Ancient Scythians: their history, religion, culture
Yes, we are Scythians! Yes, we are Asians! With slanting and greedy eyes.(Alexander Blok).
In ancient times, from about the beginning of the 8th century BC. That is, in the vast territories of Eurasia from the northern Black Sea region and right up to Altai, a freedom-loving and warlike tribe lived, or even rather tribes that went down in history under the common name of the Scythians. Who were the ancient Scythians, what is their history, religion, culture, read about all this further.
Where did the Scythians live?
Where did the ancient Scythians live? In fact, the answer to this question is not as clear and simple as to who these Scythians are in general. The fact is that various historians enrolled a variety of tribes and peoples to the Scythians, including our ancestors of the ancient Slavs. And in some medieval manuscripts even Kievan Rus is called Scythia. But, in the end, historians came to a consensus that the Scythians should still be called one specific people, who lived, however, on a very wide territory, from the Don to the Danube, the northern Black Sea region in the south of our country Ukraine and right up to Altai.
Other tribes related to the Scythians, for example, Savromats, Saks, Meots, should be called the peoples of the Scythian world, since they have many common features both in the structure of life and in culture, tribal way of life, rituals and worldview.
Map of archaeological finds of the Scythian mounds. As we can see, despite the wide territories where this ancient people lived, most of the Scythians lived in the Northern Black Sea region and there is reason to believe that it was here that the center of their civilization was.
Origin of the Scythians
In fact, the origin of the Scythians is mysterious, the fact is that the Scythians themselves did not have a written language, and the information about them from other peoples is very contradictory. The main source of historical information about them are the works of the historian Herodotus. According to one of the legends mentioned by the "father of history", the nomadic Scythians came from Asia to the territory of the northern Black Sea region, having driven out the local Cimmerian tribes living there. But the same Herodotus in his other work "History" mentions another legend of the Scythians, according to which they always lived in the Black Sea region.
But legends are legends, but what does Her Majesty archeology say about the origin of the Scythians? Archaeological excavations also, unfortunately, do not give an exact answer to the question and the origin of the Scythians. So most of the Scythians led a nomadic lifestyle, and could move long distances in a relatively short period of time. And it is also very difficult to distinguish their ancestors among the many tribes with a similar culture.
Still, a number of scientists believe that the Scythians came to Europe from Asia as an already formed people. Proponents of another theory argue that the Scythians, on the contrary, have lived in the steppes of the Black Sea since ancient times, and acquired some of their Asian features during their campaigns for the Caucasus Range, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, which took place in the 7th century BC. e. Unfortunately, we don’t know how it was in reality.
History of the Scythians
The heyday of the Scythian civilization falls on the 7th century, it was at this time that the Scythians dominated not only the steppes of the Black Sea region, but also the whole of Asia Minor, where they created the Scythian state of Ishkuza, although by the beginning of the 6th century they were forced out of Asia Minor. At the same time, traces of the Scythians were found in the Caucasus.
In 512 B.C. e. all the tribes of the Scythians rallied to repel the conquest undertaken by King Darius I. An attempt to conquer the lands of the Scythians failed, the Persians were defeated. The unsuccessful campaign of Darius against the Scythians is described in detail by the same Herodotus, the Scythians used very original tactics against the conquerors - instead of giving the Persians a general battle, they lured them deep into their territory, avoiding a general battle in every possible way and constantly exhausting the Persian troops. In the end, it was no longer difficult for them to defeat the weakened Persians.
After some time, the Scythians themselves attacked neighboring Thrace (the territory of modern Bulgaria) and successfully conquered these lands. Then there was a war with the Macedonian king Philip, who inflicted a crushing defeat on the Scythians, again throwing them into the steppes of the Black Sea region.
Approximately in the III-II century BC. e. Scythian civilization begins to decline. The territory inhabited by the Scythians was also significantly reduced. In the end, the Scythians themselves were conquered and destroyed by their distant relatives - the nomadic tribes of the Sarmatians. The remains of the Scythian kingdom for some time continued to be preserved in the Crimea, but from there they were soon forced out by the tribes of the Goths.
