The appearance of the Scythians in the Crimea. Formation of the Scythian state. The Scythians are first mentioned in the sources as members of the anti-Assyrian coalition of the 70s. 7th century BC However, this event was preceded by the appearance of the Scythians in Western Asia, and the expulsion of the Cimmerians from the Northern Black Sea region by them.

According to historical tradition, the Scythians were forced out of southern Siberia by their eastern neighbors - the Massagetae and occupied the vast expanses of the steppes between the Danube and the Don. The territory of residence of the Scythians was called Scythia by ancient authors. According to one of the widespread hypotheses, the ancestors of the Scythians were the tribes of the so-called Srubnaya culture. Having settled on a vast territory, the Scythians created an original culture that had a significant impact on neighboring tribes, primarily on the population of the steppe and forest-steppe zones north of the Black Sea, mainly along the course of the Middle Dnieper, Upper Don and Kuban.

In the area of ​​the Scythian culture dating back to the 7th-3rd centuries. BC, there are many local variants associated with both Scythian and non-Scythian peoples. Ancient authors used the ethnonym Scythians in relation to the entire ethno-cultural community, which was made up of tribes that differed from each other in terms of language and economic structure.

However, directly under the ethnonym Scythians should be understood primarily as nomadic Scythians. Following the Cimmerians, the Scythians made a series of campaigns from the Northern Black Sea region to Transcaucasia and the Middle East. Their main road was the Caspian way through the Derbent passage, sometimes other pass paths were also used. Naturally, not all the population of the steppe zone of the Northern Black Sea region and Ciscaucasia went with the Scythian hordes to Western Asia. Part of it remained, and it is possible that those who left maintained some contact with those who remained.

During their stay in Western Asia and Asia Minor, the Scythians fought with Assyria, Media, and the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. Repeatedly changing allies, the Scythians for several decades terrified the local population, according to Herodotus, they devastated everyone with their violence and excesses. They exacted from each nation the tribute they imposed, but in addition to the tribute, they raided and robbed, which every nation had.

The military and political activity of the Scythians in Asia lasted until the beginning of the 6th century. BC when, defeated by Media, they returned to their lands. From the moment the Scythians returned from Western Asia, the actual Scythian period began in the history of the southern Russian steppes, about which more or less reliable information has been preserved in ancient sources. Returning from campaigns, the Scythians formed the dominant group of nomads, the so-called royal Scythians, who considered the rest of the Scythians their slaves.

It was they who formed the core of the emerging state, the center of which was in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. At the end of the IV century. BC. The Scythian state suffered a number of defeats in the wars on the Balkan Peninsula. The power of the Scythians was undermined. The active displacement of the Scythians from the Northern Black Sea region began in the 3rd century. BC, when a new powerful tribal union of the Sarmatians was formed in the historical arena. Having lost under the pressure of the Sarmatians vast steppe spaces in the Northern Black Sea region, concentrating on the Lower Dnieper and in the Crimea, the Scythians gradually turned into sedentary farmers and pastoralists living in permanent long-term settlements.

Fundamental changes in the economy led to significant innovations in the way of life, in material culture, in social relations and religious ideas, and in many respects influenced the political history of the Scythians. All this gives grounds to distinguish its last, late stage of the 3rd century BC. BC III c. n. which is fundamentally different from the previous ones.

In the Crimea, the Scythians settled in the river valleys, which originated on the northern slopes of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains and flowed in the north, flowing into the Black Sea or Sivash. The main ridge served as a natural southern boundary for the distribution of Late Scythian settlements. In the east, the possibilities for settlement were limited by the Ak-Monai isthmus, along which the border of the Bosporan kingdom probably passed. The western coast of Crimea at the time of the emergence of the late Scythian settlements was colonized by Chersonesus.

From the north, Crimea is naturally bounded by the Perekop Isthmus. But, as some events in the political history of the Scythians show, there was no clear boundary between them and other tribes in the steppe. In 339 BC King Atey died in the war with the Macedonian king Philip II. In 331 BC Zopyrion, governor of Alexander the Great in Thrace, invaded the western possessions of the Scythians, laid siege to Olbia, but the Scythians destroyed his army.

