Английская Википедия:Agathyrsi
Шаблон:About Шаблон:Infobox ethnic group The Agathyrsi were an ancient people belonging to the Scythian culturesШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn who lived in the Transylvanian Plateau, in the region that later became Dacia. The Agathyrsi are largely known from Herodotus of Halicarnassus's description of them in the 5th century BC.Шаблон:Sfn
Name
The name Шаблон:Transl is the Latinisation of the Ancient Greek name Шаблон:Transliteration (Шаблон:Lang), which was itself the Hellenized form of a Scythian name whose original form is not attested.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The linguist Alexis Manaster Ramer has reconstructed the original Scythian form of this name as Шаблон:Transliteration, meaning "prospering the friend/Шаблон:Transl", with the final part modified into Шаблон:Lang, referring to the composite vegetal wand of Bacchus, in Greek because the ancient Greeks associated Scythian peoples with Bacchic rites.Шаблон:Sfn
History
Origins
The arrival of the Agathyrsi in Europe was part of the larger process of westwards movement of Central Asian Iranic nomads towards Southeast and Central Europe which lasted from the 1st millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD, and to which also later participated other Iranic nomads such as the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sauromatians, and Sarmatians.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The archaeological and historical records regarding these migrations are however scarce, and permit to sketch only a very broad outline of this complex development.Шаблон:Sfn
Beginning of steppe nomadism
The formation of genuine nomadic pastoralism itself happened in the early 1st millennium BC due to climatic changes which caused the environment in the Central Asian and Siberian steppes to become cooler and drier than before.Шаблон:Sfn These changes caused the sedentary mixed farmers of the Bronze Age to become nomadic pastoralists, so that by the 9th century BC all the steppe settlements of the sedentary Bronze Age populations had disappeared,Шаблон:Sfn and therefore led to the development of population mobility and the formation of warrior units necessary to protect herds and take over new areas.Шаблон:Sfn
These climatic conditions in turn caused the nomadic groups to become transhumant pastoralists constantly moving their herds from one pasture to another in the steppe,Шаблон:Sfn and to search for better pastures to the west, in Ciscaucasia and the forest steppe regions of western Eurasia.Шаблон:Sfn
The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex
The Agathyrsi originated as a section of the first waveШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn of the nomadic populations who originated in the parts of Central Asia corresponding to eastern Kazakhstan or the Altai-Sayan region,Шаблон:Sfn and who had, beginning in the 10th century BC and lasting until the 9th to 8th centuries BC,Шаблон:Sfn migrated westwards into the Pontic-Caspian Steppe regions, where they formed new tribal confederations which constituted the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.Шаблон:Sfn
Among these tribal confederations were the Agathyrsi in the Pontic Steppe, as well as the Cimmerians in the Caspian Steppe,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and possibly the Sigynnae in the Pannonian Steppe.Шаблон:Sfn The archaeological and historical records regarding these migrations are however scarce, and permit to sketch only a very broad outline of this complex development.Шаблон:Sfn
The Agathyrsi thus corresponded to a part of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex,Шаблон:Sfn to whose development three main cultural influences contributed to:
- present in the development of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex is a strong impact of the native Bilozerka culture, especially in the form of pottery styles and burial traditions;Шаблон:Sfn
- the two other influences were of foreign origin:
- attesting of the Inner Asian origin, a strong material influence from the Altai, Aržan and Karasuk cultures from Central Asia and Siberia is visible in the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complexШаблон:Sfn of Inner Asian origin were especially dagger and arrowhead types, horse gear such as bits with stirrup-shaped terminals, deer stone-like carved stelae and Animal Style art;Шаблон:Sfn
- in addition to this Central Asian influence, the Kuban culture of Ciscaucasia also played an important contribution in the development of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex,Шаблон:Sfn especially regarding the adoption of Kuban culture-types of mace heads and bimetallic daggers.Шаблон:Sfn
