HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Cimmerians (
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...
: , romanized: ;
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: ,
romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
:
;
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
: ,
romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
:
;
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
: ) were an
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...
Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...
equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asia. Although the Cimmerians were culturally Scythian, they formed an ethnic unit separate from the
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related and who displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.: "As the Cimmerians cannot be differentiated archeologically from the Scythians, it is possible to speculate about their Iranian origins. In the Neo-Babylonian texts (according to D’yakonov, including at least some of the Assyrian texts in Babylonian dialect) and similar forms designate the Scythians and Central Asian Saka, reflecting the perception among inhabitants of Mesopotamia that Cimmerians and Scythians represented a single cultural and economic group" The Cimmerians themselves left no written records, and most information about them is largely derived from
Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyri ...
records of the 8th to 7th centuries BC and from
Graeco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...
authors from the 5th century BC and later.


Name

The English name is derived from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, itself derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
(), of an ultimately uncertain origin for which there have been various proposals: *according to
János Harmatta János Harmatta (2 October 1917 – 24 July 2004) was a Hungarian linguist. He deciphered the Parthian ostraca and papyri of Dura Europos and was the first to decipher a major Bactrian inscription.Ritoók, Zsigmond. (1997"The contribution of ...
, it was derived from
Old Iranian The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped ...
, meaning "union of clans." * and
Igor Diakonoff Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (occasionally spelled Diakonov, russian: link=no, И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов; 12 January 1915 – 2 May 1999) was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert on th ...
derive it from an
Old Iranian The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped ...
term or , meaning "mobile unit." *
Askold Ivantchik Askold Igorevich Ivantchik (russian: Аско́льд И́горевич Ива́нчик; born 2 May 1965) is a Russian historian. Receiving his Ph.D. in history in 1996, Ivantchik was made a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences ...
derives the name of the Cimmerians from an original form or , of uncertain meaning.


Identification

The Cimmerians were a nomadic
Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...
people of the
Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistr ...
. Archaeologically, there was no difference between the material cultures of the pre-Scythian populations living in the areas corresponding to the Caucasian steppe and the Volga and Don river regions around it, and there were also no other significant differences between the Cimmerians and the Scythians, who were related populations indistinguishable from each other in terms of culture and origins. Other suggestions for the ethnicity for the Cimmerians include the possibility of their being
Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
, or Thracians with an Iranian ruling class, or a separate group closely related to Thracian peoples, as well as a
Maeotian The Maeotians (; grc, Μαιῶται, translit=Maiōtai; la, Maeōtae) were an ancient people dwelling along the Sea of Azov, which was known in antiquity as the "Maeotian marshes" or "Lake Maeotis".James, Edward Boucher"Maeotae" and "Maeotis ...
origin. However, the proposal of a Thracian origin of the Cimmerians has been criticised as arising from a confusion by
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
between the Cimmerians and their allies, the Thracian tribe of the Treri.


Location

The original homeland of the Cimmerians before they migrated into West Asia was in the steppe situated to the north of the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
and to the west of the Araxēs river until the Cimmerian Bosporus, and some Cimmerians might have nomadised in the
Kuban steppe The Kuban steppe is one of the major steppes in Europe, located in southeastern Russia between the city of Rostov on Don and the Caucasus Mountains. The Kuban steppe is the historic home of the Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et ...
; the Cimmerians thus originally lived in the Caspian and Caucasian steppes, in the area corresponding to present-day
Southern Russia Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Feder ...
. The region of the Pontic Steppe until the Lake Maiōtis was instead inhabited by the
Agathyrsi The Agathyrsi ( Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a people belonging to the Scythian cultures. The Agathyrsi were a people of mixed Iranian Scythic and Geto-Thracian origin whose bulk were Thracian while their aristocracy was closely related to ...
, who were another nomadic Iranian tribe related to the Cimmerians. The later claim by Greek authors that the Cimmerians lived in the Pontic Steppe around the Tyras river was a retroactive invention dating from after the disappearance of the Cimmerians. During the initial phase of their presence in West Asia, the Cimmerians lived in a country which Mesopotamian sources called (), that is the , located around the Kuros river, to the north and north-west of
Lake Sevan Lake Sevan ( hy, Սևանա լիճ, Sevana lich) is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, ...
and the south of the Darial or Klukhor passes, in a region of
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
to the east of
Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...
corresponding to the modern-day Gori, in southern
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. The Cimmerians later split into two groups, with a western horde located in
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, and an eastern horde which moved into
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
and later
Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
.