By the end of the III century. BC. The power of the Scythians was significantly reduced under the onslaught of the Sarmatians, who came from behind the Don. The capital of the Scythians was moved to the Crimea, where the city of Scythian Naples arose on the Salgir River near Simferopol, probably founded by Tsar Skilur. In addition to the Crimea, the Scythians continued to hold lands in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and the Bug. As a result of the above events, by the end of the III century. BC e. the Late Scythian state was formed. 2. Social system, state structure and political history of the Scythian kingdom.

Social structure and state structure. In Scythia, the dominant position was occupied by the royal Scythians. They constituted the main force during military campaigns. In the early stages of their history, the royal Scythians obviously represented an alliance of tribes, each of which had its own territory and was under the rule of its king. Such a division of the tribes is reflected in the story of three formations of the Scythian army during the war with Darius I. Moreover, the leader of the largest and most powerful military formation of the Scythians, Idanfirs, was considered the eldest.

The royal Scythians considered themselves the best and most numerous. The rest of the tribes depended on this dominant group. This dependence was expressed in the payment of tribute. The form of dependence of the subject peoples on the royal Scythians was different. The degree of ethnic kinship could have a direct impact on the nature of relations, when peoples close in ethnicity and culture were in a more privileged position than ethnically alien ones. From the moment it appeared on the historical arena, the Scythian society acted as a complex formation.

An important role was played by the tribal structure, but gradually its foundations were similar and modified by the growth of private property, property inequality, the emergence of a rich aristocratic elite, the strong power of the king and his squad. The basis of the Scythian society was a small individual family, whose property was cattle and household property. But the families were different.

Wealthy families had more herds, while at the same time there were families so impoverished that they could not provide an independent nomadic economy due to the small number of livestock. The Scythians were headed by kings and tribal elders, who also led military units. The power of the kings was hereditary and strong enough. There was a belief about the divine origin of the royal family. The kings also performed judicial functions.

Disobedience to the order of the king was punishable by death. The closest circle of the king was his personal team, consisting of the best warriors. To a certain extent, the power of the king was limited by the institutions of the tribal system. The highest legislative body was the People's Assembly Council of the Scythians, which had the right to remove the kings and appoint new ones from among the members of the royal family. The Scythian nobility and kings understood that the property of the Scythians largely depended on the preservation of the democratic traditions of the military tribal organization, and sought to preserve them. The bulk of the Scythian population were free warriors.

In peacetime, they grazed cattle, cultivated the land, and were engaged in handicraft production or trade. They had personal livestock, various property and even slaves. In wartime, all men became warriors. They went on a campaign with their weapons and equipment. Separate detachments were made up of free warriors under the command of the nobility. Any free warrior could become a military leader if he showed personal courage and courage.

Then he received land and he had his own detachment, the soldiers of which settled on his lands. Free warriors had many political rights. In periods that were especially responsible for the state, they gathered a council of Scythians. A separate category of the population was the priests - Enarei. It was believed that the goddess Aphrodite punished them with the gift of providence. They were servants of various gods, performed religious rites and sacrifices. In addition, they were engaged in healing, fortune telling, were advisers to leaders, they were turned to for help in the most difficult situations.

In the economy of nomads, the labor of slaves is very inconvenient to use. Therefore, the Scythians had few slaves. The Scythians usually sold all captured slaves to other countries. Only a few of them were mutilated so that they could not escape and used in domestic work. Among the Scythians - farmers and artisans, slavery was much more widespread. But they also contained only a few of the most skilled slaves.

After a certain period, the slave could be released into the wild, or made him a member of the family and left to live as a free person. Scythians who committed serious crimes, showed cowardice and betrayal, or simply angered the king, could also become slaves. Such slaves were not left in Scythia, but were usually sold immediately. Slaves - Scythians were willingly bought by the Greeks, who replenished their armies with them, since all Scythians were considered excellent archers. Not to mention friendship.

The oath of friendship among the Scythians was sealed with blood. For this, wine was poured into the cup. The warriors, swearing friendship to each other, cut the skin on their arm and poured a few drops into this bowl. Then they took turns drinking from it. The most respected tribesmen were usually invited to such a ceremony. They were witnesses and also drank from the cup. An oath sealed with blood was considered sacred. Thus, friends became blood relatives. This obligated them to help each other, not to leave in trouble and fight for each other in battle. Since the Scythians spent almost all the time in the war, the oath of friendship played a very important role in society.

