Episode 22: Scythians: Endings and Beginnings

Another chapter ends, somewhat. Today, the Scythians will be pushed back to the Pontic steppe and will face those they had left behind.

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Substack: https://nomadsandempirespodcast.substack.com/ 

Relevant Books:

• Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe
• Denis Sinor, The Cambridge History of Inner Asia, Volume 1
• Esther Jacobson, The Art of the Scythians: The Interpenetration of Cultures at the Edge of the Hellenic World
• Hyun Jin Kim, et al., Eurasian Empires in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages:
  Contact and Exchange between the Graeco-Roman World, Inner Asia and China
• Iver B. Neumann and Einar Wigen, The Steppe Tradition in International Relations: Russians, Turks, and European State Building 4000 BCE-2018 BCE

Transcript

The court was tense. Silence echoed across the walls and all eyes pointed toward a single man standing in the center of the hall. The man was an envoy sent from the court of the Medes. He represented the words and magnificence of Cyaxares, the victor against the Assyrians. In many regards, the envoy was due all respect. The Medes were one of the most powerful states in that time, and any disrespect would have earned the ire of that mighty empire.

Such would have been the case in any other court. But here, the envoy kneeled. His head was bent in reverence to the monarch who sat at the end: Alyattes, King of the Lydians. Alyattes had no fear toward the Medes. His own state was powerful. His own rise was equally as meteoric and eventful as Cyaxares. He too quelled the nomads from beyond, and he too defeated many great enemies. 

The envoy was gestured to speak, and so he stood and began:

“My great king Cyaxares demands only a single thing: return the Scythian vagabonds which you hold in your court. These men were murderers and thieves. As you hide these men, you too are complicit in their crimes and deeds.”

The room remained hushed. Several advisors stared at one another, their eyes wide. Many in the court had suspected this outcome. Harboring a number of Scythians, men who were legally subjects to Cyaxares, was dangerous. Alyattes played a frightening game here. Few understood the politics at play, and fewer understood Alyattes’ mind.

The Lydian king stood. He loomed like a giant and his power emanated throughout the walls. He looked at the envoy and waited. Seconds felt like minutes, until finally the king himself began to speak. 

“These Scythians came to my court as refugees. These Scythians came to my court in need and aid. These Scythians came to my court after your own king harassed them, accused them of false actions, and ordered their executions. They are under my protection, under my house. I will not give in to such demands.”

The envoy’s eyes perked. Confusion and interest melded together. He understood the implications of such a statement, and in final confirmation, he cleared his throat and spoke. 

“Is this your final answer to King Cyaxares, mighty sovereign of Media?”

The Lydian king replied immediately: “The Median king would need to take them by force. If he wishes for war, then war he will have.”

The envoy quickly left after. He would ride at breaking speeds, moving through towns and cities, knowing full well that such settlements would become despoiled in due time. The die was cast, and the great empires, Media and Lydia, would soon be at war. 

And welcome back to the Nomads and Empires podcast, episode 22. Last time, we examined the supposed 28-year reign of the Scythians in the ancient Near East. In that episode, we witnessed the Scythians as they burst into the historical tapestry. From their base in the Caucasus, the Scythians slowly expanded their influence. As nominal vassals of the Assyrian Empire, the Scythians conquered lands such as Urartu and Media; their raids took them as far as Palestine and Syria. In the course of their actions, the Assyrian Empire buckled under internal and external pressures. As the empire crumbled, the Scythians, or at least some of them, switched sides, and aided the Medians and Babylonians. In 612 BCE, this confederation descended upon the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The empire would limp on for a few more pitiful years. 

Of course, despite this active role, the Scythian position as the “masters of Asia” had strongly reversed in the preceding decades. The emergence of a powerful Median Empire likely forced the Scythians out of vital territory and probably coincided with significant population loss. We can speculate that the death of Madyes coincided with a period of decentralization for the Scythians. Some Scythian bands, as we noted, changed sides and joined the Medes and Babylonians in their invasion of Assyria. 

Still, the Scythians had managed to survive. Various war bands and mercenary groups continued to operate in the region. However, this story would not be finished. The fall of the Assyrian Empire would coincide with the swift decline of the Scythian presence in the Near East. In only a few decades after 612, the Scythians would be pushed back across the Caucasus and into the Pontic Steppe. The Scythian menace would, finally, end. 