History


Origins

The Cimmerians were originally part of a larger group of
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
n nomadic populations who migrated to the west and formed new tribal groupings in the Pontic and Caspian steppes, with their success at expanding into
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
happening thanks to the development of mounted nomadic pastoralism and the adoption of effective weapons suited to equestrian warfare by these nomads. The steppe cultures to which the Cimmerians belonged in turn influenced the cultures of Central Europe such as the
Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...
, and the Cimmerians themselves lived in the steppe situated to the north of the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
and to the west of the Araxēs river, while the region of the Pontic Steppe until the Lake Maiōtis was instead inhabited by the
Agathyrsi The Agathyrsi ( Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a people belonging to the Scythian cultures. The Agathyrsi were a people of mixed Iranian Scythic and Geto-Thracian origin whose bulk were Thracian while their aristocracy was closely related to ...
, who were another nomadic Iranian tribe related to the Cimmerians. The Cimmerians are first mentioned in the 8th century BC in
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's as a people living beyond the
Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus (; grc-gre, , Ancient Greek pronunciation: , also Ὠγενός , Ὤγενος , or Ὠγήν ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods and ...
, in a land permanently deprived of sunlight at the edge of the world and close to the entrance of
Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
; this mention is poetic and contains no reliable information about the real Cimmerians. Homer's story might however have used as its source the story of the
Argonauts The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo ...
, which itself focused on the kingdom of Colchis, on whose eastern borders the Cimmerians were living in the 8th century BC. This corresponds to the 6th century BC records of Aristeas of Proconnesus and the later writings of
Herodotus of Halicarnassus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known fo ...
, according to whom the Cimmerians lived in the steppe to the immediate north of the Caspian Sea, with the Araxēs river forming their eastern border which separated them from the
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
, although some tribes of the
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
, a nomadic Iranian tribe living in Central Asia related to the Cimmerians, nomadised in the Caspian Steppe along the Cimmerians. The Cimmerians thus never formed the mass of the population of the Pontic Steppe, and neither Aristeas nor
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
ever recorded them as living in this area. The social structure of the Cimmerians, according to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, comprised two groups of roughly equal numbers: the Cimmerians proper, or "commoners", and the "kings" or "royal race" – implying that the ruling classes and lower classes originally constituted two different peoples, who retained distinct identities as late as the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Hence the "kings" may have originated as an element of an Iranian-speaking people (such as the Scythians), who had imposed their rule on a section of the people of the
Catacomb culture The Catacomb culture (russian: Катакомбная культура, Katakombnaya kul'tura, uk, Катакомбна культура, Katakombna kul'tura) was a Bronze Age culture which flourished on the Pontic steppe in 2500–1950 BC.Par ...
, who were the Cimmerian "commoners." In the 8th to 7th centuries BC, the Cimmerians were disturbed by a significant movement of the
nomads A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
of the
Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistr ...
: this movement started when the bulk of the
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
migrated westwards across the Araxēs river, under the pressure of another related Central Asian nomadic Iranian tribe, either the
Massagetae The Massagetae or Massageteans (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Sakā tigraxaudā (Old Persian: , "wearer of pointed caps") or Orthocorybantians (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ),: As for the term “Orthocorybantii”, this is a translati ...
or the
Issedones The Issedones (Ἰσσηδόνες) were an ancient people of Central Asia at the end of the trade route leading north-east from Scythia, described in the lost ''Arimaspeia'' of Aristeas, by Herodotus in his ''History'' (IV.16-25) and by Ptolemy in ...
, following which the Scythians moved into the Caspian and Caucasian Steppes, assimilated most of the Cimmerians and conquered their territory, while the rest of the Cimmerians were displaced and forced to migrate to the south into West Asia. This displacement of the Cimmerians by the Scythians is attested archaeologically in a disturbance of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk culture associated with the Cimmerians. Under Scythian pressure, the Cimmerians migrated to the south into West Asia. The story recounted by Greek authors, according to which the Cimmerian aristocrats, unwilling to leave their lands, killed each other and were buried in a
kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central As ...
near the Tyras river, after which only the Cimmerian "commoners" migrated to West Asia, is contradicted by how powerful the Cimmerians were according to Assyrian sources contemporaneous with their presence in West Asia; this story was thus was either a Pontic Greek folk tale which originated after the disappearance of the Cimmerians or a later Scythian legend reflecting the motif of vanished ancient lost peoples which is widespread in folk traditions.