Scythian culture
The whole culture of the Scythians, their life, their way of life is literally saturated with military affairs, obviously otherwise in those harsh conditions in which they lived, it was impossible to survive. Warriors in the Scythian society were not only all men, but also most women. It is with the harsh Scythian warriors that ancient legends about the tribe of Amazons, brave female warriors, are associated. At the head of the Scythian society was the so-called military nobility - the royal Scythians, who in turn were led by the Scythian king. However, the power of the Scythian king was not absolute, he was rather the first among equals than a sovereign with unlimited power. The functions of the king included the management of the army, he was also the supreme judge, dealt with the resolution of disputes between his subjects and performed religious rituals. But the most important matters were discussed at democratic people's meetings, known as the "Council of the Scythians." Sometimes the council of the Scythians even decided the fate of their kings.
An objectionable king could also be easily thrown off and killed, as, for example, happened with the Scythian king Anarcharsis, who, after marrying a Greek woman, became addicted to Greek culture and the Greek way of life, which the rest of the Scythians perceived as a betrayal by the king of Scythian customs and death was punishment for this king.
Speaking of the Greeks, the Scythians for centuries conducted intensive trade with them, especially with the Greek colony cities in the Black Sea region: Olbia, Chersonese. The Scythians were frequent guests there, and, of course, some cultural influence of the Greeks did affect the Scythians, Greek ceramics, Greek coins, Greek women's jewelry, even various works of art by Greek masters were very often found in their burials. Some especially enlightened Scythians, like the Scythian king Anarcharsis already mentioned by us, were imbued with the ideas of Greek philosophers, tried to bring the light of knowledge of Antiquity to their fellow tribesmen, but alas, the sad fate of Anarcharsis says that this was not always successful.
Scythian customs
In the writings of Herodotus, one can find many references to harsh, like the Scythians themselves, Scythian customs. So, when killing the first enemy, the Scythian was supposed to drink his blood. The Scythians also, like the American Indians, had a bad habit of scalping defeated enemies, from which they then sewed their own cloaks. To get their share in the booty, the Scythian had to present the severed head of the enemy, and bowls were made from the heads of especially fierce enemies. Also, every year the Scythian nobility organized feasts, in which only a Scythian who had killed an enemy could participate.
Divination was popular in the Scythian society, special soothsayers divined with the help of bundles of twigs or with the help of linden bast. The Scythians secured friendly ties with a special ritual - the blood of both friends was poured into a bowl of wine, then after the oaths were pronounced, this wine with blood was drunk by both friends.
The most interesting works of art discovered by archaeologists in the Scythian mounds are objects decorated in animal style. These are arrow quivers, sword hilts, women's necklaces, mirror handles, buckles, bracelets, hryvnias, etc.
In addition to images of animal figures, there are often scenes of the struggle of different animals. These images were made using forging, chasing, casting, embossing and carving, most often from gold, silver, bronze or iron.
All these art objects were indeed created by Scythian masters, a sign of their belonging to the Scythians is a special way of depicting animals, the so-called Scythian animal style. Animals are always depicted in motion and from the side, but at the same time they have their heads turned towards the viewer. For the Scythians themselves, they served as the personification of animal totem ancestors, various spirits, and played the role of magical amulets. It is also believed that various animals depicted on the hilt of a sword or a quiver with arrows were meant to symbolize the strength, dexterity and courage of the Scythian warrior.
Warfare of the Scythians
All Scythian warriors were excellent riders and often used cavalry in battle. They were also the first to successfully use the strategic retreat against the Persians, greatly exhausting the Persian forces. Subsequently, the military art of the Scythians became significantly outdated, and they began to suffer military defeats, whether from a close-knit Macedonian phalanx, or mounted Parthian archers.
Religion of the Scythians
The religious life of the Scythians was dominated by the cult of fire and the sun. An important rite was the veneration of the royal hearth. Religious rites were performed by the kings, and the Scythian king was also at the same time the religious head of the community. But besides him, various magicians and soothsayers also played an important role, whose main task was to search for the enemy of the king, to prevent the magical intrigues of enemies. The disease, both of the king and of any other Scythian, was explained precisely by the magical intrigues of some enemy, and the task of the soothsayers was to find these enemies and eliminate their intrigues in the form of an illness. (Such a kind of ancient Scythian medicine)
The Scythians did not build temples, but had special sacred places where they performed their religious rites of worship of the Sun and fire. In exceptional cases, the Scythians even resorted to human sacrifice.
Scythians, video
And in conclusion, we offer you to watch an interesting documentary about the Scythians.