This is the story that I want to examine on today’s episode of the Nomads and Empires podcast.

And so, in the immediate aftermath of the sack of Nineveh in 612 BCE, the Scythians must have found themselves at a crossroads. Though their political state had collapsed, a large number of Scythians did join the right side of the conflict. This was a period of uncertainty. The Assyrian Empire was crumbling while at the same time, Babylon and Media would need time to cement their authority over the region. This left a power vacuum that would allow some Scythian groups to have a free hand in raiding and looting and exerting local control. 

If you remember from the last episode and the confusing timelines we tried to untangle, some scholars believe that it is during this period of time, at the tail end of the 7th century, that Scythian groups raided Syria and Palestine. Other attacks took place near the Caucasus, as Scythian arrowheads dated to this period of time have been found in Urartian territory. We should note that this period was likely a decentralized one for the Scythians, and some Scythian groups likely continued to operate as mercenaries and vassals for other states. Using Urartu as our example, evidence suggests that Scythians were employed on both sides; some Scythians fought for the Medes, while others had assisted the Urartians.

In reality, we have limited details on Scythian activities in this period of time. The next concrete incident can be found through Herodotus, who describes to us a dramatic situation emerging in the 600s or 590s. As Herodotus words it:

“A troop of nomad Scythians, having split off from the rest, stole away into Media… These Scythians, King Cyaxares, at first, treated well, as being his suppliants-so well indeed that he entrusted to them some boys to learn their language and their mastery of the bow. As time went on, the Scythians went constantly to the hunt for the king and constantly brought something home.

But one day it so fell out that they took nothing. When they returned empty-handed, Cyaxares, who, as he proved herein, was extreme in his temper, treated them very harshly-and shamefully as well. In so suffering from Cyaxares, the Scythians thought they had suffered something that was a personal degradation, and they formed a plot, which was to chop up one of the boys who were their pupils, nad having dressed him as they were wont to do their wild game, to bring it to Cyaxares as though it were indeed such and, after that, to betake themselves with all speed to the court of Alyattes, the son of Sadyattes, at Sardis. This is exactly what happened…

After this, inasmuch as Alyattes refused to give up the Scythians to Cyaxares when he demanded them, war broke out between the Lydians and the Medes.”

The story here is probably fanciful, and it is speculated that the narrative descends from Median reports. What we can glean from this account is that in the post-Assyrian world, Scythian bands found employment and refuge from other Near Eastern polities, such as the Medes and the Lydians. Furthermore, the Scythians continued to remain an influential force. Their mastery of the bow remained respected by Near Eastern kings. Of course, whether or not the Scythians were ultimate casus belli of a war between Lydia and Media remains to be seen.

Such a war did occur, and one of the most interesting facets of it includes a battle that ended when a solar eclipse occurred. This astronomical event was viewed by many as a divine warning, and both sides assented to peace negotiations. Alyattes of Lydia would marry his daughter to the son of Cyaxares. 

The ultimate fate of the Scythians who sought asylum with Alyattes is never really described. What we are told is that eventually, a large number of Scythians migrated back to Pontic steppe. Some records indicate that the Scythians would’ve moved via the Black Sea and into the Crimean Peninsula. This seems rather illogical and inefficient, and Scythian sites in the Caucasus dated to the 6th century BCE indicate that Scythians may have moved in that direction instead. Effectively, the Scythians journeyed back through the Caucasus and into the Pontic region. 

Though we are led to believe that this movement occurred as a single migratory wave, this is almost certainly not the case. Herodotus already tells us that the Scythians had fractured in the aftermath of the Median uprising in 625 BCE. Indeed, we’re pretty sure that Scythian populations in the ancient Near East remained quite fractured in general, and that there were probably many groups existing beyond the kingdom of Bartutua and his lineage. Therefore, it’s pretty likely that instead of a single, directed movement of Scythians from the Near East to the Pontic, we are dealing with a disorganized migration of different Scythian groups. Of course, generations had passed by this point, and it would be hardly surprising to imagine that a number of Scythians remained in the Near East. Such Scythians likely became culturally absorbed by the polities they resided in. However, the Scythian presence in the ancient Near East appears to end after 585, when the treaty between the Medes and Lydians is said to have been signed.

Let’s pause for a second. 

