(Information
by Peter Kessler and Edward Dawson, with additional information
from The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, Jordanes, from
Comments on Indo-Iranians and Tokharians: a response to R Heine-Geldern,
Marija Gimbutas (American Anthropologist, 1964.66:893-898),
from The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from The
Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the
Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, David W Anthony,
and from External Links: The Balts, Marija Gimbutas (1963,
previously available online thanks to Gabriella at Vaidilute,
but still available as a PDF - click or tap on link to download
or access it), and Scientists may have unearthed 'permafrost tomb'
of ancient Siberian prince (MNN), and Experts Unearth 2,400-Year-Old
Solid Gold Bongs In Southern Russia (Tech Times), and Encyclopaedia
of Ukrainian History (in Ukrainian), and Tomb Containing Three
Generations of Warrior Women Unearthed in Russia (Smithsonian
Magazine).)
c.1200s
BC :
From
an early date, quite probably before their existence is recorded
(and the 1200s BC has been mentioned as a likely period), a large
proportion of the early Slavs in the Middle Dnieper basin fall
under the rule of the Scythians. The Finno-Ugric tribes and
the eastern Balts living in the forested areas to the north remain
outside the orbit of strong Scythian influence.
![](Map_EasternEurope1200BC_full.jpg)
![](Scythians_Warriors01_full.jpg)
The
appearance of ferocious mounted Scythian warriors in the lands
to the south of the Balts must have instilled a sense of worry
and fear in many groups, but the Balts always managed to remain
independent of their control (although armour such as that pictured
here certainly did not appear so early), while above is a map
showing the early Scythian lands before they came to the notice
of Classical authors
12th
century BC :
Iron
appears in Central Europe in this century, but not until the eighth
century does it revolutionise lives and only then does it reach
Northern Europe. Between the eighth and sixth centuries iron is
still extremely rare in territory that is controlled by the Balts,
and the general cultural level continues to have almost a pure
Bronze Age character. The dividing line at about the end of
the eighth century BC signifies a change in culture due not so
much to technological innovation as to new historical events -
the appearance of the Scythians (any precise dating for that appearance
being, of course, debatable).
9th
century BC :
In
2018 it is reported that a 'permafrost tomb' of an ancient Siberian
prince has been unearthed. The previously undisturbed tomb is
located in southern Siberia (in the Russian republic of Tuva),
with its contents additionally being entombed in ice. It lies
underneath a typical Indo-European kurgan burial mound. These
circular structures, consisting of a stone packing with a circular
arrangement of chambers, are royal tombs that belong in this period
and region to the Scythians. The impressive find is declared the
largest and oldest of its kind ever discovered in what is increasingly
becoming known as the 'Siberian Valley of the Kings'.
c.800
- 600 BC :
This
is the period of Scythian expansion from the Black Sea area into
Central Europe. These steppe horsemen who appear in Moravia
(now eastern Czechia), and what is now Romania and Hungary (and
who are almost certainly but not inarguably Scythians) are the
successors of the southern Russian Srubna culture of the Bronze
Age which itself had constantly been pushing towards the west.
These Scythians introduce eastern types of horse gear, oriental
animal art, timber graves, and inhumation rites (gaining the name
of Timber-Grave culture from this). Before entering Central Europe,
they conquer the Cimmerians on the northern shores of the Black
Sea and in the northern Caucasus, driving them out and dominating
the northern Black Sea region.
![Map of Scythian Lands around 500 BC](Map_EasternEurope500BC_full.jpg)
This
map attempts to show the Scythian lands at their greatest extent
Now
also dominating eastern Anatolia and the Zagros Mountains they
acquire much of the Caucasian and Cimmerian cultural legacy and
mix this with their own Pontic-Caspian steppe cultural elements.
These oriental influences appreciably change the material culture
of Central Europe. The Baltic and Germanic cultures in Northern
Europe remain untouched by the Scythian incursions, but the new
cultural elements reached them through continuous commercial relations
with Central Europe.
fl
c.700s? BC :
Koloksai
: Legendary dynasty founder mentioned by Alcman of Sparta.
?
- c.675 BC :
Ishpaka
/ Ishkapai / Ishpakai : Scythian king. Killed in battle.
c.675
BC :
The
Median ruler, Xshatrita II, becomes an ally of Ishpaka's around
678 BC, but the Scythian king is killed in battle against Esarhaddon
of Assyria around 675 BC. Apparently his followers are confined
(by the terms of their surrender?) to the land to the south of
Lake Van. Clearly this particular group of Scythians is operating
and presumably living far south of Scythia itself.
c.675
- 645 BC :
Bartatua
/ Par-ta-tu-a : Scythian king around Lake Van.
c.674
BC :
With
Media's alliance of Cimmerians, Mannaeans, and Scythians having
crumbled, Bartatua seals an alliance with the Assyrians around
this date, presumably by marrying a daughter of the Assyrian king.
