From the book of E.P. Savelyev "Ancient history of the Cossacks".

For the first time foreigners and especially Germans undertook the study and critical analysis of ancient Russian chronicles, oddly enough and not painful for the pride of the Russian people.

Everything outstanding in the history of Russia was deliberately either hushed up or distorted by them; they tried to assign all the characteristic Russian to their race and even often tried to take away from us not only glory, greatness, power, wealth, industry, trade and all the good qualities of the heart, but also the tribal name - the name of the Russes, known from ancient times as Slavic.

At the head of such critics of the Slavic-Russian chronicles is August Ludwig Schlozer, who accidentally came (in 1761) to Russia (at the invitation of the court historiographer G.F. Miller), and then became a member of our Academy of Sciences. In his work “Nestor. Russian Chronicles ”, published in German and translated by Yazykov into Russian in 1809–1810, Schlozer, rearranging and throwing out arbitrarily words (from the Ipatiev list), concluded that the Varangians were a people of a Germanic tribe who lived along the shores of the Baltic and German seas , and that the Russes belong to the same tribe and may mean the Swedes. Schlozer's conclusions were strenuously repeated by his compatriots, and then by our historians, not understanding that they were selling the glory of their homeland and its great past. This inertia and unwillingness to understand the numerous sources that speak directly about the Slavs of the ancient Russ are striking. However, we are used to adopting everything entirely from the West and to believe in everything, especially the Germans.

Of our later historians, only Ilovaisky rebelled against Schlezerianism, i.e. Germanic origin Russov, in his work "Investigations about the beginning of Russia" in 1882, but still completely attributed the Varangians to the Normans, which, as we will see below, should not be done. The materials that served to create the most ancient Slavic-Russian history lay under a bushel for many centuries, not dismantled, not examined and not passed through the crucible of sound and impartial criticism, just as Herculan and Pompey hid under ashes for about two thousand years. Meanwhile, the history of Slavic Russia is so rich in facts that its traces are everywhere, woven into the life of all European peoples, with a strict analysis of which Russia will itself move forward and show all the ramifications of this greatest tribe in the world. Although the path to that, in its vastness, is rather difficult, it is already somewhat familiar: Lomonosov, Katanchich, Venelin, Shaffarik, Savelyev - Rostislavich, Moroshkin, Nadezhdin, Borichevsky, Chertkov, Veltman, Lukashevich and many others, and, let's say with gratitude, not without success. In particular, Egor Klassen worked on this issue in the 2nd half of the last century, and before him, the researcher of Slavic-Russian ancient archaeological sites Thaddeus Vollansky. The difficulty in studying these monuments lies in the fact that the researcher needs to know all the main Slavic dialects and the changes that have occurred in them over the centuries from the internal development of the word and from neighboring influence; it is also necessary to get acquainted with the character, mores, customs, domestic life and the internal movement of the Slavic world.

We know that history should not be biased towards a given people, but we will not allow little-informed foreigners, such as Schletserians, to turn Russian history into satire, and to refute that Russia developed its strength from the influence of the Scandinavians on it and that the very name she received her own from them, we will present here materials that, as they say, aphids do not smolder and rust does not destroy. These materials consist of tribal names scattered through all histories and now cleared by criticism from translating them into Greek, Roman, Tatar, German and Scandinavian and brought by it to their prototype; also the names of cities, living tracts, settlements, graves, treasures, embankments, ruins, coins, medals, idols, weapons, the remains of the Slavic language preserved in places, customs, customs, beliefs, the order of warfare, and most importantly, the remains of the most ancient Slavic-Russian writing . These monuments clearly show that our ancestors, the Slavic-Russians, as a people, existed earlier than the Greeks and Romans and left behind traces indicating their existence, as well as their art and enlightenment. The Greeks and Romans gave many Slavic tribes their own, arbitrarily composed nicknames, referring them either to the locality, or to their appearance, or to severity in wars, or to their occupations and way of life. As a result, hundreds of superfluous names have accumulated in ancient history, meaning nothing ethnographically; but here and there the real names of those tribes come up. We will mainly focus on them ...

The most ancient inhabitants of Eastern Europe, the shores of the Azov and Black Seas, parts of Asia Minor and the steppes of the Transcaspian Greeks called the common name of the Scythians and divided them into several tribes [Herodotus. I–IV and VI. Yust. 1, 8. XI, 1. Pp. VII and XI. Plin. Eating. East and etc.]. Of these tribes, the most famous are: Sakas, Parthians, Daves, Massagets, Varkas or Urkis and Girki - Girkams, Skolts and Sarmatians. Davy... were one of the main Scythian peoples of Western Asia and the shores of the Caspian Sea (Strab. II, 508, 511. Plin. Est. Sources 6, 19, 33 and 37). In the VI century. BC Dagi were under the rule of the Persians. At this time, some Dagi tribes left their country and settled in the neighborhood of Armenia. Another part of this people moved to Samaria (Ezra: 4. 9). This happened, presumably, after their relatives, the Scythians, penetrated from the Black Sea coast into Babylonia, Syria and Palestine, forming their settlements there, from which the Asian Greeks knew the city of Scythopolis, on the site of Jewish Bethesian. The third part of the dags around the 5th c. BC, it moved to the shores of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, and then established itself in Thrace, forming there a people known in history under the name of the Dacians or Dacians, who later moved (in the 8th century) to the upper reaches of the Danube. Consequently, the name "Scythian" was not the generic name of this people, which Herodotus himself admits, saying: "The common name of all the Scythians, by the name of their king - Skoloty; the Hellenes called them Scythians. The Persians called this people the Saks. The neighbors of the European Scythians, according to Herodotus, were the Sarmatians or Savromats - who lived on the left side of the Lower Don to the Caucasus, east of the shores of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, and spoke one of the Scythian dialects. This is evidenced by Herodotus (IV, 117) and Ovid. Later, after Herodotus, historians, such as: Strabo (I century), Ptolemy (II century A.D.) and others, Yatsigov, Alan and Roksolan (Ros-Alan) belong to the Sarmatian tribes. The Yatsigs or Adzigs are divided into three castes: the royal ones, who sat by the Black Sea, and then by the Danube, the cultivators - by the Sea of ​​Azov, and the Yatsigs-sword-bearers (according to the Greek pronunciation "metanaste"). [The Greek name of this people is translated by historians as Yasigi, Yatsigi, Azigi, Yazygi and Zyhi, Zikhi, Zygi, and sometimes Sigi, even Tsigi, Tsingy and Tsikhi. This is not entirely true. In the Greek originals, after the initial letter A there is a zeta, pronounced as DZ. The correct pronunciation of this name in Russian will be with the initial A - Adzigi or Adigi, which is the name that the current Circassians call themselves now, spoiled under Turkic influence: Adyge, Adyge and Adyge. Without the initial A - Jigi or Chigi. The Azov Yatsigs moved west along with the Roxolans. Some of them, which remained in Hungary, still exist under the names of Yaschags and Rusiyaks. The place between Pest and Geves is now called Yaschag. A golden goblet with an ancient Slavic inscription was dug there 60 years ago:].

According to Ptolemy, the Tagras really sat in that place and, as can be seen from the above inscription, the Yatsigs, whom Taul - zhupan (hetman, prince) hid in the mountains from the hordes of Trajan, who smashed the Slavic tribes along this path. The name "Sarmatians", like "Scythians", was not a proper name for this people, but was given by the Pontic Greeks, who often encountered the inhabitants of these areas only in trade, at public markets, and, presumably, not with the whole mass, but only with a well-known corporation of industrialists and merchants who brought to these markets the works and products of their own and neighboring countries. Both in antiquity, and now at these markets, or fairs, a certain kind of industrial merchants are located in separate places, according to the objects of trade, such as: furriers, tanners, rawhides, shoemakers, ironworkers, fishmongers, honey workers, bredniks, etc. Rawhide leather and furs were the main export items from Scythia and Sarmatia. The Greeks supplied them to all South European countries. Horse harness, military shields, etc. were made from such skins. Consequently, the nickname "Sarmatians" or "Savromats" and "Suromats" came from "raw meat", i.e. rawhide makers, rawhide tanners [Class. Materials for the history of the Slavic-Russians. Issue II. 1854].

Diodorus Siculus says that the Sarmatians came from Media. They were moved to the Don by the Scythians. But why didn't the Greeks call them Medes, but Sarmatians or Sauromatians? Venelin searched for the root of this word in the Greek language and produced the word "Sarmatian" from the lizard-eyed. Others derived this word from the Persian "sar" - lord, head and "mada" - a woman, from the domination of this people of women. Prof. Strasbourg. un. F.G. Bergman (1860) the word "Sarmatians" translates "people of the north", from Shauro - north and mates - people (Median mat and ancient mant). But in relation to what kind of people they were northerners - it's hard to say. According to ancient writing, they lived at the source of the Indus, then south of Media, and in the time of Herodotus in the present Transdon. What they were called in ancient times, we do not know, but only we know that Herodotus called them by this name in the 5th century. BC, and after him began to repeat these names and all Greek historians. Therefore, these opinions are erroneous. The initial relations of the Greeks with the Scythians were on trade routes. ... The Scythians, like pastoralists, produced rawhide in large quantities and sold it to the Greeks. This product was one of the main branches of trade. That is why the Greeks and Romans, despite the constant wars with the Sarmatians, always gave them preference over other neighboring peoples and tried to resettle them in their possessions, they did not even sell the captives into slavery, but attached them to their favorite craft. If we accept this as a basis, then it will be clear to us why the ancient historians wrote Scythians-Sarmatians, Wends-Sarmatians, Alans-Sarmatians, and so on. The Thracians also had cheese farmers, which the Greeks called eaurmatal. In many places of Little Russia, even now they call syromyatnikov - syrmate and kozhemate. The Greeks do not pronounce the sound Y and therefore they wrote Sarmat, Surmat and Saurmat - Saurmatai.

"Skoloty" is also a Slavic-Russian word. In the Great Russian dialect, the name "splintered" meant troublesome, troublesome skolotin, from the verb to beat, knock together, knock out. So called merchants, traders, shibaev. However, in Russia there are several rivers with the same name, such as: Skolotka (Har. lips.). Kolota (Varsh. lips.), Kolocha (Smolensk lips.), Koloksha (Yarosl. lips.), etc. The inhabitants of southern Russia, according to Klassen, are called by Herodotus "chips" from the words of only one ruler of the tribe, with whom he personally talked. In all likelihood, it was about Russian troublesome merchants, fussy people who demanded discounts or raises, as is done now. Herodotus also named the ruler of this tribe Skolot. But this opinion is hardly correct. After all, not all the European Scythian peoples who lived in the space from the Caspian Sea to the Danube and further north for 20 days of travel, counting the day in 200 stages (about 640,000 sq. In.), were merchants and shibays, so that Herodotus would call them this random name. Let's look for another explanation for this word. Although, of course, all the names below will be common nouns. As proof of this, we will name several random names given by the Greeks and Romans to the peoples of present-day Southern Russia and derived from the occupation of the inhabitants and from the objects of their trade, as well as from the clothes and shoes worn by them.

Alane - cattle breeders, shepherds from "Alan" - pasture, in Tver, Novgorod, Smolensk and other provinces. Zipani, sipani - zipunnnki - Zipani, Sipani. Kakats from kakata - birch bark shoes - Zaccati. Kisyni from kitty - reindeer boots - Kissini. Kurpinniki from kurpins - bast shoes from flakes - Carpiani. Kurp - wearing or selling shoes with buckles - Carpi. Luntainiks - wearing deerskin boots - Lantani. Malachainiki - Malachita. Melanchlani wearing black cloaks - Melanchlani. Narynians from Nyara - felted boots, Neuri, Nerinani. Strusni wearing shoes with ears - Sturni, Strusi. Harpiniks wearing gray caftans - Carpagi. Chepans wearing Cossacks, zhupans - Cepini. Shabura wearing thick linen robes - Sabiri. One-eyed - Arimaspi - Krivichi. Budins, from the Little Russian "budin" - horomina, living in wooden houses - Budini. Grooms - Coniochos and Heniochi - bridle holders. Volynians, freemen - Valoini, Vulini, Vulni. Filthy - Pagani, etc. [In many areas of Russia, as well as among the Don peasants, the word “volyn” is often used - liberty, disobedience to the authorities, rebellion. Volyn - to be self-willed, in a childish language - to play.] Hundreds of such imaginary peoples with names corrupted in the mouths of the Greeks and Romans can be cited. Even later, the Greeks, Romans, and then the Germans altered the proper names of the Slavs and their cities beyond recognition; for example: Svyatoslav - Svendosflav, Yaroslav - Iarysleif, Igor - Ingor, Volodar - Baldur, Ratibor - Radbiart, Novgorod - Nemogarda and Nowago, Rybinsk - Kibinska, Kizlyar - Kitzlar, Ustyuzhna - Ustezna, Kozlov - Kolzof, Ryazhsk - Rask, Kyiv - Kuiada and Kioabu (Konst. Bagr.); Murom - Murow, Vyshgorod - Wusegarda, Msta - Mstva, Smolensk - Milinisk, Ochakov - Axiake, Croats - Chrodati, guests - Gosi; Akhtyrka - Aqathyrska, Bel-god - Biabog, ax - Saqaris, Uglich - Aulisch, etc. The Greeks (Konstantin Porphyrogenitus and others) distorted some of the names of cities and towns so much that even Schlozer himself did not dare to explain them and put question marks over many, and yet these cities were located somewhere near Kyiv, Smolensk and Novgorod. That's how many allegedly heterogeneous tribes inhabited the current Slavic lands. If we add to this the random names of these tribes, which originated from their place of residence, such as: Zagortsy, Podgortsy, Nagortsy, Porechan, Zarechan, Brezhan, Pomoryan, Zalesyan, Drevlyan, Ozeryan, Ukrainians, etc., what names did the Greeks give out for their own, then there is no way, without strict criticism, to get to the truth.

So, the Greeks, and after them the Romans, called the inhabitants of present-day South Russia and Western Asia by the common name of the Scythians: Scythians, sketes, scoots, scyuts, scyths, scyuf and scyut (slightly and chud), from the original form of this name, known over the time of Homer (Odiss. 14, 34), Scvtos and Scutos, which among the Adriatic Greeks meant skin (cutis), and among the Pontic rawhide or rawhide cowhide (cattle) skin - a shield, Latin. scutum, since this weapon of defense was made from these skins. The Greeks did not have the sound "u" in their language and pronounce it like "sk", and therefore they wrote instead of "shields", i.e. shield-bearers, sketes and Scythians, while the Romans instead of "u" wrote "sc" and pronounce "scytes", etc. Consequently, the Greeks and Romans called all the Slavic-Scythian tribes shield-bearers, shield-bearers, since this military weapon, according to many ancient writers, was invented by the Scythians. This is also confirmed by the Persian bas-reliefs of the time of Darius, in which the Scythians are depicted with shields, and the Persian warriors without them. Sarmatians or Syromyaty and Scythians are synonyms of the same original name, but only in different dialects: that is why many ancient historians often wrote Scythians-Sarmatians, Sarmatians of the Scythian tribe, etc. The name of one of the Scythian tribes skoloty also means shield-bearers or shield-bearers, from the Persian kala, Khazar kel, our rock (common skel), Gothic skildus, litas. skyda, Anglo-Saxon scyld, norm. skiodr, Swedish skold - shield, protection. Among the Scythians, as well as their descendants - the Slavs, the shield was a symbol of the protection of power. That is why Herodotus claims that “chipped” was a royal name and that the Scythians, who were aware of their superiority, were called “royal Scythians”. Skolots lived on the Black Sea coast and in the Crimea. They had coastal Greek colonies as tributaries, among which was Olbia (F.G. Bergman. Scythians. Halle. 1860. Translated by V.A. Kansky).

All the given names of the Scythian people are common nouns. The generic name of all Slavic tribes is "Rosses", found since ancient times throughout Eastern Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and from the Caspian Sea to Central Asia, even to Egypt. This name is found both in full and in abbreviated form: Rossy, Rozzy, Ruzzy, Resy, Ras, Aorsy, Rsi, Rsa, Rsha, Rasy, Rosha, Raza, Razena, Roksy, etc. [About the northern prince Rosha or Rosa says the prophet. Ezekiel, ch. 38 art. 2 and 3 and ch. 39 art. 1. About the invasion from the north of the Scythians, an ancient and strong people, says the prophet. Jeremiah in ch. IV, art. 5–29 and ch. V Art. 15–17.] In conjunction with other names: Attorosi, Khazirozzi, Sebbirosi, Alanorsi, Roksolane, Porsi, Parsi, Geta-Russy, Uni-Rosi, Udi-Rosi, Udin-Rosi, Savvei-Rosi, etc. [Byzantine scholar of the tenth century. Svidas and some others write "Skufis o Ros", i.e. Scythians or Rosses. Eratosthenes (III century BC) claims that the country and the people of Ros were named Scythians from other peoples.] Places and rivers occupied by the Ross: r. Rsa or Race (in Ancient Troy); Rsa - r. Araks, in Arabic El-Ras, in Mongolian Orsay and Rakhsa, in Greek Rasa and Oros; Jaksart or Syr Darya, in ancient times - Race; The Volga was also called Rasa and Rsoyu; R. Rusa or Porusie, in Novgorod. lips; R. Ros, flowing into the Dnieper; R. Rusa in Moravia; R. Rusa, the right branch of the Neman; Black Sea - Russian Sea. The Don, like the Volga, was called the Russian River by the Arabs. The Greeks and Romans called the Slavs: Stavani, Stlavani, Swoveni, Slavi, Slavini, Sklavini, Sklava, etc. In all these names, the dominant letter is "a". Consequently, the name of the people "Slavs" is a common noun and comes from "glory". The eternal wars of the Slavs with the Romans, who tried to conquer their lands, transferred the name "Sclave" to the prisoners of war, slaves, which is why these latter in Rome began to be called by this name in general. But this does not in the least prevent the name of the Slavs from being derived from the word "glory". The Slavs never borrowed their own names from foreign peoples, such as the Germans: Ratwald - Rodovlad, Ragnvald - Rogovlad or Rogvold; Velimir - Volimir, Zventibold - Svyatopolk and many others, but they had their own and produced the best from "glory" and "honor", in general from outstanding qualities, for example: Bretislav, Boleslav, Bureslav, Boguslav, Vladislav, Vretislav, Vseslav, Wenceslav, Vyacheslav, Vratislav, Gremislav, Dobroslav, Bueslav, Razislav, Lyuboslav, Mstislav, Mecheslav, Miroslav, Primislav, Rostislav, Svyatoslav, Bueslav, Sulislav, Sobeslav, Sudislav, Dobromysl, Slavomysl, Slavolub, Slavomir, Unislav, Yaroslav, Preslav, Zaslav, Chestibor and many others. Herodotus translated the word "Slavs" in Greek: Alazons and Avkhetians - glorified.

Ancient Mysia and Macedonia, as we shall see below, were inhabited by the Slavs. The Pelasgo-Thracian tribes were Slavs (Chertkov's research) [According to Geiger and Grimm, the Orakians called rye briza. In some areas of Little Russia, rye is now called britz; on the Don, grass is called breezy - combed wheatgrass from the cereal breed.]. After the fall of the Macedonian kingdom, a part of the Macedonians about 320 BC moved to the Baltic Sea; this people there became known under the name Bodrichi, retaining until the very fall of their coat of arms of Alexander the Great, depicting a bucephalus and a vulture. The Bodrichs spoke the Slavic language and, from the onslaught of the Germans, moved to Ilmen and Lovat, where they founded Novgorod and Pskov around 216 BC (Ptolemy). Slavs in all ages proudly called themselves by this name. We are Slavs, i.e. lovers of glory, they said. The generic name of this people, as mentioned above, was Russy or Rossy, i.e. worshipers of dew, water. Consequently, neither the Scythians-Skolos nor the Sarmatians existed as separate peoples. These names were given by chance to the Slavs - Rosses from the leather shields they wore 24 centuries ago by the Greeks, and then, repeated for many centuries by historians and geographers, they finally completely disappeared from use as superfluous.

Those who read these lines will ask how naive, according to the author, the great Herodotus, Strabo and other Greek and Roman historians were, that they so recklessly dubbed the great Slavic-Russian people with random names that were not characteristic of them. Yes, indeed, in this case they were naive, as foreigners are naive even now, when it comes to the Slavic-Russian people. Anyone who wants to even superficially get acquainted with some German textbooks on the history and geography of Russia of the 18th and last centuries will be surprised to find in them that under the word "muzhik" - Muschiks - the Germans understood a serf, under the head - the head of the rebels, under the word work - corvee ; Kozma Minin they have a Russian rebel, pulq - a branch of the Cossacks, Baba Yaga - the goddess of war among the Russians; in Russia, according to the Germans of that time, there are three breeds of horses: a horse, a horse and a nag; or: in Russia they heat the air by putting fire on the streets, and so on. What is it? Naivety, ignorance, or just a mockery of the Russians? In the commercial geography of Christiani (XVIII century), the city of Arkhangelsk is located in the western Dvina province. Eastern provinces: Pole, Mordva, Ustyug, Vyadsky, Peyorsky, Obdorsky and others. Derbent lies in the land of the Samoyeds. Petersburg is located on the rivers: Don, Ob, Dvina, Volga, Dnieper and Neva. This geography even went through two editions. What accuracy in the description of peoples should we demand from the ancient Greeks, accidentally abandoned on the northern shores of Pontus and Maeotida? Let us give two more examples of the naivety of foreign scientists who visited Russia and the Don at the end of the 18th and in the first half of the 19th century. The famous French writer Alexandre Dumas père wrote in his travel diary that he saw how the Cossacks ate tallow candles and “drank vodka under spreading cranberries.” The scientist Pallas wrote in 1773 that he had seen Elbrus from Starocherkassk and that this mountain was also visible from Sarepta. In reality, this could not be, since from the named places to Elbrus about 700-800 versts.

Schlozer argues that the Slavic-Russians of the 9th century. were nomads. Meanwhile, the Bavarian geographer in 866 counts up to 4000 cities among the Slavs, 148 cities among the Unn-Rosses, 180 among the Great Russians (Vuillerozi), 212 among the Sabean Russ, 250 among the Khazar-Rosses, etc. Procopius and Mauritius at the beginning of the VI century. they say that the Slavs live in cities and villages and are engaged in arable farming, crafts and trade. Tacitus in 60 A.D. wrote that the Germans did not yet know cities, while the Slavs were building solid wooden houses and fortified cities. The Scandinavians called Russia (Ruszaland) the kingdom of cities - Gaardarikr. Our chronicler Nestor says the same. Schlozer, who wrote comments on Nestor, cannot be suspected of ignorance. So what is it? Only in malicious intent to belittle, to humiliate the Slavs-Russians who sheltered him and gave him the title of a member of their Academy of Sciences. All medieval historians and geographers called Russia a country of cities, and our academician of the end of the 18th century. called it the country of the wandering people. Ancient historians tell us that the Scythians, Sarmatians, Yatsygs, Roxolans and Alans are one and the same people. But what is the root name of this people who inhabited present-day Russia since ancient times? Herodotus says that the Sarmatians are a Scythian tribe. Ptolemy (II century A.D.) calls the Slavs and Alans Scythians and the same Slavs and Alans Sarmatians; he also says that the Scythians are a Sarmatian tribe. Pliny (I century A.D.) calls the Khazars - Scythians, Serbs - Sarmatians, Roxolan - Alans. Strabo (I century) Sarmatians - Scythians, Roxolan - Alans. Greeks - according to Nestor - Slavs Scythians. Svydas and ancient geography - Russov by the Scythians. Konstantin. Bagr. (X c.), Anna Komnena, Leo the Deacon and Kinnam - Russov Scythians; Marcian of Heraclius - Alans by the Sarmatians, Chalkokondyla - Russ by the Sarmatians; Procopius - the Wends by the Sarmatians, Diodorus Siculus (I century BC) - the Assyrians and the Medes by the Sarmatians. In the Peutinger tables, the Vedas (the shores of the Baltic Sea) are called Sarmatians; at Skimnos of Chios and in the Periplus of Pontus of Euxinus, the Alano-Russians are called Sarmatians. Adam of Bremen - the Wends by the Scythians, and Pope Sylvester II - by the Sarmatians, Kluuverius - by the Wends and Slovenes - by the Sarmatians, Iornand (VI century) of the Slavs by the Sarmatians, and the Goths - by the Slavs. Anton - Budinov, Roksolan and Serbs - Sarmatians. Shaffarik - Roksolan, Alans and Yatsig - Sarmatians. Ammian Marcellinus and Blessed Jerome - Yatsigs, Pannonians - Sarmatians; ancient Georgian history - Alan Rossami. Procopius - Antes and Slavs - Alans, Prisk (5th century) - Aorses (who lived east of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov) - the Sarmatian-Scythian people. According to Herodotus, the Scythians worshiped the sword, in the form of the god of war. According to Clement of Alexandria, the Sarmatians also worshiped the sword as a god of war. According to Nestor, the Russes worshiped the sword as the god of war. "Small Aorses", i.e. Little Russia, writes Strabo (L. XI, p. 506), descended, in all likelihood, from the Great Aorses who lived to the north. Small Aorses could put up 200,000 cavalry. The great ones are incomparably more.” Almost all historians call the Huns Scythians. Getae, Massagetov, Tiragetov, Tana-Getov and others. Also, almost all Greek historians call either Scythians, then Sarmatians, then Alans, then Russians, for example. Geta-Rosses. All these peoples, according to Greek and Roman writers, spoke either Slavic or Russian, but only in different dialects.