We will continue our discussion of the Scythians in this episode, but we must now say good bye to this sojourn in Mesopotamia, Iran, and the Levant. Though it may seem like their presence was relatively short, we should remember that such a period of time consisted of generations. Over a century or a century-and-a-half had passed since the first Scythian incursions into the area. They exploded onto the geopolitical scene and became incredibly influential. For the ancient Near East, the Scythians represented many things. They were destroyers, they were mercenaries, and they were enigmas.  

And at the same time, the Scythians were vessels of change for the many states in this region. Their presence led to technological changes, led to military adaptations, and led to a reorientation of international relations. It would be unwise to consider the Scythians as solely a sideshow. History was forever changed by the movement of horseborne nomads across the Caucasus. 

For instance, we can consider the impacts the Scythians had on leaders like Cyaxares. Though we have limited details on battles and tactics, the many successes of the Scythians imply that their military prowess was unmatched by many powers in the Near East. The Scythian presence required new, younger leaders to enact major reforms before they could challenge the nomads. This is the story we have with the Medes. In the aftermath of a major defeat by the Scythians, Cyaxares was forced to change his military organization. Scholars such as Selim Adali even suggest that Cyaxares made such changes based on Scythian military practices.

As such, interactions with the Scythians would also translate into political change. For one, the Scythians laid precedent to a key relationship: a position of vassalage with the Assyrians. In doing such, the Scythians would provide crucial military assistance to the Assyrians. In return, they received a royal marriage and relatively free reign over Assyria’s enemies. Such a relationship would mark history, and over the years, peoples of the steppe would move into the Middle East and gain employment there, often as mercenaries or as slave warriors.

Of course, there were also bigger picture developments. The entrance of steppe nomads into the Near East practically changed the international order of its time. The Kimmerians had brutalized the Urartians, which ultimately aided the Assyrian ascendency. Then, the Kimmerians rampaged across Anatolia, which only led to further destabilization of the region. The Scythians were similar in this regard. Their own wars centered around the Zagros and the lands of Media, and such conquests aided the Assyrians immensely.

However, the perhaps brutal and extractive nature of the Scythian and Kimmerian polities would lead to a reversal and ultimately contributed to the fall of Assyria. Lydia and Media would fight back against the nomadic yoke, and by incorporating steppe elements into their armed forces, they became powerful states. With the fall of Assyria, it would be these two powers that seemed poised to dominate the region, and it seems like the nomadic incursions were a necessary component in this development. By considering the best ways to defeat the Scythians and Kimmerians, the Lydians and Medians developed systems and reforms that could be used for even wider ambitions. 

We should also note that the Scythian presence in the Near East led to changes on the Scythians themselves. Time amongst the Assyrians and other societies influenced Scythian arts and tools. Scythian artifacts after this period of time contain distinctly Near Eastern motifs. Animals such as ibexes, griffins, and lions become more prominent. A kurgan in the Pontic region, dated to around 600 BCE, contains many objects that seem to have come from Assyria or were otherwise influenced by Assyrian motifs. The presence of these Assyrian-oriented artifacts can provide hints at more sociopolitical developments as well. The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia posits that Scythian leaders became more avaricious due to this influx of luxury goods. 

In fact, the most key change to the Scythians may come in the political realm. Prior to the Near Eastern adventure, Scythian populations appeared to be decentralized, with independent war leaders running their own bands across the wide berth of the steppe. As the Scythians moved deeper into the sedentary Near East, a variety of factors would ultimately give way to the development of single, powerful leaders. Though these figures may not have represented all of the Scythians in the region, they certainly represented enough of them to make meaningful deals with other major leaders. The Scythians, likely hard pressed by their more powerful neighbors, coalesced until they reached a large enough mass that they could emanate significant political power. 

It is this centralization of authority that would be key. Where before, a myriad of independent war chiefs may have led their forces on small-scale raids and skirmishes, now, a single figure had enough authority to lead armies across vast distances. This single figure had enough legitimacy to conduct diplomacy and treaties with far-flung states. And, this single figure commanded enough prestige and respect to bind the generally disunited Scythian groups into one whole. This political development would be key in the next stage of Scythian history, as Scythian groups moved back into the Pontic region. You see, some speculate that the emergence of the Royal Scythians, the leaders of the Pontic Scythians, heralds from one of these groups moving from Mesopotamia. Should this be correct, then a political continuity can be drawn from this Assyrian adventure to the later Scythian age, though we shouldn’t take this as complete truth.