The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex thus developed natively in the North Pontic region over the course of the 9th to mid-7th centuries BC from elements which had earlier arrived from Central Asia, due to which it itself exhibited similarities with the other early nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe which existed before the 7th century BC, such as the Aržan culture, so that these various pre-Scythian early nomadic cultures were thus part of a unified Aržan-Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia.Шаблон:Sfn
Thanks to their development of highly mobile mounted nomadic pastoralism and the creation of effective weapons suited to equestrian warfare, all based on equestrianism, these nomads from the Pontic-Caspian Steppes were able to gradually infiltrate into Central and Southeast Europe and therefore expand deep into this region over a very long period of time,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn so that the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex covered a wide territory ranging from Central Europe and the Pannonian Plain in the west to Caucasia in the east, including present-day Southern Russia.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
This in turn allowed the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex itself to strongly influence the Hallstatt culture of Central Europe:Шаблон:Sfn among these influences was the adoption of trousers, which were not used by the native populations of Central Europe before the arrival of the Central Asian steppe nomads.Шаблон:Sfn
In the Pontic Steppe
Within the western sections of the Eurasian Steppe, the Agathyrsi lived in the part of the Pontic Steppe situated on the northern shore of the Maeotian Sea,Шаблон:Sfn while their neighbours to the east, in the Ciscaucasian Steppe and the steppe regions to the north of the Caspian Sea were the Cimmerians, who themselves also belonged to the grouping of Iranic nomads of Central Asian origin belonging to the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.Шаблон:Sfn
Displacement of the Agathyrsi
A second wave of migration of Iranic nomads corresponded arrival of the early Scythians from Central Asia into the Caucasian Steppe,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn which started in the 9th century BC,Шаблон:Sfn when a significant movement of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe started after the early Scythians were expelled out of Central Asia by either the Massagetae, who were a powerful nomadic Iranic tribe from Central Asia closely related to the Scythians,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn or by another Central Asian people called the Issedones,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn thus forcing the early Scythians to the west, across the Araxes river and into the Caspian and Ciscaucasian Steppes.Шаблон:Sfn
This western migration of the early Scythians lasted through the middle 8th century BC,Шаблон:Sfn and archaeologically corresponded to the movement of a population originating from Tuva in southern Siberia in the late 9th century BC towards the west, and arriving in the 8th to 7th centuries BC into Europe, especially into Ciscaucasia, which it reached some time between Шаблон:C. and Шаблон:C.,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn thus following the same migration general path as the first wave of Central Asian Iranic nomads who had formed the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.Шаблон:Sfn
The westward migration of the Scythians brought them to the lands of the Cimmerians,Шаблон:Sfn after which the Scythians settled between the Araxes river to the east, the Caucasus mountains to the south, and the Maeotian Sea to the west,Шаблон:Sfn in the Ciscaucasian Steppe where were located the Scythian kingdom's headquarters.Шаблон:Sfn
The arrival of the Scythians corresponded to a disturbance of the development of the Cimmerian peoples' Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex,Шаблон:Sfn which was thus replaced over the course of Шаблон:C. to Шаблон:C. by the early Scythian culture in southern Europe, which itself nevertheless still showed links to the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.Шаблон:Sfn
From their base in the Ciscaucasian Steppe,Шаблон:Sfn the Scythians over the course of the 8th to 7th centuries BC conquered the Pontic and Crimean SteppesШаблон:Sfn to the north of the Black SeaШаблон:Sfn up to the Istros river, whose mouth henceforth formed the western boundary of Scythian territory.Шаблон:Sfn
The conquest of their territories by the Scythians from the east pushed the Agathyrsi westwards, out of the Pontic Steppe, with the Scythians themselves replacing them as the main population of the Pontic Steppe,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn thus completing the process of the Scythians becoming the main dominant population of the Pontic-SteppeШаблон:Sfn over the course of Шаблон:C. to Шаблон:C..Шаблон:Sfn The Agathyrsi henceforth became the immediate neighbours of the Scythians to their west and the relations between these two tribes remained hostile.Шаблон:Sfn