Blood friends, fighting side by side in battle, could not betray or flee from the battlefield. Blood friendship was one of the important factors in the invincibility of the Scythians. Political history of the Scythian kingdom. At the time when the Scythians settled in the Crimean foothills, the western coast of the peninsula belonged to Chersonese.

Already in the III century. BC. The Scythians launched an active attack on the settlements of the Chersonesos Hora, and thus began a series of Scythian-Chersonese wars that stretched until the end of the 2nd century BC. BC. The claims of the Scythians were not limited to Chersonese. In the II century. BC. for a short time Olbia obeyed them. Almost nothing is known about the circumstances of the subordination of this policy and the forms of its dependence. But to say that Olbia in the II century. BC. was part of the late Scythian state can be quite confident.

The best proof of this fact is the finds of coins that were minted in Olbia on behalf of the Scythian king Skilur. Thus, it can be argued that in the III-II centuries. BC. Scythians played an extremely active role in the economic and political life of the Northern Black Sea region. At the same time, when resolving disputes with their neighbors, they often acted from a position of strength and usually successfully. The situation changed radically at the end of the second century. BC. By this time, the Scythians probably approached the very walls of Chersonesus more than once.

In any case, they destroyed and set on fire many fortified estates that belonged to the citizens of this policy and located in its immediate vicinity - on the Herakleian Peninsula. The Chersonesites, feeling their powerlessness before the barbarian invasion, turned for help to the king of Pontus, Mithridates VI Eupator. He sent soldiers to help Chersonesos, led by his best commander Diophantus. Further events developed rapidly. Skilur's son Palak unexpectedly attacked the Pontic army, but was put to flight.

After that, Diophantus went to the Bosporus. After returning from there, he strengthened his detachment at the expense of the Chersonesites and made a trip deep into Scythia, conquering the royal fortresses of Khabei and Naples. Obviously, deciding that the deed was done, Diophantus returned to Pontus. However, the Scythians quickly captured the lost lands, which forced the famous commander to come to Crimea again. He tried once again to subjugate the royal fortresses, but at first he did not succeed.

Then Diophantus moved to the North-Western Crimea, owned Kerkinitida, some other fortifications and proceeded to the siege of Kalos Limen. At this time, Palak, having gathered a large army, reinforced by the Sarmatian tribe of Roxolans, allied to the Scythians, once again tried to tip the scales to his side. The battle ended with the defeat of the Scythians. Diophantus again moved to Khabei and Naples, but it remains unknown whether he captured them this time. It seemed that the Crimean Scythia was dealt a mortal blow. Diophantus went to the Bosporus and there participated in an act of great political significance, the Bosporan king Perisades abdicated in favor of the king of Pontus Mithridates VI Eupator.

Probably, it was this event that led to the uprising of the Scythians who lived in the Bosporus. They killed Perisades and would have done the same to Diophantus if he had not escaped on a ship sent for him by the Chersonesites. The unfavorable course of events did not break the stubbornness of Mithridates VI Eupator. A year later, he again sends Diophantus to the Crimea, who defeated the rebels, captured their leader Savmak and thus returned the Bosporus to the power of Mithridates VI Eupator.

Probably, the late Scythian kingdom, unlike the Bosporus, was not attached to Pontus, but turned out to be dependent on it. Unsuccessful wars with Rome led to the loss of Mithridates' hopes. In the end, even the troops loyal to him before rebelled, and his own son Farnak led this uprising. The terrible king hid in the palace on the acropolis of Panticapaeum and ordered the head of the guard to stab himself. It happened in 63 BC. e. The Pontic kingdom collapsed.

The Scythians, of course, were free from an alliance with him. After the collapse of the Pontic state, the Scythians almost disappeared from the field of view of ancient authors. They apparently temporarily renounced their claims to Chersonesus, but retained almost the entire chorus of this policy, except for the Herakleian Peninsula. They continue to live on the sites of former Greek settlements, and have a very rich life, as evidenced by powerful cultural layers. Continue, and without any interruption, to function the old settlements in the central and southwestern Crimea Naples, Kermen-Kyr, Bulganak, Ust-Alma, etc. Cherished - obviously, immediately after the Diophantine wars. Vast necropolises with hundreds of burials are associated with many settlements.

