"Scythian" redirects here. For members of the wider cultures of which the Scythians were part, see Scythian cultures. For other uses, see Scythian (disambiguation).
"Scyth" redirects here. For the tool, see Scythe. For other uses, see Scythe (disambiguation).
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Scythians
Skuδatā (earlier)[1][2] Skulatā (later)[1][2]
c. 9th–8th century BC–c. 3rd century BC
Maximum extent of the Scythian kingdom in West Asia (680–600 BC)
Maximum extent of the Scythian kingdom in the Pontic steppe (600–c. 200 BC)
Location
Central Asia (9th–7th centuries BC)
West Asia (7th–6th centuries BC)
Pontic Steppe (6th–3rd centuries BC)
Capital
Kamianka (from c. 6th century BC – c. 200 BC)
Common languages
Scythian
Akkadian (in West Asia)
Median (in West Asia)
Phrygian (in West Asia)
Urartian (in West Asia)
Thracian (in Pontic Steppe)
Ancient Greek (in Pontic Steppe)
Proto-Slavic language (in Pontic Steppe)
Maeotian (in Pontic Steppe)
Religion
Scythian religion
Ancient Mesopotamian religion (in West Asia)
Urartian religion (in West Asia)
Phrygian religion (in West Asia)
Ancient Iranic religion (in West Asia)
Thracian religion (in Pontic Steppe)
Ancient Greek religion (in Pontic Steppe)
Demonym(s)
Scythians
Government
Monarchy
King
• unknown–679 BC
Išpakaia
• 679–c. 659/8 BC
Bartatua
• c. 659/8–625 BC
Madyes
• c. 610 BC
Spargapeithes
• c. 600 BC
Lykos
• c. 575 BC
Gnouros
• c. 550 BC
Saulius
• c. 530–510 BC
Idanthyrsus
• c. 430 BC
Scyles
• c. 490–460 BC
Ariapeithes
• c. 460–450 BC
Octamasadas
• c. 360s–339 BC
Ateas
• c. 310 BC
Agaros
Dependency of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (from c. 672 to c. 625 BC)
Historical era
Iron Age:
Srubnaya culture (earlier)
Scythian culture (later)
• Scythian migration from Central Asia to Caucasian Steppe
The Scythians (/ˈsɪθiən/ or /ˈsɪðiən/) or Scyths (/ˈsɪθ/, but note Scytho- (/ˈsaɪθʊ/) in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians,[3][4] were an ancient Eastern Iranic[5] equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC from Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe in modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia, where they remained established from the 7th century BC until the 3rd century BC.
Skilled in mounted warfare,[6] the Scythians replaced the Agathyrsi and the Cimmerians as the dominant power on the western Eurasian Steppe in the 8th century BC.[7] In the 7th century BC, the Scythians crossed the Caucasus Mountains and frequently raided West Asia along with the Cimmerians.[7][8]
After being expelled from West Asia by the Medes, the Scythians retreated back into the Pontic Steppe and were gradually conquered by the Sarmatians.[9] In the late 2nd century BC, the capital of the largely Hellenized Scythians at Scythian Neapolis in Crimea was captured by Mithridates VI and their territories incorporated into the Bosporan Kingdom.[10]
By the 3rd century AD, the Sarmatians and last remnants of the Scythians were overwhelmed by the Goths, and by the early Middle Ages, the Scythians and the Sarmatians had been largely assimilated and absorbed by early Slavs.[11][12] The Scythians were instrumental in the ethnogenesis of the Ossetians, who are believed to be descended from the Alans.[13]
After the Scythians' disappearance, authors of the ancient, mediaeval, and early modern periods used the name "Scythian" to refer to various populations of the steppes unrelated to them.[14]
The Scythians played an important part in the Silk Road, a vast trade network connecting Greece, Persia, India and China, perhaps contributing to the prosperity of those civilisations.[15] Settled metalworkers made portable decorative objects for the Scythians, forming a history of Scythian metalworking. These objects survive mainly in metal, forming a distinctive Scythian art.[16]
^ abVitchak 1999, p. 52-53.
^ abNovák 2013, p. 10.
^Jacobson 1995, p. 32.
^Cunliffe 2019, p. 42.