If we consider all the given names as belonging to individual peoples, then we have to admit that there are expressions in history that testify to the complete absence of logic, as well as examples of nonsense, as for example. the Scythian people living in European Sarmatia, a Slavic tribe, or the Scythians of the Sarmatian tribe, and the Sarmatians of the Scythian, etc.

According to Strabo, the Roxolans lived between the Dnieper and the Don and were a numerous and brave people who could field up to 50,000 or more well-armed horsemen. Pliny, Tacitus and Ptolemy, as well as Jornand, indicate the place of residence of this people in the same place as Strabo. Pliny recognizes them as a people related to the Alans: therefore, Roksolani is the same as Rossy-Alans; Ilovaisky also came to this conclusion in his "Investigations about the Beginning of Russia". Tacitus (1st century A.D.) ranks Roxolan among the Sarmatians and describes their participation in the battle in this way: “The Sarmatians heard more than one voice of the leader; they all incite each other not to allow throwing arrows, saying that a battle should be prevented with a quick blow and hand-to-hand combat ... The Sarmatians, leaving the bow, which they are good at close range, rushed forward with long pikes and swords ”(Annal. VI, 35 ). In another place, the same historian says: “It is amazing that the courage of the Sarmatians is, as it were, outside of themselves. No one is so afraid of foot combat as they are; but when they make an attack with lava, hardly any system can withstand ”(History, I, 79). Arrian (II century A.D.) in his “Tactics” about the military methods of the Sarmatians says: “The spearmen approached the enemy ranks and fought back with spears” ... or: “they drove the enemy away with pikes when attacked, like the Alans and Sarmatians” (IV, 3). Ammianus Marcellinus in A.D. 358 says that the Sarmatians had long spears and that their battle cry was the exclamation “Mara! mara! ”, which meant death [Mara, pestilence, mer, died - have the same root. The Don Cossacks of the lower villages and Little Russians have a swear expression: “Mara take you”, i.e. death. Among the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians, “a” and “e” were pronounced indifferently, or rather, they had an average sound: Beel - Baal or Baal, Marduk or Mardukh - the spirit of the dead, the main god of Babylon. Ossetian balta, Lithuanian - baltos, white. Perso-Babylonian naboo - sky. Baltasar is the white king. Sar - ser, i.e. king, master.] The given historians called this people "Sarmatians" according to an old habit, since at the same time they, as well as others, are called "Roksolans", i.e. Alans-Rosses and is described as a people of pastoralists. The Sarmatians of the time of the Bosphorus Kingdom (I century) united, according to Roman historians, into a strong people under the control of "spadines", i.e. mister.

The last of the authors of antiquity about the Roxolani is mentioned by the Gothic historian Iornand (VI century). According to him, this people remained within the same limits allotted to them by Strabo: therefore, they were not carried away to the west by the Hunnic movement. somewhere near the river Vistula and Neman (Prussian chronicles). Roxolans are already called Russes there. At the same time, Russia of the Dnieper, the Black Sea and the Kazars also emerges into the historical field. Arab historians of the 9th and 10th centuries. Ibn-Dast, Mukadesi, Masudi and others directly speak of Russia living along the shores of the Black Sea on a wooded and swampy island, as well as in the land of the Khazar king; that from this people, speaking the Slavic language, detachments are recruited into his army and that the Russ inhabit a whole part of the capital city of Itil or Atel (at the mouth of the Volga). Ilovaisky gave a lot of convincing data about the Slavs of the northern and Baltic Russ in his “Search on the Beginning of Russia” and Yegor Klassen in “Materials for the History of the Slavic-Russ”, issues I and II. Here we will confine ourselves to some indications that clarify this issue more clearly.

Russy and the trading city of Rusa on the shores of the Baltic Sea are mentioned as early as the 4th century. BC. This is written by the Greek Pytheas, who visited these places in 320 on a ship along with Greek merchants. After that, on the basis of ancient chronicles, Scandinavian historians speak of the Russes of the Baltic: Torfey (Norwegian), Johannes Magnus (Swedish) and Saxon Grammatik (Danish). Saxo Grammaticus (d. 1208) says that in the 1st c. According to R. X., the Danish king Froton the 1st defeated the Russian Tsar Trannor in a naval battle and took his city of Rotala, in Livonia, and Peltisk (Polotsk), the capital of Vespasius, another Russian Tsar, conquered the country of some other Tsar Gonduvan and married on his daughter. In the III century. under Froton 3rd, the Russes and the Huns attacked Denmark: the king of the Russians, Olimer, commanded the fleet, and the king of the Huns, the land army. In the 1st century the Norwegian ruler Gulfdan fought in the lands of eastern Russia and Livonia, killed the Slavic-Russian king Sigtryg in a duel and married the daughter of another Russian king Eymund [History of Norway, I. 175. Torfey.]. In the II century. Goter, the son of the Swedish king Gotbrod, died in battle with Boy, the son of the Russian princess Rynda. The son of Goter and his successors had many wars with the Russ throughout the 2nd century. (Saxo Grammatic). The Swedish king Gotebrod a few years before R. X., remembering the violence committed by the Russians in Sweden, and gathering a significant army of Swedes and Goths, entered Russia, beat a great many Russians and forced them to pay tribute to themselves. His successor again began the war with the Russ. (Johannes Magnus). King Velimir of Goths around our era declared war on the Russian Tsar Gervif, defeated him and imposed tribute on Russia. But soon Gervif drove out the Goths (Magnus). In the VI century. Swedish king Ingvar conquered Estonia and moved to Russia, but was killed there. (Saxo Grammatic). Klassen says that in the estate of F.N. Glinka, in the Tver province, there are ancient stones with inscriptions; a photograph from one of them was sent to the Copenhagen Society of Antiquities; there they read the inscription as follows: “Here Ingvar is raised on shields,” which means: recognized as king. The chroniclers also speak of the Russian Pomeranian prince Ratibor, who gave his fleet to help the Danish king Gildestand to exterminate sea pirates. The Icelandic sagas mention the famous Russian ruler Zigurlam or Chigurlam, who, according to Torfey, lived in the 3rd century BC.

The given data clearly proves that in present-day northwestern Russia and along the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Russes lived from ancient times, constituting several independent and strong states, that they were neither Danes, nor Norwegians, nor Swedes, since they had constant enmity with them. The same is said by the historians named above.

The Goths are also not ranked among either the Swedes or the Danes, since they always fought either in alliance with the Russ against the Swedes, or in alliance with the latter against the Russ. Saxo Grammatik further says that Ivor (a Venedian Slav) in the 7th century. conquered Denmark and Sweden, then killed his son-in-law Rerik (also Wend), who reigned in Zeeland, which at that time was inhabited by Slavs. Ivor's daughter Ovda with her son Harald fled to the Russian prince Radibrat and married him. Harald, with the help of the Russian fleet, ascended the Danish throne. Consequently, the Russ had a very strong fleet on the Baltic Sea and owned, as we shall see below, both shores of this sea. those. western and southern. The Russians were Slavs: they occupied just all those lands that were inhabited by this people. In their lands there were cities: Staraya Russa, Novaya Russa between the branches of the Neman, of which the right one is still called Russoyu, and the adjacent coastal area was called Porosi, according to Pythea - Rusnei; Rusislava is the current Roslau on the Elbe (Labe). Throughout the southern Baltic coast, many towns and villages still bear Slavic-Russian names. The traces of the Russes are also visible on the northern and western shores of this sea; so, for example, Reskild, the place where the historian Saxon Grammatik lived, in the translation of the name of this place means: “a stake for the Russes”, i.e. there was a place of execution for the Russians; Roslagen, i.e. the nomad camp of the Russ, an area on the Uppland coast in Sweden. That the Russ-Slavs owned the western shores of the Baltic Sea is evidenced by the historian of the 11th century. Adam of Bremen; he writes that in the city of Uppsala there was a golden Slavic idol of the god Radegast, i.e. Radio guest, patron of trade and trading people (guests). Radegast - happy guests. Elsewhere he claims that the Uppsala temple was made of gold. Another temple to this god was in the city of Retra, on the south coast. On the island of Rügen, inhabited by the Slavic tribe of the Rans, famous for wealth, navigation and trade, in the city of Orekunda or Orekonda, on the Vitov Peninsula, there was a temple of the widely glorified and revered god Svyatovit or Sventovit. The temple of Sventovit in the city of Svyatograd or Sventograd was destroyed in 1168 by the Danish king Valdemar I. Many of the treasures of this temple are still in the Copenhagen Museum of Northern Antiquities. The ruins of the Kremlin of Svyatograd are still visible near the city of Arkona. On about. Ryugen, in Slavonic - Ruyan, in the city of Stopen-stone (now Stubenkammer) there were also three revered temples: Svarog, Volos and Perun [Svarog or svarozhich - the god of fire (from the Sanskrit svarg - sky, i.e. nebovich). Dietmar, Bishop of Merseburg (975–1018). VI, 17. Pertz "Scriptores", p. 812. Compare: the Slavic Svarog, the Hindu Svarga, the son of the Massaget queen Tamirisa, who fought with Cyrus, - Svargapis, the king of the Agathirs (Scythian tribe) is also Svarganis, from Svarog - the god of fire and api - earth, among the Scythians according to Herodotus. According to excavations in Etruria (Italy), the Etruscans also called the land ani. For the Egyptians, the bull Apis personified the power of the earth. Serapis - god, king of the earth.]. In the temple of Volos, a golden bipod was kept that fell from the sky to Mikula Selyaninovich. Another in Mikul-bor, present-day Mecklenburg. Tacitus speaks (Germany, ch. XL) about the worship of the Slavs on the island of Rügen to the goddess of the earth - Matkazem (Gertha). A precious statue of this goddess with a sickle in her right hand and a sheaf of golden rods with amber ears in her left hand was carried in a chariot through the villages from spring to Kupala. The Germans now call the remains of this temple Hertaburg [Celebration of Kupala and is now performed with many rituals in Prussia, Pomerania and other German lands as a relic of Slavic paganism, inherited from their Germanic ancestors - the Slavs. "Spring ritual song in the West and among the Slavs". E.V. Anichkov, St. Petersburg, 1903, part I.].

Schletserians object that the given historical data from Dietmar, Torfey, Saxo Grammaticus and Johannes Magnus about the ancient Slavic-Russians have been little verified by historical criticism and, thus, are, as it were, empty fairy tales. What was the matter? Why are the critics still silent? Apparently, they are not up to the task of refuting these data. The authorities of the named historians speak for themselves: Dietmar was Bishop of Merseburg (born 975), Saxo Grammaticus was Provost of Reskilde (d. 1208), and Magnus Archbishop of Uppsala (born 1488); moreover, they wrote the history not of Russia, but of Scandinavia, therefore, one cannot suspect them of predilection. Under their hands they had legends, sagas and chronicles about the life of the ancient peoples who inhabited the shores of the Baltic Sea. Their historical narratives are also confirmed by archaeological excavations.

The main occupation of the Novgorod and Primorye Russes was trade with neighboring countries. Asian goods were delivered there by the Volga and rivers flowing into the Gulf of Finland. To protect trade caravans from the attack of robbers, the Russ had numerous and well-armed river and sea hired guards, called "Varangians", from the Slavic verb variti - to anticipate, warn and cook (in Cyrillic) - I drive around; boil - swim on the waters. Ditmar (Chronicon) says that the Bodrichi Slavs had special armed guards who watched over the integrity of the goods; that their goods were called vara, to guard - Gaich or Vetiti, hence the guards - Varagayche and Varavetniche. Among the Wends, the protector of goods was called vooragai. Consequently, the Varangians did not constitute any separate nationality, but simply it was a special caste of military people, whose duties were to protect merchant ships from the attack of sea pirates, called Vikings in the Baltic Sea, and on Russian rivers known as "Polyanitsi". The Varangians accepted people of proven courage and honesty. The leaders of the Varangian squads were called princes, which title is found only among the peoples of the Slavic, but not German. In the Tambov province. “to cook” means to engage in a delivery trade. In Moscow, "Varangians" were called hodeb merchants. The saying "full of varyazhnichat" - stop bargaining. Nestor says (the oldest Laurentian list) that the Varangians were: Rus, Svee (Swedes), Anglians, Ourmans (Nordmans) and Gte (Geta or Goths), i.e. that among the Slavs-Russes, the guards of trade caravans were the Varangians - Rus, and other peoples had their own guards, which bore (according to Nestor) also a Slavic name, according to the dominance of the Slavs in the Baltic Sea, and perhaps some other that Nestor did not know , and therefore called the estate this common Slavic name. This last opinion is more probable, since neither the Scandinavian nor the Danish historians of the Varangians as a military class know at all, at least they do not say a word about them. Varangians-Russians in the 9th century. still dominated the western and southern shores of the Baltic Sea, but the main surf was in Novaya Russa, in the Neman delta. From this estate, the Novgorodians with neighboring peoples in 862 elected a prince for themselves. Therefore, no matter where Rurik and his brothers come from, whether from the Swedish Upland coast, which belonged to the Russes, or from the south, it does not matter to us, but that he and his squad were Slavs is undoubtedly. The Swedes never called themselves Russ, and even more so “Varangians-Russ” [The Finns call the Swedes and Norwegians Ruossi or Ruoci, out of old habit, by dominance on those shores of the ancient Russ. ]. Scandinavian historians do not say anything about the calling of princes, and they do not know Rurik at all. Only one of our chronicler Nestor speaks about them. For us, this is very important, since this event concerns only Russians, and no one else. The current Koenigsberg, the former Krolevets, is located on the river. Rerik flowing from the lake of the same name. The name Rerik in the dialect of the Lutician Slavs who lived on this river meant a falcon. The capital of the Bodrichi Slavs, Rarog, meant a falcon. Mecklenburg, the old Mikluhin-boron, which was still Slavic, was called Rurik and also meant a falcon. Among the Drevans, the falcon was called Rurik, among the Pomeranians, Rurik, and among the upper Lusatians, Rurke. The name of Rurik was also carried by the brother of the sovereign prince of Bohemia (History of Bohemia. Palatsky). The names of the eagle and the falcon were used by the Slavs from time immemorial as epithets of youth. Latin historians Latom and Khemnitsky call Rurik the grandson of Prince Bodrichi Vitislav, from his second son Godolub. Sineus - Blue-mustache, like Guid, Count of Bouillon, was nicknamed White-bearded, Frederick I Red-bearded, Harald III, the Danish king, - Blue-toothed, Henry - Blue-bearded, etc. Trubor, Sambor are also northern Slavic names. Trubor - blow in the forest, on the hunt in the horn. Saga Edda Snorre says that the homeland of the Scandinavian, or rather the Baltic, heroes was the country of Svitiod, Svidura, i.e. country of light, sun, south. According to other sagas, these heroes were "ases" who moved there around the 1st century BC. from the shores of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov (The Saga of Fridtjof the Bold. Tengger). Neiman believes that the Varangians also came from this ancient homeland of Odin or Wodan. The Varangians shaved their beards, leaving mustaches; so is depicted in our genealogical pictures, as well as on the golden bracteate stored in the Copenhagen Museum, and Rurik.

In vain the Normanists, the followers of Schlozer, are trying to prove that the names of the 40 Russian leaders mentioned in the treaties of Oleg and Igor with the Greeks are Germanic. This is futile work. These names are all Slavic, from the shores of the Baltic Sea. Ilovaisky has already worked on this with success in his "Investigations about the Beginning of Russia". And that the Germans adopted and appropriated many Slavic names for themselves, altered and distorted them beyond recognition, so this is true. Those who wish to compare the dictionaries of Russian with German folk, French and English, as well as Italian, will be surprised to find in them more than one hundred words with Slavic roots. This legacy was left by our ancestors as the most numerous and oldest people in Europe. (See ch. VI "Getae-Russes"). Konstantin Porphyrogenitus gave the names of the Dnieper rapids in Russian and Slavonic, but distorted, like all Greeks in general, these names in such a way that no one would understand them in either dialect. Normanists are also looking for the Germanic roots of words here. But this is a futile work [D. Ilovaisky in his "Investigations about the beginning of Russia", pp. 126-140, sufficiently explained that the names of the Dnieper rapids given by Konst. Bagryanorodn., have Slavic roots and are only recorded in two dialects - Slavic and Russian.]. The Romans called the Serbs Rassiyans, while the Serbs themselves call themselves Rassane and Rashane. Zupan Serbian bore the title of "racial". Rusyns and Rusnyaks live in Austria. Could it be that these peoples got their name from the unknown Germans-Russians, as Schlozer tries to prove. After all, its goal is obvious to everyone: to humiliate, belittle the great Slavic-Russian people and derive its name from the non-existent people of Russ - Normans, Russ - Swedes, which the latter have never heard of, they did not call themselves Russ and the word prince is not even known to them. At the time of the calling of the Varangians to Novgorod, Staraya Russa already existed; therefore, according to the Laurentian Chronicle, the Russes also participated in the calling of the princes, as they were at the head of the population of the Novgorod region.

Settlers from Staraya Russa, wanting to get closer to the sea, founded Novaya Russa, which was known as early as 320 BC (Pytheas). Consequently, Staraya Russa is even older than New. The existence of the city of Novaya Russa in the delta of the Neman, on its right arm - Ruse, near the seaside, is indicated by Skimnos of Chios and Holkokondyla. There is a legend that the Apostle Andrew the First-Called was in Novgorod during his journey to the north. Ptolemy says that the inhabitants of the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Veneti, who belonged to the Slavic tribe, in 216 BC, pressed by the Goths, ceded the amber mines to them and moved to the northeast, to the shores of about. Ilmen and r. Lovat. Although the Russes expelled the Goths from the Venetian land in 166 A.D., the settlers on Ilmen and Lovat remained in new places and founded trading cities there, from which Novgorod and Pskov became known. Consequently, Novgorod was founded around 216 BC. In contrast to the name of this city, the former cities of the Venets began to be called the old cities - Stargard, where Oldenburg is now. Iornand in the VI century. wrote that in 350 A.D. Novgorod was conquered by the Goths, but not for long. Thus, all the fabrications of Schlozer and his followers about the Slavic nomads and about Scandinavian Russia are a gross mockery of the great Slavic-Russian people. Thousands more data can be cited to prove this opinion, but we would far deviate from our direct task - the history of the life of peoples who are considered the ancestors of the Cossacks.

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Scythians (Greek Skythai), chipped, Ishkuza

• V. Abaev compared the ethnonym skuta with the Germanic *skut- (archer, to shoot).
• K. T. Vitchak and S. V. Kullanda explain the Scythian self-name as follows: other Greek. Σκόλοτοι< *skula-ta < *skuδa-ta < *skuda-ta (то есть «лучники», с закономерным переходом *d >*l in Scythian). Moreover, the form *skuδa-ta existed in the 7th century BC. e., when the Greeks began to contact the Scythians (that is why other Greek Σκύϑαι). Then the Assyrian campaign of the Scythians took place - that's why the Assyrians. Ašgūzai or Išgūzai. By the 5th century BC e. - the time of Herodotus' visit to Olbia - the transition *δ > *l has already occurred.

The transition of Old Iranian *δ into Scythian *l as a characteristic feature of the Scythian language is also confirmed by other Scythian words.

Language

The Scythian language is included in the northeastern subgroup of the Iranian languages. Very close in language and culture to the Scythians were Savromats (Sarmatians), Saks and Massagets.

Time of existence

Actually the history of the Scythians in the Northern Black Sea region - VIII century. BC e. - IV century. n. e. From the beginning of the war with the Cimmerians to the defeat of the Scythian kingdom by the Goths in the Crimea.

Origin

There are several legends of the origin of the Scythians -

1. Among the Scythians, there was a legend that their people were younger than all the others and that in their land, which was deserted, the first man Targitai was born from Zeus and the daughter of Borisfen. Targitai had three sons: Lipoksai, Arpoksai and Koloksai. Under them, golden objects fell from the sky: a plow, a yoke, an ax and a bowl. The older and middle brothers could not grab these objects: they immediately ignited. The younger son was able to safely take the wonderful gifts of heaven and therefore he was given the kingship.

• from the elder brother came the family of Avkhats,
• from the middle - the genera of catiars and traspians,
• from the younger - paralatov.

Here Herodotus says that the common name of the people is chipped off; the Greeks called them Scythians, and the Persians - Saks. It was the part of Scythia from the Danube to Meotida, especially known in Olbia, that was called primordial Scythia. A thousand years passed from Targitai to the time of Herodotus.

1. The Black Sea Greeks told Herodotus one more legend. Hercules, driving the cows of Gerion, entered Scythia, then not yet inhabited. When Hercules fell asleep, his horses left the yoke. He found them in Hylaea with a half-woman half-snake who lived in a cave, who agreed to return the mares to him if he marries her. Hercules lived with her for a long time and three sons were born from their marriage. Only after that did the hero get his horses back. When he left, he left his beloved a bow and a belt, so that one of his sons who could pull this bow and gird himself like a father would remain in possession of the land, and the other two would be removed. The task was completed by the youngest of them named Scythian, the ancestor of the Scythian kings. From the two elders - Agathirs and Gelon - the tribes of Agathirs and Gelons originated. In this myth one can clearly hear the Greek reworking of another native tradition, which differed from the previous one. It clearly refers to the crossing of newcomers (Hercules) and local (snake-footed goddess) beginnings in the Scythians, while in the first the local element sounds stronger, although the newcomer, perhaps, manifests itself in the fact that the future land of the Scythians was empty when they appeared .
2. Herodotus points out that there is, however, another story, which I myself most trust. According to this story, the nomadic Scythians who lived in Asia, being pressed by the war from the Massagets, crossed the Arak (Syr Darya) River and retired to the Cimmerian land.

At the moment, there are just three versions of where the Scythians appeared in the Black Sea region.

1. Grakov B.N. autochthonous theory. Grakov believed that the direct ancestors of the Scythians were the tribes of the semi-sedentary (shepherd) Srubna culture of the Bronze Age, which penetrated into the Northern Black Sea region from the Volga region. The resettlement took place for quite a long time from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. and the Herodotus migration of the Scythians - this can be said to be one of the last waves of migration. The Cimmerians, whom the Scythians met, are also one of the waves of the Srubnaya culture, but an earlier one, which eventually allowed related tribes to merge, forming a homogeneous ethnic element.
2. Artamonov M.I. Anterior Asian theory. Before the arrival of the Scythians in the Black Sea region, a log culture developed there and preceded the Scythian. The Scythians themselves came from Western Asia and were associated with the developed civilizations of that era (as the main element of the Scythian animal style). In his opinion, the Cimmerians are representatives of the Catacomb culture, who were ousted from the Black Sea region in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC.
3. Terenozhkin A. I. Central Asian theory. According to his version, there is no ethnic or cultural continuity between the population of the Northern Black Sea region and the newcomer Scythians. The Scythians penetrate the Black Sea region from Central Asia (Mongolia, Altai, East Kazakhstan) in an already culturally formalized form, which is based on the triad - characteristic type of armament, horse harness, artistic animal style.
   In turn, their movement to the west was led by the attack of the Massagetae, and they, in turn, were attacked by their eastern neighbors and, most likely, the great drought of 800 BC led to such a chain reaction.

Story

7th century BC. The war of the Scythians with the Cimmerians, which allowed the Scythians to oust the latter from the Black Sea region and occupy their territory.

685 Under the leadership of Spargapif, the Scythians migrated from the North Caucasus and the Kuban to the Northern Black Sea region. Most likely, Scythia at this time is divided into three regions -

• between the Don and the Volga, the clan of Ishpakaya-Partatua rules.
• between the Don and the Dnieper the genus Spargapif rules,
• between the Dnieper and the Danube, and possibly all of Scythia, Ariant rules.

70s 7th century BC. A series of Scythian campaigns in Media, Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor. As a result of which, the Scythians were able to establish themselves there.