In the Balkans
After their displacement, the Agathyrsi settled in the regions surrounding the Eastern Carpathian Mountains corresponding to the territories presently called Moldavia, Oltenia and Transylvania,Шаблон:Sfn although they also may have been one of the peoples who had free access to the Wallachian and Moldavian Plains along with the Scythians.Шаблон:Sfn
In these regions, the Agathyrsi established themselves as a ruling class over the indigenous population, who were Geto-Thracians,Шаблон:Sfn and intermarried with these local peoples and gradually assimilated into these local peoples' culture.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn And, beginning in the 6th century BC, the Agathyrsi were organising into fortified settlements, such as the ones at Stâncești and Cotnari, which acted as important centres of the Getae.Шаблон:Sfn
A section of the displaced Agathyrsi might also have migrated more southwards into Thrace proper, where a group of this people was located on the Haemus Mons by Stephanus of Byzantium.Шаблон:Sfn
The Trausi
Stephanus of Byzantium also suggested that a section of the Agathyrsi were present on the Rhodope Mountains by his mention that the Greeks referred to the Trausi (Шаблон:Lang-grc; Шаблон:Lang-la, Шаблон:Lang) tribe who lived there as being Agathyrsi.Шаблон:Sfn
On the Rhodopes, the Trausi initially lived to the north-east of the Thracian tribe of the Bistones.Шаблон:Sfn By the early 2nd century BC, the Trausi had migrated to the east of the Hebrus river in the hinterland of Maroneia and Aenus, and they soon disappeared from history after being conquered by the kingdom of the Sapaei.Шаблон:Sfn
Scythian influence
In the 6th century BC, some splinter Scythian groups followed the earlier route of the nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk wave, passed through the passes of the Carpathian Mountains, and settled in the Pannonian Basin,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn where some of them settled in the territory of the Agathyrsi while others moved into the Pannonian Steppe and settled in the territory of the Sigynnae, and subsequently intermarried with the local populations while remaining in contact with the Pontic Steppe through trade.Шаблон:Sfn
These migrations and trade connections contributed to the transformation of the culture of the Agathyrsi and the Sigynnae into a more Scythian-like form.Шаблон:Sfn
The Persian invasion of Scythia
In the late 6th century BC, the Achaemenid Persian Empire started expanding into Europe, beginning with the Persian annexation of all of Thrace,Шаблон:Sfn after which the Achaemenid king of kings Darius I crossed the Istros river in 513 BCШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and attacked the Scythian kingdom with an army of 700,000 to 800,000 soldiers,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn possibly with the goal of annexing it.Шаблон:Sfn
In response, the Scythian king Idanthyrsus summoned the kings of the peoples surrounding his kingdom to a council to decide how to deal with the Persian invasion.Шаблон:Sfn The Budini, Geloni and Sauromatians joined the Scythian-led alliance in resisting the Persian invasion,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and Idanthyrsus led the joint forces of the Scythians and their allied neighbours in resisting the Persian invasion.Шаблон:Sfn Meanwhile the Agathyrsi, Androphagi, Melanchlaeni, Neuri and Tauri refused to support the Scythians.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
According to the Greek author Herodotus of Halicarnassus, during the campaign the fleeing Scythians and the Persian army pursuing them passed through the territories of the Melanchlaeni, Androphagi, and Neuri, before they reached the borders of the Agathyrsi, who refused to let the Scythian divisions to pass into their territories and find refuge there, thus forcing the Scythians to return to Scythia with the Persians pursuing them.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Death of Ariapeithes
At some point between Шаблон:C. and Шаблон:C.,Шаблон:Sfn Ariapeithes was killed by the Agathyrsian king Spargapeithes.Шаблон:Sfn
Celtic immigration
In the middle of the 5th century BC, the Hallstatt culture developped into the La Tène culture, whose people are identified with the Celts, who by the late 5th century BC were moving to the east along the upper Istros and initially settled in Transistria before moving into the Pannonian Steppe where lived the Sigynnae and later into the mountainous regions where lived the Agathyrsi. The relations between the Celtic incomers and the Iranic nomads appear to have remained peaceful, with the Celts later intermarrying with the local populations of the Pannonian Basin, thus exposing the Celts to the influence of the beliefs, practices and art styles of the steppe nomads so that motifs borrowed from and influenced by the steppe nomads started appearing in La Tène Celtic art.Шаблон:Sfn
