Scythians

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Related to Scythians: Huns, Cimmerians
Warning! The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdat
ed or ideologicallybiased.

Scythians
a general name for the principal population that once inhabited the lands north of the Black Sea;
the population consisted ofrelated tribes of the North Iranian language group of the IndoEuropean family.
The Scythians were related to the Sauromatians (Sarmatians), Massagetae, and Saka. They ar
e considered by someresearchers to be descended from the bearers of the Bronze Age Timberframe (srubnaia) Culture, who began movingwestward from the Volga Region in the 14th centur
y B.C. Other researchers believe that the main body of the Scythiansmigrated from Middle Asia o
r Siberia and intermingled with the population of the northern shores of the Black Sea. EarlyScyt
hian history is marked by the Scythians war with the Cimmerians, who were ousted from the re
gion north of the BlackSea in approximately the seventh century, B.C., and by Scythian campaign
s in Asia Minor. In the 670s B.C., the Scythiansbegan conquests of Media, Syria, and Palestine,
which led eventually to Scythian dominance in Southwest Asia; by theearly sixth century B.C., ho
wever, they were forced out by the Medes. Signs of Scythian habitation have been noted in the
Northern Caucasus as well.
The main areas of Scythian settlement were the steppes between the lower Danube and the Do
n, including the Crimeansteppes and the regions adjacent to the northern Black Sea Shore; the
northern limit of settlement is unclear. The Scythianswere divided into several major tribes. Hero
dotus reported that the Royal Scyths, who lived on the steppes between theDnieper and the Do
n, were dominant. Nomadic Scythians lived along the right bank of the lower Dnieper and in the
Crimeansteppes. Scythians who were cultivators lived between the Ingul and the Dnieper, in the
same area as the nomadicScythians, In the basin of the luzhnyi Bug, near the city of Olbia, lived
the Callipidae, north of them the Alazones, and stillfurther north the Aroteres. The boundaries of
the areas settled by the individual tribes of Scythia, especially the Aroteres,are unclear.
Class formation in Scythian society was encouraged by close relations with the slaveholding citi
es north of the Black Seaand the Scythians active trade in livestock, grain, furs, and slaves. It is
known that there existed among the Scythians aunion of tribes that gradually acquired the featur
es of a distinctive slave-holding state headed by a king. The kings power,which was hereditary
and considered divine, was limited by a united council and a peoples assembly. A military nobili
ty, aclass of attendants, and a priestly stratum emerged.
The Scythians war against the Persian king Darius I in 512 B.C. contributed to the political unific
ation of the Scythians. Atthe turn of the fourth century B.C, the king Ateas eliminated the other S

cythian kings and usurped all power. By the 340sB.C. he had completed the unification of Scythi
a from the Sea of Azov to the Danube.
Archaeological research at Kamenka Gorodishche has shown that this settlement was the admi
nistrative, commercial, andeconomic center for the Scythians of the steppes when the Scythian
Kingdom was at its height. Sharp changes in socialstructure in about the fourth century B.C. were
reflected in the imposing burial mounds of the Scythian nobility that were builtin the Dnieper Re
gion. Kings and their attendants were buried in deep and elaborate burial structures within the r
oyal burialmounds, which were sometimes 20 m high. When nobles were interred, wives, concu
bines, servants, slaves, and horseswere also killed and buried. Warriors were interred with their
weapons, which included short swords with gilded scabbards,numerous arrows with bronze tips,
quivers or goryti covered with gold plating, and spears and javelins with iron tips. Richgraves oft
en contained copper, gold, and silver vessels, Greek decorated pottery and amphorae with wine
, and variousornaments, often the work of Scythian and Greek master jewelers. Basically the sa
me rite was performed when commonmembers of the Scythian community were buried, but the
contents of the graves were poorer.
In 339 B.C., King Ateas perished in a war against King Philip II of Macedonia. Zopyrion, the depu
ty of Alexander the Great inThrace, invaded the western possessions of the Scythians and besi
eged Olbia in 331 B.C., but the Scythians annihilated hisarmy. By the end of the third century B.C.,
the power of the Scythians was significantly diminished under the onslaught ofthe Sarmatians,
who had come from beyond the Don. The capital was moved to the Crimea, where the city of N
eapolis,probably founded by King Scylurus, was built on the Salgir River, near what is now Simf
eropol. In addition to the Crimea,the Scythians continued to hold on to the lands near the lower
course of the Dnieper and Bug.
The Scythian Kingdom in the Crimea reached its high point in the second century B.C., when the
Scythians tried to takecontrol of the foreign grain trade and conquered Olbia and a number of th
e possessions of Chersonese. Scythian politicalactivity suffered a temporary setback after the S
cythians were defeated in a war against Diophantos, who entered on theside of Chersonese. In
the second half of the first century A.D., however, under kings Pharsoe and Inysmeas, the Scythi
ansagain gathered strength and fought a number of times against the Bosporan state.
The Scythian Kingdom, with its capital in the Crimea, continued to exist until the second half of t
he third century A.D., whenit was destroyed by the Goths. The Scythians completely lost their ind
ependence and ethnic identity when they intermingledwith various tribes during the Great Migrat
ion of Peoples. The name Scythian ceased to have ethnic significance and wasapplied to vario
us peoples inhabiting the area north of the Black Sea.
The Scythians left an indelible impression on history. Their success in economic development, i
ncluding crafts and landcultivation, and in military affairs significantly influenced the history and
culture of succeeding peoples of southern Russia.
The art of the Scythians is one of the most outstanding artistic achievements of the northern Bla
ck Sea region. The mostinteresting art objects discovered in Scythian burials are objects decora
ted in the animal style: quiver and sheath facings,sword hilts, bridle parts, mirror handles, clasps
, bracelets, torques, and plaques used as decorations on quivers, armor, andhorses harnesses

and as womens ornaments. In addition to deer, elk, goats, birds of prey, imaginary animals, and
otheranimals, the objects depict combat scenes between animals, usually an eagle or bird of pr
ey attacking a grazing animal.The pictures were executed in bas-relief by means of forging, cha
sing, casting, embossing, or engraving; the usualmaterials were gold, silver, iron, and bronze. D
eriving from images of totemic ancestors, the depictions in the Scythianperiod represented evil
and good spirits and served as magic amulets; they may also have symbolized the strength, agil
ity,and bravery of the warrior.
The Scythian animal style is noteworthy for its unusual liveliness, the distinctiveness and dynam
ism of the images, and theremarkable adaptation of the representations to the forms of the obje
cts. In the fourth and third centuries B.C, the animalimages became increasingly ornamental, lin
ear, and planar. Highly schematic stone representations of Scythian warriorswere mounted on b
urial mounds. Beginning in the fifth century B.C., Greek artisans made decorative practical object
s for theScythians in conformity with Scythian artistic tastes.
The most famous art treasures of the Scythians who lived in the European part of the USSR hav
e been found in theKelermes barrows and in the Karagodeuashkh, Kul-Oba, Solokha, and Cher
tomlyk burial mounds; the sites also contain themost famous works of Greek manufacture. Uniq
ue wall paintings have been discovered at Neapolis.

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