And so, with all of that said, we reach the end of the Scythian experience in the Near East. However, I’ve taken the decision to not end our story there just yet. There’s a fascinating episode that’s just about to occur. As groups of Scythians migrated back to the Pontic region, we must remember a key detail: according to the narrative of Herodotus, these Scythians had been away from home for generations. By this point in time, these Near Eastern Scythians may feel somewhat removed or even alien from their Pontic siblings. Given such circumstances, we can safely assume that conflict would arise. 

And so, we press on. 

Having been ousted from the Middle East, a contingent of Scythians retreated back to the Caucasus. Herodotus suggests that the Scythians migrated in the direction of the Crimean Peninsula, which poses a number of questions as to how they got there. Thankfully, the Cambridge History of Inner Asia posits that these Scythians, logically, marched back across the Caucasus. As groups of Scythians rode through these mountains, they would leave their mark. Many Scythian burial sites have been uncovered, with these burials dating to around 600 BC. Such grave sites contained a number of artifacts of Near Eastern origin, which indicates to us that these Scythians came after their presence in Assyria rather than prior to such. 

Some Scythians remained in the Caucasus for some time. The picture presented here is rather complicated. As we remember from episode 20, Scythians had migrated into the north Caucasus sometime in the eighth century, and we are certain that not all Scythians pushed onward into the Middle East. As Near Eastern Scythians migrated back northward, the Caucasus would now become home to indigenous peoples, Scythians who had remained in the mountains, and Scythians who had spent over a century further south. In the Kuban region, cultural changes can be seen from around 600 BCE. 

Indeed, the number of kurgans acts as an indicator of this. The Scythians first entered the Kuban region around the eighth or seventh centuries BCE, and scholars have detected around 20 kurgans dated to this period. As Scythians began to return back to the north Caucasus in the sixth and fifth centuries, we start to see more kurgans, and by the fourth century BCE, we find literally hundreds of them in the area. Furthermore, these newer kurgans indicate a number of cultural changes. We of course have unearthed Near Eastern artifacts, but more strikingly, archaeologists have found a number of burials containing human and horse sacrifices, and the Cambridge Ancient History notes that such practices appear to have an origin rooted in Mesopotamian and Transcaucasian cultures.

One particular burial is of note. In the Ulski kurgan, archaeologists have uncovered a grave site that contained over 400 horses and several human individuals that appear to have been ritualistically sacrificed. The Cambridge History of Iran remarks that the sacrificial remains here are quite reminiscent to Herodotus’ own account of a Royal Scythian funeral. Again, there is a connection we can make here. Strong political leadership emerged during the Scythian sojourn to the Near East. In due time, the Scythians may have adopted some cultural practices of their sedentary neighbors, and an idea of divine leadership may be one of them. Divine leaders would require more opulent funeral processions, and this may very well be the origin of the Royal Scythian funeral described by Herodotus and seemingly replicated by a number of burials in the Kuban region at this time.

Though many Scythians would remain in the Kuban steppes, not all of them did. Scythian bands continued to move northward and westward throughout the years. A large push of Scythians out of the north Caucasus has been dated to the early seventh and late sixth centuries. The movement of Scythians out of the Kuban and into the Ukrainian steppes would result in a legendary event, and would culminate in the establishment of the Royal Scythians. When these Near Eastern Scythian returned to the Pontic region, they were not welcomed as heroes or saviors by those still residing there. They were, instead, met by heavy opposition. 

To fully illustrate this narrative, we will once again quote Herodotus:

“As I have said earlier, these Scythians ruled upper Asia for twenty-eight years. They had followed the Cimmerians in pursuit and so invaded Asia and had put down the Medes from their empire… But after their twenty-eight years in Asia, they went home again, and when they came to their own country after so long, they found waiting them a trouble no whit less than the war against the Medes, which they had finished: they found a great army of opposition in their own land, for the Scythian women, when their menfolk had been away such a time, had lived with their slaves.”

“A race of children then grew up from the slaves and the women. When they had learned the facts of their own breeding, they fought against the Scythians when they came back from among the Medes. First of all they cut off the country where they were by digging a broad trench, stretching from the Tauric Mountains to the Maeetian lake, where it is at its biggest. Then when the Scythians tried to invade, they took up fixed positions and fought. The fight took place again and again, and the Scythians were unable to get the better of them in battle.”