Among these borrowed artistic influences were images of predatory carnivores, sometimes attacking herbivorous beasts, as well as motifs of pairs of animals facing each other, giving rise to Celtic motif of the "dragon pairs" which decorated the tops of Celtic sword scabbards. Another motif borrowed by Celtic art from steppe art are pairs of predatory birds around shield circular bosses, reflecting not only the mere artistic influence of the steppe nomads, but also of the borrowing by the Celts of Iranic steppe nomad belief systems expressed through the image of predatory beasts.Шаблон:Sfn
Ethnogenesis of the Dacians
The Agathyrsi were barely mentioned again in outside sources after Herodotus of Halicarnassus described them in the 5th century BC,Шаблон:Sfn and it is unknown for how long they were able to maintain their Agathyrsian identity.Шаблон:Sfn However, the Graeco-Roman author Claudius Ptolemy and an inscription from Rome, both from the middle of the 1st century AD, mentioned the Agathyrsi.Шаблон:Sfn
The Agathyrsi appear to have eventually become fully assimilated into the Geto-Thracian populations among whom they lived,Шаблон:Sfn and the Getic groups organised around the Agathyrsian fortified settlements eventually evolved into the Dacian culture,Шаблон:Sfn with a large part of the later Dacian people being consequently descended from the Agathyrsi.Шаблон:Sfn The Agathyrsi hence disappeared from history in a process typical of most Scythic peoples who back then formed the substrate of the many powerful tribal federations of the Ponto-Danubian region.Шаблон:Sfn
Legacy
The peoples of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex of which the Agathyrsi were part of introduced the use of trousers into Central Europe, whose local native populations did not wear trousers before the arrival of the first wave of steppe nomads of Central Asian origin into Europe.Шаблон:Sfn
The role of the Agathyrsi as the oldest Scythic population of the Pontic Steppe was reflected in the Scythian genealogical myth of the Scythians proper, according to which Agathyrsus was the eldest of the three ancestors of the Scythian peoples born of the union of the god Targitaos and the Snake-Legged Goddess.Шаблон:Sfn
The displacement of the Agathyrsi by the Scythians is expressed in the genealogical myth by how the Snake-Legged Goddess banished her two eldest sons, Agathyrsus and Gelonus, from her country and instead crowned as king her youngest son, Scythes, who was the ancestor of the Scythians proper.Шаблон:Sfn
Culture and society
Location
In the Pontic Steppe
From the 9th to the late 8th or early 7th centuries BC, the Agathyrsi occupied the eastern sections of the Pontic Steppe on the northern shores of the Maeotian Sea.Шаблон:Sfn
The neighbours of the Agathyrsi to the east, in the Ciscaucasian Steppe and the steppe regions to the north of the Caspian Sea were the Cimmerians, who themselves also belonged to the grouping of Iranic nomads of Central Asian origin belonging to the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex and were therefore closely related to the Agathyrsi.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
In the Balkans
At the time when the Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus described them, in the 5th century BC, the Agathyrsi were living in the region which later became known as DaciaШаблон:Sfn and is presently known as Transylvania,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn as well as in the region of the Carpathian MountainsШаблон:Sfn and to their east and north of the Danube riverШаблон:Sfn where was located the source of the Maris river,Шаблон:Sfn that is in the regions corresponding to present-day Moldavia and Oltenia,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and they may have been one of the peoples who had free access to the Wallachian and Moldavian Plains along with the Scythians.Шаблон:Sfn
The eastern neighbours of the Agathyrsi were the Pontic Scythians, while their northern neighbours were the Neuri, who were a Baltic population.Шаблон:Sfn
Ethnicity
By the time the Agathyrsi were living in the Balkans, they had become a people of mixed Scytho-ThracianШаблон:Sfn origin, composed of a Geto-Thracian populationШаблон:Sfn with an Iranic-Scythic ruling class,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn as attested by how their kings, such as Agathyrsus and Spargapeithes, were Iranic.Шаблон:Sfn
The assimilation of the Scythic Agathyrsi into the Getic population of the areas they had settled in is attested by how their culture combined Iranic and Thracian elements.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Social organisation