Within the limits of Eastern Transcaucasia (modern Azerbaijan and partly Iranian Azerbaijan), on the northern and partly on the southern banks of the Araks River, the state of the Scythians was founded, named in the sources of Ishkuz, which existed until the 6th century BC. BC, when the Scythians were expelled from Transcaucasia by the Medes.

679-674/73 BC. The Scythians under the leadership of Ishpakai (one of the first historically known leaders of the Scythians), in alliance with the Medes, Urartu and the kingdom of Manna, participated in the war against the Assyrian kingdom under the leadership of Assarhadon, during which Ishpakay died.

673-654 BC. Partatua (Prototius) becomes the leader of the Scythians, under whose leadership the Scythians left the anti-Assyrian coalition. According to one hypothesis, this happened due to the conclusion of a dynastic marriage - Partatua married the daughter of Assarhadon.

Dyakonov I.M.

Piotrovsky B.B., Belyavsky V.A., Grakov B.N., Artamonov M.I.

654-625 BC. Madai (Madiy), probably the son of Partatua, became the leader of the Scythians. At this time, the Scythians make a series of predatory campaigns throughout the Mediterranean - to Syria, Palestine, Egypt. At the same time, they remain true to allied relations with Assyria. 653/52 BC The Scythians, helping Assyria, defeat the Medes. According to the legend of Herodotus, from that time and for 28 years, Media paid tribute to them, while also being subjected to robberies. 645 BC The Scythians under the leadership of Madai in Transcaucasia, again helping Assyria, defeat the Cimmerians. 625 The campaign of the Scythians to Egypt. According to one version, Pharaoh Psammetik I bought them off with gifts, according to another, the Scythians were still afraid to enter into open conflict with the Egyptian troops. After 612 B.C. The Medes are pushing the Scythians out of all the Transcaucasian lands they had previously conquered. This was done thanks to the cunning of Cyaxares, the king of the Medes. After the destruction of Assyria, Cyaxares decided to get rid of the Scythians. He invited the kings of the Scythians to a feast, got them drunk, and then ordered them to be killed. The Scythians left without leaders left Transcaucasia.

650-584 BC e. The king of the Scythians was Madiy. Long and quite successful campaigns of the Scythians in Transcaucasia and Western Asia begin. 624-585 BC. The reign of Cyaxares. But it is possible that he died earlier at the turn of the century. 616 BC Scythian invasion of Media. 614 BC Siege of Nineveh and Ashur by the Medes. Ashur was taken, the siege was lifted from Nineveh thanks to the Scythians - the allies of Assyria. 612 BC Nineveh was taken by allied forces - the Medes, Babylonians and Scythians, who sided with Media. The Scythians establish their dominance over Media for 28 years. 609 BC The Scythians defeated the Egyptian pharaoh. Turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. Cyaxares (or his son Aliattes) decide to destroy the Scythians and kill their leaders at a feast. After that, part of the Scythians returns to the Black Sea region, part submits to the Medes. 590-585 BC The war between Media and Lydia, as a result of which peace was concluded, according to which the Scythians, who fought on the side of Lydia, had to leave Transcaucasia.

650 BC The Scythian leader Ariant conducts a "census" of the population in the Black Sea region. He orders each Scythian to bring a tip. After that, he casts a large cauldron. The description is in Herodotus -

“In this area (near the upper reaches of the Hypanis-Bug) there is a copper vessel, perhaps six times larger than the vessel for mixing wine, which Pausanias, the son of Cleombrotus, ordered to dedicate to the gods and place at the entrance to Pontus (Black Sea). For those who have not seen this vessel, I will describe it: it can easily hold 600 amphoras, and the thickness of this Scythian vessel is six fingers. According to local residents, it is made from arrowheads. One Scythian king, named Ariant, wished to know the number of Scythians. For this, he ordered all the Scythians to bring one arrowhead each and threatened with death to anyone who did not obey. Then the Scythians brought so many arrowheads that the king decided to erect a monument to himself from them: he ordered this copper vessel to be made from the arrowheads and exhibited in Exampey. Here is the information that I received about the number of Scythians.

As previously indicated, there are opinions that Ariant owned the lands from the Dnieper to the Danube, but at the same time he could control Scythia as a whole.

Settlement of the Scythians according to Herodotus (Grakov B.N. Scythians - Moscow State University, 1971, p. 16-17.):

Many hypotheses have also been expressed about them, which, however, break down on the exact localization of the five main rivers: Istra, Tiras, Gipanis, Borisfen and Tanais. This allows us to outline the settlement of tribes in accordance with the data of Herodotus. This is how we see this settlement. From the Danube to the Dnieper, the coast is occupied by the Scythians: their northern border with the neurons is somewhere on the upper Dniester. Gipanis and the Dniester bring their course closer in the land of the Alazons: this convergence begins immediately above Nikolaev. Up along the Bug, Kallippids, otherwise Hellenes-Scythians, are closest to Olbia. Later, in the Olbian decree in honor of Protogenes (3rd century BC), they are called "mixelins", i.e. "mixed Hellenes". This confirms the accuracy of Herodotus' data. Above them lives the Scythian tribe of the Alazons, in the place where the Bug and the Dniester meet. Even higher are the Scythians-plowmen, somewhere in the interfluve of the same rivers. Exampey had their border with the Alazons. The fourth Scythian tribe, the Scythian farmers, lived along the Dnieper and beyond the Dnieper to Pantikap (Ingulets). It must be assumed that the Scythian farmers lived on both banks of the Borysfen, just as the Scythian nomads, who were located behind Panticap and further behind the farmers, obviously partly lived within the right bank. In other words, both tribes to some extent lived interspersed. Scythian nomads on the left bank of the Dnieper lived in the steppes, divided in half by Hypakiris, and reached the river Gerros (Konka). Further to the east and south lived the royal Scythians across the river Gerros. They occupied the steppe to Meotida and Tanais and the northern Crimea to the mountains where wild Tauri lived. Immediately above the Scythians along the Dnieper lived androfagi (cannibals). Herodotus says that they are the only cannibals of all the peoples of Scythia. They wear Scythian clothes, wander, but have their own language, different from the Scythians.

To the north of the Scythian plowmen and androphagi, according to Herodotus, between the fantastic lake from which the Dniester flows, and the Dnieper, the Nevri live immediately to the west of the Dnieper. In other words, the neurons occupied a vast space no longer in the steppes, since the upper reaches of the Dnieper and the Bug, as well as the right bank of the Dnieper adjacent to them, are already in the forest-steppe zone. At the same time, they somehow neighbored the boudins located to the east. A lot of amazing things were told about the neurons as werewolves and sorcerers. The neurons, according to Herodotus, had Scythian customs.

To the north of the royal Scythians on the left bank of the Dnieper and further to the east lived melanchlens, that is, people wearing black cloaks. Their eastern border is not clear, but somewhere closer to the Don they must have come into contact with the Boudins and, perhaps, with the Sauromates. This is a special, non-Scythian tribe, but its way of life is Scythian. Perhaps the Melanchlenians are called non-Scythian people because they had their own language, or because they were not part of the Scythian political grouping.

Above the Meotians, who occupied the delta and the very lower reaches of the Tanais-Don, three days' journey from its confluence with the Meotida, fifteen days' journey to the northeast, on the right bank of the river, the Sauromates lived in the treeless steppe. They allegedly originated from the marriages of the sons of free Scythians and warlike Amazon women. Their women were therefore warlike, and their language was spoiled Scythian through the fault of the Amazons who did not understand it. They retained political independence and were pure nomads.

Above the Savromats along the Don, beyond their steppe, but already in heterogeneous forests, that is, in the forest-steppe, lived the Boudins - a very large, according to Herodotus, and nomadic people. Their country, somewhere in the west, adjoined Nevris (the country of the Neuros), since a generation before Herodotus, the Neuros moved to the land of the Boudins. The Boudins spoke their own language. They, apparently, did not border on the Scythians and were, undoubtedly, politically completely independent. In their country there was a large wooden city of Gelon. It was inhabited by certain Gelons, who spoke either Scythian or Hellenic, revering the Greek gods, in particular Dionysus. They were sedentary and engaged in agriculture. Other writers, according to Herodotus, in vain considered the Gelons and Budins as one people.

Con. VII - beginning. 6th century BC e. Gnur, the son of Lik, the grandson of Spargapif, became the king of the Scythians in the Black Sea region.

90-50s 6th century BC. Savliy (Kaduit, Kaduin, Kalvid - in some sources) - the son of Gnur - becomes the king of the Scythians. According to the Herodotus version, the murderer of his brother - Anacharsis - one of the seven wise men.

End of the 6th century BC. The king of the Scythians becomes Idanfirs, the son of Savlius, who participates in the war against Darius I. One of the leaders in this war was Skopasis, whose detachment (most likely, the Azov Scythians and Sauromatians) was the most combat-ready and mobile. Another leader known from Herodotus, Taksakis, led the army of the Gelons and Boudins.

514/12 BC The war of the Scythians with the Persian king Darius I.

Darius gathered a huge army of 700 thousand people - colorful and multilingual, consisting of representatives of 80 peoples. With this army, the Persian monarch passed through Asia Minor, crossed to the European side through the Bosphorus, crossed Thrace. And finally, having crossed the Danube on a bridge of ships built for him by mercenaries (Asia Minor Greeks), he entered the Northern Black Sea region - within the boundaries of Scythia. The trip was planned for two months.

The Scythians, well aware of the actions of the enemy, knew about his colossal numbers. They themselves, together with the allied tribes, could put up no more than 200 thousand soldiers. Realizing the depth of the danger looming over them, the Scythians nevertheless decided to fight to the end. To do this, they developed a general strategic plan for the campaign:

• avoid big battles;
• lure the enemy deep into their territory;
• to attack his supply routes;
• destroy by attacks mobile cavalry detachments and small groups of Persians who are separated from the main forces in search of food and water.

At the same time, retreating, the Scythians filled up wells and springs and burned vegetation - steppe grasses that served as feed for livestock.

The army of Darius with its huge convoy, pursuing the Scythians, managed, according to Herodotus, to reach Tanais (Don) and Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov) in a short time, after which it turned back. From hunger, deprivation, disease, and the constant attacks of the Scythian cavalry, the Persians suffered huge losses, without winning a single battle and without capturing any booty. Fortunately for Darius, the Greek mercenaries did not dismantle the bridge on the Danube after the agreed 60 days, and the remnants of his troops and he himself, having escaped death, returned to Persia.

480-460s 5th century BC. Ariapif became the king of the Scythians - the father of Skil, Oktamasad and Orik. During his reign, several important events took place -

• settled relations with the Odrysian kingdom (through dynastic marriage),
• established a protectorate over Olbia (although there is an opinion that this is not so).

He himself was killed by the king of the Agathirs (most likely a Thracian tribe) Spargapif. After the death of the king of the Scythians, Opia, the wife of Ariapif and the mother of Orik, ascended the throne. The question of whether this character is a real historical figure remains debatable.

OK. 465-447/45 BC. After a short reign of Opia, Skil, the son of Ariapif, comes to power. He was the son of a Greek woman and almost completely accepted Greek culture and, after becoming king, settled in Olbia, promoting the commercial interests of Istria. As a result of palace intrigues, he was executed by the Scythians themselves.

50s 5th century BC. Octamasad, also the son of Ariapif, became the king of the Scythians. He was a relative of the king of the Odrysses - Sitalka. Perhaps with his support to power in the Bosporus in 438 BC. came Spartocus. Orik, brother of Oktamasad, most likely ruled Olbia at the same time.

Con. V-beginning 4th century BC. King Atey destroys other kings of the Scythians and usurps power.

Appears Kamenskoe settlement (located near the city of Kamenka-Dneprovskaya and B. Znamenka, Zaporozhye region). From the side of the steppe, the ancient settlement was protected by an earthen rampart and a moat, and from the north and west by cliffs over the Dnieper, r. Konka and Belozersky estuary. In the southwestern corner was the acropolis, where the Scythian nobility lived. The main occupations of the inhabitants were the manufacture of bronze and iron tools, weaving, pottery, as well as agriculture and cattle breeding. Craftsmen lived in dugouts and pillared ground buildings, the nobility lived in stone houses. The settlement was a large craft and trade center, closely associated with the Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea region and the local population of Scythia. At the end of the III century. BC. the territory of the settlement was abandoned (with the exception of the acropolis, where life continued until the 3rd century AD).

358 BC The power of the Scythians is subject to Istria on the Black Sea coast.

344 BC The Scythians are waging a successful war with the Triballi, who lived on the territory of modern Bulgaria.

343 BC Subordinated to Callatis on the Black Sea coast.

40s 4th century BC. King Atey, having eliminated other kings, united the Scythian tribes from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov to the Danube.

339 BC e. War of the Scythians with Philip II of Macedon. According to legend, it was in this war that King Atey died at the age of 90.

From the source it is known that “both sides were irritated, a battle ensued, in which the Scythians, despite the superiority of their spiritual prowess and numbers, were defeated by the cunning of Philip; 20 thousand children and women were taken (by the Macedonian winners), a lot of cattle, but there was no gold and silver at all, which was the first evidence of the poverty of the Scythians; 20 thousand blood mares were sent to Macedonia to breed the breed” [Justin. Epitome of Pompey Trogus. "History of Philip" (IX, 2-3)].

On the way back, the Macedonian army was ambushed by the Triballi.

331 BC Zopyrion is left by Alexander the Great as governor of Thrace, Pontus (or Scythia). Wanting to prove himself collects 30 thousand. army and goes to war against the Scythians. Most likely, he reached Olbia, but then he had to flee. As a result, he was overtaken by the Scythians, defeated, while losing almost the entire army. He himself dies somewhere in Bessarabia.

313 BC Lysimachus, the ruler of Thrace, inflicted a severe defeat on the Scythians across the Danube.

310-309 BC e. Dynastic war in the Bosporan kingdom. Agar, the leader of the Scythians, supported Satyr, but as a result of the battle on the Fat River, another pretender to the throne, Eumela Bosporus, Satyr's brother, won.

280-260 AD BC. The Sarmatians invade Scythia and in fact completely take over the northern Black Sea region, destroying and driving out the Scythians. Subsequently, part of the Scythians remained at the mouth of the Dnieper and on the Crimean peninsula. The other part crosses the Danube and settles there, the territory is called Lesser Scythia (Istria-Dobruja).

Con. III - beginning. 2nd century BC. Great changes are taking place in Scythia. The pressure of the Sarmatians is intensifying, as mentioned earlier, the Kamenskoe settlement ceases to exist (except for the acropolis, which continues to function) on the Dnieper. Throughout the Northern Black Sea region, archaeologists have noted the change of the Scythian culture to the Sarmatian. At the same time, the Scythians in the Crimea began to settle down, engage in agriculture, fishing, and crafts.

130-114/13 AD BC. The reign of the Scythian king Skilur in the Crimea. He was able to unite the entire territory of the Scythians in the Crimea, up to the mouth of the Dnieper and South. Bug. He turned Scythian Naples (near modern Simferopol) into the capital. To fight against Pontus, he began to attract Sarmatians (Roxalans), led by Tasius. Skilur managed to take possession of Kerkinitida, the Beautiful Harbor and Fortifications, the cities of the western coast of Crimea, which until then were part of the Chersonesos Republic.

114/13-111 BC.(110-107 BC) The reign of Palak, the son of Skilur. In three expeditions, Diophantus successively defeated Palak, conquered the mountain Taurians, occupied the Scythian fortresses of Khabei and Naples in the Crimea, and subjugated the Scythians to Mithridates of Pontus.

Later, the Scythians retreated again and Diophantus again went against them, freed Kerkinitida and the Fortifications and began to besiege the Beautiful Harbor. Palak moved on him, but was defeated in such a way that, according to the Chersonesos inscription in honor of Diophantus, "no one escaped from the infantry, and only a few escaped from the horsemen." In the spring, Diophantus moved to Khabei and Naples and forced the Scythians to ask for peace.

The Scythians who lived in the Bosporus revolted against Perisades, the last nominal king of the Bosporus from the previous dynasty, who transferred power to Mithridates VI, but retained his title. The uprising was led by the Scythian Savmak, perhaps the foster slave of Perisad. The king was killed, Savmak seized power, but Diophantus liquidated this uprising, subordinating Chersonese, the Bosporus and the Steppe Crimea to Mithridates of Pontus.

Through these wars, Taurus Scythia was divided into several dominions and no longer represented a single kingdom.

Ser. 1st century BC. The Getae under the leadership of Birebista cross the Danube and destroy Olbia. The city ceased to exist. Later, the Scythians persuaded the escaped inhabitants to rebuild the city, but he no longer recovered from such a blow. This had a very serious impact on the very trade of the Scythians with the Greeks.

80 BC The Pontic stateg Mithridates Neoptol defeated the fleet of the Scythians, took Tire and Olbia from them. And a little later, in the Kerch Strait, he also breaks the fleet of the Scythians, and in winter on the ice he defeats the allied forces of the Bosporus and the Scythians. The power and authority of the Scythians have been shaken, but they continue to influence the politics of their region.

1st century BC. - II century. AD According to archaeological data, a strong mixing of the Scythians and Sarmatians begins, since their cultures actually coincide, and it is already quite difficult to separate one culture from another.

257 AD The arrival is ready in the Crimea. They attack the Bospro kingdom. From the same time, the Scythian kingdom ceased to exist as such.

70s 4th century Invasion of the Huns. They sweep away the remnants of the Scythians both in the Crimea and in Istria on the Danube. The Scythians, one might say, completely dissolve in the ethnic environment surrounding them.

social organization

Traces of the presence of the Scythians are also noted in the North Caucasus. The main territory of the settlement of the Scythians is the steppes between the lower reaches of the Danube and the Don, including the steppe Crimea and areas adjacent to the Northern Black Sea coast. The northern border is unclear. The Scythians were divided into several large tribes. According to Herodotus, the royal Scythians, who lived in the steppes between the Dnieper and the Don, were dominant. Nomadic Scythians lived along the right bank of the lower Dnieper and in the steppe Crimea. Between the Ingul and the Dnieper, Scythian farmers lived interspersed with nomads. In the basin of the Southern Bug, near the city of Olbia, the Callipids, or Hellenic-Scythians, lived, to the north of them - the Alazons, and even further north - the Scythians-plowmen. The boundaries of the settlement of individual tribes of Scythia (especially the Scythian plowmen) are unclear (see the map above).

Close relations with the slave-owning cities of the Northern Black Sea region, the intensive trade of the Scythians in cattle, bread, furs and slaves intensified the process of stratification in the Scythian society. It is known about the existence of a union of tribes among the Scythians, which gradually acquired the features of a kind of state of the slave-owning type, headed by the king.

From the end of the 7th century BC e. Scythian society knew different gradations of social status:

• slaves of various origins and exploited in various ways;
• "hippotoxotes" (mounted shooters) - free community members;
• the poor, who had the opportunity to fight only on foot;
• different levels of aristocracy from the heads of wealthy families to nomarchs-skeptukhs;
• kings from local to three leading kings with a senior in position at the head.

By the beginning of the VI century. BC. social stratification reaches large proportions. The grounds for saying so are given by the burials of that era. Grandiose royal mounds with murdered servants and concubines and simple burial pits with a minimum of inventory. Most of the free community members fought on horseback and had some property, but already at that time “octopuses” appeared. These are Scythians on foot who had only a couple of oxen to harness to the wagon, hence the name. There were even poor people who had nothing. Of these, the Scythian infantry was formed, which, over time, grew more and more numerically.

A stratum of slaves, originally foreigners, also appeared. In the legends and descriptions of Herodotus, the slaves were the local population, in the territories captured by the Scythians.

Royal power was hereditary, but there were several kings. This can be seen, for example, from the wars with Assyria, when one or another king could be an enemy and ally of Assyria. We see the same during the invasion of Darius, when the Scythians formed three detachments, each headed by its own king. At the same time, power apparently belonged to one dynasty.

Until the 5th century BC. royal power was limited to a council of kings or a military assembly. In other cases, the power of the king was unlimited. An encroachment on her was followed by beheading, or death at the stake.

Already in the IV century. Atheus ruled Scythia with absolute power, having other rulers in submission, named in one of the Olbian inscriptions as basileus, i.e. kings.

economy

Herodotus indicates that part of the Scythian tribes was engaged in cultivating the land. Wheat, barley, millet, beans, onions, and garlic were grown. Hemp is also indicated, from which the canvas was made and some kind of drug for smoking.

The bulk of the Scythians were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding. It was year round. In winter, tebenevka was common (the cattle themselves got their food from under the snow). Part of the nomads migrated to the Azov region to the estuaries of the rivers, where tall grass was preserved. Felt yurts were on wheels and a pair of oxen were harnessed to them. Such caravans of wagons were accompanied by mounted male warriors.

Judging by the excavations of the Kamensky settlement, the composition of the herds was as follows:

• horses - 40%
• cattle - 40%
• small cattle (sheep, goats) - 18%
• dogs, game game: deer, saiga, beaver - 2%

Interestingly, the Scythians did not breed pigs even in the settled centers of their state.

Accordingly, not only meat was used, but also skins and wool. They sewed sheepskin coats, felt felt, dressed leather. Milk was also used as food; it was not for nothing that the Scythians were called milkers of mares and mammals.

Iron-smelting workshops were found in a large number in the Kamensky settlement. Copper was mined in small quantities near Donetsk, and also, most likely, went along trade routes from the Caucasus and the Southern Urals. Zinc for bronze was mined on the Lower Dnieper, the origin of tin is still unclear.

Iron was in sufficient quantities in the swamps of the Dnieper floodplains. Iron smelting was extremely uneconomical, 40-60% remained in the slag. Judging by the excavations, large patriarchal families were engaged in iron-making - about 900 hectares in the Kamensky settlement were dotted with large houses (150-300 m³ each), in which there were forges for the production of various weapons and equipment.

Next to the metallurgists lived joiners, whose tools (chisels, axes, adzes) were also found in large quantities, both in the settlement and in the barrows. The fact that carpenters were still specialization says that yurts on wheels have many wooden parts. In addition, there were permanent dwellings - winter roads, which also had to be serviced by carpenters.

Pottery was developed. The potter's wheel was little used, the dishes were molded by hand from clay bundles. We find analogies of the Scythian utensils in the Late Srub culture. The utensils are mostly round-sided pots with a vertical, slightly flared neck or with a gently turned edge. They also find narrow-necked dishes with a spherical body.

Weaving was also widespread in the Scythian environment. find a lot of clay and lead whorls. They are found in settlements and as an obligatory element in female burials. The material for the fabric is sheep wave and hemp. In addition to fabrics, mats were woven, and felt and felt were also used.

Starting from the 7th century BC. the trade of the Scythians with the Greek cities of the Black Sea takes on a regular character. The main goods that the Scythians supplied to the markets were bread and slaves. Moreover, the scope of the grain trade was large. Even on the coins of the Scythian kings an ear of wheat was depicted. It was on such trade that the Bosporus kingdom arose (the export of bread accounted for the lion's share of exports). Grain trade was developed until the III century. BC. until the invasion of the Sarmatians, then it began to gradually subside, giving way to the cattle trade. Along with the cattle, furs were also exported, which came from the forest-steppe strip, through the lands of the Scythians. Honey and wax were also exported.

A substantial share in trade belonged to the export of slaves. Starting from the VI century. BC. The names of Scythian slaves appear in ancient inscriptions. At the same time, the Scythians come in large numbers to Greece to participate in wars. In addition to the Scythians, a large number of slaves came from the tribes of the Getae, Triballi, Sarmatians and Meotians. At the turn of III and II centuries. BC. the flow of Scythian slaves weakened.

As for imports into Scythia itself, it is worth highlighting wine, which came in huge quantities from Greece. As a result, Greek dishes are widely used - not only amphoras for wine, but also vessels for incense, ointments, perfumes, which are often found in the graves of rich and simple Scythians.

Fabrics and clothes also came to the steppe - this is reported by Greek writers. Jewelry was in large quantities - mirrors, glass and paste beads, earrings and various jewelry. The Scythians also often acted as intermediaries in trade with the more northern forest-steppe and forest tribes.

Sources

• B.N. Grakov. Scythians. Popular science essay. Moscow: MGU Publishing House, 1968.
• Archeology of the USSR. Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time. M.: Publishing house "Nauka", 1989.
• M.I. Artamonov. Cimmerians and Scythians. L .: Publishing house of Leningrad State University, 1974.
• IN AND. Gulyaev. Scythians: the rise and fall of a great kingdom. 2006

... The ancient greatness of the Scythian people is evident from its great remnants ... Mikhailo Lomonosov

The Scythians... In our minds, this people is associated with endless steppes, herds of horses, wagons, nomad camps... The Scythians appeared in the Black Sea region in the 7th century. BC e. There were agricultural tribes among them ("Scythians-plowmen", "Scythians-farmers", - Herodotus called them), the majority continued to roam in the steppe expanses of the south of Ukraine and Crimea. stay of the Scythians on the peninsula from the 7th century. BC e. They were nomadic tribes engaged in cattle breeding. At the time of Herodotus, the first Scythian settlements were already beginning to appear in the Crimea. Near the village of Frontovoe (in the Leninsky district), a ground burial ground with Scythian burials of the 5th century was discovered. BC e. 1 * Somewhere nearby there was a settlement of the same time.

