Scythians

Quick Facts: Who was Scythians?

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Scythians

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Ancient Iranian nomadic people who dominated the Pontic Steppe in Iron Age Eurasia.

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Origins & Early Life

The Scythians () or Scyths (), also known as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people who 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 until the 3rd century BC. Skilled in mounted warfare, the Scythians displaced the Agathyrsi and the Cimmerians as the dominant power on the western Eurasian Steppe in the 8th century BC. In the 7th century BC, the Scythians crossed the Caucasus Mountains and often raided West Asia along with the Cimmerians. In the 6th century BC, they were expelled from West Asia by the Medes, and retreated back into the Pontic Steppe, and were later conquered by the Sarmatians in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC. By the 3rd century AD, the remnants of the Scythians were overwhelmed by the Goths, and by the early Middle Ages the last Scythians were assimilated and absorbed by the various successive populations who had moved into the Pontic Steppe during the Migration Period.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

After the Scythians' disappearance, authors of the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods used their name to refer to various populations of the steppes unrelated to them. The name is derived from the Scythian endonym *Skuδa, meaning lit. 'archers' which was derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kewd-, lit. This name was semantically similar to the endonym of the Sauromatians, *Saurumata, meaning "armed with throwing darts and arrows." From this earlier term *Skuδa were derived: the Akkadian designation of the Scythians: Askuzāya (𒆳𒊍𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀), Ašguzāya (𒆳𒀾𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀), Asguzāya (𒌷𒊍𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀), and Iškuzāya (𒆳𒅖𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀); the Hebrew name *ʾAškūz (*אשכוז), which through a scribal error was corrupted to ʾAškənāz (אַשְׁכְּנָז); and the Ancient Greek name Skuthai (Σκύθαι), from which was derived the Latin name Scythae, which in turn gave the English name Scythians. The Urartian name for the Scythians might possibly have been Išqigulu (𒆳𒅖𒆥𒄖𒇻).

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Due to a sound change from /δ/ (/ð/) to /l/ commonly attested in East Iranic language family to which Scythian belonged, the name *Skuδa evolved into *Skula, which was recorded in ancient Greek as Skolotoi (Σκόλοτοι), in which the Greek plural-forming suffix -τοι (-toi) was added to the name. The name of the 5th century BC king Scyles (Ancient Greek: Σκύλης, romanized: Skúlēs) represented this later form, *Skula. The name "Scythians" was initially used by ancient authors to designate specifically the Iranic people who lived in the Pontic Steppe between the Danube and the Don rivers. In modern archaeology, the term "Scythians" is used in its original narrow sense as a name strictly for the Iranic people who lived in the Pontic and Crimean Steppes, between the Danube and Don rivers, from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. By the Hellenistic period, authors such as Hecataeus of Miletus however sometimes extended the designation "Scythians" indiscriminately to all steppe nomads and forest steppe populations living in Europe and Asia, and used it to also designate the Saka of Central Asia.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Scythians

True or False: “The Scythians were always considered a single, unified political entity by all contemporary sources.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): While they shared cultural traits, ancient sources like the Late Babylonian scribes distinguished them from other groups such as the Cimmerians.

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