The Maeotians (; grc, Μαιῶται, translit=Maiōtai; la, Maeōtae) were an ancient people dwelling along the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

, which was known in antiquity as the "

Maeotian marshes The Maeotian Swamp or Maeotian Marshes ( grc, ἡ Μαιῶτις λίμνη, ''hē Maiōtis límnē'', literally ''Maeotian Lake''; la, Palus Maeotis) was a name applied in antiquity variously to the swamps at the mouth of the Tanais River in ...

" or "

Lake Maeotis The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

".James, Edward Boucher
"Maeotae" and "Maeotis Palus"
in the ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'', , . Walton & Maberly (London), 1857. Accessed 26 Aug 2014. They are often considered to be the ancestors of the

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in ...

Abkhazians Abkhazians (russian: Абхазы), or Abkhazs ( ab, Аԥсуаа, Aṕswaа, ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A l ...

, Abazins.

Identity

The

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

of the name and identity of the people remain unclear.

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...

and William Smith were of the opinion that the term Maeotian was applied broadly to various peoples around the Sea of Azov, rather than the name of the sea deriving from a certain people. Their subdivisions included the

Sindi Sindi may refer to: *Sindi people, an ancient people of the Taman Peninsula, nowadays Russia * Sindi, Estonia, a town in Pärnu County, Estonia * Sindi, Maharashtra, a town and municipal council in Wardha District, Maharashtra, India Persons with ...

, the

Dandarii The Dandarii or Dandaridae were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among ...

, the

Toreatae The Toreatae (Greek: , Strabo xi. 2. 11) or Toretae (Greek: , Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Dionys. Per. 682; Plin. vi. 5; Mela, i. 2; Avien. ''Orb. Terr.'' 867) were a tribe of the Maeotae in Asiatic Sarmatia. Strabo describes them as living among the M ...

, the Agri, the

Arrechi The Arrechi (Greek: ) were an ancient tribe of the Maeotae, on the east coast of the Palus Maeotis. ( Strabo xi. 2. 11; Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Plin. vi. 7.) Strabo places them among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Tarpetes, Obidi ...

, the

Tarpetes The Tarpetes were an ancient people who once lived along the Maeotian marshes Palus Maeotis, in present-day Russia. The Tarpetes were one of many groups in that area that vanished, leaving little or no trace. Strabo describes them living among the ...

, the

Obidiaceni The Obidiaceni were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others. The Obi ...

, the

Sittaceni The Sittaceni were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others (xi. 2. ...

, the

Dosci The Dosci (Doschi) - were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, and Aspurgiani, among ...

, and "many" others.

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 see ...

. ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...

'', xi. . Of these, the Sindi are the best attested, and were probably the dominant people among the Maeotians. The language of the Maeotians or even language family is uncertain. One princess of the

Ixomates 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 "Maeot ...

was called

Tirgatao Tirgatao (Scythian: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ) was a princess of the Maeotes mentioned by Polyaenus. She was the first wife of the Sindian king Hecataeus, and was a notable participant of the Bosporan wars of expansion. Name The name Tir ...

, comparable to ''Tirgutawiya'', a name on a tablet discovered in

Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze A ...

Karl Eichwald ), present-day Latvia , death_date = , death_place = St. Petersburg, Russia , citizenship = Russian Empire , nationality = Baltic German , fields = GeologyMedicine , workplaces = Kazan University, V ...

claimed that the Maeotians originated as a "Hindu" (

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

) colony, but this view is rejected by the majority of scholars. Soviet archaeologists, historians, and ethnographers concluded the Maeotians were one of the Circassian tribes.

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bury ...

classifies the Maeotians as either of a people of

Cimmerian The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into Wes ...

ancestry or as Caucasian aboriginals.

History

The earliest known reference is from the logographer

Hellanicus of Lesbos Hellanicus (or Hellanikos) of Lesbos (Greek: , ''Ἑllánikos ὁ Lésvios''), also called Hellanicus of Mytilene (Greek: , ''Ἑllánikos ὁ Mutilēnaῖos'') was an ancient Greek logographer who flourished during the latter half of the 5th cen ...

.Hellanicus's actual reference is to a ''Maliōtai'' (), which Sturz emended to ''Maiōtai''. According to

, the Maeotians lived partly on fish and partly from agriculture but were as warlike as their nomadic neighbors. These wild hordes were sometimes tributary to the factor at the River

Tanais Tanais ( el, Τάναϊς ''Tánaïs''; russian: Танаис) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in the Don River (Russia), Don river delta, called the Maeotian Swamp, Maeotian marshes in classical antiquity. It was a bishopric as Tana ...

(the present-day

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

) and at other times to the Bosporani. In later times, especially under Pharnaces II,

Asander Asander or Asandros ( el, Άσανδρoς; lived 4th century BC) was the brother of Parmenion and Agathon, and uncle of Philotas. He was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, and satrap of Lydia from 334 BC as well as satrap of Cari ...

, and Polemon I, the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, ...

extended as far as the Tanais.

References

Sources

*{{cite book , last1=Boardman , first1=John , last2=Edwards , first2=I. E. S. , author-link1=John Boardman (art historian) , author-link2=I. E. S. Edwards , date=1991 , title=The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 3. Part 2 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGBGauNBK8kC , publisher=

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, isbn=0521227178 , access-date=March 2, 2015 Cimmerians Ancient Circassian tribes Ancient peoples of Russia History of the western steppe Scythia