Rich mounds of Scythian leaders and nobility (Kul-Oba, Three Brothers, Talaevsky, Zolotoy, etc.) are known on the Kerch Peninsula and in the central Crimea. .Scythian nomads are gradually settling on the ground. A new, late period in the history of Scythia begins. It covers a significant period of time - from the second half of the 4th (or the beginning of the 3rd) century. BC e. until the final death of the Scythian kingdom in the III century. n. e. After the defeat of the kingdom of Atea**, the once huge power of the Scythians broke up into three parts, which still occupied a rather significant territory - in Dobruja (Romania), the Dnieper region, and the Crimea. The residence of the Scythian kings was moved to the Crimea. "This entire country (the Crimean Peninsula. - Ed.), as well as almost the entire region beyond the isthmus to Borisfen (Dnepr. - Ed.), is called Lesser Scythia," wrote Strabo 2 .

Dnieper Scythia was completely dependent on the Scythian kingdom in the Crimea. The transfer of the capital of the state is due to a number of reasons, primarily the threat on the continent from the Sarmatians, and, in addition, the desire to get closer to the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region, subdue some of them and conduct an independent trade in bread. All further policy of the Scythian leaders is aimed at the implementation of this task, which is vital for the economy of Scythia. On the territory of Crimea, by the time the kingdom of the Scythians arose, there already existed two independent Greek states - the Bosporus, located on the European and Asian sides of the Kerch Strait, and Chersonesos, whose territorial possessions, its chorus (district), were the Herakleian Peninsula and lands on the northwestern coast, with the cities of Kerkinitida (modern Evpatoria), Kalos-Limen (Beautiful harbor, modern Chernomorsk) and many small fortifications and estates. The exact boundaries of the chora have not yet been established 3, and it is hardly possible to talk about their stability. The political, economic, cultural life of the Scythian kingdom in the Crimea for over 600 years was closely connected with these states, as well as with Olbia, a large city of the Northern Black Sea region , which in the II century. BC e. and later periodically found itself subordinate to the Scythian kings. The constant communication of the Scythians with the Greek world, with many peoples of the Northern Black Sea region, especially with the Sarmatian tribes, with the local population of Taurica, led to the creation of a new, late Scythian culture, different from the Scythian culture of previous centuries.

Many rivers of the peninsula - Belbek, Alma, Kacha, Salgir, Bulganak and others originate on the slopes of the Crimean mountains. Between the orchards and vineyards that stretch along their banks, they carry their waters to the sea. The fertile lands of the river valleys have been inhabited since ancient times. In the IX-V centuries. BC e. Taurians lived here - farmers and cattle breeders. Later, from the 3rd century. BC e., along the river valleys, especially at their mouths, the Scythians begin to settle, gradually moving from nomadic pastoralism to agriculture. Their number is rapidly increasing, more and more new settlements appear. At present, about 80 Scythian settlements (fortified settlements) and settlements (open settlements) are known in the central, southwestern and southeastern Crimea 4 . Northern Crimea remained almost deserted. Scythian cattle breeders roamed for a long time on its vast steppe expanses. The borders of the Scythian state extended in the south to the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains, in the west they were limited to the coastal strip, and in the east they reached Feodosia. In Hellenistic and especially Roman times (in the first centuries of our era), Crimean Scythia was densely populated. Of course, this did not happen immediately. The earliest Scythian settlements are known in the eastern and central Crimea. The lands on the southwestern coast began to be settled especially actively in the first centuries of our era - in connection with the influx of the Sarmatians (more on them below). The time and place of the appearance of certain settlements and settlements depended on various reasons. For example, on the western coast they emerged as outposts to protect the western borders of Scythia*. Some settlements in the central Crimea were located near the most important trade routes from Naples to the Bosporus (Good), from Naples to Chersonese (Alma-Kermen), from Naples to Perekop and further to the Dnieper region (Kermen-Kyr).

Settlements are usually located on elevated places, in the central and southwestern Crimea - on the spurs of the Outer and Inner ridges of the Crimean Mountains, near springs with drinking water. Elevated places served as a natural defense against the enemy. In addition, each settlement was protected by a stone wall or a rampart and a moat. In cases where the topography of the area did not allow the creation of a fortification on an elevated place (for example, the ancient settlement "Chaika" near Evpatoria is located on a level place), it was naturally necessary to build high and strong stone walls. Unfortunately, most of the late Scythian settlements of the Crimea were not subjected to systematic study. In the central Crimea, except for Naples, only the ancient settlement of Kermen-Kyr (on the territory of the Krasny state farm) was investigated. Small excavations of an exploratory nature were carried out at the settlements of Zalesye (on the road to Sevastopol), Dobroe (on the road to Alushta), Dzhalman 5 (Pionerskoye), Zolotoe yarmo (on one of the spurs of the Dolgorukovskaya yayla). Several burial mounds and soil burials have also been excavated. The northwestern, western, and southwestern Crimea have been studied much better. Now several settlements are being excavated here, among them Ust-Alminskoye near the village of Peschanoe, "Chaika" 6 , Popovka, Tarpanchi 7 on the northwestern coast. fortified settlements of Scythia (from 5 to 20 hectares in area), whose inhabitants, along with agriculture and cattle breeding, were engaged in various crafts and trade. Fortified settlements are usually small in size (from 1.2 to 2 hectares), the main occupation of the population of most of them was agriculture. Shelters - small fortifications that arose in the first centuries of our era - were intended to protect the population of a nearby village at the time of danger. At present, four Scythian cities are known in the Crimea. The largest of them is Naples, the capital of the state (the area is about 20 hectares). Three others significantly cover it in size - the settlement of Kermen-Kyr, 4 kilometers from Simferopol (about 4 hectares), Ust-Alma (6 hectares), Bulganakskoe (2.5 hectares), located on the left bank of the Bulganak River, between the villages of Pozharsky and Demyanovka*, and possibly Dobroe, near the modern village of the same name.

If the time of occurrence of many settlements, which were excavated, has not been established, then the time of their death is determined by the so-called lifting material **. The latest fragments of amphoras and various utensils, collected from most of the settlements of the central and southwestern Crimea, allow us to judge that they died in the 3rd century BC. n. e. The population left their homes, and life here was no longer resumed.
New capital

So, the first settlements of settled Scythians in the Crimea appear in the 5th century. BC e. One hundred - one hundred and fifty years later, when the kingdom of Athea ceased to exist, the capital of the state was transferred to the Crimea. In the central part of the peninsula, at the intersection of the most important trade routes from Chersonesus, the Bosporan kingdom, the western Crimea, and also the Dnieper region, the city of Naples *, or Neapolis (translated from Greek - "new city") arises.

The very name of the city, as it were, emphasizes the importance of the event - the emergence of a new capital instead of the old one. Naples arose on a hill, well protected by nature itself: from the east and northeast by impregnable cliffs of Petrovsky rocks, from the north and west - by a rather deep Petrovsky beam. And only from the south and southeast side the city remained accessible to the enemy. A powerful fortress wall was built here. There are different opinions about the time of the emergence of the new Scythian capital. Some scholars believe that Naples appeared in the III century. BC e. 8, others call a later date - I c. BC e. 9 A comprehensive study of the material allows us to express another point of view: as the capital of the late Scythian state, Naples was founded in the 4th century. BC e. This is confirmed by fragments of black-glazed pottery and branded tiles found at the settlement. Before the appearance of the Scythians, Taurians lived on the plateau now occupied by the settlement: archaeologists discovered a small cultural layer with finds of Taurian ceramics of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. Naples was discovered in 1827, when, while selecting a stone for construction, they accidentally found a relief depicting a Scythian horseman and three marble slabs with inscriptions - the name of King Skilur, dedications to Zeus and Athena on behalf of Posideus son of Posideev. These slabs were bought by a local lover of antiquities A.I. Sultan-Krym-Girey from a Tatar who was carrying a stone from the settlement 10 . In the same year, a hoard of Roman coins was discovered in Naples*, and during excavations carried out by the director of the Odessa Museum, I. P. Blaramberg, a slab with a relief image of two horsemen, an old and a young one, was found.

The finds immediately aroused general interest in Naples, which did not fade away for the second century. They attracted the attention of not only historians, but also art historians, numismatists, and epigraphists. Many scientists have visited the settlement and carried out small excavations on it. The idea that Naples was a Greek city, which was born at first, was held in science for a long time 11 . It was finally dispelled only as a result of systematic excavations at the settlement, which began after the end of the Great Patriotic War. For a long time, PN Schultz was the organizer of the systematic research of Naples and the permanent leader of the work. With his active participation, the Taurus-Scythian expedition was created, which carried out excavations at the site from 1945 to 1960 (with short breaks). P. N. Schultz, A. N. Karasev and other members of the expedition discovered and published the most interesting materials 12, thanks to which it became quite obvious that we were facing the capital of a “barbarian” (non-Greek) state. As a result of the excavations, defensive structures were discovered: the southern city wall, central gate, mausoleum and eastern tower, parts of the city adjacent to the defensive walls, residential buildings in the central and northern regions of Naples, economic and religious buildings. It was possible to trace the main periods of the construction history of the Scythian capital, to open a necropolis to the southeast of Naples. As we have already said, the plateau of the settlement is most accessible from the south and southeast. Having started the construction of the city, the Scythians had to take care of the construction of the southern fortress wall. During the excavations, during which 57 linear meters of the defensive wall were discovered, it was possible to trace several stages or construction periods of its construction. The first, earliest defensive wall was erected in the 3rd century BC. BC e. It was built of large stone blocks, between which there was a backfill of rock crust. The thickness of the wall did not exceed 2.5 m, the maximum height was 5 m. In the area of ​​the gate - the most vulnerable place in defense - the upper part of the wall was lined with mud bricks and rose even higher. BC e. the Scythians become so strong that they constantly threaten Chersonese and its possessions. The imminent war with the Chersonesites required the strengthening of their own borders. First of all, it was necessary to turn the main city of Scythia - Naples - into an impregnable fortress. Strabo writes that Skilur and his sons fortified their fortresses 13 . And we really see what grandiose fortification works are being carried out in the capital of the state. During the reign of Skilur, a number of additional belts were attached to the outer side of the ancient defensive wall. Its thickness increases from 2.5 to 6.5 m. The gates receive a kind of frame in the form of protrusions - pylons - 3.35 m long and 1.65 m thick. These protrusions, which served to protect the gate from the enemy, played the role of a kind of gate towers . The walls were not erected strictly vertically, but with a slope they narrowed by 20 cm for each meter of height from the outside and by 10 cm from the inside, that is, for every meter of height the wall became already 30 cm. In the area of ​​​​the central gate, the defensive wall retained a crude superstructure crowned with battlements, probably with loopholes. Behind it was a fairly wide battlefield for the defenders of the city. The stone belt of the wall could rise to a height of 4.5-5 m, while the adobe superstructure, 1.5 m thick, rose 3 m together with the battlements. Thus, the total height of the wall in this section apparently reached 8 m.

The gates, made of thick oak boards, were double-leafed and revolved on bearings. They were rarely opened, only on solemn occasions, but they were always guarded by guards, ready to inform the whole city at the moment of approaching danger. In addition to the central gates, N. L. Ernst opened the gates on the eastern section of the wall. Excavations of residential and public buildings provided diverse, scientifically valuable material. The kings, the Scythian nobility lived in large solid houses covered with tiles. For the construction they were invited, probably, Greek masters. One of the large stone houses is open in front of the central gate. Its area is 85 square meters. m. The house is divided into 3 rooms, the area of ​​each of them is about 30 square meters. m. To the north of the house, apparently, there was a courtyard, from where the entrance led. Hearths were found in two rooms, the third (without a hearth) was obviously a front hall, its walls were plastered and painted with bright colors. Unfortunately, only minor fragments of frescoes have come down to us, but they also testify to the special purpose of this hall, painted, probably by a visiting Greek master. This house could well serve as a dwelling for the royal family or wealthy representatives of society. It was built in the 3rd century. BC Even earlier, the so-called "house with a basement" (more precisely, a semi-basement) located nearby was erected. Insignificant remains of stone walls and a basement carved into the rock, measuring 12.10x5.65 m, have survived from it. Based on the remaining remains of the southeastern wall, 1 m thick, it is permissible to assume that the house was two-story. Its roof can be judged by numerous fragments of tiles from different centers of the Black Sea region, found in the basement. During the excavations, pieces of painted plaster were found, testifying to the richness of the decoration of the house and the prosperity of its owner. Numerous amphorae with wine and oil brought from the islands of Rhodes, Knida and Kos were stored in the basement. Fragments of black-glazed pottery, relief - the so-called "Megar" - bowls, bone lining of caskets, red-glazed pottery, a terracotta female head were also found here. The house with a basement dates back to the 4th century. BC e. In the II century. BC e. it was rebuilt and existed until the beginning of the 1st century. BC e. Subsequently, a rubbish dump was arranged in its place. Similar two-chamber and three-chamber buildings were opened in different parts of Naples. The construction of raw bricks was widely practiced among the Scythians. In Hellenistic times, all the houses in Naples are built from mud. It is quite possible that this technique was adopted by the Scythians from the Greeks, who had it in great use. Raw houses are warm and durable, and the production of mud bricks does not require large expenditures and special skills. In the III-II centuries. BC e. in the city, along with the houses of the nobility, built according to all the rules of building art, small houses, dugouts and yurts of the poor appear. The remains of two yurts measuring 2.10x1.80x2.80 m and a yurt-like structure 1.80 m in diameter were found on the site. All of them belong to the Hellenistic period and testify to the survivals of nomadic life in the Late Scythian environment. Primitive yurts could be used as summer dwellings or as outbuildings. Herodotus, describing the customs of the Scythians, says about the structure of the yurt: building. But yurts are gradually disappearing from the Scythians. In the first centuries of our era, there were no such structures in Naples. Dugouts were opened in different parts of the city. Their lower part is deepened into the cultural layer and the rock. The shape of the dugouts is rectangular, oval or round, the dimensions are small - from 12.5 to 4.5 square meters. m. In the center there was usually a hearth, along the walls there were benches on which they sat and slept. During the excavations of Naples in its central and northern parts, there were no signs of regular planning. Only in the area of ​​the central city gates did the Scythians try to give the capital a grand appearance. Inside the city, in front of the gates, there was a large square sprinkled with white lime chips. The area was framed by the so-called "building with porticos". This structure was a stone wall 0.85 thick, 29.3 m long, with small porticos on the sides. The tiled roof of each portico was supported by 6 square pillars, between which stood, apparently, marble and bronze statues with dedications to the gods. It was near the remains of the building with porticos that a relief of an equestrian Palak*, fragments of marble statues, a slab with a dedication to Zeus and Athena, a relief depicting Skilur and Palak, a fragment of the inscription: "King Skilur, son of the king..."

The Scythians built such a building twice. The first of them, smaller in size, was built in the 4th century. BC e. Then it was destroyed and parallel to it, closer to the gate, a similar structure, but of a larger size, was erected. At the city gate - to the right of the entrance - the remains of a stone pedestal, possibly from a bronze or marble statue, were found. Here, on the square, trade transactions were made, foreign merchants, ambassadors of other states came here. cease to function, the area turns into a garbage dump. But during the period of prosperity of the country, during the reign of its powerful rulers, everything was different. A large granary was opened near the defensive walls of Naples, consisting of about 60 pits, with a capacity of 1.5-2 tons of grain. The pits are made very carefully - they are hollowed out in the rock and dug (upper part) in the cultural layer, and their necks are lined with stone. From above, the pit was tightly closed with a stone lid and covered with clay so that moisture would not get in. Along the defensive wall of the city there was a paved street, under the stone slabs of which grain pits were hidden. Throughout all the centuries of its existence, Naples was a major trading center. Bread was the main trade product and source wealth of the Scythians. The population of Scythia subject to the kings brought wheat to Naples. Part of it was poured into grain pits for long-term storage, creating state reserves in case of a long siege, crop failure, etc. In exchange for bread, they received expensive wine and olive oil brought from the islands of the Aegean Sea, tiles, glass and red-lacquer dishes, various luxury items - gold jewelry, expensive fabrics. Trade relations with distant islands were carried out through the mediation of the cities of the Northern Black Sea region. Bread was sold to visiting merchants, who, in turn, took it to Olbia, Chersonesus, the Bosporus and further to the Greek cities of the Mediterranean, deriving significant profits from the sale. Olbia was the main intermediary in the sale of Scythian bread, which in the II century. BC e. - under Skilur - was directly dependent on the Scythian kingdom. Skilur minted his coin in Olbia. A well-known citizen of Olbia, a native of the island of Rhodes, Posidei lived in Naples. Here they put four statues with dedications to Zeus, Athena, Achilles Pontarchus, the goddess Rhodes 15 . Posideus was a major merchant, he apparently quite often had to carry bread from Naples to Olbia, and then on galleys to make the way to Rhodes and other islands of the Aegean Sea. Therefore, Posideus especially honored Achilles Pontarchus, the patron of the sea. A Greek merchant named Eumenes also lived in Naples. During the excavations, a dedication to the goddess of fertility Demeter, set by Eumenes, was found. For many years, the supply of overseas goods to Naples, including wine from the island of Rhodes, was carried out through Olbia. Trade relations were maintained with Chersonesos, as well as with Panticapaeum, in the Bosporus they bought gold jewelry - products of Bosporan master jewelers. Lively trade went through the cities of the northwestern coast of Crimea - Kalos-Limen and Kerkinitida. Perhaps the Scythians themselves, without intermediaries, traded with overseas merchants, especially during the period of subjugation of Olbia, when they could use its fleet and make long journeys. Trade among the Scythians was of an exchange nature, monetary relations did not develop either in Hellenistic times or in the first centuries of our era. In addition to bread, they sold wool and animal skins, honey, wax, flax. Only the Scythian nobility could buy expensive dishes. However, everyone, both noble and ordinary people, daily needed pots for cooking food, storing milk, making cheese, etc. Outside Naples, near its ancient graves, the remains of a pottery workshop were discovered - traces of two furnaces and many fragments of ceramic marriage. Pottery is dangerous in terms of fire, so kilns were usually taken out of town. But bronze-casters, gunsmiths could live and work in the city. In Naples, the remains of bronze slag, clay lyachki * were repeatedly found. In 1958-1959. during the excavation of the defensive wall, a casting mold made from the handle of a Rhodes amphora was discovered. It was possible to find traces of iron-working production. Neapolitan blacksmiths forged daggers and swords, made tools.

The inhabitants of the Scythian capital cared not only for their daily bread, but also for spiritual food. From the materials obtained by archaeologists, it can be seen that the townspeople built and decorated temples, performed various religious ceremonies, made offerings to the gods. In the northern part of Naples and outside its defensive walls, four public buildings were excavated for religious ceremonies. These buildings had the same layout (rectangular hall and vestibule) and differed from each other only in size and quality of decoration. a doorway 1.6 m wide. The walls of the house were made of mud bricks lying on a stone foundation, the gable roof was covered with tiles. There was a hearth in the center of the hall. There are 16 recesses carved into the rock, 20-25 cm in diameter, from wooden supports that supported the roof and the cap over the hearth. Fragments of a deer skull with remnants of antlers were found in the northwestern corner of this room. The walls of the hall were plastered and painted. The preserved pieces of plaster make it possible to reconstruct the entire painting of hall 16. It seems to be divided into three belts: the upper one is jagged with traces of red and gray paints. Above it is a gray stucco cornice. The middle belt was divided by semi-columns with Corinthian capitals, between which there were rectangles framed with painted frames. The lower, third belt consisted of alternating wide and narrow rectangles painted with marbled red and black paint. Over the painting, a lot of graffiti drawings were scratched into the plaster. Among them are depictions of warriors with spears, a battering ram on wheels, herds of horses, primitive human figurines, and Sarmatian signs 17 . The building was built at the end of II - beginning of I century. BC e. and lasted until the II-III centuries. n. e. No objects of work and life were found in it. At the same time, its splendor, proportions, painted walls, dimensions, layout, remains of a hearth and bones of sacrificial animals clearly indicate that the building was public, served for religious purposes. To the southeast of the building with frescoes, the remains of a house were discovered , the same in plan, but smaller - 15x7.2 m. Its walls were also built of mud bricks and lay on a stone foundation. The building has gone through two construction periods and is very poorly preserved. There were no traces of the floor and hearth. In the southwestern corner of the main hall, 13 intact and many small fragments of antlers of young deer and 4 pieces of antlers of large deer were found. This building preceded the construction of the house with frescoes and also served for religious purposes. Outside the city in 1956-1957. during the excavation of a large ash hill, the remains of a building (dimensions 11x5.6 m) were found, which, like the house with frescoes, consisted of a hall and a vestibule. In the passage there was a recess in the rock for a wooden pole that supported the ceiling. In the center of the main hall was a round hearth. The roof was probably earthen or reed, plastered with clay. The building was erected in the III-II centuries. BC e. Later, it was badly damaged by a fire and was rebuilt: the wooden partition separating the hall from the vestibule was replaced by a stone one, and the thickness of the walls was increased. At the turn of our era, the building perished and was no longer restored. During the construction of the house near its vestibule, a child was buried in a grave lined with stones. He lay in a crouched position. Apparently, it was a girl, since around the child's neck was a low beads made of blue paste and jet. What is it - a construction sacrifice or a burial associated with some other ritual? The most unsolved question in the history of ancient peoples is their beliefs, various rituals. Sometimes we come across the remnants of sacrifices, some rituals, the meaning of which remains a mystery. Science, alas, has not yet accumulated enough facts to explain them. And, apparently, a lot of time will pass before the veil begins to open, behind which the worldview and religious ideas of people of the distant past are hidden. On the southeast side of the building there was an ash pan (its diameter is 4 m) with the remains of stone pavements and a stone fence. Subsequently, the remains of the building and the ashpit were covered with an embankment of a large ash hill, and instead of the destroyed cult building near the defensive wall, a new one (13.4x6.5 m in size) was built outside the city. It also consisted of a hall and a vestibule, where two pits for wooden pillars that supported the ceiling were preserved. In the middle of the hall there was a rectangular hearth (1.88x1.34 m), and in the southeast corner there was a couch made of small stone and smeared with clay on top. Its sides were painted with stripes of red ocher and soot. In the southwestern corner of the room, the remains of an altar were discovered, which was a pit 30 cm in diameter and 30 cm deep, covered with clay inside. It contained the bones of five sheep, fragments of molded vessels, and deliberately broken clay figurines of people and animals*.