In West Asia

The Cimmerians who migrated into West Asia fled through the ,
Alagir Alagir (russian: Алаги́р; os, Алагир) is an industrial town and the administrative center of Alagirsky District in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia, located on the west bank of the Ardon River, west of the republic's ...
and
Darial Gorge The Darial Gorge ( ka, დარიალის ხეობა, ''Darialis Kheoba''; russian: Дарьяльское ущелье; os, Арвыком, ''Arvykom''; inh, Даьра Аьле, ''Dära Äle''; Chechen: Теркан чӀаж, ''Te ...
passes in the Greater Caucasus mountains, that is through the western Caucasus and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
into Kolkhis, where the Cimmerians initially settled during the 720s BC. During this period, Cimmerians lived in a country which Mesopotamian sources called , the , located around the Kuros river, to the north and north-west of
Lake Sevan Lake Sevan ( hy, Սևանա լիճ, Sevana lich) is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, ...
and the south of the Darial or Klukhor passes, in a region of
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
to the east of Kolkhis corresponding to the modern-day Gori, in southern
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. Transcaucasia would remain the Cimmerians' centre of operations during the early phase of their presence in West Asia until the early 660s BC. The Scythians later also expanded to the south, appearing in West Asia forty years after the Cimmerians, although they followed the coast of the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
and arrived in the region of present-day
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
. The inroads of the Cimmerians and the Scythians into West Asia over the course of the 8th to 6th centuries BC would destabilise the political balance which had prevailed in the region between the states of
Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
,
Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...
,
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
and
Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
on one side and the mountain and tribal peoples on the other.


In Transcaucasia

The Cimmerians might have defeated attacks by the Urartian kings against Colchis and the nearby areas during the 720s BC. The first mention of the Cimmerians in the records of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew ...
was from between
720 __NOTOC__ Year 720 ( DCCXX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 720 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
and
714 __NOTOC__ Year 714 ( DCCXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 714 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
BC, when Assyrian intelligence by the crown prince
Sennacherib Sennacherib ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynas ...
reported to the king
Sargon II Sargon II ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is gener ...
that the Cimmerians had attacked
Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...
's province of through the territory of the kingdom of
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
. A counter-attack against the Cimmerians at in what is now
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
by the Urartian king
Rusa I Rusa I (ruled: 735–714 BC) was a King of Urartu. He succeeded his father, king Sarduri II. His name is sometimes transliterated as ''Rusas'' or ''Rusha''. He was known to Assyrians as ''Ursa'' (which scholars have speculated is likely a more ac ...
, during a campaign where Rusa I himself, his commander in chief, as well as thirteen governors united all the armed forces of the kingdom, was however heavily defeated by the Cimmerians, and the governor of the Urartian province of was killed. This defeat weakened Urartu significantly enough that Sargon II was able to successfully attack and defeat it, and Rusa I committed suicide in consequence. During the period corresponding to Sargon II's reign, a section of the Cimmerians moved into the area of the kingdom of
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
. The Cimmerians' presence in Anatolia might have started around 709 BC, and the king Midas II of
Muški The Mushki (sometimes transliterated as Muški) were an Iron Age people of Anatolia who appear in sources from Assyria but not from the Hittites. Several authors have connected them with the Moschoi (Μόσχοι) of Greek sources and the Geo ...
(
Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empir ...
), who had previously been a bitter opponent of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in Anatolia, consequently ended hostilities with the Assyrians after and sent a delegation to Sargon II to attempt to form an alliance against the Cimmerians. In 705 BC, Sargon II died in battle, most likely during a campaign against the Anatolian kingdom of Tabal, or possibly during a battle in which the Cimmerians were participants in either the region of Tabal or in Nedia. After Sargon II's death, his son and successor
Sennacherib Sennacherib ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynas ...
secured the northwestern Assyrian borders, and the Cimmerians ceased being mentioned in Assyrian records during Sennacherib's reign (from 705 to 681 BC); the Cimmerians would start being mentioned again by the Assyrians only under the reign of Sennacherib's own son and successor,
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of hi ...
. During this time, the Cimmerians were allied with the Scythians, and the two groups, in alliance with the
Medes The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
, who were an Iranian people of West Asia to whom the Scythians and Cimmerians were distantly related, were threatening the eastern frontier of
Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...
during the reign of its king Argishti II. Argishti II's successor, Rusa II, built several fortresses in the east of Urartu's territory, including that of
Teishebaini Teishebaini (also Teshebani, modern Karmir Blur ( hy, Կարմիր Բլուր) referring more to the hill that the fortress is located upon) was the capital of the Transcaucasian provinces of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. It is located near the ...
, to monitor and repel attacks by the Cimmerians, the Mannaeans, the Medes, and the Scythians. During the period coinciding with the rule of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (reigned 681–669 BC), the bulk of the Cimmerians migrated from Transcaucasia into Anatolia, while a smaller group remained in the area near the kingdom of
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
where they had been settled since the time of Sargon II, respectively forming a "western" and an "eastern" division of Cimmerians.


