The Iyrcae ( grc, Ἱύρκαι) were an ancient nation on the north-east trade route described by
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
beyond the
Thyssagetae
The Thyssagetae ( grc, Θυσσαγέται) were an ancient tribe described by Herodotus as occupying a district to the north-east of Scythia, separated from the Budini by a "desert" that took seven days to cross.Herodotus. ''Histories'', 4.22.1: ...
.
They were distinguished by their mode of hunting, climbing a tree to survey their game, and then pursuing it with trained horses and dogs. The reading Τυρκαι may be an anachronism, and when
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
and
Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45.
His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...
speak of "Tyrcae" it is possibly due to a false correction.
Ellis Hovell Minns
Sir Ellis Hovell Minns, FBA (16 July 1874 – 13 June 1953) was a British academic and archaeologist whose studies focused on Eastern Europe.
Educated at Charterhouse, he went to Pembroke College, Cambridge studying the Classical tripos includi ...
viewed them as "almost certainly the ancestors of the modern
Magyars" and located them "somewhere about the upper basins of the Tobol and the Irtysh". Later researchers (such as
Boris Rybakov
Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в, 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001) was a Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti- Normanist vision of Russian history. He is ...
) identified the Iyrcae with the
Dyakovo culture
The Dyakovo culture (russian: Дьяковская культура, from the excavated site at Dyakovo - Дьяково) is an Iron Age culture which occupied a significant part of the Upper Volga, Valday and Oka River area.
The Dyakovo archaeol ...
Кривичи
/ref> of Central Russia.
Notes
References
*{{EB1911 , first=Ellis Hovell , last=Minns , wstitle=Iyrcae, volume=15
Ancient peoples of Russia
Nomadic groups in Eurasia