The study of the ash pan yielded interesting findings. Among them are the terracotta head of Demeter, a fragment of the terracotta figurine of Hermes - the hand holding the purse. (The messenger of the gods Hermes - "swift as thought" - was the patron of trade, and the Greeks often depicted him with a purse in his hand.) Two bronze figurines of the Dioscuri 18 were found in the ash pan. According to Greek mythology, the inseparable Dioscuri brothers Castor and Polydeuces - skilled fighters and rulers of chariots - protect people from all sorts of dangers that await them on the way, both in a foreign land and at home. The idea of ​​paired heroes, connected with the idea of ​​twinning, was borrowed by the Scythians for a long time. It is therefore not surprising that the cult of the Dioscuri was understandable and close to them. fragrant plants, fragments of hearth stands with rams' heads, fragments of glass and red-lacquer vessels, beads, brooches, fragments of amphorae, etc. The ashpit here (and at the building described above) was a sacrificial hill where various offerings were made to the gods during cult ceremonies .Pausanias, an ancient author of the 2nd century. n. e., describing the sacrifices of the Greeks, he reports the following details: “They lay quadrangular bars, adjusting them like stones during the construction of the building, raising to a certain height, impose brushwood. Then the representatives of the cities make a sacrifice: Hera - a cow, Zeus - a bull, fill them with wine and incense, they put it on the altar and light it. Individuals donate whatever they can: whoever has less means donates something from small livestock. All these sacrifices are burned, and the altar itself is burned down "19. Apparently, something similar happened in Naples. The Scythians honored the goddess Tabiti - the patroness of fire, the hearth. Since Tabiti was the supreme deity, the central place in the cult houses was occupied by the hearth, where the sacred fire burned and cult ceremonies were performed. In Naples, three ash hills are still visible, the emergence of which is probably associated with the cult of fire. Constant communication with the Greeks left its mark on the spiritual world of the Scythians. From the Greek pantheon, they adopted many rites and cults, especially deities that were adequate or somewhat similar to their own. The influence of Greek culture was especially enhanced in the Hellenistic period. The aristocracy strives to imitate the Hellenes in everything; for the construction and decoration of rich buildings, Greek masters are invited, and the plans and proportions of these buildings, residential and public, repeat the Greek ones. At this time, the Scythian kings, like the Greek basileus, minted their own coin. The Greek influence is also palpable in clothing: Skilur and Palak are depicted in cloaks on the relief, Skilur's cloak is fastened on the shoulder with a brooch. The Greeks lived and worked in Naples (we know Posideus and Eumenes). Part of the population undoubtedly knew the Greek language - dedications to the gods were written in Greek. In various examples, we see that in the Hellenistic time, especially in the reign of Skilur, the capital of the Scythians flourished. The population is engaged in trade, crafts, the city is being built. The rulers take care not only of turning Naples into a fortress ready to withstand a long siege, but also of the appearance of the city, so that overseas guests, ambassadors of other states, see the wealth of the Scythian kings, feel the strength and power of the state. Previously, others were convinced of this "teacher": already in the 3rd century BC

Scythians and Greeks

Exploration carried out by P. N. Shultz in the 1930s along the northwestern coast of Crimea discovered a number of Greek and Scythian settlements 20 . At the same time, the idea arose that the defensive lines - Greek and Scythian - seemed to oppose each other. At present, thanks to the intensive study of the western coast, including the settlements and burial grounds located along the Alma River valley, a somewhat different picture emerges, allowing a more realistic representation of the relationship between the Scythians and the Greeks. Greeks began to settle on the northwestern coast of Crimea as early as the 6th century. BC e. (Kerkinitida) 21 , but most of the settlements and estates appeared on these banks later, from the 4th century BC. BC. 22 Their appearance is connected, apparently, with the development of the coastal strip, with the creation of the chorus of Chersonesus. It is not for nothing that during excavations, so many imported materials fall into the hands of archaeologists: amphoras and tiles with the stamps of Chersonesos officials and craftsmen, various pottery vessels of Chersonesos production - jugs, flasks, lutheria. Scythian settlements IV-III centuries. BC e. not yet discovered. There are only a few Scythian burials of the 4th c. BC e. in the mounds of the Bronze Age. For about a century, the Greeks lived peacefully here, on the northwestern coast of Crimea, engaged in agriculture, viticulture, fishing, and cattle breeding. Their economy can be judged by the remnants of cereals found during excavations, by grape knives, fish hooks and sinkers for nets. There are relatively few bones of domestic animals - animal husbandry has not received wide development. In the III century. BC e. some of these settlements suddenly die, their death is accompanied by the destruction of fortified estates, fires. Thus, the estate near Lake Sasyk (Pansky) 23 and a number of other settlements of the Chersonese Greeks perished. Who destroyed the Greek estates? Archeology answers: the closest neighbors are the Scythians. A large trading city of the Black Sea region, Chersonesos was connected with many centers of the ancient world. Ships loaded with amphoras with wine and oil came here from the island of Thasos, from Heraclea, Sinope, Amis. Many ships going to the shores of the Bosporus and to Olbia landed at Chersonese. Naturally, the Scythian kings sought to seize this port. However, it was not easy to deal directly with Chersonesos, it seemed easier to capture the coastal settlements and gradually bleed the city. Did the Scythians need all the chorus for this? Apparently not. First of all, it was necessary to capture separate, largest points of the coast - outlets to the sea, which would give the Scythians the opportunity to conduct independent trade with overseas countries. The war between Chersonese and the Scythians took on a protracted character, military clashes followed one after another. Sometimes the same coastal settlement repeatedly passed from hand to hand. Chersonese could not force the Scythians to retreat - the enemy was too belligerent and strong. Skillfully using a tried and tested technique - a surprise attack, the lightly armed Scythian cavalry could quickly upset the close ranks of the Greek hoplites and archers. The Scythians used every opportunity to strike the enemy. One of the Chersonese inscriptions says that the attack was committed during a festive procession in honor of Dionysus 24. It became clear that Chersonesos alone could not cope with these "barbarians". I had to attract the Sarmatians to their side. The Sarmatians are a nomadic people who came to the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region from the Volga and Ural regions. This is what Strabo wrote about them: “Their felt tents are attached to the wagons in which they live. Cattle graze around the tents, whose milk, cheese and meat they eat. Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov. - Ed.), and in the summer on the plains" 25 . There is a well-known story cited by Polien, a Roman writer of the 2nd century BC. n. e., about the Sarmatian queen Amag, speaking on the side of Chersonesus 26 . It came to a military clash in which Amaga won, and the Scythian king was killed. And although this is most likely a legend, it reflects a very real historical picture, in particular, the uncertainty of the Chersonese in the outcome of the struggle against the barbarians. in. BC e. The taxation of a large Greek state testifies to the strength and power of the Scythians. In the II century. BC e. they captured Kerkinitida, the Beautiful Harbor (Kalos-Limen), the Greek trading post near Evpatoria (the ancient settlement "Seagull") and other settlements of the Chersonese chorus. Powerless to defeat the Scythians, this time the Chersonesites were forced to seek help from the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator, who sent troops led by the commander Diophantus to help Chersonesus. Palaka 27 . Strabo reports that the Roxolani wore helmets and shells made of rawhide bullskin, wicker helmets, as well as spears, a bow and a sword. The huge army of the Roxolans could not resist the 6,000 warriors of Diophantus, who, presumably, was distinguished by his outstanding military leadership abilities. The brilliant victory of Diophantus largely predetermined the outcome of the war. Palak had to retreat, the capital of the state of Naples was severely destroyed. Diophantus forced the Scythians to renounce their claims to the Bosporus. And the Chersonesites celebrated the victory, in honor of the leader of the victors in the city, an honorable decree was issued and carved on a stone, fortunately, which has come down to us. It says that the Scythians surrendered the fortresses located in the interior of the country - Khabei and Naples. Strabo reports on the Scythian fortress of Palakiy, and the Chersonesos inscription mentioning a Greek killed at Palakiy 28 also speaks of it. And, finally, another Chersonese decree names the fourth small fortress - Napit 29 . Where were these fortresses located? What geographical points on the modern map of Crimea are they identified with?

Search for ancient fortresses

Let us turn to the well-known Scythian settlements of the Crimea and try to find out which of them can, at least approximately, be correlated with the fortresses indicated in the Chersonesos decrees and by Strabo. Unfortunately, no inscription with its name has been found on any of the Scythian settlements in the Crimea. And since there are no exact and indisputable facts, localization can only be hypothetical 30 . Let's start with the fact that the decrees in question reflect the events associated with the campaign of Diophantus. Consequently, fortresses must be sought in the area of ​​military operations of the Scythians and Greeks. The theater of hostilities was, most likely, in the western Crimea, in the area of ​​​​the Chersonese chora, and on the territory of the Scythian state, adjacent to the possessions of Chersonesus. Some part of deep Scythia should also be included here, since the fortresses of Naples and Khabei were located, judging by the decree in honor of Diophantus, in this region of the peninsula. It is very important to find out which Scythian settlements existed in this territory in the 2nd century BC. BC e., in other words, which of them could the Greeks destroy and conquer. Now the vast majority of scientists localize Naples on the site of modern Simferopol * (more precisely, in the Kermenchik tract, in the southwestern region of the city). Naples was an important strategic point in the war with the Greeks, since the decree mentions its surrender by the Scythians. True, it is named second after the Khabei fortress. Does this mean that Naples was a smaller city? But, perhaps, it was destroyed by the second, and on the way to it another large city, Khabei, lay and was the first to be hit? ..

On the western coast of Crimea, the largest Scythian settlement is located at the confluence of the Alma into the sea, and therefore it is conditionally called Ust-Alma. What was the hill fort, what is its history? Let's start from the time of its occurrence. BC e., i.e. before the wars of Diophantus. Residents of Ust-Alminsky could participate in the war with the Greeks. And if Naples and Khabei, as the decree in honor of Diophantus says, were in the middle of Scythia, then Palakios could be on the coast. The Greek, who paid with his life at its walls and was awarded the inscription, died - it is possible - right here, at the mouth of the Alma River. Of course, this is just an assumption, although not without foundation: after all, we do not yet know of a single Scythian fortress that arose before the Diophantine Wars in the southwestern Crimea and on the western coast, with the exception of the Ust-Alma settlement. And Khabei? Where was this city in the depths of Scythia? We have already said that four kilometers northwest of Simferopol, on a cape bounded on both sides by deep beams, there is a large Scythian settlement Kermen-Kyr (after the name of the hill) 32. Now this is the territory of the Krasny state farm. The ancient settlement has been known to scientists since 1889. The well-known researcher of the Crimea A.I. 33 . The scientist suggested that there was a fortification of the same type as the one in Naples. The first excavations at Kermen-Kyr were carried out in 1929 by N. L. Ernst, who also came to the conclusion that the ancient settlement is similar to Naples.

Excavations in 1929, 1945 and 1951 showed that the settlement had an acropolis **, protected by a powerful defensive wall (7.25 m thick). On the floor, south-western side of the city, there was once an earthen rampart, and on top of it there was a stone wall 1.65 m thick. There was a moat in front of the rampart.

Settlement of Kermen-Kyr. I - excavation in 1945; II - excavation in 1945 and 1951; III - quarry

The remains of several residential buildings have been discovered on Kermen-Kyr. The size of one of them, rectangular in plan, is 5x4 m. The stone foundations of the walls of this dwelling, the adobe floor, were preserved, and the clay coating lay on a layer of ash, in which fragments of ceramics of the 3rd-2nd centuries were found. BC e. The premises themselves can be attributed to the same time. Grain and household pits were located around the house. Archaeologists unearthed two pottery kilns. From one of them there were only traces, the second is well preserved. This last one, round in plan, two-tiered, was built of mud bricks, square and oblong in shape 34 . The lower chamber, 1.33 m in diameter and 0.51 m high, was separated from the upper chamber by an inter-chamber overlap. The upper chamber has not been preserved, but roll-like bricks of various sizes found during excavations can be used to restore its domed ceiling. The complex methods of bricklaying the oven testify to the relatively high construction technology that the Scythians achieved in the 1st century BC. n. The ceramics of the settlement are diverse: fragments of Rhodes, Knidos and Kos amphoras, fragments of pithoi (clay barrels), tiles, red-glazed dishes, fragments of grain graters, heads of clay rams that adorned clay coasters (the so-called horned bricks), etc. Somewhere near the settlement there was an ancient cemetery where the inhabitants of Kermen-Kyr buried their relatives. The Crimean Museum of Local Lore contains two tombstones found near Kermen-Kyr. On one of them (its height is 1.40 m), relief images are applied on the front side in three tiers. In the upper tier - a scene of a fight between a rider and a foot soldier. The warrior has a shield in his left hand, and probably a spear in his right. Under the feet of the horse lies the body of a defeated warrior. Running dogs are depicted in the middle tier. Under their feet are the bodies of two dead people. In the lower - third tier - the figure of a rider. The second stele (very rough work) is an anthropomorphic image. In 1967, a Bronze Age burial mound was excavated near the settlement. In its mound there were five inlet Late Scythian crypts with collective burials 35 . These crypts are oval or almost round in shape, measuring 1.70x2 m and 1.40x1.80 m. A long corridor led to each of them - a dromos filled with stones. From 4 to 8 people were buried in the burial chambers with a variety of related equipment. What is this inventory? Earthenware vessels for incense (balsamaria), bronze and iron buckles, iron darthead, iron knives, earthenware bowl. On the feet of one of the buried, the remains of leather shoes were preserved, the upper part of which was trimmed with a leather belt and fastened at the ankles with bronze bracelets. Burials date back to II-I centuries. BC This burial mound undoubtedly belongs to the ancient settlement, and it probably existed simultaneously with the usual, unpaved one, where at one time stone statues similar to those described above stood on the graves of noble people. But let us return to the wars of Diophantus. So, excavations have established that Kermen-Kyr arose in the III-II centuries. BC e. This is one of the largest settlements of the Scythian kingdom - the nearest fortress on the outskirts of Naples.

After Skilur

Diophantus returned to Chersonesos Kerkinitida, the beautiful harbor, forced the Scythians, as we have already said, to surrender Khabei and Naples. "Wonderful and beneficial for Tsar Mithridates" (words from the decree of Chersonesus) he also arranged affairs in the Bosporus. From that time on, for about 40 years, the Bosporus kingdom was part of the vast power of Mithridates VI Eupator. Many settlements of the Scythians defeated by Diophantus were burned and destroyed. The excavations of recent years at the Ust-Alma settlement revealed a layer of fire from the time of the wars with the Greeks. The city arose at the end of the 3rd century. BC e., and a century later, its inhabitants fought with Diophantus. Although they resisted this struggle, the Greeks managed to deal them a sensitive blow. It was no better in Naples: houses died from the fire, the fortress walls were badly damaged. Soon they had to be completely rebuilt. But the Scythians were not broken. They recovered relatively quickly from defeat, healed the wounds inflicted by the war, and their state again became quite strong and formidable. And immediately after the war, the situation in the country was very difficult. In addition, Scythia experienced days of great mourning - King Skilur died.

The ancient Greek writer Plutarch (I-II centuries AD) gives us a legendary message about the death of the king 36 . According to the testimony of this ancient author, Skilur allegedly had either 50 or 80 sons and ordered all to be called together. When his sons came, he invited them to take a dart each and break it. Each without difficulty carried out the will of the king. Then Skilur took together 80 darts and ordered to break the whole bundle. This turned out to be an impossible task. "If you stick together," said the king, "you will be strong and invincible, but if there is no strong alliance between you, you will be easily defeated." In this legend, in all likelihood, we are not talking about Skilur's own sons, but about his relatives and close associates. The king bequeathed to them to support the new ruler - his eldest son and heir Palak. Even during the lifetime of Skilur, Palak, apparently, took an active part in governing the state, perhaps as a co-ruler, and for this he was awarded a great honor - a relief image of him stood in a place of honor in front of the central city gates. Later, after the death of Skilur, the Greek masters captured the image of the young Palak on horseback. The death of the powerful king was naturally accompanied by a magnificent funeral ceremony. And two thousand years later, archaeologists unearthed a mausoleum at the central city gates, which, according to some assumptions, served as the tomb of Skilur 37. What was this monument? The structure is square in plan and measures 8.65x8.1 m. The walls, 1 m thick, are made of squares of white limestone, and their upper part is lined with raw bricks. From the eastern side, an entrance 1.5 m wide led into the chamber, later blocked with a stone. There, in a stone tomb, in magnificent clothes made of white wool, embroidered with gold threads and numerous gold plaques, the king was buried. According to tradition, his weapons were placed next to the old warrior: two iron swords sheathed in scarlet, a helmet and a quiver full of arrows, decorated with gold plates, gilded spears. Some time later, the queen was buried in the mausoleum - in expensive clothes, with numerous decorations. She lay in a wooden sarcophagus inlaid with gold. Here, for decades, relatives and close associates of the king were buried. For many years, the mausoleum continued to be the burial place of the most noble people of the Scythian state. In total, 72 burials were discovered in it, 70 of them lay in wooden boxes, and even then they were immediately buried in 2-3 and even 5 people. Traces of clay were preserved on some boxes (they were smeared with clay on top and then painted with red paint), there were boxes with gilding and plaster decorations. All burials were distinguished by wealth, splendor, and an abundance of gold jewelry. In the mausoleum, which was excavated in 1946-1947, 1327 gold items were found - pendants, sewn-on plaques of various shapes, medallions, etc. The buried were accompanied by the burial of four horses with richly decorated bridles. The entrance door to the mausoleum was knocked together from oak boards, in front of her was found the skeleton of a dog - a guard at the threshold leading to the kingdom of the dead. Later, the mausoleum turns into a gate fighting tower, reinforced with a stone belt over 2 m thick. One could get inside the tower by a stone staircase of 11 steps. The latest (upper) burials of the royal tomb date back to the beginning of the 1st century BC. n. e. We said above that in the stone tomb of the mausoleum was buried - presumably - Skilur. This point of view was expressed in due time by P. N. Schultz 38 . It is based on the date of the burial (II century BC) and on the similarity of the face of the buried, restored by M. M. Gerasimov from the skull, with the well-known images of Skilur on coins and stone relief. According to N. N. Pogrebova, the royal burial could belong to the son of Skilur - Palak 39. Unfortunately, written sources do not tell us about the time of the reign and death of the Scythian kings. Only Strabo says that the Roxolans under the leadership of Tasias came to the aid of Palak in the fight against Mithridates Eupator 40, and in a decree in honor of Diophantus it is said that the Scythian king Palak attacked the Greek troops unexpectedly. Hence the assumption that in the war with the Greeks (in 110 -104 BC) Skilur did not participate that he died before these events, but his son Palak fought. If Skilur died before the war, then the mausoleum was built before it began, i.e. during preparation it, during the reconstruction of the walls. So thought P. N. Shults and A. N. Karasev. They believed that before the war, together with the mausoleum, an eastern gate tower was being built, an advanced defensive wall (the so-called proteichism) was being built, separated from the main wall by an intermediate space (peribol). This view continues to this day in the literature. But in this case, the question arises, posed by O. D. Dashevskaya 41: why during the war with the Greeks the mausoleum and the tower were not destroyed, and the royal tomb was not plundered? Indeed, the mausoleum stands at the very gates, the enemy is victorious, fires are raging in the city, the city guards are killed - it's time to rob the royal tomb, where for sure (who didn't know about it! ) a lot of jewelry. But no, it stands untouched. Why? Well, if you take the point of view of N. N. Pogrebovoi, what happens then? The picture in this case is as follows: Skilur died before the war, his tomb is not known to us, and the portrait resemblance of the buried in a stone tomb with the relief and images on the coins does not mean anything. It also turns out that the construction of the mausoleum and the tower was carried out after the war. When analyzing both points of view, stretches in the construction of the historical concept are involuntarily evident. Somewhere the thread of truth slips away and speculation begins. Well, what if (we allow ourselves one more "if") we assume that Skilur was alive during the war? After all, written sources do not tell us about his death. How do we know that he did not fight? Is it not possible to assume that Skilur and Palak - both - participated in the war? Palak led an active attack on the Greeks and made a surprise attack on them, Skilur held the defense of the capital. And he died immediately after the war. But even during the life of his father, the young, energetic Palak, named king in the decree, could be in power. In this case, the portrait resemblance of the person buried in the mausoleum and the integrity of the mausoleum itself find their explanation. And, finally, one more important circumstance. Judging by the reconstruction by M. M. Gerasimov, the man buried in the stone tomb was an elderly man. According to legend, Skilur died an old man. There is also an image of an equestrian Palak, synchronous with the time of Skilur's burial, where Palak appears before us as a young warrior. So, let's stop: Skilur died after the war, was buried in a mausoleum built together with the eastern gate tower. The question of the time and place of Skilur's burial remains controversial. There are statements of individual specialists, not considered here by the author, who doubt the portrait character of Skilur's images. Contradicts the author's point of view, reinforcing the opinion of N. N. Pogrebova, and the age of the buried in the mausoleum is about 40 years. - Ed.

Unbowed

Naples was badly damaged during the war. It was necessary to urgently take up the restoration of the city and, above all, to strengthen the fortifications that had fallen into disrepair. Their restructuring could take place as follows: the Scythians did not completely restore the destroyed walls, but built a new one, 2 m thick, a mausoleum and a gate tower were attached to it. The latter had a quadrangular shape, its internal dimensions were 5x3.5 m. Subsequently, it was reinforced with three additional belts and the total thickness of its walls increased to 6 m at the base. wall, the height of which reached 6-7 m. The ramp, apparently, served as additional protection only in the area of ​​​​the central city gates, and in other places the city was defended by a new wall, probably along with the remains of the old one.

At the central city gate, the thickness of the wall was now (with a ramp) 12.5 m. The new wall, like the oldest one, probably had a gate, which could be wooden, knocked together from thick boards with forged iron nails. Thus, a system of double gates was obtained, which served as a reliable defense against the enemy. In all likelihood, the southern defensive wall of Naples was strengthened by towers and tower ledges along its entire length - not only in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe gate. During the excavation of a section of the wall 40 meters east of the central gate, a tower ledge was discovered. And the Swiss traveler Dubois de Montpere, who visited Naples in 1834, left us a plan of the settlement, on which the southern wall is depicted with six towers, and the towers are located according to the rules of ancient fortification - about 40-60 meters apart, i.e. on at a distance of flight of an arrow. Near the defensive wall and the eastern tower, quite a lot of sling stones were found during excavations, which were widely used in ancient times during the siege of cities. There is also written evidence of this. Thus, the ancient Roman military historian Vegetius recommended collecting more pebble stones, because their blows are more dangerous than any arrow 43. Throughout the history of the city, its inhabitants took care of strengthening the approaches to it from the south side. It is possible that the defensive wall also ran along the Petrovsky beam on the western side of the settlement. Was there an acropolis in the Scythian capital? A construction of this kind is known in many settlements of late Scythia. There was an acropolis, as we saw, on Kermen-Kyr, there was on Alma-Kermen, on Bulganak 44. In the northern part of Naples, the remains of a powerful defensive wall were discovered. It is quite possible that she served to defend the acropolis. But a very small segment of it, only 2 m, has been identified, and therefore one can only speak about the Naples acropolis so far only presumably. After the war, the city is quickly recovering, destroyed houses are being rebuilt, new buildings are being erected. . Hellenization penetrated deeply into the culture of the late Scythians. It manifested itself both in the construction of buildings (proportions, plan according to Greek models), and in the desire to give the city a magnificent appearance (buildings with porticos at the central city gates). In the city, as already mentioned, there were statues with dedications to the gods written in Greek, and the deities themselves were not only Scythian, but also Greek. The buildings of the first centuries of our era on the site have not been studied enough. It is known, however, that stone houses and dugouts of this time existed in different parts of Naples. Near the defensive wall, in the area of ​​​​the central city gates, a rectangular basement of the house was discovered, its dimensions were 5.76x3.90 m. There was also a small basement (1.60x1 , 10 m.), possibly belonging to some outbuilding. Rectangular single-chamber dwellings (of various sizes 3.15x4.45 m., etc.) were investigated in the central part of the city. At this time (the first centuries of our era) two-chamber basements were also built. One of them was excavated in the northern part of Naples. The southwestern wall of the building, 2 meters high, was traced; from the south, a stone staircase led to the basement, from which three steps have been preserved. In crypt No. 9, the painting of niches reproduces the appearance of Scythian houses. Judging by the painting, these houses had gable roofs, the pediments were decorated with images of skates and arrows. We also know that stone is now replacing the raw bricks of the Hellenistic era. In the first centuries of our era, the Scythians still pay attention to the decoration of religious buildings (a house with frescoes), they invite Greek masters for this - perhaps for painting some stone crypts -painters. Still wealthy people buy more expensive dishes and various luxury items. But gradually the city is changing its face. Garbage dumps are arranged on the site of previously existing large buildings, the city planning in the area of ​​the central city gates is disrupted, more dugouts and semi-dugouts appear. There are clear signs of decline. However, all this did not prevent the Scythian kings from taking care of strengthening the state and their power.

In the valley of the Alma

For the economic life of the country, based on the trade in grain, it was vital to expand the territory of the state, to develop the fertile lands of the river valleys. Along Belbek, Kacha and Alma and in the central Crimea, after the wars of Diophantus, numerous Scythian settlements and settlements arose. The Alma settlements have been studied better than others. Many of them were known to N. L. Ernst, already mentioned by us, the Crimean archaeologist and local historian, who did a lot to study the history of the Crimea. Later, Taurus-Scythian expedition carried out reconnaissance on these settlements. In 1954, on the left bank of the Alma, near the village of Zavetnoye, research began on the settlement of Alma-Kermen (the former name of the village).