In

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Between 680/679 and 678/677 BC, the eastern group of Cimmerians allied with the
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
ns and the Scythian king Išpakaia to attack Assyria, with the Scythians raiding far in the south till the Assyrian province of
Zamua Zamua (also Mazamua) was an ancient Pre-Iranian kingdom, corresponding with the earlier kingdom of Lullubi,''The Cambridge History of Iran'', Volume 2, (1985) Cambridge University Press, p. 59Direct link Last retrieved 11.12.2013 which stretched fr ...
. These allied forces were defeated by Esarhaddon, who had become the king of the Neo-Assyrian empire. By 677 BC, the Cimmerians were present on the territory of Mannai, and in 676 BC they were its allies against an Assyrian attack, after which the eastern Cimmerians remained allied to Mannai against Assyria. In the western Iranian plateau, these eastern Cimmerians might have introduced Bronze articles from the
Koban culture The Koban culture (c. 1100 to 400 BC) is a late Bronze Age and Iron Age culture of the northern and central Caucasus. It is preceded by the Colchian culture of the western Caucasus and the Kharachoi culture further east. It is named after the ...
into the
Luristan bronze Luristan bronzes (rarely "Lorestān", "Lorestāni" etc. in sources in English) are small cast objects decorated with bronze sculpture from the Early Iron Age which have been found in large numbers in Lorestān Province and Kermanshah in wester ...
culture. The Mannaeans, in alliance with the eastern Cimmerians and the Scythians (the latter of whom attacked the borderlands of Assyria from across the territory of the kingdom of Ḫubuškia), were able to expand their territories at the expense of Assyria and capture the fortresses of Šarru-iqbi and Dūr-Ellil. Negotiations between the Assyrians and the Cimmerians appeared to have followed, according to which the Cimmerians promised not to interfere in the relations between Assyria and Mannai, although a Babylonian diviner in Assyrian service warned Esarhaddon not to trust either the Mannaeans or the Cimmerians and advised him to spy on both of them. The eastern Cimmerian group later moved to the south, into
Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, with the Scythians as their northern neighbours and occasional allies, and in the mid 670s BC, these eastern Cimmerians were recorded by the Assyrians as a possible threat against the collection of tribute from Media. Around the same time, in alliance with the Scythians, the eastern Cimmerians were menacing the Assyrian provinces of Parsumaš and Bīt Ḫamban, and these joint Cimmerian-Scythian forces together were threatening communication between the Assyrian Empire and its vassal of Ḫubuškia. In 676 BC, Esarhaddon responded by carrying out a military campaign against Mannai during which he killed Išpakaia. By the late 670s BC, the Scythians had become the allies of the Assyrians after Išpakaia's successor, Bartatua, had married a daughter of Esarhaddon, while the eastern Cimmerians remained hostile to Assyria and were allied to
Ellipi Ellipi was an ancient kingdom located on the western side of the Zagros (modern Iran), between Babylonia at the west, Media at the north east, Mannae at the north and Elam at the south. The inhabitants of Ellipi were close relatives of the Elami ...
and the
Medes The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
. When Ellipi and the Medes successfully rebelled against Assyria under
Kashtariti Kashtariti ( Akkadian: ; Median: ; fl. 670s BCE) was a Median chieftain. He is mentioned as "King of the Medes" in an inscription dated 678 BCE.: "In an inscription dated in 678 B.C., Kash-tariti, according to Boscawen, is called "King of the Mede ...
from 671 to 669 BC, the eastern Cimmerians were allied to them.


