribes:
The Iazyges, which had once lived on the shores of the Sea
of Azov, were now living on the northern bank of the Danube. They were to move
to what is now eastern Hungary, where they settled in c.50 CE. They were defeated
by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (in 175).
The Urgi lived on the banks of the Dnepr, south of Kiev.
The Royal Scythians were still living in the south of Ukraine and
had become the most important Sarmatian tribe. They and the Urgi became known
as the Sarmati. The Romans seem to have accepted their settlement in Hungary,
but the situation was sometimes tense. The Sarmati were, for example, responsible
for the destruction of the Twenty-first legion Rapax in 92.
The Roxolani initially lived between the Don and the Dnepr
but settled on the lower reaches of the Danube, where the Iazyges had been living
before they migrated to Hungary. The Khan (leader) of the Tatars. Note the bow
and the pointed hat.
The steppe nomads frequently attacked the urbanized regions to the
east, south or west. Usually, this created great havoc, but after some time, they
went back to their homeland. However, it was necessary for the attacked states
to defend themselves. The Indians thought that they did not need walls because
they were was protected by the Himalayas; c.110 BCE, the valley of the Indus was
run over. The Chinese built the 'Wall of ten thousand miles' to protect themselves.
The rulers of the Achaemenid empire, from Cyrus the Great to Alexander the Great,
may have built walls as well. These walls are mentioned in the eighteenth sura
of the Quran and in medieval legend, but cannot be identified with known archaeological
remains. It is certain, however, that both Cyrus and Alexander built garrison
towns along the river Syrdar'ya or Jaxartes; our sources call them Cyreschata
and Alexandria Eschate.
Nomadism continued to exist into the first and second millennium CE.
Several tribes may be mentioned. The Alani -whose language lives on in modern
Ossetian- are known from the first century CE; they lived in modern Kazakhstan.
Later, they moved to the west, being pushed forward by the Huns, which are known
from Chinese texts as the Xiung-nu. Later tribal formations were the Avars, the
Chasars, the Bulgars, the Turks, the Magyars, the Cumans, the Tatars, the Mongols
and the Cossacks.
Jona Lendering, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
Argippaei (Argippaioi, according to the common text of Herod. iv.
23; but two good MSS. have Orgiempaioi, which Dindorf adopts; Orgiempeoi, Zenob.
Prov, v. 25; Arimphaei or Arymphaei, Mela, Plin. ll. inf. cc.), a people in the
north of Asia, dwelling beyond the Scythians, at the foot of inaccessible mountains,
beyond which, says Herodotus (c. 25), the country was unknown; only the Argippaei
stated that these mountains were inhabited by men with goats' feet, and that beyond
them were other men who slept for six months; but this story, he adds, I do not
at all accept. East of the Argippaei dwelt the Issedones; but to the N. of both
nothing was known. As far as the Argippaei, however, the people were well. known,
through the traffic both of the Scythians and of the Greek colonies on the Pontus.
These people were all bald from their birth, both men and women; flat-nosed
and long-chinned. They spoke a distinct language, but wore the Scythian dress.
They lived on the fruit of a species of cherry (probably the Prunus padus, or
bird-cherry), the thick juice of which they strained through cloths, and drank
it pure, or mingled with milk; and they made cakes with the pulp, the juice of
which they called aschu. Their flocks were few, because the pasturage was scanty.
Each man made his abode under a tree, about which a sort of blanket was hung in
tile winter only. The bald people were esteemed sacred, and were unmolested, though
carrying no arms. Their neighbours referred disputes to their decision; and all
fugitives who reached them enjoyed the right of sanctuary. Throughout his account
Herodotus calls them the bald people (hoi phalakroi), only mentioning their proper
name once, where the reading is doubtful.
Mela (i. 19. § 20), enumerating the peoples E. of the Tanais, says
that, beyond the Thyssagetae and Turcae, a rocky and desert region extends far
and wide to the Arymphaei, of whom he gives a description, manifestly copied from
Herodotus, and then adds, that beyond them rises the mountain Rhipaeus, beyond
which lies the shore of the Ocean. A precisely similar position is assigned to
the Arimphaei by Pliny (vi. 7, 13. s. 14), who calls them a race not unlike the
Hyperborei, and then, like Mela, abridges the description of Herodotus. (Comp.
Amm. Marc. xxii. 8. § 38; Solin. 21. s. 17; Marcian. Cap. vi. p. 214.)
An account of the various opinions respecting this race will be found
in Baehr's Notes on the passage in Herodotus. They have been identified with the
Chinese, the Brahmins or Lamas, and the Calmucks. The last seems to be the most
probable opinion, or the description of Herodotus may be applied to the Mongols
in general; for there are several striking points of resemblance. Their sacred
character has been explained as referring to the class of priests among them;
but perhaps it is only a form of the celebrated fable of the Hyperboreans. The
mountains, at the foot of which they are placed, are identified, according to
the different views about the people, with the Ural, or the W. extremity of the
Altai, or the eastern part of the Altai. (De Guignes, Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscrip.
vol. xxxv. p. 551; Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. ii. pp. 691, 765, 892, Vorhalle, p.
