Scythians

The Scythians or Scyths,[note 1][note 2] and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians,[1][2] were an ancient Eastern[3] Iranian[4] equestrian nomadic people who had migrated from Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe in modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia from approximately the 7th century BC until the 3rd century BC.

Skilled in mounted warfare,[5] the Scythians replaced the Cimmerians as the dominant power on the Pontic Steppe in the 8th century BC.[6] In the 7th century BC, the Scythians crossed the Caucasus Mountains and frequently raided West Asia along with the Cimmerians.[6][7] After being expelled from West Asia by the Medes, the Scythians retreated back into the Pontic Steppe and were gradually conquered by the Sarmatians.[8] In the late 2nd century BC, the capital of the largely Hellenized Scythians at Scythian Neapolis in the Crimea was captured by Mithridates VI and their territories incorporated into the Bosporan Kingdom.[9] 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.[10][11] The Scythians were instrumental in the ethnogenesis of the Ossetians, who are believed to be descended from the Alans.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15]

The English name Scythians or Scyths is derived from the Ancient Greek name Skuthēs (Σκυθης) and Skuthoi (Σκυθοι), derived from the Scythian endonym Skuδatā,[16][17] which, due to a sound change from /δ/ to /l/ in the Scythian, evolved into the form *Skulatā.[17] This designation was recorded in Greek as Skōlotoi (Σκωλοτοι), which, according to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, was the self-designation of the tribe of the Royal Scythians.[16]

The Assyrians rendered the name of the Scythians as Ishkuzai (Akkadian: , romanized:Iškuzaya)[18][19] or Askuzai (Akkadian: , romanized:Asguzaya, , romanized:mat Askuzaya, , romanized:mat Ášguzaya).[18][20]

Scythian comb from Solokha, early 4th century BC
Arzhan kurgan (8-7th century BC)
Some of the earliest Scythian artefacts in Animal style, Arzhan kurgan, Southern Siberia, dated to 8-7th century BC.
Scythian vessel from Voronezh, 4th century BC. Hermitage Museum.
The 5th-century BC Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus is the most important literary source on the origins of the Scythians
Gold Scythian belt title, Mingəçevir (ancient Scythian kingdom), Azerbaijan, 7th-4th century BC.[53][54]
The Scythian kingdom in West Asia at its maximum extent, under the reign of the king Madyes.
The Scythian kingdom in the Pontic Steppe at its maximum extent.
Skilurus, king of Scythia Minor in Crimea. Relief from Scythian Neapolis, Crimea, 2nd century BC
The territory of the Scythae Basilaei ("Royal Scyths") along the north shore of the Black Sea around 125 AD
Kurgan stelae of a Scythian at Khortytsia, Ukraine
Kul-Oba vase
Scythian warriors, drawn after figures on an electrum cup from the Kul-Oba kurgan burial near Kerch, Crimea. The warrior on the right strings his bow, bracing it behind his knee; note the typical pointed hood, long jacket with fur or fleece trimming at the edges, decorated trousers, and short boots tied at the ankle. Scythians apparently wore their hair long and loose, and all adult men apparently bearded. The gorytos appears clearly on the left hip of the bare-headed spearman. The shield of the central figure may be made of plain leather over a wooden or wicker base. (Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg).
Scythian archers using the Scythian bow, Kerch (ancient Panticapeum), Crimea, 4th century BC. The Scythians were skilled archers whose style of archery influenced that of the Persians and subsequently other nations, including the Greeks.[96]
Scythian bronze arrowheads, c700-300 BC
Golden decorative plate shaped like a stag from a Scythian shield.
Golden decorative plate shaped like a panther from a Scythian shield.
Gold pectoral, or neckpiece, from an aristocratic kurgan in Tovsta Mohyla, Pokrov, Ukraine, dated to the second half of the 4th century BCE, of Greek workmanship. The central lower tier shows three horses, each being torn apart by two griffins. Scythian art was especially focused on animal figures.
An Attic vase-painting of a Scythian archer (a police force in Athens) by Epiktetos, 520–500 BC
Scythian defence line 339 BC reconstruction in Polgár, Hungary