It is possible that these Scythians become dominated by the powerful
Tugdamme of the Cimmerians. He begins to threaten the borders
of the powerful Assyrian empire during the reign of Ashurbanipal
and is recorded as being 'King of the Saka and Qutium' - Sakas
and Scythians are one and the same people.
![Zagros Mountains](Iran_ZagrosMountains01_full.jpg)
The
Zagros Mountain range provided the Medes with their home, but
it was also the Assyrian gateway into Iran, one that was used
in later attacks on the Indo-European Persians and Medes
653
BC :
Xshatrita
II of Media leads the league that endangers Assyrian control of
the Zagros Mountains and is himself killed in battle against Assyria.
He is succeeded by his young son, but the Medians are quickly
subjugated by a Scythian invasion of the steppes. One of their
number - Madys - rules the Medes and associated Iranian tribes,
and it takes the Medians under Huwaxshatra almost thirty years
to restore their independence.
c.645
- 625 BC :
Madys
/ Madius / Madyes / Madya : Son. Scythian king of the
Medians (653-625 BC). Killed.
625
BC :
Herodotus
says that Huwaxshatra of Media reigns for forty years including
the time of the domination of the Scythians, but virtually all
historians agree that what is meant is forty years excluding the
time of the domination of the Scythians. At the beginning of his
reign, Huwaxshatra is considered a vassal of the Scythians until
he throws off their yoke in 625 BC and takes sovereign control
of his country.
Madys
and his fellow leaders are massacred by the Medians while his
defeated people flee back into Scythia, abandoning their former
territory to the south of the Caucuses Mountains. Once there they
begin the reconquest and renewed domination of the 'lesser' Scythian
tribes. Presumably included amongst this number are the Slavs.
c.600
- 500 BC :
The Lusatian culture still persists in the first centuries of
the Early Iron Age. The amber trade is not cut off and the Lusatians
continue to be mediators between the Baltic and Germanic amber
gatherers and the Hallstatt culture in the eastern Alpine area
and, beginning in the seventh century, the Etruscans in Italy.
Under great pressure due to Scythian raids, the Lusatian eventually
gives way to the Pomeranian Face-Urn culture.
The
Scythians reach the southern borders of the western Baltic lands,
seemingly due to their becoming involved in wars against the Persians
who are invading Scythia from the south. Herodotus describes
these wars in Book IV of his history, these being the earliest
surviving written records concerning the history of Eastern Europe
at the end of the sixth century BC. Apparently, though, the
Scythians do not succeed in penetrating farther north. Only a
few arrowheads of Scythian type have been found in East Prussia
and southern Lithuania. A chain of western Baltic strongholds
in northern Poland and in the southern part of East Prussia arise
which very probably are built for resisting the southern invaders.
The Scythian high tide lasts only until the end of the fifth
century BC. After that they no longer appear in the north, and
possibly it is Baltic resistance which helps to end the Scythian
threat.
Allusions to some tribal names may be regarded as references to
the Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes. Herodotus describes an expedition
undertaken by the Persian King Darius against the Scythians in
515 BC. He mentions and approximately locates the seats of
the 'Neuri', 'Androphagi', 'Melanchlaeni', 'Budini', and other
tribes living to the north of Scythia. Marija Gimbutas especially
uses Herodotus to locate the Neuri by establishing the Pripet
marshes to be the natural border between Scythia and the Neuri,
while the 'Scythian farmers' of the lower and middle Dnieper basin
are almost certainly subject Slavs.
6th
century BC :
The
Harii probably belong to the Hallstatt culture of Celts. They
are to be found around the central Germanic lands, and in Bohemia,
Moravia, Slovakia, and the edges of Poland and Ukraine. Around
this time a large-scale expansion begins that sees many Hallstatt
Celts migrate outwards, but generally towards the west without
disturbing the Scythian lands.
c.500
BC :
Between about 500 to 400 BC large numbers of Iron Age La Tène
Celtic peoples migrate to the east to locations in Poland, the
modern Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Balkans, and east
to Ukraine. Also from this period comes the 'Siberian Ice Maiden'
(alternatively referred to as the Princess of Ukok or the Altai
Mummy), a tattooed Scytho-Siberian mummy discovered by archaeologists
in 1993. She lives at this time on the Eurasian steppe as a member
of the Pazyryk culture which is current at this time. Aged between
twenty and thirty at the time of her death, her remains are entombed
in a subterranean chamber beneath a kurgan mound.