292; Heeren, Ideen, i. 2, p. 299; Bohlen, Indien, i. p. 100; Ukert, iii. 2. pp.
543-546; Forbiger, ii. p. 470.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Arimaspi (Arimaspoi), a Scythian people. The first extant notice of
the Arimaspi is in Herodotus; but, earlier than this there was the poem of Aristeas
of Proconessus, called Arimaspea (Arimaspea, Herod. iv. 14); and it is upon the
evidence of this poem, rather than upon the independent testimony of Herodotus,
that the stranger statements concerning the people in question rest. Such are
those, as to their being one-eyed, and as to their stealing the gold from the
Grypes; on the other hand, however, themoreprosaic parts of the Herodotean account
may be considered as the result of investigations on the part of the historian
himself, especially the derivation of their name. (Herod. iv. 27.) Respecting
this his evidence is, 1st, that it belonged to the Scythian language; 2ndly, that
it was a compound of arima=one, and spou=eye; each of these words being Scythic
glosses; or, to speak more precisely, glosses from the language of the Skoloti
(Skolotoi). Hence, the name was not native; i.e. Arim-aspi was not an Arimaspian
word.
If we deal with this compound as a gloss, and attempt to discover
the existing tongue in which it is still to be found, our results are wholly negative.
In none of the numerous languages of Caucasus, in none of the Slavonic dialects,
and in none of the Turk and Ugrian tongues of the Lower Volga and Don do we find
either one word or the other. Yet we have specimens of every existing form of
speech for these parts, and there is no reason to believe that the tongue of the
ancient Skoloti is extinct. On the contrary, one of the Herodotean glosses (oior=man)
is Turk. Much, then, as it may wear the appearance of cutting rather than untying
the Gordian knot, the translation of Arimaspi by Mounophthalmos must be looked
upon as an inaccuracy.
If the loss of the final -p, and the change of the compound sibilant
(a sound strange to Greek ears) at the beginning of the word Arimas-p, be admitted
as legitimate, we may find a population that, at the present time, agrees, name
for name, and place for place, with this mysterious nation. Their native name
is Mari=men, and, as Arimaspi was not a native name, they may have been so called
in the time of Herodotus. The name, however, by which they are known to their
neighbours is Tsheremis. Their locality is the left bank of the Middle Volga,
in the governments of Kasan, Simbirsk, and Saratov; a locality which is sufficiently
near the gold districts of the Uralian Range, to fulfil the conditions of the
Herodotean account, which places them north of the Issedones (themselves north
of the Scythae, or Skoloti), and south of the Grypes. The Tsheremiss belong to
the Ugrian family; they have no appearance of being a recent people; neither is
there any reason to assume the extinction of the Herodotean Arimaspi. Lastly,
the name by which they were known to the Greeks of Olbiopolis, is likely to be
the name (allowing for change of form) by which they are known to the occupants
of the same parts at present.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ascatancae (Askatankas), a people of Scythia intra Imaum, adjacent to the mountain
called Ascatancas: extending E. of the Tapuri, as far as M. Imaus: somewhere about
the SE. part of Independent Tartary. (Ptol. vi. 14. § 3.)
Asiani, Asii (Asianoi, Asioi), a Scythian tribe in the part of Asia E. of the
Caspian, who made war upon the Greek kings of Bactria. (Strab. xi. p. 511; Trog.
Pomp. xli. Arg.; Ukert, vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 343.)
Aspisii (Aspisioi Skuthai), a people of Scythia intra Imaum, N. of the Jaxartes,
and W. of the Aspisii Montes (ta Aspisia ore: Ptol. vi. 14. § § 6, 12). They appear
to be the same as the Aspasiakai Nomades, between the Oxus and the Tanais, mentioned
by Polybius (x. 45).