Unlike the nomads of the Pontic Steppe, the Pannonian Basin nomads such as the Agathyrsi appear to not have possessed an elite class.Шаблон:Sfn
Language
Reflecting their Scythic origin, the names of the kings of Agathyrsi, such as Agathyrsus and Spargapeithes, were Iranic.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Gender roles
Herodotus of Halicarnassus claimed that the men of the Agathyrsi had their wives in common so that all of their people would be each other's siblings and members of a single family living together without jealousy or hatred.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Lifestyle
Dress
The clothing of the Agathyrsi likely included the use of trousers, which was a typical part of steppe nomads' dress.Шаблон:Sfn
The Agathyrsi lived in luxury and wore gold jewellery.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Hair dyeing
The aristocracy of the Agathyrsi dyed their hair dark blue to distinguish themselves from the common people.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Tattooing
The Agathyrsi had followed Thracian customs such as tattooing,Шаблон:Sfn which the aristocracy of the Agathyrsi performed to distinguish themselves from the common people:Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn the tattoos of the Agathyrsi consisted of checkered designs in blue-black ink on their faces and limbs, and their intensity, intricacy and vibrancy was proportional to their bearers' social status and the prestige of their lineage.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Tattooing was especially practised among Agathyrsi women.Шаблон:Sfn
Religion
According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Agathyrsian tribe of the Trausi, who lived in southern Thrace, practised a custom which was unique among the peoples of all of Thrace: the relatives of newborns would sit around them and mourn all the misfortunes they would have to go through in life, and would celebrate with joy during funerals since they believed that death had instead brought happiness to the deceased by freeing them from the miseries of life.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Other customs
The Agathyrsi traditionally memorised their laws in song form.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Archaeology
Шаблон:Main To the early phase of the Agathyrsian presence in Transylvania belongs a cemetery from the 8th to 7th centuries BC at Stoicani.Шаблон:Sfn
In the 6th century BC, the populations of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex of Central Europe came under Scythian influence, resulting in them becoming more Scythianised:Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn the Agathyrsi thus corresponded to a local group of the Scythian culture located in Transylvania, around the valley of the Mures river,Шаблон:Sfn with scattered groups being present in areas of Romania and Bessarabia.Шаблон:Sfn
The archaeological remains of the Agathyrsi exhibited a unique character due to the absorption of Thracian elements by Iranic incomers,Шаблон:Sfn and consist of multiple hundred burials in the form of both cremations and inhumations: the inhumations were themselves buried in simple Scythian-type catacomb tombs, and the grave goods included Scythian-type weapon sets and jewellery from the 6th and 5th centuries BC.Шаблон:Sfn The pottery of the Agathyrsi was derived from traditions native to the Transylvanian region.Шаблон:Sfn
A related culture from the region of Wallachia on the lower Danube was the Ferigile culture, to which belonged Scythian-type weapons, horse harnesses and pottery.Шаблон:Sfn
The Agathyrsi themselves corresponded to the archaeological culture which had created the fortified settlements of the Stincesti-Cotnari type in the 6th century BC.Шаблон:Sfn Objects found isolated or in graves in territories identifiable with the Agathyrsi are characteristic of the Scythian culture, and consist of:Шаблон:Sfn
- military gear such as:
- arrows,
- quivers,
- Шаблон:Transliteration,
- iron battle-axes,
- scale armour,
- shields;
- horse gear,
- personal accessories such as:
- bronze mirrors,
- pole-top rattles,
- bronze kettles,
- gold ornaments,
- and dress attachments.
Gallery
-
Offering pot from a Scythian grave from Alba Iulia, Romania, 6th century BC. In display at National Museum of the Union, Alba Iulia.
-
Scythian artefacts originating from sites in Transylvania, in display at Aiud History Museum, Aiud, Romania.
-
Scythian artefacts originating from sites in Transylvania, in display at Aiud History Museum, Aiud, Romania.
-
Scythian artefacts originating from sites in Transylvania, in display at Aiud History Museum, Aiud, Romania.
See also
Notes
References
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Шаблон:Scythia Шаблон:Thracians Шаблон:Dacia topics