All this suggests that the defeat from the troops of Diophantus did not weaken the Scythians too much.

It is known, for example, that almost immediately after the death of Mithridates, the Scythians took part in the internecine war for the Bosporan throne. Probably, restless western neighbors forced the Bosporan kings to line up on the line with them in the middle of the 1st century. BC. the powerful Ilurat fortress on the Kerch Peninsula, near the modern village of Ivanovka, apparently on time, because at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd century. AD, the kings of the Bosporus - first Sauromates I, and then Kotis II - were noted in special inscriptions for the victory over the Scythians. In the 1st century AD the Scythians were so strong that they could conduct military operations on two fronts both against the Bosporus and against Chersonesus.

They firmly held in their hands the former choir of Chersonesus - the North-Western Crimea. No wonder the author of the ancient description of the Black Sea coast, Arrian, calls Kerkinitida and Kalos Limen Scythian. His information is clearly confirmed by archeological data in the settlements located in the northwest, powerful cultural layers dating back to the 1st century BC have accumulated. BC I century. AD We do not have such detailed sources about this time as about the era of Mithridates, but one can guess that this time Chersonesus turned out to be powerless before the Scythians.

Its citizens were forced to seek help from the ruler of the Roman province of Moesia, Tiberius Plautius Silvanus. It was he who, around 63 AD, as it is said in his tombstone, drove the king of the Scythians away from Chersonesos and left a garrison in the city, having saved the citizens from the claims of their neighbors. By the time the Scythians clashed with the Romans, their society had undergone major changes, compared, for example, with the era of Skilur's reign. 3. Weapons, dishes, culture and art of the Scythians.

The warlike life was reflected in the animal style, i.e. in images of strong and fast animals stylized in a certain way. A similar animal style is contained in the story of the palace of King Skil and Olbia. This palace was decorated with images of sphinxes and griffins. These and other fantastic beasts are known in various images of the animal style, the former, for example, on plaques, the latter on a variety of ubiquitous items from jewelry on horse harness to sewn-on gold plaques on clothes.

Weapons - the most important part of the lifetime use and grave goods of the Scythian aristocrat and free community member - war. But it is enough to recall the images of simple warriors and leaders on samples of Greek toreutics, like the Kulob or Voronezh vase, and at that hour we will see pointed leather hoods, which, of course, played the role of leather helmets, and obviously quilted leather sleeveless jackets, which also played the role of armor .

It is not surprising that almost all historical peoples went through the use of leather helmets and armor before getting comfortable with metal ones. Scythian was a mounted archer. The bow and arrow is his main weapon. The bow was made of wood and sinew. Legends surrounded Scythian shooting. Some myths claimed that some Scythian taught Hercules to shoot, who was a hero - an archer. In one of the legends about the origin of the Scythians, on the contrary, Hercules brought his bow to Scythia and bequeathed it to one of the three sons born to him from a half-woman - half-snake, the daughter of the Borisfen River.

The bow went to the smaller of them Skiff. The oldest Scythian arrows are flat, often with a spike on the sleeve. The arrows are made of bronze. They were produced in huge numbers, probably due to the simplicity of their casting. Quite a lot in common in costumes for both women and men. The men's costume consisted of a leather sleeveless jacket - a shell, the sleeves of a soft shirt came out of it, the pants went down to the ankle, where they ended over soft leather half boots without heels, fitted at the same ankle with a belt.

Women's costume is a long pleated dress. On the head is often a soft veil, falling to the waist. A lot of wooden utensils were made. Scythian ceramics is made without the help of a potter's wheel. Scythian vessels are flat-bottomed and varied in shape. Scythian bronze cauldrons up to a meter high, which had a long and thin leg and two vertical handles, were widely used.

Scythian art is well known mainly from objects from burials. It is characterized by the depiction of animals in certain poses and with exaggeratedly noticeable paws, eyes, claws, horns, ears, etc. Ungulates were depicted with bent legs, predators - curled up in a ring. Scythian art represents strong or fast and sensitive animals. It is noted that some images are associated with certain Scythian deities. The figures of these animals, as it were, protected their owner from trouble. The claws, tails, and shoulder blades of predators were often shaped like the head of a bird of prey, sometimes full images of animals were placed in these places.