In Anatolia

By the later 7th century BC, the centre of operations of the larger, western, division of the Cimmerians was located in Anatolia. In 679 BC the Cimmerian king
Teušpa Teushpa (Akkadian: , and ) was an early 7th-century BC king of the Cimmerians. Name and are Akkadian forms of a name which originates from a Cimmerian dialect of the Old Iranian Scythian language. The linguist János Harmatta reconstructed t ...
was defeated and killed by Esarhaddon near Ḫubušna in Cappadocia. Despite this victory, the military operations of the Assyrians were not fully successful and they were not able to firmly occupy the areas around Ḫubušna, nor were they able to secure their borders, and the Assyrian province of Quwê was left vulnerable to invasions from Tabal, Kuzzurak and Ḫilakku; the Cimmerians had thus ended all Assyrian control in Anatolia. An Assyrian contract dating to the same as Esarhaddon's victory over Teušpa records of the existence of a "Cimmerian detachment" in
Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ba ...
, although it is uncertain whether this refers to Cimmerian mercenaries in Assyrian service, or simply of Assyrian soldiers armed in the "Cimmerian-style", that is using Cimmerian bows and horse harnesses. Around 675 BC, the Cimmerians, under their king Tugdammi (the Lugdamis of the Greek authors), in alliance with the Urartian king Rusa II carried out a military campaign to the west, against Muški (Phrygia), Ḫate (the Neo-Hittite state of
Melid Melid, also known as Arslantepe, was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. It has been identified with the modern archaeological site of Arslantepe near Malatya, Turkey. It was ...
), and Ḫaliṭu (either the Alizōnes or the Khaldoi); this campaign resulted in the invasion and destruction of Phrygia, whose king Midas II committed suicide. The Cimmerians plundered the Phrygian capital of
Gordion Gordion ( Phrygian: ; el, Γόρδιον, translit=Górdion; tr, Gordion or ; la, Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the ...
, but they neither settled there nor destroyed its fortifications, although they appear to have consequently partially subdued the Phrygians, and an Assyrian oracular text from the later 670s BC mentioned the Cimmerians and the Phrygians, who had possibly been subdued by the Cimmerians, as allies against the Assyrians' newly conquered province of
Melid Melid, also known as Arslantepe, was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. It has been identified with the modern archaeological site of Arslantepe near Malatya, Turkey. It was ...
. A document from 673 BC records Rusa II as having recruited a large number of Cimmerian mercenaries, and Cimmerian allies of Rusa II probably participated in a military expedition of his in 672 BC. From 671 to 669 BC, Cimmerians in service of Rusa II attacked the Assyrian province of Shupria, Šubria near the Urartian border. Between 671 and 670 BC, some Cimmerian divisions were recorded as serving in the Assyrian army, although these divisions might have instead simply referred to the "Cimmerian style" armed Assyrian soldiers. At yet unknown dates, the Cimmerians imposed their rule on Cappadocia, invaded Bithynia, Paphlagonia and the Troad, and took the recently founded Greek colony of Sinop, Turkey, Sinope, whose initial settlement was destroyed and whose first founder Habrōn was killed in the invasion, and which was later re-founded by the Greek colonists Kōos and Krētinēs. Along with Sinope, the Greek colony of Cyzicus was also destroyed during these invasions and had to be later re-founded. In the beginning of that decade, the Cimmerians attacked the kingdom of Lydia, which had been filling the power vacuum in Anatolia created by the destruction of Phrygia by establishing itself as a new rising regional power. The Lydian king Gyges of Lydia, Gyges, attempting to find help to face the Cimmerian invasions, contacted Esarhaddon's successor who had succeeded him as king of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew ...
, Ashurbanipal, beginning in 667 BC, and his struggle against Cimmerians soon turned in his favour. Gyges soon defeated the Cimmerians in 665 BC without Assyrian help, and he sent Cimmerian soldiers captured while attacking the Lydian countryside as gifts to Ashurbanipal. According to the Assyrian records describing these events, the Cimmerians already had formed sedentary settlements in Anatolia. Assyrian records in 657 BC of a "bad omen" for the "Westland" might have referred to either another Cimmerian attack on Lydia, or a conquest by Tugdammi of the western possessions of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, possibly Quwê or somewhere in Syria (region), Syria, following their defeat by Gyges. These Cimmerian aggressions worried Ashurbanipal about the security of the north-west border of the Neo-Assyrian Empire enough that he sought answers concerning this situation through divination, and as a result of these Cimmerian conquests, by 657 BC the Assyrian divinatory records were calling the Cimmerian king by the title of ("King of the Universe, "), a title