^Sulimirski 1985, pp. 149–153: "During the first half of the first millennium B.C., c. 3,000 to 2,500 years ago, the southern part of Eastern Europe was occupied mainly by peoples of Iranian stock [...] The main Iranian-speaking peoples of the region at that period were the Scyths and the Sarmatians [...]" Melyukova 1990, pp. 97–98: "From the end of the 7th century B.C. to the 4th century B.C. the Central- Eurasian steppes were inhabited by two large groups of kin Iranian-speaking tribes – the Scythians and Sarmatians [...]" Melyukova 1990, p. 117: "All contemporary historians, archeologists and linguists are agreed that since the Scythian and Sarmatian tribes were of the Iranian linguistic group [...]" Davis-Kimball, Bashilov & Yablonsky 1995, p. 91: "Near the end of the 19th century V.F. Miller (1886, 1887) theorized that the Scythians and their kindred, the Sauromatians, were Iranian-speaking peoples. This has been a popular point of view and continues to be accepted in linguistics and historical science [...]" Jacobson 1995, pp. 31–32: "Whatever their ultimate origins, by the time the Pontic Scythians settled in the region of the Black Sea, they almost certainly spoke an Iranian language [...]" Batty 2007, p. 205: "The original Scythians, as far as we can tell, were Iranian-speaking nomadic pastoralists." Ivantchik 2018: "Scythians, a nomadic people of Iranian origin [...]" Dandamayev 1994, p. 37: "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan to distinguish them from the related Massagetae of the Aral region and the Scythians of the Pontic steppes. These tribes spoke Iranian languages, and their chief occupation was nomadic pastoralism." Harmatta 1996, p. 181: "[B]oth Cimmerians and Scythians were Iranian peoples." Sulimirski 1985, pp. 149–153: "During the first half of the first millennium B.C., c. 3,000 to 2,500 years ago, the southern part of Eastern Europe was occupied mainly by peoples of Iranian stock [...] [T]he population of ancient Scythia was far from being homogeneous, nor were the Scyths themselves a homogeneous people. The country called after them was ruled by their principal tribe, the "Royal Scyths" (Her. iv. 20), who were of Iranian stock and called themselves "Skolotoi" [...]" West 2002, pp. 437–440: "[T]rue Scyths seems to be those whom [Herodotus] calls Royal Scyths, that is, the group who claimed hegemony [...] apparently warrior-pastoralists. It is generally agreed, from what we know of their names, that these were people of Iranian stock [...]" Rolle 1989, p. 56: "The physical characteristics of the Scythians correspond to their cultural affiliation: their origins place them within the group of Iranian peoples." Rostovtzeff 1922, p. 13: "The Scythian kingdom [...] was succeeded in the Russian steppes by an ascendancy of various Sarmatian tribes — Iranians, like the Scythians themselves." Minns 1913, p. 36: "The general view is that both agricultural and nomad Scythians were Iranian."
^"Scythian". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
^ abHambly, Gavin [in German]. "History of Central Asia: Early Western Peoples". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
^Beckwith 2009, p. 11.
^"Sarmatian". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
^Harmatta 1996, pp. 181–182.
^Brzezinski & Mielczarek 2002, p. 39: "Indeed, it is now accepted that the Sarmatians merged in with pre-Slavic populations."
^Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 523: "In their Ukrainian and Polish homeland the Slavs were intermixed and at times overlain by Germanic speakers (the Goths) and by Iranian speakers (Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans) in a shifting array of tribal and national configurations."
^Cite error: The named reference Ossetian_Origin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Application was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Beckwith 2009, pp. 58–70
^"Scythian art". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
term Scythian, the westernmost Scythians have often been distinguished from other groups through the terms Classical Scythians, Western Scythians, European...
Antiquity, spoke the Scythian language (itself a member of the Eastern Iranic language family), and which included the Scythians proper, the Cimmerians...
with the Scythians, Cimmerians, and other peoples inhabiting the region of Scythia, and was part of the wider Scytho-Siberian world. The Scythian Culture...
word-group. Recorded Scythian place names include: The Greek historian Herodotus provides another source of Scythian; he reports that the Scythians called the Amazons...
an accent. The Scythian archers were called toxotai (τοξόται, literally "[the] archers"), Skythai (Σκύθαι, literally "[the] Scythians"), and Speusinioi...
himself to fate, and pursues the Scythians in an attempt to save his family. As a guide, he takes the captive Scythian Marten (Kuznetsov) and, despite...
that the Scythians of the time, including those inhabiting Scythian Neapolis, were closer to Hellenistic states in comparison to the ‘Scythians’ nomadic...
tribe closely related to the Scythians, either the Massagetae or the Issedones, migrated westwards, forcing the Early Scythians to the west across the Araxes...
century BC, the Scythian people of the Pontic Steppes produced and adopted a wide arrangement of clothing. The clothing of the Scythians was formulated...
The Scythian monks were a community of monks from the region around the mouths of the Danube, who played an influential role in Christian theological disputes...
Basin. The Sakas were closely related to the Scythians, and both groups formed part of the wider Scythian cultures, through which they ultimately derived...
The names of the Scythians are a topic of interest for classicists and linguists. The Scythians were an Iranic people best known for dominating much of...
the Scythians' scorched earth tactic. However, the Persians conquered much of their cultivated lands and damaged their allies, forcing the Scythians to...
metal objects. Many works of Scythian metalworking have subsequently been found throughout the range of the people. The Scythians emerged as a people prior...
Asia. Although the Cimmerians were culturally Scythian, they formed an ethnic unit separate from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related...
The Scythian genealogical myth was an epic cycle of the Scythian religion detailing the origin of the Scythians. This myth held an important position...
for the ballet Ala i Lolli, the story of which takes place among the Scythians. Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, the ballet was written to a scenario...
Asia closely related to the Scythians, or by another Central Asian people called the Issedones, thus forcing the early Scythians to the west, across the Araxes...
Scythian lamb may refer to: Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, legend Cibotium barometz, plant The Scythian Lamb, 2018 Japanese film based on the manga Hitsuji...
finally deep into present day Pakistan (see Indo-Scythians). Another Iranian tribe related to the Saka-Scythians were the Parni in Central Asia, and who later...
wider Scythian cultures. They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BC, coming to dominate the closely related Scythians by 200...
between the Scythian king and the Assyrian ruling dynasty, as well as the proximity of the Scythians with Mannai and Urartu, placed the Scythians under the...