This artistic style was called the animal style. The Scythian culture was more widespread than the area of ​​settlement of the Scythians. The influence of the Scythian way of life on the neighboring tribes was enormous. In addition to the animal style, forms of Scythian weapons, some tools and a number of decorations penetrated the neighbors.

But there are also significant differences that are reflected in the form of dwellings and settlements, in the form of burial structures, in funeral rites, and in ceramics. 4. Burials. The most famous are the Scythian burials. The Scythians buried the dead in pits or in catacombs, under mounds. The burial rite of the Scythian kings is described by Herodotus. When the king died, his body was carried along the Scythian roads for a relatively long time, and the Scythians had to express their sadness in every possible way over the death of the lord.

Then the body of the king was brought to Gerra, they put him in a grave pit along with his murdered wife, murdered servants, horses, and poured a huge mound over him. In general, the Scythian imagined the afterlife as a kind of repetition of the real one. He was provided enough to remain the same as he was here, a king, a warrior, a servant. The social orders on the other side of death seemed to the Scythian unchanged, earthly. The laws of religion were observed strictly.

Apostasy was punishable by death. In the royal burial mounds of the Scythians, gold vessels, artistic items made of gold, and expensive weapons are found. Most of these mounds were robbed in antiquity. The oldest Scythian burial mounds date back to the 6th century BC. BC. Melgunovsky near Kirovograd belongs to the archaic burial mounds. In nm was found an iron sword in a golden scabbard, which depicts winged lions shooting from bows, and winged bulls with human faces. C VI V centuries. BC. things from Scythian mounds reflect ties with the Greeks.

There is no doubt that some of the most artistic things were made by the Greeks. Kurgan Chertomlyk is located near Nikopol. The height of its earthen embankment with a stone plinth is 20 m. It hid a deep shaft with four chambers at the corners. Through one of these chambers there was a passage to the burial of the king, robbed by the Scythians, but the gold lining of the bow case, which was depicted in the life of Achilles, slipped away from the robbers. The burial of the king's concubine was not robbed. E skeleton with gold decorations lay on the remains of a wooden hearse.

Nearby they found a large silver basin, next to which stood a silver vase, about 1 m high. It was a vessel for wine and equipped with taps in the form of lion and horse heads at the bottom. The vase depicts plants and birds, and above, Scythians decorating horses. The images are made in the traditions of Greek art. The mound Tolstoy Mogila is located 10 km from the mound Chertomlyk contained the richest burial with a lot of gold items, despite the fact that it was also robbed in antiquity.

The most noteworthy is a sword in a golden sheath and a pectoral - a neck and breast decoration. The most remarkable of all works of jewelry art is the pectoral. It is massive, its weight is more than 1 kg, its diameter is more than 30 cm. It has three zones of images, separated by golden cords. In the upper inner belt - scenes of Scythian life, in the center - two naked men sewing fur clothes, stretching them out by the sleeves.

To the right and left of them there is a horse with a foal, and at the ends of the composition there are birds flying in different directions. The middle tier is represented by a floral ornament made on a solid plate. The bottom tier is filled with animal fighting. Each figure is made separately, and then they are attached to their places, as they move away from the center of the composition, they decrease, see Appendix. The pectoral has no equal in artistry and in the number of images. In the Scythian burial mounds, there is a strong property stratification.

There are mounds small and huge, some burials without things, others - with a huge amount of gold. Property equality is so strong here that the conclusion about the turbulent process of class formation suggests itself. Thus, the listed phenomena of the history of Scythia contributed to the widespread dissemination of general forms of material culture and accelerated the development of a society that still retained many primitive features. The Scythians created their art. Much of it has entered the world Russian culture. 5.

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Crimean Scythia

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Having settled in the Black Sea steppes, the Scythians raided their neighbors. They conquered the agricultural tribes and forced them to pay tribute. The Scythians were brave warriors. They were famous as well-aimed archers. Each man had a supply of several hundred arrows, the tips of which were smeared with deadly poison.

In close combat, the favorite weapon of the Scythian warrior was a dagger and a short double-edged sword - akinak. Ordinary warriors had leather armor and wooden shields covered with bull skin. The leaders had metal armor adorned with gold and silver.