which in the Mesopotamian worldview could belong to only a single ruler in the world at any given time and was normally held by the King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. These divinatory texts also assured to Ashurbanipal that he would eventually regain the , that is the world hegemony, captured by the Cimmerians: the , which was considered to rightfully belong to the Assyrian king, had been usurped by the Cimmerians and had to be won back by Assyria. Thus, the Cimmerians had become a force feared by Ashurbanipal, and Tugdammi's successes against Assyria meant that he had become recognised in the ancient Near East as equally powerful as Ashurbanipal. This situation remained unchanged throughout the rest of the 650s BC and the early 640s BC. As the result of these Assyrian setbacks, Gyges could not rely on Assyrian support against the Cimmerians and he ended diplomacy with the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and Ashurbanipal responded to Gyges's disengagement from Assyria by cursing him. The Cimmerians attacked Lydia for a third time in 644 BC: this time, they defeated the Lydians and captured their capital, Sardis, and Gyges died during this attack. Gyges was succeeded by his son Ardys of Lydia, Ardys, who resumed diplomatic activity with Assyria; Ashurbanipal, whose Anatolian borders were still in a delicate situation due to the Cimmerians, was himself willing to form alliances with any state in Anatolia which was capable of successfully fighting the Cimmerians. After sacking Sardis, Lygdamis led the Cimmerians into invading the Greek city-states of Ionia and Aeolis on the western coast of Anatolia, which caused the inhabitants of the Batinētis region to flee to the islands of the Aegean Sea, and later Greek writings by Callimachus and Hesychius of Alexandria preserve the record that Lygdamis had destroyed the Temple of Artemis, Artemision of Ephesus. Among the other Greek cities destroyed during these invasions was Magnesia on the Maeander, Magnesia on the Büyük Menderes River, Meander. After this third invasion of Lydia and the attack on the Asiatic Greek cities, around 640 BC the Cimmerians moved to Cilicia on the north-west border of the Assyrian empire, where Tugdammi allied with Mugallu, the king of Tabal, against Assyria, during which period the Assyrian records called him a "mountain king and an arrogant Gutian people, Gutian (that is a barbarian) who does not know how to fear the gods." However, after facing a revolt against himself, Tugdamme allied with Assyria and acknowledged Assyrian overlordship, and sent tribute to Ashurbanipal, to whom he swore an oath. Tugdammi soon broke this oath and attacked the Assyrian Empire again, but he fell ill and died in 640 BC, and was succeeded by his son Sandakšatru, who attempted to continue Tugdammi's attacks against Assyria but failed just like his father. By the later part of the 7th century BC, the Cimmerians were nomadising in West Asia together with the
Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
Treri tribe who had migrated across the Bosporus, Thracian Bosporus and invaded
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. In 637 BC, Sandakšatru's Cimmerians participated in another attack on Lydia, this time led by the Treres under their king Kōbos, and in alliance with the Lycians. During this invasion, in the seventh year of the reign of Gyges's son Ardys of Lydia, Ardys, the Lydians were defeated again and for a second time Sardis was captured, except for its citadel, and Ardys might have been killed in this attack. Ardys's son and successor, Sadyattes, might possibly also have been killed in another Cimmerian attack on Lydia in . The power of the Cimmerians had eventually dwindled quickly after Tugdammi's death, and soon these Cimmerian attacks on Lydia, with Assyrian approval and in alliance with the Lydians, the Scythians under their king Madyes entered Anatolia, expelled the Treres from Asia Minor, and defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat again, following which the Scythians extended their domination to Central Anatolia until they were themselves expelled by the Medes from West Asia in the 600s BC. This final defeat of the Cimmerians was carried out by the joint forces of Madyes, who
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
credits with expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor, and of Gyges's great-grandson, the king Alyattes of Lydia, whom
Herodotus of Halicarnassus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known fo ...
and Polyaenus claim finally defeated the Cimmerians. Following this final defeat, the Cimmerians likely remained in the region of Cappadocia, whose name in Armenian, , may have been derived from the name of the Cimmerians. A group of Cimmerians might also have subsisted for some time in the Troas, around Antandrus, until they were finally defeated by Alyattes of Lydia. The remnants of the Cimmerians were eventually assimilated by the populations of Anatolia, and they completely disappeared from history after their defeat by Madyes and Alyattes.