Back in the 30s of the last century, this ancient settlement was mentioned by a major researcher of the history of the Crimea, P. I. Koeppen. "The foundations of the walls are now barely visible there," wrote Keppen, "constituting the fortress, which the traces of the Tatars call Kala." 45 . BC e., when Taurians lived here. In the II century. BC e. This territory was mastered by the Scythians. A Scythian settlement appears on the plateau, and at its foot - a settlement. The area of ​​​​the settlement is 1.3 hectares, its northwestern cape was protected by a powerful defensive wall (3.5 m thick). On the cape was the most impregnable part of the settlement - its acropolis, behind the wall of which the inhabitants of Alma-Kermen could hide in the moment of danger. The remains of the earliest buildings are few. They testify that the houses were built on stone foundations, and the walls were probably made of adobe bricks. The rooms are rectangular in shape, sometimes with rounded corners. Near one of them, a sacrifice was made in the pits, archaeologists found animal bones mixed with the bones of a child, and next (in another pit) - a molded pot. Near the pits lay the skeleton of a baby in a crouched position. There was also a small rectangular earthen altar here. BC e., that is, after the Diophantine Wars. The fertile land, the proximity of fresh water created favorable conditions for farming and cattle breeding 46. It is no coincidence that charred grains of wheat and rye were among the finds. In the utility room, perhaps a barn or a shed, amphoras filled with grain stood on the floor. Judging by the numerous remains of grains found in this and other settlements, the Scythians grew mainly wheat. Agriculture was plow farming. The Scythian state supplied a huge amount of bread to the Black Sea market, without plow farming this would have been impossible. In addition to the plow, however, a number of auxiliary tools served for cultivating the land, primarily a hoe - a tool that had two working ends sharp - for breaking clods, and wide, flat - for loosening the earth. (Such an iron hoe, which could also be used for cultivating a garden, was found at the site of Alma-Kermen. Its length is 25 cm, in the center there is a hole for a stick). The harvest was made with sickles. But the wheat was mowed down, it must be threshed The ancient Greek historian Xenophon (V-IV centuries BC) writes about how the Greeks threshed bread. BC e.). "Animals - oxen, mules, horses were driven in a circle, throwing ears of corn under their feet, from which the cattle knocked out grains" 47 . Apparently, the Scythians used the same method of threshing (although they probably used threshing boards). The grain necessary for food was crushed in stone mortars, ground in hand mills, thus obtaining cereals and flour. Whole round mills (millstones) and their fragments are very often found during excavations. What did they look like? The lower millstone was fixed motionlessly, and grain was poured onto its flat working surface through a hole in the upper millstone. The upper millstone was rotated with the help of an iron or wooden handle, turning the grain into flour. Such mills are usually small - their diameter did not exceed 35-36 cm. In addition, there were also rectangular millstones-pushers. In this case, the upper stone did not rotate, but moved back and forth with the help of a handle. In the first centuries of our era, mills appeared, driven by donkeys or mules. A fragment of the upper half of such a device - 2.2 m in diameter - was found at the Alma-Kermen settlement. Cattle breeding played an important role in the economy: numerous bones of domestic animals found on the settlements indicate that they bred mainly small cattle - sheep, goats as well as pigs. At a later time (the first centuries of our era), cattle began to be bred. But the basis of the economy of the inhabitants of Alma-Kermen and other settlements and settlements of Scythia continues to be agriculture 48 . No wonder a large granary was opened in the capital of the state, Naples. The inhabitants of the river valleys, apparently, brought bread here. The oath of the citizens of Chersonesos says: "I will neither sell the bread brought from the plain, nor take it out with equals to any other place, but only to Chersonesos" 49 . The inhabitants of Scythia were also probably forbidden to sell or export bread anywhere except Naples. Apparently, the Scythian kings were engaged in a monopoly trade in bread. An auxiliary, although important role was assigned to viticulture, winemaking, and fishing in the economy. In the distribution and development of viticulture among the Scythians, the influence of Chersonesus and other Greek cities affected. Two vine knives were found at the site of Alma-Kermen. And in his necropolis, stone portable wine presses for grapes were used as foundation slabs for one of the graves. Imported wine was expensive, only wealthy Scythians could afford it. Their own wine was much cheaper, so winemaking by the first centuries of our era was widely developed among them. A winepress carved into the rock with a drain for draining the wort was found near the settlement of Krasnozorinsky * on Kacha. During the excavations of Naples, a charred vine was discovered. According to researchers**, grapes grew either in the Salgir valley or near the settlement.

Fishing, quite naturally, was the occupation of the inhabitants of coastal settlements and settlements. There were a lot of fish off the coast of Crimea, especially flounder and mullet: fish scales and bones are not rare finds, in particular at Ust-Alma settlement. Were the Scythians engaged in gardening? Herodotus pointed out that the Gelons - one of the Scythian tribes - had gardens. In the Crimea, gardens were bred by Taurus. On one of the Taurus settlements of the IX-VIII centuries. BC e (Uch-Bash) bones of sweet cherries, cherry plums and cherries were found. The found remains of apples, pears, cherries, walnuts in the settlements and in the burial grounds of the Crimean Scythians testify that they also had gardening. Various crafts played a significant role in the economy of the Scythian state. In the first place, of course, was the ceramic craft 50 . The dishes are needed in any household - large and small, and clay was always at hand: the hills of Ust-Alma settlement, Alma-Kermen and others are outcrops of Quaternary clay. degrees. Therefore, everywhere in the Scythian settlements - settlements and settlements - we find numerous fragments of molded pots, simple and polished, sometimes with ornament, more often without it. Many intact vessels have also come down to us, found mainly in cemeteries and settlements. They are of various shapes and sizes - from tiny toy vessels made for children to large pots in which they kept grain, flour, water, milk. Weaving was very common among home crafts, which was done by women. In order to obtain raw materials, flax and hemp were sown and processed. Numerous weights for spindles - the so-called whorls - small round or biconical (in the shape of a double cone) clay pendants were found on settlements, burial grounds (and only in female burials). On some of them fanciful drawings are scratched, usually images of animals - rams, goats, deer. There are also prints of fabrics in burials. Studies of these remains showed that linen was the main material for fabrics. For the cold season, clothes were sewn from leather and animal skins. On the famous golden pectoral from Tolstoy Grave, two Scythians are sewing a shirt out of sheepskin. Scythian warriors were repeatedly depicted in leather pants. In female burials, bronze needles are often found, sometimes carefully placed in a bronze needle case - a case with a loop for hanging. Even in the burial of the queen in the mausoleum of Naples, a golden needle was discovered. Men were engaged in stone-cutting, making adobe bricks for construction and the construction business itself. In addition, there are many other needs in the economy that require male hands: it is necessary to make millstones for grinding grain, and carve a stone mortar or winepress, not to mention the fact that the construction of any dwelling absorbed a lot of labor. During excavations, one can often find iron slag - traces of blacksmithing. Scythian blacksmiths made iron knives, awls, nails, daggers, spearheads. As we have seen, a casting mold made from an amphora handle was found in the Naples settlement - indisputable evidence of the foundry craft among the Scythians. This means that some of the decorations found in the graves were made by local craftsmen.

under the rule of Rome

Having grown stronger after the defeat, having gained strength, the Scythians are again attacking the Greeks. They are again at the walls of Chersonesos, threatening the Bosporus kingdom, but unsuccessfully. Aspurgus in the 1st century. n. e. defeated the "barbarians", most likely the Scythians. At this time, the Scythian kingdom again enters into an alliance with the Sarmatians. The Chersonesites could not stand up for themselves this time either. I had to ask for help, this time to Rome. In the 60s of the 1st century. n. e. Roman legionnaires entered Chersonesus, and the Chersonese Republic lost its independence for a long time. The main policy of Rome on the peninsula was the subjugation of neighboring territories. The legionnaires had to create a number of military posts to protect Chersonese from the "barbarians". One of such strongholds of the Romans was Charax, a fortress near present-day Yalta, on Cape Ai-Todor 51 . Here, to Charax, the Romans built a land road 52 from Chersonesos, and surrounded the fortress with impregnable stone walls. The legionnaires stationed in Charax were supposed to guard communications along the southern coast of Taurica. The need required to penetrate deep into Scythia, to create a military post somewhere on the way from Naples to Chersonese. An exceptionally convenient and very important strategic point was the settlement on the Alma River - Alma-Kermen. It was located near the main highway Naples - Chersonesos (only 4-5 kilometers from the settlement to this road), lay on the way between Naples and the largest coastal city - Ust-Alminsky. Probably, in ancient times, as well as now, a land road passed along the Alma, then connecting the two most important settlements of Scythia. And, finally, (Alma-Kermen) the middle course of the Alma is just that deep Scythia, where it is most convenient - primarily for the safety of Chersonese - to place a detachment of legionnaires. We have already said that at the foot of Alma-Kermen there was a settlement. The legionnaires, having occupied (probably by force) the plateau of the settlement, forced its inhabitants to settle in the settlement. The Scythians had no choice but to obey: there were few warriors among them - excavations of the Alma-Kermen necropolis (about 300 graves were discovered) gave only single copies of daggers and swords. And what could these warriors do against Roman weapons? .. The Roman army was formed from the local population of Moesia, Thrace and other western, as well as eastern provinces of the vast Roman Empire. Among the legionnaires were various artisans: masons, carpenters, potters, gunsmiths. Since the maintenance of the armed forces required huge costs, the Roman armies made extensive use of their own reserves. When setting up camps, the legionnaires built ramparts and ditches, erected barracks and baths from stone, tiles were fired on the spot, and dishes were made. In addition, the Roman soldiers were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding - again for their own needs. And all this in addition to the main and main thing - military service. Potters in the production of tiles put the stamp of their legion. According to these marks and inscriptions, we know that in Chersonese the Roman garrison consisted of detachments of the XI Claudian legion, I Italian, V Macedonian, auxiliary troops of the Moesian army and part of the Moesian fleet. Apparently, one of the detachments of the XI Claudian Legion, which was part of the Chersonesos garrison, was stationed in Alma-Kermen. The tile was fired and branded in Chersonese, where the same one was found. A large batch of it was brought for the construction of various buildings on the Alma-Kermen settlement. Here, on the settlement, the remains of a rectangular building measuring 13x8.5 m were discovered. Its walls, laid out of mud bricks on a stone foundation, were plastered and painted from the inside. Pieces of painted multi-colored plaster have been preserved. The gable roof was covered with tiles that fell into the house during its death. The floor was adobe, smeared, in the center there was an adobe platform - a kind of sacrificial table raised 10-15 cm above the floor level. Such altars are widely known in the dwellings of the ancient Thracians who inhabited the once modern Bulgaria. It is known that among the Roman soldiers of the Chersonese garrison there were Thracians, who, naturally, brought to the Crimea the features of the culture and religion of their people. In front of the house on the southwestern side there was a courtyard paved with slabs, among the flat stones of its pavement a square brick measuring 75x75x5 cm was found. Such large bricks, also made by legionnaires, were usually used for paving the floors in baths. The detachment of legionnaires stationed in Alma-Kermen also included master glassmakers. Their activity is associated with the creation of a glass-making workshop on the hillfort, which consisted of three furnaces. Glass-making is a very ancient craft. It is difficult to say where and when glass first appeared on earth. Gaius Pliny the Elder, a Roman historian and naturalist who lived in the 1st century BC. n. e. who tragically died during the eruption of Vesuvius, attributes this to chance. In very ancient times, a ship of merchants carrying natural soda - saltpeter landed on the shores of ancient Phoenicia. The merchants decided to spend the night. Sitting around the fire on the sandy shore, they began to cook food, but there were no stones at hand to put the pot on. I had to put pieces of saltpeter. Saltpeter mixed with sand - and "transparent streams of a new liquid flowed," writes Pliny. When this liquid cooled down, it turned out to be as hard as a stone, pure and transparent as water, and burned with fire in the sun 53 . This was the glass. It is difficult to say whether man came to know glass in this way or in another way. But by the Roman time, glassmaking reached the heights of craftsmanship. In addition to dishes, a variety of beads, rings, seals, bracelets and other jewelry were made from glass. These objects were very popular among the general population. Despite the huge number of glass objects found during excavations, insignificant remains of the glass workshops themselves have come down to us. Not a single workshop has been found to this day in the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region, although glass ingots, remnants of refractory bricks were found in Chersonesus, and in Tanais (one of the cities of the Bosporan Kingdom, located in the Don delta) - a clay mold for making a relief hemispherical glass bowl 54 That is why the remains of three furnaces discovered in Alma-Kermen are so interesting for us. Thanks to them, we can restore the entire process of ancient glass production 55 , which, by the way, is not much different from the modern one. The technological process remained basically the same, only the possibilities and conditions of production have changed. 3.3 m. The furnace was covered with a domed vault, built of stones on clay. Clay pots with a charge (a mixture of components that make up glass) were placed on a special clay shelf along the edges of the furnace, firewood burned inside. Where the pots stood, the temperature rose to 1200 degrees - this is quite enough for normal melting and "boiling" of glass. From the north side, a furnace hole in the form of an arch made of stones led into the furnace. And on the opposite side, apparently, there were "windows" - holes through which the glassblower collected molten glass into the pipe and blew a bubble with the force of his own lungs. With the help of a template - a wooden model - the future vessel was given a certain, given shape. To the southeast there was a third furnace - the so-called annealing furnace, in which, with a slow decrease in temperature, the finished vessels were gradually cooled. This oven is the largest. It is rectangular in shape, 6.7x4.3 m in size. Its lower part is let into the ground and lined with raw bricks. From above, the stove was covered with a vault made of the so-called "concrete" (small fragments of stones, broken dishes, fastened with tsemyankovo-lime mortar). It turned out a durable heat-resistant overlap. To facilitate the design of the vault and increase thermal insulation, amphoras were inserted into the concrete mass, and in some places - stucco pots. Apparently, several holes ("windows") led into the oven, through which it was loaded with finished products. After that, the holes were carefully closed for a more or less long time. The stove, preliminarily well heated with firewood, gradually cooled down, and the vessels also cooled. Then the holes were unbricked and the finished products were taken out. Not always, of course, the work went smoothly - an accidental gust of wind, accidental awkwardness - and a fragile, still warm and viscous vessel flattened in the hands of the master. However, the marriage was not thrown away: the defective dishes were remelted - just as they do now. In front of the first furnace there was a platform with a lot of broken glass and marriage. Here the master prepared the composition of the future glass - a mixture of light kaolin clay, sand, ash, broken glass. The whole process required skill, patience, skill. But this hard work paid off. From the flames of the furnaces, as if by a miracle, there appeared transparent, thin jugs, entwined with threads of yellow, blue, white glass, beautiful spherical bowls, precious goblets, dishes, plates. When the vessel became solid, it was possible to decorate its transparent surface with faceting, matte strokes, draw a complex pattern. The workshop was located on the edge of the settlement, on its northern slope. This was required by the safety of production in terms of fire. The Roman craftsmen had to cook glass in Alma-Kermen for a short time. The borders of the empire are increasingly disturbed by the barbarians. In II-III centuries. n. e. they threaten the Roman provinces along the Rhine and Danube. Rome is making every effort to preserve them. Troops are hastily gathering in the western provinces. The Roman garrison, with the exception of a small part of it, leaves Chersonese. A detachment of soldiers of the XI Claudian Legion also left Alma-Kermen. The glass workshop was abandoned, the furnaces were covered with garbage, and only by a lucky chance they have been perfectly preserved to this day. The local population returned to the plateau of the settlement again. It is difficult to say whether Alma-Kermen was the only place in Scythia where the Roman legionaries penetrated. We do not know of another point in these parts with obvious traces of the presence of the Romans. However, the opinion was expressed that at the mouth of the Alma River, on the Ust-Alma settlement, there was also a Roman military post 56 . Arguments in favor of this version: the location of the city on a cape, its configuration, the abundance of fragments of amphoras and red-glazed pottery from the first centuries of our era. Isn't it not enough?..Let's turn directly to the settlement, to the finds that were found on it.

By the sea

So, the mouth of the Alma. The left bank is steep from the side of the river, but towards the sea it is steep and quite high (30 m). Only the gently sloping southwestern and southeastern parts of the plateau are not protected by anything. Here, the inhabitants of the ancient city poured a high earthen rampart, dug a moat in front of it - their remains are visible even now. The place to stay was excellent. The mouth of the Alma, probably more full-flowing in antiquity, could serve as a mooring for Greek ships, and the ancient sea route from Chersonesos to Kerkinitida, Kalos-Limen and further to Olbia passed by. In exchange for leather, wool and other agricultural items, local residents received various goods from passing merchants: wine and olive oil, expensive red-lacquer and glassware, jewelry.

The settlement was not limited to one fortified part. To the south of the settlement - behind its rampart - there was a vast settlement, and behind it along the slope - an ancient cemetery. We have already said above that, apparently, a land road ran along the left bank of the Alma in ancient times, connecting the capital of Scythia, Naples, with the largest seaside city. Thus, the Ust-Alma settlement was located at the crossroads of the sea and land roads, which made it an especially important strategic point 57. Exploration excavations were carried out here in 1946 by P.N. detachment of the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR*.

During the cleaning of the shaft and the ditch, it was established that they arose at the turn of our era. At present, the maximum height of the shaft is 2 m, in ancient times it was clearly higher. The ditch swam heavily, its depth does not exceed 0.5 m. The entrance to the city was located on the southeastern side. Another - from the north-west - is still visible today. Whether the rampart was preceded by some other system of defense of the city, whether it had walls that were destroyed, for example, during the war with the Greeks, is unknown. It will be possible to find out only in the course of excavations. In recent years, several rectangular residential buildings have been discovered. Their walls are made of adobe bricks on a stone foundation. The roofs, apparently, were of reeds or clay. Single fragments of tiles were found at the settlement: this material was expensive and was apparently used in the construction of only rich buildings. The adobe walls of the houses were whitewashed from the inside. Judging by the layers of whitewash, one of them was whitewashed 18 times! In the southwestern corner of this house, a sacrificial pit was found filled with the bones of domestic animals, and on the adobe floor - numerous remains of dishes of the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e. 58 The Scythians had no furniture. Often, the main decoration of the house was, apparently, mats spread on the floor. Sometimes small benches made of stone and clay were arranged along the walls. But more often they sat around the hearth. The most common were earthenware, portable *, - round, oval or square in shape, with high sides, made of clay with an admixture of crushed ceramics and straw. A fire was kindled on this brazier, its floor was strongly calcined, and on it it was possible, throwing out the coals, to bake cakes, and on the coals to cook food. Numerous fragments of such portable braziers are found at all Late Scythian settlements of the Crimea, including Ust-Alma.

A yard paved with stone slabs usually adjoined the house. Here there were household pits for various purposes: grain was kept in some, garbage was poured into others, etc. Amphoras, standing under sheds, served to store water and wine. In good weather, especially in summer, they lived in the yard; food was cooked right there on the hearth-brazier. A small section of a stone-paved road, or, more precisely, a street 3.20 m wide, was explored on the settlement. Usually, their necks were lined with stones for about 0.5-1.20 m, then the pit was smeared with clay, fumigated with sulfur so that insects would not start, and covered with grain. Tightly closed with a stone lid, smeared with clay, it served as a reliable repository. As the ancient Roman writer and scientist Varro points out, wheat can lie in such a pit for 50 years, and millet for more than 100 59 . And in order to disguise the place of the granary, it was made along the city street paved with slabs. The same picture was observed in Scythian Naples. For everyday use on the farm, grain was poured into amphoras, pots, or simply kept in heaps on the floor of barns, sheds and under sheds. its inhabitants conduct a lively trade with the settlements of the northwestern coast and with Chersonese, agriculture, cattle breeding, and fishing flourish. Ust-Almintsy are also engaged in crafts. The remains of three deep pits were found, filled from top to bottom with wood ash. The holes are nearby. Near them are traces of prolonged intense burning, burnt earth, coals. There must have been some kind of production here. In the city or its environs, stucco and pottery were probably made. Proof of this is its numerous fragments, as well as ceramic slag. As already noted, a layer of fire has been discovered on the site in recent years, possibly dating back to the time of the wars of Diophantus. Judging by the finds (very scarce) from the lower layers, the city arose in the III-II centuries. BC e. But these layers have yet to be studied. But did the Romans really live in the settlement? The excavations do not confirm this. No traces of even the temporary presence of Roman soldiers have been found. Roman ceramics speaks only about one thing so far - about the trade relations of the population with the Greek cities. Of course, a very small area has been explored. The continuation of the excavations will undoubtedly provide new data, from which much can be expected. ..So far we have been talking about the residential part of the city. Now let's talk about his necropolis - after all, more than 100 graves have been explored! The burial ground was searched for a long time. Ground necropolises of ancient peoples, if they are not marked from above by stone stelae, which are rarely preserved in situ (on the spot), are very difficult to find. In fact, from above everything is overgrown with grass, shrubs, there are no fragments of ancient dishes - a sign of a former life. How do you know if there is an ancient cemetery under your feet? Usually the burial ground was located not far from the settlement, somewhere on the slope. But there are several slopes, and they are all close. It often depends on the case. So it was this time too. In 1964, the Bakhchisaray forestry enterprise terraced the slopes of the ravines near the village of Peschanoe for planting pine trees. Suddenly, bones and ancient things appeared on one of the slopes. reported to the archaeologists. Undoubtedly - there was a necropolis of the Ust-Alma settlement. Finally. Excavations have begun. It turned out that the inhabitants of the ancient city buried their relatives in different ways: in some cases they dug out a large crypt, in others - a simple pit or made a side grave. But they always poured a bunch of stones on top or put one large stone. Where did such a variety of burial structures come from? The fact is that the population of the late Scythian state, including the Ust-Alma settlement, was not ethnically homogeneous. For centuries, the Scythians mixed with various peoples of the Northern Black Sea region for centuries: they married Greek women, took the Taurians into captivity, lived together with the Sarmatians. Each people has its own funeral rite, the essence of which is always conservative. The Scythians from ancient times had a custom to bury in large burial chambers - catacombs or earthen crypts. This custom was preserved in the first centuries. At the Ust-Alma necropolis, 11 crypts were discovered, and 7 of them are large, with numerous burials (from 15 to 52 buried). These crypts, up to 4.5 m deep from the modern day surface, usually had a square shape in plan, a long, more than 2 m, corridor - dromos. The burial chamber was closed with a large stone slab, and the dromos was densely clogged with stones. Nearby, if a warrior was buried in the grave, they often buried his beloved horse. Crypts were family tombs. When one of the family members died, a vast burial chamber was dug out for him and the subsequent dead, several stones were placed at the bottom of it, and a wooden coffin was placed on them. Other dead were buried nearby - as long as there was enough space. The lower row, or tier of burials, was covered with earth, then they continued to bury, thus creating a second tier, etc. n. Each time, of course, the stone foundation of the dromos was dismantled and then restored again. One of the crypts - 52 people were buried in it - turned out to be seven-tiered. Having made the last burial, the dromos was carefully closed and covered with earth. As you know, the ancients believed that, when dying, a person passes only from one world to another, and all the items necessary for life are necessary for him in the next world. That is why archaeologists find objects of labor and everyday life, all kinds of decorations in ancient graves. The richer a person was, the more plentiful and varied the funeral gifts. In the first centuries of our era, sacrificial food became an almost invariable attribute of the burials of the Greeks, Scythians and other peoples who inhabited the Northern Black Sea region. A red-glazed plate with a piece of meat and an iron knife was placed at the feet or near the head of the buried, next to it was a red-glazed jug with water or wine (if a poor man was buried, hand-made dishes replaced the red-glazed dishes). Bronze jewelry was widespread among the Scythians: bracelets, earrings, buckles, various kinds of pendants - in the form of little men, birds, amphoras. On the chest or on the shoulder, clothes were cleaved off with a pin - the so-called brooch (like our safety pin). At the Ust-Alma necropolis, along with the usual brooches, there are brooches decorated with enamel. One of them - in the form of a hippocampus (seahorse) - is one of the rare ornaments of antiquity. Men sometimes put on a bronze hryvnia around their necks - a rod made of round wire with a loop and a hook at the end. Men also adorned themselves with several large beads - made of chalcedony and jet. Many types of beads are known: from blue Egyptian paste, mosaic, motley, eyed, black from jet, amber, carnelian, crystal, glass, bronze. the tree is poorly preserved. Only in one of the crypts of the Ust-Alma burial ground were found wooden caskets that can be restored. In women's and children's graves, pieces of pink chalk are often found - rouge, round bone toilet boxes (pyxides), and occasionally balsamaria (elongated glass vessels for incense). There are very few weapons. Apart from a few iron arrowheads, the remains of iron daggers and swords were found only twice in the Ust-Alma graves. One of the swords has a ring pommel, the other, in excellent condition, has no crosshairs. It is curious that the Scythian bronze arrows in the first centuries of our era completely fell into disuse. They are replaced by iron Sarmatian ones, and bronze ones are kept as amulets and sometimes put in the grave. Therefore, in the graves of the II-III centuries. n. e. you can find a bronze arrow of the 5th century. BC e. Golden objects are rare. In one of the crypts, probably some noble person was buried. Next to it lay a gold pendant - a moon with a glass insert in the center, and around the remains of the skull were found leaves of gold foil, apparently from a wreath. In another crypt, pieces of gold foil and an earring made of thin gold wire were found. In the first centuries of our era the influx of Sarmatians into the Crimea increases, more and more burial structures characteristic of this people appear - side-pit graves. A narrow - 50-60 cm - grave pit broke out in the ground, along one of its long sides (the length usually ranges from 70 m) a lining was made, i.e. a burial chamber. The buried was placed in the pit, covered with stone slabs placed on the edge, and the entrance pit was filled with stones. The Sarmatians brought with them from the Volga steppes not only pit graves, but also their funeral rite. It was customary for them, for example, to sprinkle the bottom of the grave with chalk or coal, cross the legs of the buried, lay a felt mat under it, bury it in wooden logs. The newborn Sarmatians pulled a tight bandage around their head, the child grew and his head became elongated (hence the abundance of deformed skulls in the graves ). This custom - truly "barbaric" - is still inexplicable. We meet all the noted features at Ust-Alma and other late Scythian necropolises. Apparently, Greek influence also played a role. Among the Greeks, burials in slab graves* were common, and we see two similar graves at the Ust-Alma necropolis. Are they Scythian? This we do not know. It is quite possible that the Greeks who settled in the Scythian environment are buried in them.