![A reconstruction of the Scytho-Siberian 'princess'](Cultures_Pazyryk01_full.jpg)
Scientific
research has shown that the 'Siberian Ice Maiden' died of breast
cancer and that she also suffered from several other ailments,
with the pain and discomfort possibly being helped by using cannabis
which was kept in a small pouch that lay beside her body in the
grave
fl
c.450s? BC :
Ariapeithes
: Scythian king. m daughter of Teres I of the Odrysae.
mid-400s
BC :
Ariapeithes'
name is highly typical of Indo-Iranians. The first part, 'Aria',
is a variation of 'Arya', usually shown as Aria (Latin), Areia
(close to the Greek spelling), Haraiva (Persian), or Haraeuua
(Avestan). The Areioi tribe of Indo-Iranians bear another variation
of the same word. The name Arya appears to be the oldest one
known for Indo-Europeans. Ariapeithes himself marries the
unnamed daughter of Teres I of the Odrysae but is murdered by
Spargapeithes of the Dacian Agathyrsi.
fl
c.430s BC :
Scyles
/ Skyles / Scylas : Son. Promoted Greek culture. Executed
by his brother.
c.430
- 425 BC :
The
half Thracian Scyles is chased out of the Scythian kingdom by
his own people due to his continuing promotion of Greek culture
and traditions. He takes shelter with his relatives in the Odrysian
kingdom but is followed by Octamasadas, his Scythian successor
and full brother. After a certain amount of warfare between Odrysians
and Scythians, Scyles is handed over as part of a prisoner exchange.
He is subsequently executed.
fl
c.420s BC :
Octamasadas
: Brother.
fl
c.420s BC :
Oricos
: Brother.
c.400
BC :
The Celts of the La Tène culture arrive in Bohemia and southern
Poland, the northern limit of Celtic expansion, although there
remains the question of where the Belgae and Venedi are located.
This La Tène expansion is led by the Boii tribe which makes Bohemia
its home for the next three centuries, but the same expansion
also stops the Pomeranian Face-Urn culture from expanding any
further south. Western and southern Poland have also been disrupted
by Scythian raids, but these suddenly drop off around 400 BC,
leaving the Face-Urn culture free to expand instead across the
entire Vistula basin and to reach the upper Dniester in Ukraine,
thereby bypassing the La Tène Celts.
![Scythian Amazon burial remains at Devitsa](Modern_DevitsaRemains01_full.jpg)
In
2019 findings were announced regarding four female Scythian burials
at Devitsa in Russia (to the north-east of the border with Ukraine),
all of which could be dated to the 300s BC and which contained
weapons - the eldest of the four women was even buried 'in the
position of a horseman', riding as one of Herodotus' warrior Amazons
would have done
In
2013 archaeologists discover opium and cannabis equipment and
other gold items in a Scythian kurgan named Sengileevskoe-2. Located
in southern Russia, the finds are dated to around 400 BC. It
is generally understood that the Scythians smoke and brew a concoction
that contains cannabis and opium, with warriors doing so to place
them in a certain state of mind before they head into battle.
350s?
- 339 BC :
Ateas
/ Atheas / Ateia / Ataias : 'Most powerful' Scythian
king. Killed in battle.
339 BC :
Ateas is a Scythian ruler of the fortified settlement of Kamenka.
He seems to be viewed as a usurper, someone who has defeated and
subjugated the traditional ruling establishment and its three
cooperating rulers to unify and command a greater number of Scythians
than usual. He may not even be of the traditional ruling class.
By the 340s BC he rules the territory between the River Danube
and the Maeotian marshes (close to the Sea of Azov near the Crimea)
- essentially much of Scythia.
Following
increasing contact with the Macedonian kingdom to the south of
Scythia, Ateas enlists Macedonian troops to help him in a battle
against the city of Histria on the coastal shores of Thrace. Histria's
king dies suddenly and the Macedonian troops are summarily dismissed
upon their arrival. Further petty insults are traded between Ateas
and Phillip II of Macedon until the two sides go to war in 339
BC. The battle takes place on the plains of what is now Dobruja,
with Ateas being killed in action, his army routed, and his kingdom
collapsing.
c.250
BC :
Germanic
settlements have spread only a little farther south-westwards
along the North Sea coastline, and eastwards into the heart of
modern Poland and northern Germany. One exception to this is the
tribe of the Bastarnae. They have already reached the Balkans
by this time thanks to which they are often mistaken for being
Scythians by Greek and then Roman writers.
![Belgae](Celtic_Belgae01_full.jpg)
The
Bastarnae exhibit early Celtic influences, seemingly overlaid
by Germanic cultural and language elements, but once they had
relocated to the Balkans they were often mistaken by contemporary
writers as Scythians
fl
c.130s? BC :
?
: Unnamed father and Scythian king.
?
- c.100 BC :
Scilurus
/ Skilurus / Skylurus : Son and Scythian king of the
Tauri.
100s
BC :
Scilurus
is both the father of a Scythian king and the son of one, while
himself also serving as king during part of his own lifetime.