“At this one of the Scythians said: ‘What a thing we are doing, fellow countrymen! We are fighting with our own slaves. We get killed ourselves, and we are that much fewer. We kill them, and we have that many fewer subjects to rule. I think we should leave by our spears and bows. Let each one of us take up a horsewhip and go for them with that. As long as they are used to seeing us with arms, they think that they are our equals and that their fathers are likewise our equals. Let them see us with whips instead of arms, and they will learn that they are our slaves; and once they have realized that, they will not stand their ground against us.’”

“When the Scythians heard this, they carried it out. The slaves were bewildered by what happened and forgot their fighting spirit and fled. This, then, is the story of how the Scythians came to rule Asia, how they were driven out by the Medes, and how they came back again to their own land.”

These passages are curious, and are again, a rather convenient founding legend, but they do not represent a definitive truth. There are, however, truths that we can glean from reading between the lines. We know that some Scythians here had remained in the Pontic region, and had not joined in the push through the Caucasus and into the Near East. There is some speculation that some of these groups were named by Herodotus; the Alazones, for instance, may have been one of those Pontic groups that didn’t move into the Near East. Indeed, those Scythians who had remained likely developed their own subcultures and political structures. Centuries and long distances had separated these communities. It would be naive to consider these as the same groups. History and place would have changed them. 

The advent of a Scythian band from the south projecting into the Ukrainian steppes was probably not a peaceful experience, and we can infer from Herodotus’ narrative that as these Near Eastern Scythians entered the region, they were met by opposition from those preexisting populations. These Near Eastern Scythians, therefore, probably engaged in a set of military conquests that ultimately subjugated the preexisting Pontic groups. Though Herodotus notes that these invading Scythians faced some difficulties, they would eventually win. Such Scythians had spent decades fighting in the Near East and were likely equipped with better gear derived from what they’d seen in Assyria and Urartu, an experience their Pontic brethren did not have.

And of course, this means that the Near Eastern Scythians did not conquer the region in a single push. We can imagine this occurring in successive waves with periods of vacillation between them. One analysis suggests that the Near Eastern Scythians first started with a northward push through the Caucasus. They then captured the western Don region around the 6th century BCE. Then, the invading Scythians pushed into the Kramatorsk area between the 6th and 5th centuries, where then they continued into the rest of the Pontic.

The successful invasion of the Near Eastern Scythians would represent a major cultural change into the steppe. Influences from Assyria, Urartu, and Media would permeate amongst the elite of Scythian society. Artistic designs and funerary practices would take on a Near Eastern element. Scythian tools became predominantly iron rather than bronze. The timing could not be better, as it seems that this transformation of the Scythian steppe would coincide with the dramatic growth of the Greek Black Sea colonies. With the Royal Scythians likely remembering the material riches they once possessed in the Near East, the Greeks would be given the perfect opportunity to provide such services.

But that is a story for another day.

Today, we explored the movements of a single array of Scythians: those who had resided in the ancient Near East. These Scythians, after having spent nearly a century or more in this region, after having reached an incredible political height, after having directly participated in the downfall of great powers like the Urartians and the Assyrians, had been ousted once and for all. We examined the Lydian narrative, where a band of Scythians led to a major confrontation between the Medes and the Lydians. As these Scythians were forced out, they returned to the north Caucasus, where we detected a number of burials and artifacts that likely derived from this migration. More of these Near Eastern Scythians pushed northward, eventually coming into contact with other Scythians who had never left the Pontic steppe. After a major war, one which Herodotus tells us was won with whips rather than swords, these Near Eastern Scythians consolidated their rule and would become the Royal Scythians. 

And that’s it. Again, another eventful episode, and one that signals a change in Scythian history. The Near Eastern sojourn, one marked by the Kimmerians and the Scythians, has finally ended. Or has it? We’re going to move away from the Pontic region and loosely stay in the Near East-ish. Further eastward, in the lands of Central Asia and Persia, other developments will begin to take shape and drastically impact the Scythians across the entire steppe, rather than just the Pontic. There, in the lands of the Central Steppe, a queen will face a Shah. 

In the next episode, we explore the war between Tomyris of the Saka and Cyrus of the Persians. I’ll see you next time on the windy plains of the everlasting steppe.

Music:
River of Tears - Rymdklang Soundtracks