The Greeks also had such a custom: if a relative died in a foreign land, they dug a grave for him in his homeland, sometimes they put various utensils there, covered the grave with earth - everything, as usual, but without the burial of a person. These are the so-called cenotaphs. Several of them have been discovered at the Ust-Alma necropolis. One more example. As a talisman (protection from evil spirits), the Greeks wore gems - rings with inserts of carnelian, glass, amethyst. Rings are usually bronze, sometimes iron. Numerous gems were found in the burials of the Ust-Alma necropolis. The images on them are very different: the goddess of victory Nike, Zeus, Athena, Fortuna, a shepherd with a stick, a goat lying under a tree, a moon and a star (a sign of the Achaemenids, the kings of Persia), a kanfar (a vessel for wine), an eagle sitting on an altar, running lion. Imported rings, Greek work. The Scythians bought them as amulets, guards against diseases, the evil eye. No wonder they are found mainly in children's burials. Almost every grave of the Ust-Alma necropolis, as we have already said, was marked on top with a small pile of stones or one stone placed vertically. There are no images on the stones. But on another necropolis, also in the valley of the Alma River - Alma-Kermensky - there were six tombstones with images 60. It is worth telling about this in more detail. One of the stelae depicted a male figure, primitively executed in low relief. In the man's left hand is a dagger in a sheath, in his right hand is a rhyton (a vessel for wine). The height of the stele is 1.10 m. On the other, executed in the same primitive way, there is a warrior holding a round shield in his left hand. .On two stone tombstones - a schematic drawing of the upper part of a human figure. The chest of one of them is decorated with a hryvnia. A stele depicting a male figure, made in high relief, stands out in particular. The head was not preserved, the right hand and feet were beaten off. The man is dressed in a knee-length caftan with long sleeves, the neckline of the caftan on the chest is decorated with grooves. The height of the gravestone is 0.95 m. Unfortunately, none of the stelae was found in situ (on the spot). About 300 graves were discovered at the Alma-Kermen burial ground, and only 6 of them had stone sculptures. Consequently, only on the grave of an eminent person, a noble warrior, did the tribesmen put such a tombstone. Maybe he distinguished himself in battles or had some other services to society and therefore was awarded the special memory of his relatives. Of course, most of the stone steles perished for us forever. But even from the surviving specimens, one can judge the original Scythian culture, the skill of stone carvers. No less important for the study of ancient art - and at the same time the social structure of society - are the painted crypts of Scythian Naples 61. These monuments (a total of five stone crypts with paintings ) are the only examples of Scythian painting that have come down to us. Ancient masters sought to capture pictures of real life: a wild boar hunting scene, a Scythian playing the lyre, figures of women performing a dance (perhaps during a funeral ceremony). Not all drawings are the same in execution, but to this day the naturalness of the poses, the richness of colors cause admiration. The art of the late Scythians is peculiar and complex. It, like their religion, was influenced by other peoples, primarily the Greeks and Sarmatians. In Hellenistic times, the so-called "animal style" that once dominated Scythia almost disappears. A new stage in the development of art was closely associated with the general barbarization of the culture of the Northern Black Sea region. It was in the first centuries of our era that primitive graffiti drawings appeared in Naples, and tombstones with anthropomorphic images appeared on the necropolises. In contrast to monumental art, applied art, primarily toreutics (chasing, stamping on metal), apparently continues to preserve ancient traditions, only adapting to the requirements and tastes of customers.

Decline of the Power

As it was said, in the first centuries of our era, the population of the Crimean Scythia increased, and this happened mainly due to the influx of Sarmatian tribes. They penetrate into the Crimea in two ways: from the Dnieper region through the Perekop Isthmus and from the Don and the North Caucasus through the Bosporus. Apparently, their invasion of Scythia was not always and everywhere peaceful. In the 1st century n. e. life ceases in some settlements of the northwestern Crimea ("Seagull", Belyaus, Popovka). Their inhabitants go to other parts of the peninsula. It is difficult to say with what events this is connected: perhaps the reason for this is climate change, perhaps the onslaught of the Sarmatians. In the central and southwestern Crimea, the arrival of the Sarmatians did not cause the death of settlements and the resettlement of their inhabitants. However, in the II-III centuries. n. e. The Scythian state is going through a difficult time. The Scythians fail in the struggle for Olbia, they are constantly at war with the Bosporus. In addition, the disunity of the settlements, the absence of centralized authority over a vast territory further exacerbates the complexity of the situation. The growing military danger required urgent measures to protect the country. Apparently, each rural community is beginning to take care of this itself.

Shelters of the Scythians

In II-III centuries. n. e. in the southwestern and central Crimea, along with such settlements as Alma-Kermen or Kermen-Kyr, a new type of fortified settlements appeared - shelters. Most often, this is a fortification located somewhere on a steep cape, inaccessible to the enemy, covered from the floor side by a stone wall. The configuration of the shelter depended on the terrain. Its area has always been small, but it allowed a small number of people at the time of danger to hide along with their belongings and livestock. Below, at the foot, in an open unprotected place, there was a settlement where ordinary peaceful life was going on: they built houses, sowed and harvested bread, grazed herds, burned pottery, sewed clothes. At the moment of danger, the entire population of the village abandoned their homes and took refuge in a shelter. This kind of fortified settlement was discovered in the upper reaches of the Alma River, near the village of Kizilovka (the former name was Karagach). The shelter is located on top of a hill raised above the river level by about 40-50 m From the south, the plateau of the ancient settlement breaks off steeply towards the Alma, the rest of its slopes are gentle. The most elevated part is occupied by a fortification, which in plan has the shape of an irregular trapezoid measuring 47.5x52.5 m. n. e. In the middle reaches of the Alma, on a flat hill with a steep eastern and more gentle south-western slope, there is another refuge called "Chabovsky Mountain". The highest part of the hill was surrounded by a stone wall 2 m thick and was a fortification that arose, judging by the fragments of ceramics, in the II-III centuries. n. e.

Krasnozorinsk settlement 1, 2, 3 - exploration pits, M - N - remains of an ancient road

Similar fortifications existed in the central Crimea. One of them is located 2.5 kilometers northeast of the village of Pionerskoye (former Dzhalman). Rectangular in plan, the shelter with an area of ​​45x30 m was surrounded by a stone wall, which was poorly preserved. Next to it is a large settlement with the remains of buildings and ancient roads. The shelter belongs to the I-III centuries. n. e. 62 At the same time, there was another, so far, unfortunately, little studied type of settlements - estates. One of them was opened in 1958-1959. in the tract Kizil-Koba 63 . Part of the dwelling house of the owner of the estate, a major winemaker, was excavated here. The dwelling was of good quality, with a cement, rather than an earthen floor, which apparently consisted of several rooms. The territory of the Scythian state in the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e. still, as in its heyday, is quite large. Moreover, it is expanding significantly due to the development of river valleys. How was this power governed, what was the social system of Scythia? This question has not yet been resolved. The meager evidence of ancient authors, epigraphic and numismatic data suggests that a king was at the head of the Scythian state. We know about the powerful king Skilur, during whose reign Scythia reached its highest power. One of the Naples inscriptions - it has already been discussed - says that Skilur was the son of the king. This means that power was inherited from father to son. In addition to Palak, the son of Skilur, the kings Farza and Inismey, who ruled in the first centuries of our era, are known. They, like Skilur, minted coins in Olbia. The sources do not say what kind of relationship the subordinate population had with the authorities of Scythia. All our information about this is drawn from archaeological materials. Above, we said that the population of Scythia, apparently, brought bread to Naples, and visiting merchants bought it there. Calculations of the amount of grain that was stored in the capital allow us to confirm this assumption, so much cannot be produced by the population of one city, where, moreover, aristocracy, artisans, merchants, and warriors who are not engaged in agriculture live. But under what conditions did the population give their bread to the authorities? Was there a certain rate of tribute, or did the merchants give some goods in exchange for grain? This we do not know. As for tributary relations, they existed among the Scythians for a long time 64 . At one time, the Scythians levied tribute from Olbia, imposed tribute on the Bosporus kingdom. A number of facts testify to the social differentiation of the Scythian society. We see, for example, that representatives of the royal family have their own tomb - a mausoleum, the privileged elite of society buries the dead in rich crypts with paintings; apparently, with each buried - numerous gold and other valuable items (that's why these graves were plundered in ancient times by fellow tribesmen). The bulk of the population uses earthen crypts, earth and side graves. The question of slavery among the Scythians continues to be difficult and debatable. Servants and slaves were probably the king and his entourage. Not without reason in the mausoleum of Naples, the rich burials of the nobility were accompanied by the burials of the poor. Disunity, decentralization of power, the struggle against external enemies continuously weakened the Scythian state. The measures taken to strengthen the state, including the creation of shelters, were in vain. The king of the Bosporus Sauromates I (r. 93-123) defeats the "barbarians", most likely the Scythians, and in honor of the victory he mints a coin depicting a flaming barbarian fortress. His successor Cotius II (123-132) is honored by the Bosporans with a statue for the victory over the Scythians. In all likelihood, both kings inflicted serious blows on the Scythians within a fairly short time. The last time the Scythians are mentioned in the sources was around 193: a Tanaid inscription (from the city of Tanais in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov) reports the victory of Sauromates II over the Scythians and Siraks *.

Last push

The upper layers of all Scythian settlements bear traces of conflagrations. Obviously, settlements and settlements died suddenly, becoming victims of an unexpected and crushing blow. The unarmed population, apparently, was not in a position to resist. The only thing left was to run. And people fled, leaving everything, even precious things. It happened in the III century. n. e. On the floor of a house in Alma-Kermen (a house with frescoes), a gold pendant decorated with almandines and a gold ingot dropped in a hurry were found. And a murdered man of 35-40 years old remained lying on the threshold. He died from a blow to the head with some round object. At some distance from this house, on the edge of the settlement, lay another dead man. The fire destroyed the dwellings, under the collapsed roof for centuries were buried red-glazed and stucco vessels, amphoras with charred wheat and rye, various objects of labor and everyday life. Life has not resumed here. The same fate befell the capital of the state - Naples. Traces of fire and destruction of the III century. n. e. associated with the destruction of the city. In its various regions - in the upper layers - burials (with and without things) of forcibly killed people were found. Among them - a man buried in a pit in a crouched position, a man on the ruins of a defensive wall. The latter died, probably during the battle, and remained in place, as there was no time for funeral ceremonies. All this testifies to the tragedy that broke out at the moment of the final death of the kingdom and its capital. Who were the perpetrators of the tragedy? The answer can, alas, only presumably. First of all, it is bewildering that the newcomers who managed to cause such destruction did not leave any traces of their material culture. Written sources say that in 275 AD. e. Gothic squads invaded the Crimean peninsula. According to the archaeological inventory found in the upper layers of settlements and settlements (numerous fragments of amphorae, red-glazed pottery, etc.), the time of the death of the settlements corresponds to this date. The materials of necropolises do not contradict it either: burials later than the 3rd century BC. n. e. not found in Late Scythian burial grounds. Apparently, the population left, the graves were abandoned, no new burials were made. Written sources also report that the Sarmatian-Alanian tribes were part of the Gothic tribal union, and the Goths proper were only the top of this union (tribal union). It is quite obvious that a number of burials found in the upper layers of Naples, is associated with the invasion of the tribes that participated in the defeat of the Scythian capital. Let's take an example. In the upper layer of the Ust-Alma settlement, a burial of a Sarmatian, a male warrior, was discovered. The buried lay on his back, stretched out, with his head to the northwest. On the left side, along the body, there was a long (1.10 m) iron sword, apparently attached to the harness, since iron rings were found on the pelvic bones. A bronze fibula was found at the shoulder on the left, and a piece of chalk was found on the pelvic bones. The warrior's left hand and the phalanges of his right fingers were cut off. Similar graves are not known at the Ust-Alma necropolis. It is quite possible that before us are the dead warriors from the Gothic Union, in which the Sarmatian-Alans predominated.

On the threshold of the Middle Ages

The state of the Crimean Scythians lived for almost seven hundred years, constantly communicating with the surrounding population of ancient cities. Without these contacts, neither the Scythian kingdom, nor the Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea region could exist. The heyday and power of late Scythia were largely associated with the far-sighted policy of its kings, who developed trade and strengthened the unity of the country. Years passed, wars and internal contradictions constantly undermined Scythia. Lucian of Samosata (author of the 2nd century AD), on behalf of one of the Scythians, characterizes the situation in the state in this way: “We have constant wars, we either attack ourselves, or withstand an attack, or fight over pastures and prey. .." 65 .

Neighbors of the Scythians and Sarmatians

Scythian-Sarmatian burial mounds

Scythian-Sarmatian antiquities are discovered in burial mounds. In many places of our steppe space, mounds of considerable size and regular shape rise on smooth plains. Some of them look like earthen pyramids up to 10 fathoms in height and up to 150 fathoms in circumference, lined with stones at the base. They are usually called thick graves. Along with them, oblong mounds of smaller size sometimes rise, called long graves. These mounds have long attracted the attention of the inhabitants of the steppes, who guessed that these mounds are the graves of noble people and kings of former peoples and may contain various treasures. As a result, steppe mounds have long been excavated by people looking for treasures and treasures, and not without success. Scientists and archaeologists also paid attention to them. Remembering what Herodotus tells about the burial of kings and noble people among the Scythians, archaeologists came to the conclusion that these mounds are Scythian graves. The content of Herodotus' story about this burial should have encouraged scientists to excavate, for it promised rich scientific booty. Herodotus tells that the Scythians buried all the kings with special honors and in a special way. The body of the deceased, having opened the stomach and cleaned it, filled it with fragrant seeds and herbs, smeared it with wax, laid it on a chariot and drove it across the steppe to the nearest subject people, from there to the next one, etc., until all subject tribes were visited. “Whoever accepts the brought body does what the royal Scythians do: they cut off their ears, cut their hair, cut their muscles all around, scratch their forehead and nostrils, and pierce their left hand with arrows.” Each tribe, having met the remains of the king, then accompanied them to the burial place. In this way, a great multitude accumulated in the procession. The burial places were in a country called Gerra, as the people who lived there were also called, in the place where one could sail along Borisfen (meaning, near the rapids). Here they dug out a large quadrangular pit, and arranged separate caves in it, as if special rooms, from which in one they buried the king on a bed, hoisting spears on the sides and arranging a roof of beams and wicker rods on them. In the rest of the caves, first strangling, they buried one of the royal wives, the cupbearer, the cook, the equestrian, the clerk, the messenger and the royal horses, along with golden cups and with all sorts of jewelry from clothing and household items, mostly also gold. Having performed the funeral, everyone vying with each other covered the grave with earth, trying to make the embankment as high as possible ... A year later, a commemoration was celebrated, at which another 50 people died, the best servants of the deceased king, and 50 best horses. They were killed and dead riders on dead horses were placed on poles and stakes around the barrow. Thus, on the basis of Herodotus' story, one could hope to find items of Scythian life and home furnishings in the burial mounds. These expectations were fully confirmed. The mounds gave abundant collections of household items of different times and, moreover, not only the Scythians, but, apparently, their fellow tribesmen - the Sarmatians. It is not possible to distinguish what belongs to the Scythians and what to the Sarmatians, in view of their kinship and the homogeneity of the cultural influences under which they were. The obtained archaeological data must therefore be recognized as data of one Scythian-Sarmatian culture.

Kulob grave

Earlier than other royal graves, in 1831, the Kulobskaya grave was excavated and examined, 6 versts from the city of Kerch. Her tomb had a square shape with a roof and consisted of stone slabs. In it stood the cypress sarcophagus of the king, and next to it was another similar sarcophagus, obviously, of the royal wife (it, however, decayed, and only arms and legs were preserved from it). The sarcophagus of the king was divided into two parts: the body of the king was laid in one, and his weapons in the other; by the way, a sword was found here with a handle overlaid with gold, with an inscription. The king was buried with various jewels. Expensive dresses hung on the walls of the tomb, which, of course, decayed; only metal decorations in the form of gold and electronic (from a mixture of gold and silver) plaques remained from them. On the head of the king, a felt hat in the form of a hood survived, studded with various kinds of jewelry. Among other objects, four amphoras of the Greek type and the famous Kulob vase, now kept in the Imperial Hermitage in Petrograd, were found here. A skeleton of a horse was found in the corner of the tomb, and next to it lay a skeleton, probably of a stable-slave, heading towards it. In the middle of the tomb, a skeleton of a queen was found on the ground. The queen had an electronic diadem on her head, a gold filigree monisto with pendants and a gold hryvnia around her neck, and gold bracelets depicting deer hunting by vultures on her hands.

Chertomlytskaya grave

The second remarkable "Scythian" grave - Chertomlytskaya (20 versts from the city of Nikopol, Yekaterinoslav province) was excavated by I. E. Zabelin in 1862. The grave is a vast mound up to 26 sazhens high along the slope and up to 165 sazhens in circumference, lined with 7 sazhens at the sole. When this mound was excavated 1.5-2.5 arshins from above, shards of broken amphorae and various things that made up horse attire began to come across: iron bits, bronze rams, buttons, various cufflinks in the form of a bird's head, bronze, gold and silver plaques of various sizes and shapes, bells connected to plaques with an iron chain, bronze arrows, etc. Under them were found a bronze slotted ball with a tube for putting on a shaft, bronze images of lions, dragons and birds; also with pole tubes. When a certain area was dug in the embankment to the clay continent, a quadrangular oblong pit was found, covered with black soil, and aside from it five more pits, two small oval, and three larger square ones. In one oval-shaped grave, the skeleton of a man was found, lying facing the main tomb. On his neck he had a silver hoop covered with sheet gold, near his right ear a golden earring of Greek workmanship, on the middle finger of his right hand - a gold ring twisted in a spiral of wire; next to the skeleton on the right lay an iron spear and the same arrow or dart, and their shafts had already completely decayed; near the pelvic bone there is a bunch of bronze arrows with clear traces of a decayed leather quiver. In another oval grave, another skeleton lay in the same position, which had a massive gold twisted hoop around its neck (about 0.5 pounds in weight), near the head on the right - a bunch of bronze arrows with the remains of trees, which were painted with cinnabar belts; Near the wrist of the left hand, several more of the same arrows were found. 11 horse skeletons were found in square graves, 5 of them with silver bridle outfits, and 6 with gold bridle and saddle outfits. Bridle outfits consisted of a massive nosepiece depicting a bust of some animal, 2 large plaques with the image of birds, 2 small massive buttons, 6 large buttons or plaques with ears. The saddle attire of each horse included: 4 plates decorating the saddle, 4 large buttons or badges with ears, an iron buckle and a silver ring, probably from a girth. On two horses, in addition, there were bronze neck-dresses made of large and small crescent-shaped plaques with hanging bells. The main grave turned out to be plundered; at the bottom of it, after the black soil was taken out, there were imprints of blue and carmine paints, apparently from the walls of the coffin, the remains of decayed wood and reeds, iron staples and nails. This plunder was carried out through a special underground loophole dug out on the side of the mound. But the kidnapper did not manage to endure everything - the loophole collapsed and covered him with earth, and some of the things he collected in the grave ended up in an underground corridor and caves dug out in the form of niches from this corridor. Here were found: two large copper vases, one with six handles in the form of goats, a bronze lamp with six horns, 5 quivers of bronze arrows, 7 knives, a sword with a handle overlaid with gold, a bronze pail, a pile of gold plaques (about 700 pieces) with many golden buttons that served as an adornment of some kind of clothing or coverlet, the remains of which lay under these things. The quadrangular plaques depict a seated female figure in profile with a mirror in her left hand, and in front of her is a standing figure of a Scythian drinking from a horn; other plaques depict female heads, rosettes, a jellyfish head; most plaques are triangular pea. Two gold rings were also found, one with a carved image of a dog, the other with the image of a bull, a massive gold ring, a gold tip from a sword scabbard, a gold chased board that served as a cover for a bow, the other from a sword scabbard - both depicting scenes from Greek mythology , 5 swords with handles covered with chased gold, four of which depict griffins and deer, and on the fifth, an image of a hunt is excellently minted and at the top there are two bull heads without horns, many plates from iron and bronze type-setting belts, etc.

But the predators, fortunately, did not get into the four side tombs, which were dug out at the corners of the main tomb two arshins below its level and communicated with it by sloping slopes. In these graves, male and female skeletons, apparently of a queen, were found. Male skeletons had bronze or gold hoops around the neck, with images of lions at the ends, gold bracelets on the hands, gold rings on the fingers, at the waist, on the left side, knives with a bone handle and swords with a handle covered with gold with rough images of griffins and deer , on the loins of the belt, consisting of bronze plates, near - quivers with bronze arrows, spears and arrows with iron tips; one of the skeletons had a bronze cup with silver handles and a silver jug ​​in their heads, while the others had clay amphoras. At the female skeleton around the neck was found a massive smooth gold hoop about 1 pound in weight with an image of lions at the ends; near the ears are two earrings, consisting of rings with seven pendants each; on the forehead there is a golden halo chased with herbs with plaques in the form of flowers and rosettes; near the head and the whole body lay 57 quadrangular plaques with the image of a woman sitting upright and a boy standing to her right - with a mirror in his hand (these plaques served as a border of some cover); on the hands were wide smooth gold bracelets and glass beads, on nine fingers smooth gold rings, and on one with the image of a flying steppe bird like a drachva, etc. In addition to the skeletons and jewelry with which the corpses were placed in the graves, one in these dungeons a whole heap of gold ornaments was found in the form of plates with images of dragons, lions, deer, herbs, flowers, fruits; dragons tormenting deer; dragons fighting sphinxes; in the form of round, quadrangular, triangular plaques with images of a jellyfish head. Hercules with a lion, a lion tormenting a deer, a vulture, a hare, a calf, etc.; in the form of buttons of various sizes and shapes, beads decorated with filigree, zapons in the form of sphinxes, etc. In total, about 2,500 items were found. Apparently, all these decorations were strung on clothes that were hung in this dungeon and then decayed (hooks on which they hung, and decayed fabrics remained). In another dungeon, a famous silver vase was found, a arshin high and up to nine inches in diameter, depicting scenes from Scythian life; next to it is a large flat bowl on a pallet, decorated with grooves and a grass pattern, with two handles, under which female figures are depicted in relief; on it is a large silver spoon with a handle, decorated at the end with a boar's head. Finally, several clay amphoras of Greek work were found in the same dungeons.

Life of the Scythians and Sarmatians

Similar things were found in other graves of the same type in Yekaterinoslavskaya. Tauride, Kyiv, Poltava and Kharkov provinces and in the Kuban region. All these items found by archaeologists confirm and supplement the information about the life of the Scythians and Sarmatians that we have from ancient writers.

