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 Ker ...

, which was known in

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

as the " Maeotian marshes" or " Lake Maeotis".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 ...

, Abkhazians,

Abazins The Abazin, Abazinians or Abaza ( Abaza and Abkhaz: Абаза; Circassian: Абазэхэр; russian: Абазины; tr, Abazalar; ar, أباظة), are an ethnic group of the Northwest Caucasus, closely related to the Abkhaz and Circassi ...

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 form of words ...

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 inherit ...

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, the Dandarii, the Toreatae, the

Agri Agri may refer to: Places * Ağrı Province, eastern Turkey ** Ağrı, the capital city of the province * Ağrı, the Turkish name for Mount Ararat in Turkey * Ağrı Subregion, Turkey, a statistical subregion * Ağrı (electoral district), an e ...

, the Arrechi, the Tarpetes, the Obidiaceni, the Sittaceni, the Dosci, and "many" others. Strabo. ''

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

'', 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 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 Ti ...

, 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 Ag ...

. Karl Eichwald claimed that the Maeotians originated as a "Hindu" ( Indian) 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. Bur ...

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 West ...

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

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 in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambr ...

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