In Europe

It has been hypothesised that some Cimmerians might have migrated into Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southeast Europe, South-east and Central Europe, although such identification is presently considered very uncertain.


Impact

The inroads of the Cimmerians and the Scythians into West Asia over the course of the 8th to 6th centuries BC had destabilised the political balance which had prevailed in the region between the states of
Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
,
Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of V ...
,
Mannaea Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: ''Mannai'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Minni'', (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, ...
and
Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
on one side and the mountain and tribal peoples on the other, resulting in the destruction of these former kingdoms and their replacement by new powers, including the kingdoms of the
Medes The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
and of the Lydians.


Legacy

After the end of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the scribes of the Neo-Babylonian Empire which replaced it used the term indiscriminately to refer to all the nomads of the steppes, including both the Pontic
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
and the Central Asian Saka. The Persians, Persian Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenids who conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire continued this tradition of using the name of the Cimmerians to refer to all steppe nomads in the Akkadian language, as attested in the Behistun inscription. The Byzantine Empire, Byzantines from a millennium and onwards later similarly referred to the Huns, Slavs, and other populations as "Scythians."
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's mention of the Cimmerians as living deprived from sunlight and close to the entrance of
Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
influenced later Graeco-Roman authors who, writing centuries after the disappearance of the historical Cimmerians, conceptualised of this people as the one described by Homer, and therefore assigned to them various fantastical locations and histories: * Ephorus, Ephorus of Cyme in the 4th century BC placed the Cimmerians near the city of Cumae in Magna Graecia, where there was located a Ploutonion and an Nekyia, oracle of the dead, as well as the Avernus, Lake Avernus, which possessed strange properties. According to Ephorus's narrative, these Cimmerians lived underground and would go out only at night because of a tradition of theirs to never see the Sun. *Hecataeus of Abdera placed the "Cimmerian city" in Hyperborea *Posidonius, Posidonius of Apamea wrote that the Cimmerians who passed into West Asia were merely a small body of exiles, while the bulk of the Cimmerians lived in the thickly wooded and sun-less far north, between the shores of the Oceanus and the Hercynian Forest, and were the same people known as the Cimbri. Both the Cimmerians and the Cimbri were perceived by the Greeks as fierce barbarian tribes who had caused significant destruction for the peoples they had invaded, and since their names were similar, the Greek traditions progressively equated and then identified them with each other. ** This assertion was criticised by Plutarch as being conjectural rather than based on concrete historical evidence. ** Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, Diodorus of Sicily, using Posidonius as their sources, also equated the Cimmerians and the Cimbri. The Cimmerians appear in the Hebrew Bible under the name of Gomer, (), where is closely linked to Ashkenaz, (), that is to the Scythians. In sources beginning with the Royal Frankish Annals, the Merovingian kings of the Franks traditionally traced their lineage through a pre-Frankish tribe called the Sicambri, (or ), mythologized as a group of "Cimmerians" from the mouth of the Danube river. The historical Sicambri, however, were a Germanic tribe from Gelderland in modern Netherlands and are named for the Sieg river. Early modern historians asserted Cimmerian descent for the Celts or the Germanic peoples, Germans, arguing from the similarity of to Cimbri, or Cymry, , noted by 17th-century Celticists. But the word "Welshman" (plural: ) is now accepted by Celtic linguists as being derived from a Brythonic languages, Brythonic word , meaning "compatriot". According to Georgia (country), Georgian national historiography, the Cimmerians, in Georgian known as , played an influential role in the development of the Colchis, Colchian and Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity), Iberian cultures. The modern Georgian word for "hero", , is said to derive from their name. It has also been speculated that the modern Armenian city of Gyumri (Armenian language, Arm. Help:IPA for Armenian, ), founded as Kumayri (Armenian language, Arm. ), derived its name from the Cimmerians who conquered the region and founded a settlement there.


In popular culture

The character of Conan the Barbarian, created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales, from 1932, is canonically a Cimmerian: in Howard's fictional Hyborian Age, the Cimmerians are a pre-Celtic people who were the ancestors of the Irish and Scots (Gaels). The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, , a novel by Michael Chabon, includes a chapter describing the (fictional) oldest book in the world, "The Book of Lo", created by ancient Cimmerians. Manau (band), Manau's song "La Tribu de Dana" recounts an imaginary battle between Celts and enemies identified by the narrator as Cimmerians.


Archaeology

Archaeologically, the Cimmerians are associated with the Novocherkassk culture, Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk Culture of the west Eurasian steppe, which itself showed strong influences originating from the east in Central Asia and Siberia (more specifically from the Karasuk culture, Karasuk. Arzhan, and Altai culture, Altai cultures), as well as from the Kuban culture of the Caucasus which contributed to its development, although an alternative view is that the Cimmerians instead belonged, materially, to the Scythians#Early Scythian, Early Scythian culture. Cimmerian remains from the period of their presence in Anatolia include a burial from the village of İmirler, Gümüşhacıköy, İmirler in the Amasya Province of Turkey which contains typically Early Scythian weapons and horse harnesses. Another Cimmerian burial, located at about 100 km to the east of İmirler and 50 km from Samsun, contained 250 Scythian-type arrowheads.