We have seen that Herodotus of the Eastern Scythians calls those who neither sow nor plow. Hippocrates, a contemporary of Herodotus, gives a vivid picture of this way of life. “They are called nomads,” he writes, “because they have no houses, and they live in wagons, of which the smallest are four-wheeled, and others are six-wheeled; they are covered with felt all around and arranged like houses, some with two, others with three compartments. They are impermeable neither to water, nor to snow, nor to winds. Two and three pairs of hornless oxen are harnessed to these wagons. Women are placed in such tents, and men ride horses; they are followed by their flocks of sheep and cows, and herds of horses. They stay in one place as long as there is enough grass for the herds, and when there is not enough, they move to another area. They themselves eat meat, drink mare's milk, and eat ippaku (mare's milk cheese)." Similar to this description are the descriptions of the life of the Sarmatians given by Strabo and other Greco-Roman writers. Archeology fully confirms these data. Almost all the images found in the graves of Scythia and Sarmatia depict the life of the steppe nomads: scenes of domestication of horses are depicted on the Chertomlyk vase; on plaques we see Scythians hunting hares in the steppes; in another place, 3 horsemen are chasing deer, etc. The horse is the best companion and friend of the Scythian, and the Scythian does not part with him even after death, putting him with him in the grave, sometimes in rich gold and silver attire. Images of the Scythians on vases and plaques and things found in the graves make it possible to restore the clothes of the Scythians: these are the clothes of dashing riders. The Scythians wore shirts that did not reach the knees, with narrow sleeves and tight leather or cloth trousers. They wore either sleeveless jackets or short coats with narrow sleeves and slanting floors, longer in front than behind; some were covered in fur. An essential part of the Scythian clothing was a leather belt with slits and a buckle, on which they carried a quiver with arrows, a bow and a sword. The shoes of the Scythians were leather ankle boots, tied with two belts. On their heads, the Scythians wore hoods made of leather or camel hair, consisting of several pieces, and one of them covered the back of the head and descended onto the back. The kings wore bandages (tiaras) and expensive hats made of fabric, leather and metal, trimmed with fur. Women wore long clothes with long narrow sleeves and a headdress like a kokoshnik. Both men's and women's clothes were decorated with round, oval, quadrangular plaques sewn on them, the number of which, as well as the material, depended on the nobility of the person. 266 gold plaques weighing up to 2.5 pounds in total were hung on the clothes of the Kullob king, and on the dress of the queen there were 3.5 pounds of gold plaques (474 ​​pieces). In addition to plaques, metal and glass beads, tubes with borders, buttons, pendants and bells served as decorations for clothing. The Scythians also wore jewelry in the form of earrings (men in one right ear), neck bands, rings and bracelets on their hands. The armament of the Scythians, according to archaeological excavations, consisted of spears, swords, axes, bows with arrows, shields and armor, iron or bronze.

Greek influence on the life of the Scythians and Sarmatians

Jewelry found in the Scythian-Sarmatian graves and various household items testify to the significant Greek influence on the life of our steppe barbarians. The Greeks, obviously, worked for the barbarians, sold them their products. Among the clay vessels in the graves, there are a lot of painted vases with a Greek mark; come across bronze, sometimes gilded mirrors, bone plates depicting scenes from Hellenic life and mythology (chariot running, judgment of Paris). Particularly remarkable is the gold plate from the Chertomlyk mound with relief images of national Greek life. This plate depicts, as it were, two floors. On the lower floor on the left side, a group of women sit inside the house and listen to what is happening in the next room, which is an already open courtyard. Here is a group of three men talking. The middle of the women is depicted with strong emotion on her face, while the image of the extreme man is full of indifference and calmness. Ahead of the men is a woman with a child, her face is sad. There are three figures on the upper floor of the plate on the right side, one of which depicts a young man in Greek attire, who, with a dagger in his hand, rushes at a woman who is running away from him, and two other figures are holding the young man from an assassination attempt. On the left side is a man teaching a little boy how to draw a bow.

The Greeks did things for the barbarians with images of their own barbarian life or scenes of a clash between barbarians and Greeks. Scenes from barbarian life are depicted on the Chertomlytskaya and Kulyobskaya vases. The Chertomlytsky silver vase has the shape of an amphora and was probably intended for wine: a small strainer is attached inside its neck, and three spouts in the lower part; one in the form of a winged horse head, and two in the form of lion heads. The base, neck, handles and all decorations are thickly gilded. The body of the vase is covered with conditional, stylized images of herbaceous vegetation interspersed with completely real images of wild pigeons and cranes. The frieze is busy with scenes of steppe life. In the foreground are two horses grazing calmly. To the right, a young Scythian, crouching on one knee, is trying with a lasso to keep a horse running away from him; to the left, an elderly Scythian does the same, leaning back and squatting down. In the upper part of the frieze, two Scythians in front and one behind curb the horse; nearby on the right, a calmly standing Scythian takes something out of a bag; behind him the Scythian hobbles his tired horse; on the left side, the Scythian, holding the bridle of the horse with one hand, with the other raises his leg for inspection. Above these scenes are two griffins tormenting a deer. All figures are made of cast silver, attached to the field of the frieze (at present, the threads depicting the lasso and bridles have not been preserved); the image is made artistically, all the details are clearly drawn. The Kulob vase (11th-1st century BC) depicts scenes from military life. The king in a golden diadem with a tired face, leaning on a spear, sits on a dais and listens to a messenger kneeling before him, leaning on a shield; a Scythian sitting next to him pulls a bowstring that has come off on a bow; then a Scythian is depicted, who put his fingers into another's mouth and examines the jaw, causing great suffering to the patient; then one Scythian bandages the other's wounded leg with a narrow band. Scenes from the struggle between the Scythians and Greeks are depicted on the gold plate of the sword sheath from the Chertomlytsky kurgan. The leader of the Greeks calls forward his lagging warriors; at this time, the leader of the Scythians is trying to stab the Greek with a sword. The next scene - the Scythian wants to spear a wounded young Greek, who is trying to be carried away by another Greek. In the next group, a Greek hits an already wounded Scythian with a sword, who fights him off with an ax; a rider with a spear rushes to the aid of the Scythian, but his horse stumbled. Behind this group is a scene of bandaging the leg of a wounded Greek, whose face shows great suffering. At the end, a running horse is depicted, throwing off a warrior who lies face down on the ground. Decorating things with real scenes from Scythian life, Greek artists, along with this, catered to the taste of the barbarians and conditional ornaments, such as, for example, the aforementioned griffins, plants, etc. This ornament, which has much in common with the art of Central Asia, apparently came to to the Scythians from the east from their fellow tribesmen, with whom they had intercourse. Oriental taste was also reflected in the colorful ornamentation of gold and bronze items with precious stones and colored glass.

There is evidence to suggest that not all things found in the Scythian-Sarmatian graves were of imported origin. One metal plate depicting a lion and five other animals bears the Greek inscription Ποράχο. Apparently, this is the name of the master who made the plate, and although it is depicted in Greek letters, it is undoubtedly barbaric (similar to Farnak). One vessel is directly signed in Greek: ξηβανοχονταρούλας έπίει, i.e. Xebanokoutaroulas worked. The name is also barbarian, not Greek. Obviously, the Scythians and Sarmatians, living in the Greek colonies, learned various kinds of skills there. It is possible that they also had their own technical knowledge, developed in communication with eastern tribesmen. Apparently, native Scythian works include bronze and copper vessels on rather high legs, sometimes decorated on top with relief figures of a ram, a sheep, and sometimes simply with an ornament. These, perhaps, were the very cauldrons in which, according to Herodotus, the Scythians cooked the meat of sacrificial animals.

The reverse influence of the Scythians and Sarmatians on the life of the Greek colonies

The Scythians and Sarmatians not only perceived the cultural influence of the Greeks, but also, in turn, exerted a certain influence on the way of Greek life on the banks of the Pontus Euxine. Cultural syncretism can be seen not only in the life of the Scythians and Sarmatians, but also in the life of the Greeks themselves. This syncretism came from the tribal rapprochement between Greeks and barbarians. Herodotus already noted this tribal rapprochement, pointing to the Hellenes-Scythians who lived near Olbia, to the palace of the Scythian king in Olbia. But this fact was most clearly manifested in the so-called Bosporus kingdom.

The core of this kingdom was the Greek colony of Panticapaeum. It was joined by the city of Nymphea, which was part of the Delian Union, in the 5th century, and Theodosia in the 4th century, as a result of which the archons of Panticapaeum turned into the archons of Bosporus and Theodosia. These archons subjugated a number of barbarian tribes that lived in the neighborhood, and in this way became archons and kings. As a result of the unification under one rule of the Greeks (Fanagoria and Gorgippia, now Anapa, joined the complex of Panticapaeum, Nymphaeum and Theodosius) and the barbarians, the internal life system in the Cimmerian Bosporus changed completely. Instead of the usual Greek city republic, an oriental-type monarchy was established here over time. The material monuments of the Bosporan kingdom reveal a strong barbarian element in his life. In the Kerch catacombs of the Roman era, we see the image not of the Greek townspeople, but of the steppe landowners, horse breeders and landowners, defending their property with their troops, squads and detachments. These people are not pure Greeks. An analysis of the names preserved on some tombstones testifies to their Iranian, i.e., Scythian-Sarmatian origin. Headdresses of the rich dead, found in the catacombs; all these hats, diadems, an abundance of gold jewelry - also speak of the barbarism of the inhabitants of Panticapaeum. The Greeks and the barbarians were brought together not so much by the submission of one authority, but by a common economic activity. The Bosporus kingdom was a major producer and exporter of bread and fish. About 400,000 medimns of bread were exported from here to Athens every year. This bread was produced by the neighboring barbarians - Taurians, Scythians and Sarmatians, bought and resold by the Greeks. This economic intercourse brought Greeks and barbarians closely together and led to their tribal fusion. Tribal and cultural syncretism is also being discovered in other Greek colonies of our south. In this regard, the story of Dion Chrysostomos, who visited Olbia in 100 A.D., is especially instructive. According to him, the inhabitants of Olbia already spoke unclean Greek, living among the barbarians, although they did not lose their tribal feeling and knew almost the entire Iliad by heart, idolizing her heroes, most of all Achilles. They dressed in the Scythian style, wearing trousers and black cloaks. They constantly waged a struggle against the barbarians, who flooded and ruined their cities, but at the same time they came to them to trade, etc. Asia Minor and Egypt, especially since the time of the campaigns of Alexander the Great and the wide dispersion of the Greeks within the former Persian kingdom. In the south of our country, a special variety of the so-called Hellenistic culture was developed.

This culture, despite the fact that it was swept away by the tide of new barbarians of the Turkic tribe into our steppes, did not remain without significance and influence for the life of the Russian people. Its seeds from the inhabitants of our steppes were brought far to the north, into the forest regions, to those tribes that were subsequently swallowed up by the Russian people. In this way, the Hellenic-Scythian-Sarmatian world took a certain part in the cultural prehistoric preparation of our people.

Northern neighbors of the Scythians and Sarmatians

What tribes lived north of the Scythians and Sarmatians? Herodotus calls neurons, who lived north of the headwaters of the Dnieper, androphages, living along the middle Dnieper, melancholy(Chernorizians) - to the east of the Androphagi, budinov, living north of the Sauromatians. But what kind of tribes they were, and in what relation they stand to the later population of our forest areas, we cannot answer this question based on the state of historical information. The first definite evidence of the population of our forest areas comes from Roman and Greek writers of the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. According to Pliny the Elder († 79 A.D.), near the Vistula, which was the border of Sarmatia, lived Wends. Tacitus (1100 A.D.) says that the Wends were scattered over a vast area east of the Vistula, between pevkinami, dwelling at the mouth of the Danube, and Finns. The Alexandrian geographer and astronomer Ptolemy († 175 A.D.) places the Wends among the great peoples of Sarmatia, i.e., Eastern Europe, around the Venedian Gulf (i.e., the Baltic Sea). Under the name of the Wends, the Western, mainly Baltic, Slavs subsequently appear. But there is no doubt that this name was once common to all Slavs: the Estonian Chud has a Slavic land and is now called vano, and the Slav is väne. The name "Antes", which denotes the Black Sea Slavs among writers of the 6th century according to R. X., apparently, is nothing more than a variation of the same name "Venedi". In addition to the Wends, Ptolemy designates the inhabitants of the Baltic coast - ships and galindov, in which researchers see Lithuanians (subsequently, branches of the Prussians bear such names).

So, three groups of tribes, in addition to the Greeks, Scythians and Sarmatians already listed by us, are put forward by the oldest historical evidence in Eastern Europe - Slavs, Lithuanians and Finns. How far did these tribes spread in Eastern Europe during the Scythian-Sarmatian era?

Slavic ancestral home

Scientists, determining according to the data of geographical nomenclature and grave excavations, according to comparative linguistics, the original place of residence of the Slavs in Europe, are currently inclined to think that this "Slavic ancestral home" captured the Vistula basin, the Carpathian mountainous country, the Pripyat basin, the middle Dnieper with the lower reaches of the Berezina and The gums, inclusive, and the upper reaches of the Dniester and the Southern Bug. In the north, the Slavic settlements intertwined and intermingled with the settlements of Lithuania, in the east with the settlements of Lithuanians and Finns, and in the south they ended approximately at the border of the forest and the steppe. Most recently, some philologists (academician Shakhmatov) have put forward the opinion that the Slavs moved into the outlined territory from the basin of the lower Neman and the Western Dvina, exchanging places with the Finns and Lithuanians who lived south of them. But this opinion, based mainly on philological considerations, is still at the stage of a hypothesis that needs further explanation.

Location of the Lithuanian people

As for the Lithuanian people, in the 11th-13th centuries, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bits distribution was the Neman basin. But there is reason to think that the original territory of Lithuania was wider, capturing the left tributaries of the Pripyat, the course of the Berezina, the basin of the Western Dvina, the upper Dnieper, and partly the Upper Oka basin. The researchers drew attention to the fact that the rivers flowing on the territory of our Dregovichi, Krivichi and part of the Vyatichi have mostly non-Slavic names, given to them, obviously, by the former inhabitants. Analyzing these names, researchers discover Lithuanian roots in many of them; by the way, Upa's name is directly derived from the Lithuanian common name ire, what does river mean. But since on the same territory there are rivers with Finnish nicknames for va, ga, za, ma, ra, sa, sha, (for example, Zelva, Russa - the Neman systems, Drissa and Obsha - the Western Dvina systems, Vyazma - the Dnieper systems) , hence the assumption that the Lithuanians lived in these areas interspersed with the Finns. This assumption is also supported by the fact that in the language of the Finns, not only the western group (Estonians and Finns), but also the eastern group (Mordovians), there are many words borrowed from the Lithuanian language. So there was a time when the Eastern Finns were in contact with Lithuania. Part of the Lithuanians, perhaps, moved further to the east. In the Tsna basin, near Tambov, a burial ground was found with the same things that are found in the burial grounds of the Latvian region.

The area of ​​distribution of the Finns. Iranian influence

This area was also much wider in the Scythian-Sarmatian era than later. If the Finns were known to the Romans and Greeks, one must think that they were not then abandoned in the northern regions, but lived much further south, in contact with the population of the steppes. The Finnish name for the Volga - Ptolemy's "Ra" - speaks in favor of this assumption. The modern hydrographic nomenclature of Eastern Europe leads to the same.

In the forest region of European Russia, we find many rivers ending in va, ga, za, ma, ra, sa, sha. The names of all these rivers do not sound in Slavic and could not be given by the Slavs. The Slavs, obviously, received them already in readiness from the peoples who lived here before and during the settlement of the Slavs. What kind of peoples could they be? Geographers have already made the observation that rivers with names for the above endings are distributed mainly in the areas occupied by the Finns. Philologists (Sjögren, Veske, etc.) pointed out that such names could have been given by the Finns. But we also meet rivers with similar names in those areas where we find the Slavic tribes of Radimichi, Severyans and Vyatichi. These are: Vehra (a tributary of the Sozh), Nerussa with the Seva (tributaries of the Seim) - the Dnieper system; Kroma, Zusha, Ugra, Zhizdra are the Oka systems, etc. Samaya Oka means river (Yoki) in Finnish. All this indicates that the Finns before the settlement of the Slavs lived much further south than later, in the early times of our history. At the same time, undoubtedly, they came into direct contact with the Iranian peoples who lived during the time in the south of our country. This explains the fact that in the Finnish languages ​​there are roots and even whole words of Iranian origin. According to these borrowed words, the researchers conclude that there is a strong Iranian influence on the life and culture of the Finns. Through the Iranians, the Finns got acquainted with metals - first of all, copper, and then gold (zarni), silver (Votyak - suspension, Zyryan - ezis; Hungarian - ezüst, Ossetian - äzvist), etc. The Iranians introduced the Finns to the beginnings of agriculture and domestic animals - cows and sheep. The borrowed term for lord - prince, master (öksej) gives reason to think that at least part of the Finns experienced a period of some dependence on the Iranians. If so, then it is possible that in that conglomeration of nationalities, which Herodotus designated with one name "Scythians", there were also Finnish tribes.

So, the historical evidence and linguistic arguments we have considered lead to the assertion that until the end of the 4th century A.D. there were no Slavs in the southern steppe regions of present-day European Russia, that they stayed in the western part of the forest region, occupying the basins of the Vistula, the upper Dniester and the right tributaries of the Pripyat, the lower Berezina and the Desna, on the border, probably interfering with neighbors: in the north and east with Lithuanian and Finns, in the south - with the Sarmatians and part of the Germans (Goths), trying, probably, to expand their settlement on their account . The great popular movements that took place at the end of the 4th, in the 5th and 6th centuries gave scope to this desire, and the territory of the Slavic settlement in Eastern Europe during this time and immediately afterwards, in the 7th-9th centuries, increased to enormous proportions.

Literature:

N. Kondakov, I. Tolstoy. Russian antiquities in monuments of art. Issue. 2-3. SPb., 1889.

Antiquities of Herodotus Scythia. Ed. Imp. Archeol. Commissions. Issue 1-2.

On the issue of the original residence of the Slavs, Lithuanians and Finns, in addition to the works of Grushevsky and Bagalei, see:

Lubor Niederle. Slovanské starozitnosti. 1-2. Prague, 1902-1904.

Nadezhdin. Experience of the historical geography of the Russian world // Library for reading. 1837. No. 7.

Weske. Slavic-Finnish relations according to the language // Proceedings of the Society of Archeology, History and Ethnography at the Imp. Kazan University. T. 8.

R. Stackelberg. Iranian-Finnish lexical relations // Proceedings of the Eastern Commission Imp. Moscow Archeol. Society. T. 1.

A. A. Kochubinsky. Territory of prehistoric Lithuania // ZHMNP. 1897. No. 1.

“Thanks” to the works of the Greek historian Herodotus and some other authors of antiquity, we are used to seeing in the Scythians and Sarmatians wild Asian hordes, or at least Iranian peoples who settled in the southern steppes of Ukraine and Russia, Central Asia and Siberia. In documents, the former mention of the Scythians refers to 4800 years (VII century BC) from the calm of Mother Earth. The most complete and vivid references concern the Black Sea Scythians, whose self-name, according to the same Herodotus, sounds like “chipped”, which clearly and “with the naked eye” indicates, if not a clear Slavic, then the unconditional presence of the Slavic root “kolo”.

Academician B. Rybakov, based on the indicated self-name, rightly speaks of the unconditional presence of the Slavs in the composition of the people, which is called in many sources in the Greek manner - the Scythians. The academician deciphers the name “chipped” as “descendants of the sun”, since “kolo” among the Slavs is also the name of the sun. And let's remember that the Slavs in the "Word of Igor's Campaign" call themselves the descendants of the sun, namely, the grandchildren of Dazhdbozh.

So, part of the Scythians called themselves Skolots, the Persians called them Saks, Pliny says that they were also called Khazars (and here we ask the reader not to worry and not to invent “Judeo-Masons” for themselves, since the Khazars were not always and not all without exception were Jews).

The territory of the Scythian state occupied the lands of modern Ukraine to the forest zone (in the north), in the east it reached the Don and the Aral Sea, in the west - to modern Bulgaria and occupied part of Moldova, in the south - to the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and Crimea. It is interesting that Pliny and Strabo (ancient authors) call the Black Sea Scythia Small, and the Great Scythia, leaving to the east and north of the Don. Doesn't this remind us of the late book tradition of Little and Great Russia? The author of this article has not the slightest doubt that this is a tradition of naming the same people. The historian Thucydite writes that the Scythians are the most numerous people, and their kingdom is so powerful and large that not a single people, not only in Europe, but also in Asia, can be compared with them, and not a single people itself is able to overcome the Scythians.

And, indeed, the Scythians made many aggressive campaigns in the Middle East and Western Asia. In the 4830-40s (670 BC) they conquered Media, Syria, Palestine and created a kingdom there, the name of which the Greeks gave as "Ishkuza". In 4996 (512 BC), the Scythians felt the military power of the Iranians and drove the conquerors of King Darius I from their land. The Scythians were led in this war by King Idanfirs. The researcher of history L. Silenko, after analyzing the Scythian dialect, from our point of view, very clearly showed that the name of this most glorious king is of Slavic origin. Due to the peculiarities of the Greek language, the Slavic name Dantur turned into the name "Idanfirsos". In the same way, our Svyatoslav became among the Greeks "Sfentoslav".

In 5169, the Scythians were defeated by the troops of Philip II of Macedon, but already in 5178 they took revenge on the Macedonians, defeating the troops of the governor of Alexander the Great, Zopyrion, near Olbia. For all the time of its existence, Scythia was never conquered, and no one owned the Scythians. But, as often happens with us, if someone defeats us, it is we ourselves. As a result of civil strife, Scythia is transformed from a centralized state into a union of tribes, the most influential of which were the Sarmatians and the Crimean Scythians.

Since the 5200s, Scythia is more often called Sarmatia in documents. And although the Scythians and Sarmatians are stubbornly presented in history as different peoples, the ancients themselves write: “Sauromatians speak the Scythian language, but distorted from ancient times,” that is, we are talking about a dialect.

The names of the Scythian gods are known, which have a clear Aryan origin and can be read and understood in Slavic. So in the name of the Goddess Tabiti, our Bereginya is easily recognized: Tapiti, that is, “warm”. Papay is the father (Svarog), until now, many descendants of the Aryans, including Russians, call their father - “dad”. "Ares" is none other than the forefather Orius (Arius).

Scythian myths are early versions of Slavic mythology. So the most famous Slavic myths about the three brothers-founders of the people: a) Scythian, Rus and Sloven; b) Czech, Lech and Rus; c) Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv have their own Scythian parallel. This is a legend about the three brothers Lipoksai, Arpoksai and Koloksai. It was during their reign that 4 gifts fell from heaven: a plow, a yoke, an ax and a bowl, which corresponds to the dispensation of the Vedic society: the plow is the tool of the workers, the yoke is the owners, the ax is the knights, the ritual bowl is the Magi.

Thus, the self-name, names, faith and legends of the Scythians, as well as the Sarmatians, who are distinguished from the Scythians only by their dialect, confirm that there were a sufficient number of Proto-Slavs among the Scythians. And, if it is difficult to talk about the Scythians as direct Slavs, then they certainly became the substratum (part) of the great Family of the Glorious, and their [Scythian] culture has bright Proto-Slavic features. It would not be superfluous, but even necessary, to mention that until the Middle Ages, Western Europeans called the Rusyns of Russia - Scythians, and the Poles and Rusyns of Ukraine called themselves descendants of the Sarmatians. In particular, in the title of some hetmans of the Zaporizhzhya Army there was a component "Prince of Sarmatia".

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The ancestors of the Russian people are not only Slavs, but many peoples that are difficult to classify in modern terms. Usually such ancestors are named according to the archaeological monuments that remained of them. In the names, to varying degrees, there are household items, types of ornament, the name of a weapon or the nearest settlements and historical places. This is how the “Corded Ware culture”, “battle ax bearers”, “Chernyakhovites”, “Milogradtsy” appear ...

On the map above, we see a lot of names of this kind and on the "Slavic area" they are just placed as "Proto-Slavic" cultures "Pshevorskaya" and "Proto-Prague-Korchakov" from 3-4 centuries. Of course, it is also suitable Kyiv". But relatively "Chernyakhovskaya" there are doubts: it is exactly where the Goths went back and forth for a long time and confidently ... Not to mention for a short while passing the Huns and the constantly present Scythians and Sarmatians ...
It so happened that I know the region of the Northern Black Sea region quite well: both from the museums of Odessa and Belgorod, Dniester and Kyiv, and from trips along the Danube, Dniester, Southern Bug and Dnieper, Crimea. Scythian there is a dime a dozen: gold, weapons, armor, burial mounds, sanctuaries... Even the remains of cities (in the Crimea).
But the Scythians and Slavs are identical only in Alexander Blok's poem "Scythians"... Herodotus mentions some "Scythian plowmen", from which some lovers of everything famous and recognized are ready to conclude that we are talking about the Slavs...

In the Middle Ages, the Sarmatians were first recognized as their ancestors Polish gentry(“Sarmatism”, “Sarmatian theory”): allegedly, the Sarmatians conquered the local population in the Vistula-Pripyat basins and became military nobility ... Later, the gentry of modern Belarus and Ukraine began to consider themselves “Sarmatians” as well.
was even invented "Sarmatian portrait" and a special type of clothing - kuntushi and belts woven from gold and silver thread, five meters long and half a meter wide. They are often called "Slutsk", since their mass production - already in the 18th century - was established by magnate Karol Stanislav Radzivil, nicknamed "Pane Kakhanka" in his possession in the city of Slutsk (now Belarus). But this is already from the field of “materialization of sensual images”, and not evidence ...
The illustrations show two well-known figures of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russian and Samogitian - Lev Sapega and Nikolai Radziwill "Black" (because there was also Nikolai Radziwill, his cousin, nicknamed "Redhead") /