Massaei (Massaioi), a people placed by Ptolemy (vi. 14. §§ 9, 11) in the extreme
N. of Scythia, near the mountains of the Alani, or the N. part of the Ural chain.
Satarchae a Scythian people on the E. coast of the Tauric Chersonesus, who dwelt in caves and holes in the ground, and in order to avoid the rigour of winter, even clothed their faces, leaving only two small holes for their eyes. (Mela, ii. 1.) They were unacquainted with the use of gold and silver, and carried on their traffic by means of barter. They are mentioned by Pliny under the name of Scythi Satarchi (iv. 26). According to Ptolemy (iii. 6. § 6) there was a town in the Tauric peninsula called Satarche (Satarche), which the scholiast (ad loc.) says was subsequently called Matarcha (Matarcha); but the account of the Satarchae living in caverns seems inconsistent with the idea of their having a town. Yet Valerius Flaccus also mentions a town -or perhaps a district- called Satarche, which, from his expression, ditant sua mulctra Satarchen, we may conclude to have been rich in herds of cattle. (Argon. vi. 145.) The same poet describes the Satarchae as a yellow-haired race. (lb.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Melanchlaeni (Melanchlainoi), a nomad tribe, the name of which first appears in Hecataeus (ap. Steph. B., Fr. 154, ed. Klausen). In the geography of Herodotus (iv. 20,100-103,107) they are found occupying the districts E. of the Androphagi, and N. of the Royal Scythians, 20 days' journey from the Palus Maeotis; over above them were lakes and lands unknown to man. It has been conjectured that Herodotus may refer, through some hearsay statement, to the lakes Ladoga and Onega. There has been considerable discussion among geographers as to the position which should be assigned to this tribe: it is of course impossible to fix this with any accuracy; but there would seem to be reason to place them as far N. as the sources of the Volga, or even further. (Schafarik, Slav. Alt. vol. i. p. 295.) Herodotus expressly says that they did not belong to the Scythian-Scolotic stock, although their customs were the same. The name, the Black-cloaks, like that of their cannibal neighbours, the Anthropophagi, was applied to them by the Greeks, and was no corrupted form of any indigenous appellation. A people bearing this name is mentioned by Scylax of Caryanda (p. 32) as a tribe of Pontus. Pomponius Mela (i. 19. § 4) and Pliny (vi. 5) coincide with Scylax, who speaks of two rivers flowing through their territory, the Metasoris (Metasoris), probably the same as the Thessyris (Thessuris, Ptol. v. 9. § § 10, 30: Kamisiliar), and the Aegipius (Aigipios: Kentichli). Dionysius Periegetes (v. 309) places this people on the Borysthenes, and Ptolemy (v. 9. § 19) between the river Rha and the Hippici Montes, in Asiatic Sarmatia; but it would be a great error to found any observation concerning these ancient northern tribes upon either the Roman writers or Ptolemy, or to confuse the picture set before us by these geographers, and the more correct delineations of Herodotus.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
The Taurians part of the Scythians, relating almost wholly to Scythia and adjacent regions, general description of Scythia and inhabitants (nomad, farming, and "royal" Scythian), and regions adjacent, rivers of Scythia, manners and customs, Scythian dislike of foreign manners, Scythian bow, size of population, geography of Scythia and description of adjacent tribes, early Scythian legends, convey first-fruits of Hyperboreans to Sinope, their expulsion of Cimmerians, quarrel with Cyaxares, invasion of Media and conquest of "Asia," Scythians subdued by Sesostris, contempt of peaceful occupations in Scythia, alliance against Persia proposed to Sparta by Scythians, Scythians called Sacae by Persians, Scythians' invasion of Media and troubles after their return, Scythian warfare against Darius, expedition of Darius against, island inhabited by mixture of Scythians and Indians.
Perseus Project Index. Total results on 5/7/2001: 521 for Scythian, 389 for Scythians, 3 for Skythians, 18 for Skythian.
TAVRIS (Peninsula) SKYTHIA
Tauri (Tauroi, Strab. vii. p. 308), the inhabitants of the Chersonesus
Taurica, or modern Crimea. They were probably the remains of the Cimmerians, who
were driven out of the Chersonese by the Scythians. (Herod. iv. 11, 12; Heeren,
Ideen, i. 2. p. 271; Mannert, iv. p. 278.) They seem to have been divided into
several tribes: but the two main divisions of them were the nomad Tauri and the
agricultural. (Strab. vii. p. 311.) The former possessed the northern part of
the country, and lived on meat, mare's milk, and cheese prepared from it. The
agricultural Tauri were somewhat more civilised; yet altogether they were a rude
and savage people, delighting in war and plunder, and particularly addicted to
piracy. (Herod. iv. 103; Strab. vii. p. 308; Mela, ii. 1; Tac. Ann. xii. 17.),
Nevertheless, in early times at least, they appear to have been united under a
monarchical government (Herod. iv. 119). Their religion was particularly gloomy
and horrible, consisting of human sacrifices to a virgin goddess, who, according
to Ammianus Marcelinus (xxii. 8. s. 34), was named Oreiloche, though the Greeks
regarded her as identical with Their Artemis, and called her Tauropolos. (Soph.
Aj. 172; Eur. Iph. Taur. 1457; Diod. iv. 44; Ach. Tat. viii. 2; Strab. xiii. 535;
Bockh, Inscr. ii. p. 89.) These victims consisted of shipwrecked persons, or Greeks
that fell into their. hands. After killing them, they stuck their heads upon poles,
or, according to Ammianus (l. c.), affixed them to the wall of the temple, whilst
they cast down the bodies from the rock on which the temple stood. (Herod. iv.
103; Ov. ex Pont. iii. 2 45, seq., Trist. iv. 4. 63.) According to a tradition
among the Tauri themselves, this goddess was Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon
(Herod. l. c.) They had also a custom of cutting off the heads of prisoners of
war, and setting them on poles above the chimneys of their houses, which usage
they regarded as a protection of their dwellings (lb). If the king died, all his
dearest friends were buried with him. On the decease of a friend of the king's,
he either cut off the whole or part of the deceased person's ear, according to
his dignity. (Nic. Damasc. p. 160, Orell.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
TYRAMBE (Ancient city) SKYTHIA
Tyrambae (Turambai, Ptol. v. 9. § 17), a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, whose chief
city was Tyrambe (Turambe, ib. § 4, &c.; Strab. xi. p. 494), in the neighbourhood
of the river Rhombites Minor.
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