His capital is Scythian Neapolis (or 'new town'), founded in the
third century BC and surviving until the third century AD when
it is destroyed by Goths. It is located on the Tauric Chersonesus
(the land of the Tauri, now the Crimea), although the surviving
ruins are surrounded by the town of Simferopol.
His
domains include Crimea itself over to the Dnieper which exits
into the very northern tip of the Black Sea - clearly a much smaller
territory than that controlled by Ateas two centuries before.
However, like before there is strong competition in the region
for domination. Although initially an ally of Mithradates VI 'the
Great' of Pontus, this resourceful and powerful regional authority
soon becomes an enemy who is responsible for the death of Scilurus
around 100 BC.
c.100
BC :
Palacus
/ Palakus : Son and Scythian king - the last to be named
in sources.
c.100
BC :
Palacus
continues to fight Mithradates the Great of Pontus. An attempted
siege of Chersonesos (Crimea) is defeated by Pontic troops, so
Palacus enlists the Roxolani under Tasius and launches an invasion
of Chersonesus. This too is defeated and the Scythians are forced
to accept Mithradates as their overlord. The former capital of
their kingdom now becomes the capital of the Cimmerian Bosporus
kingdom.
1st
century BC :
By the late first century BC the Germanic Bastarnae are to be
found in the northern Balkans, in territory which later forms
parts of Moldavia, including a large part of modern Moldova, and
areas of Transylvania and southern Ukraine. They must have
occupied this area for some time prior to 29 BC as they show some
characteristics of steppe-dwelling Indo-Iranians such as Scythians
and Sarmatians and are sometimes mistaken for the former.
![River Tisia](Pannonia_RiverTisia01_full.jpg)
The
River Tisia (the modern Tisza) rises in western Ukraine and meanders
south-westwards to meet the Danube, providing fertile river valley
land for migrating Celts in the second and first centuries BC,
depite the threat from sometimes hostile Dacians
AD
98 :
By
the later part of the first century BC, the Venedi of the Vistula
are neighboured even farther east by a collection of Finno-Ugric
tribes and to the north-east by the Aesti and eastern Balts. Noted
by Tacitus, a host of Germanic tribes have occupied territory
on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the past century or
so. Farther south, in modern southern Poland, Czechia, Slovakia,
Hungary, and western Ukraine, the situation is even less clear,
with elements of former Celtic tribes existing alongside encroaching
Germanic tribes, including the Boii and Lugii for the former,
and the Buri, Marcomanni, and Quadi for the latter.
Tacitus
does not use the Vistula as a boundary, or even describe a boundary
between Germania and the lands to its east. He does describe the
Venedi as living along the eastern fringe of Germania, inferring
some kind of borderland, but is uncertain of their ethnic identity.
He refers to them as having borrowed from Sarmatians in their
habit of plundering the mountainous and wooded country that lies
between the Balkans and the north.
c.150
- 200 :
Far from remaining settled where they are in Poland, the Goths
gradually renew their migration, now shifting slowly southwards
from the Oder and Vistula, heading on a path that will eventually
take them into Ukraine and the northern Black Sea coastline -
Scythia.
Jordanes
states that they first migrate to Lake Maeotis (the modern Sea
of Azov, at the north-eastern corner of the Black Sea). Then a
second migration takes them westwards along the northern Black
Sea coast into Moesia (on the southern bank of the Danube), Thrace
(to the south of Moesia), and Dacia (north of the Danube).
A third migration takes them back into Scythia where hybrid Indo-Iranian-Turkic
tribes are beginning to settle from farther east, such as the
proto-Bulgars, to subsume the Scythians. Even so, the Goths
are culturally influenced by their new subjects (see feature link).
c.225
- 250 :
During this period the Goths continue to migrate south-eastwards,
entering what is now Moldavia and western Ukraine, while the Gepids
enter the mountains of northern Transylvania. Defeating the Spali,
the Goths form a loose hegemony over the tribes of the region,
almost certainly including the Bastarnae. Archaeology supports
the migration if not the name of its leader, showing a southwards
drift for the Willenberg until it merges with the indigenous Zarubintsy
culture in Ukraine to form the Chernyakhiv culture.
![Ukrainian steppe](Modern_Steppe01_full.jpg)
Migrating
to the open steppeland of Ukraine (Scythia to the ancients, this
photo being of Askania-Nova, immediately to the north of the Crimea)
also marked a return by the Goths to their Indo-European homeland
of at least two thousand years previously, although they wouldn't
have known anything about that
Any
remnant of the Scythians as a distinctive cultural or ethnic group
is almost certainly erased by this migration and dominance by
Germanic groups. The Germans are replaced at the top of the tree
by the Huns, and then by Indo-Iranian-Turkic tribes. The region
remains best known as Scythia however, for several more centuries.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsEurope/BarbarianScythians.htm