Language

According to the historian Muhammad Dandamayev and the linguist
János Harmatta János Harmatta (2 October 1917 – 24 July 2004) was a Hungarian linguist. He deciphered the Parthian ostraca and papyri of Dura Europos and was the first to decipher a major Bactrian inscription.Ritoók, Zsigmond. (1997"The contribution of ...
, the Cimmerians spoke a dialect belonging to the Scythian languages, Scythian group of Iranian languages, and were able to communicate with
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
proper without needing interpreters. The Iranologist Ľubomír Novák considers Cimmerian to be a relative of Scythian which exhibited similar features as Scythian, such as the evolution of the sound /d/ into /l/. The recorded personal names of the Cimmerians were either Iranian, reflecting their origins, or Anatolian languages, Anatolian, reflecting the cultural influence of the Anatolian peoples, native populations of Asia Minor on them after their migration there. Only a few personal names in the Cimmerian language have survived in Assyrian inscriptions: *: **According to the linguist
János Harmatta János Harmatta (2 October 1917 – 24 July 2004) was a Hungarian linguist. He deciphered the Parthian ostraca and papyri of Dura Europos and was the first to decipher a major Bactrian inscription.Ritoók, Zsigmond. (1997"The contribution of ...
, it goes back to Old Iranian language, Iranian , meaning "swelling with strength", although Askold Ivantchik has criticised this proposal on phonetic grounds. **
Askold Ivantchik Askold Igorevich Ivantchik (russian: Аско́льд И́горевич Ива́нчик; born 2 May 1965) is a Russian historian. Receiving his Ph.D. in history in 1996, Ivantchik was made a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences ...
instead posits three alternative suggestions for an Old Iranian origin of : *** "abductor of horses" *** "abductor dog" *** "divine dog" * or (), and recorded as () and () by Greek authors **According to János Harmatta, it goes back to Old Iranian "giving happiness." **Edwin M. Yamauchi also interprets the name as Iranian, citing Ossetic language, Ossetic (), meaning "ruling with strength," although this proposal has been criticised because represents the modern phonetics of Ossetian and its form during the Old Iranian period when the Cimmerians lived would have been . **Askold Ivantchik instead suggests that the name / was a loanword from an Anatolian languages, Anatolian language, more specifically Luwian language, Luwian, while also accepting the alternative possibility of a derivation from a variant of the name of the Hurrians, Hurrian deity Teshub, /Teshub, . **Ľubomír Novák has noted that the attestation of this name in the forms and in Akkadian and the forms and in Greek shows that its first consonant had experienced the change of the sound /d/ to /l/, which is consistent with the phonetic changes attested in the Scythian languages. *: this is an Iranian reading of the name, and Manfred Mayrhofer (1981) points out that the name may also be read as . :*According to János Harmatta, it goes back to Iranian language, Old Iranian "splendid son." :*Askold Ivantchik derives the name from a compound term consisting of the name of the Anatolian deity Sandas, , and of the Iranian term . Isaac Asimov attempted to trace various place names to Cimmerian origins. He suggested that gave rise to the Turkic languages, Turkic Toponymy, toponym Stary Krym, (which in turn gave rise to the name of Crimea, name "Crimea").


Genetics

A genetic study published in Science Advances in October 2018 examined the remains of three Cimmerians buried between around 1000 and 800 BC. The two samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to Haplogroup R1b, haplogroups R1b1a and Haplogroup Q-M242, Q1a1, while the three samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroups Haplogroup H (mtDNA), H9a, Haplogroup C (mtDNA), C5c and Haplogroup R (mtDNA), R. Another genetic study published in ''Current Biology'' in July 2019 examined the remains of three Cimmerians. The two samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to haplogroups Haplogroup R1a, R1a-Z645 and Haplogroup R1a, R1a2c-B111, while the three samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroups Haplogroup H (mtDNA), H35, Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5, U5a1b1 and Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5, U2e2.


Cimmerian kings


Kings of the western (Anatolian) Cimmerians

*
Teušpa Teushpa (Akkadian: , and ) was an early 7th-century BC king of the Cimmerians. Name and are Akkadian forms of a name which originates from a Cimmerian dialect of the Old Iranian Scythian language. The linguist János Harmatta reconstructed t ...
(?-679 BC) * Tugdamme (679-640 BC) * Sandakšatru (640-)


See also

*
Agathyrsi The Agathyrsi ( Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a people belonging to the Scythian cultures. The Agathyrsi were a people of mixed Iranian Scythic and Geto-Thracian origin whose bulk were Thracian while their aristocracy was closely related to ...
*
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...
* Scythian cultures * Umman Manda *
Medes The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...
* Cimbri


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *Terenozhkin A.I., Cimmerians, Kiev, 1983 * *Collection of Slavonic and Foreign Language Manuscripts – St.St Cyril and Methodius – Bulgarian National Library: http://www.nationallibrary.bg/slavezryk_en.html {{Authority control Cimmerians Peoples of the Caucasus History of the North Caucasus Historical Iranian peoples Iranian nomads Ancient history of Ukraine Ancient Russia Tribes described primarily by Herodotus Eastern Iranian languages Extinct languages of Asia