Campaigns and conquests of the Scythians

Following the Cimmerians, the Scythians made campaigns in Asia Minor. Here they defeated the troops of the strongest states and established dominance for 28 years. The Scythian army reached the borders of Egypt.

The Egyptian king - the pharaoh - came out to meet him and paid off the horrors of the invasion with rich gifts. The memory of the terrible invasion is mentioned in the Bible.

Predatory campaigns enriched the Scythian nobility and accustomed them to luxury. Burials of Scythian leaders (kings) amaze with their richness.

The cruel customs of the time required that the deceased be accompanied to the afterlife by his wife and servants, who were killed and buried nearby.

Huge mounds were piled over the grave, reaching the height of a modern five-story building. In 1830, the kul-Oba mound was excavated in the Kerch region.

In it, in a wooden sarcophagus, a Scythian leader, richly decorated with gold, was buried.

Scythian gods

The funeral rite of the Scythians is inextricably linked with religious beliefs. They worshiped the Sun and the sacred fire, which was personified by the supreme goddess of the Scythians, Tibiti. The royal Scythians also worshiped Tagimasad, the god of the water element - sea and river. For their gods, the Scythians erected neither temples nor altars. Right here in the steppe, domestic animals were sacrificed to them.

Only one bloody god of war required human sacrifice and had special sanctuaries. Every hundredth prisoner was buried in it. Then the blood collected in a special vessel was abundantly poured over the blade of the sword.

The courage and readiness of the Scythians to defend their steppes was experienced by Darius the First, the king of the most powerful state at that time - Persia. Around 512 B.C. e. at the head of a 700,000-strong army, he moved to the Scythian tribes. The reason is revenge for the attack on Asia Minor. The Scythians began to retreat, dragging the Persians into their endless steppes.

In order to deprive the enemy of food and water, the Scythians stole cattle, covered wells and springs, and destroyed vegetation. The Persian army was exhausted in wanderings through the waterless scorched steppe. Darius was forced to shamefully flee with the remnants of the army to his possessions. The glory of the victory over the Persians, together with the Scythians, was shared by the neighboring tribes subject to them, who responded to the call of the Scythian kings to take part in the war. But not everyone listened to their request. Among those who did not support the Scythians were the inhabitants of the Crimean mountains -.

- tribes that inhabited the steppes of Eastern Europe in the 7th-2nd centuries. BC. Modern ideas about the appearance of the Scythians can be reduced to two main theories. According to the first, the formation of the Scythian ethnos took place on the basis of the local pre-Scythian population, who lived in the Black Sea region in the late Bronze Age. The second, more complex, comes from the information that became known to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. According to this theory, they penetrated the Black Sea steppes and the Crimea from Asia. There are also scientific hypotheses that combine these ideas about the origin of the Scythians in various ways and, obviously, are closest to reality. belonged to the Caucasoid race, their language belonged to the Iranian group of Indo-European languages.

Modern archaeological periodizations of the Scythian era are numerous and varied. The most successful option is to divide it into periods: archaic- VII-VI centuries. BC., Middle Scythian- 5th century BC., Late Scythian- IV - beginning of III centuries. BC. It is based on the changes in Scythian culture observed by archaeologists. The signs of this culture are considered to be the “Scythian triad”, consisting of characteristic items: weapons - akinaki swords and bronze arrowheads, animal-style jewelry and horse equipment. The end of the Scythian era in the Northern Black Sea region and in the Crimea is attributed to the end of the first third of the 3rd century BC. BC.

In the western Crimea, the Scythians used both pits and stone boxes for burials. The most famous was the burial of the Golden Mound. It was inlet. A male warrior was lying in a grave pit on a special ground elevation-bed, with his head to the west. On his neck was a golden hryvnia - a neck decoration in the form of an open ring. The belt was decorated with plaques depicting an eagle and a griffon head. At his feet stood a large stucco jug. A set of weapons that was under the burial, in addition to an oval wooden shield with iron plates stuffed on it, including a short iron sword in a sheath with gold lining, a wooden quiver covered with leather, with 180 arrowheads. The mouth of the quiver was decorated with a three-dimensional figure of a panther, made of bronze and covered with gold foil.

Very interesting events took place in the 5th century. BC e. in the eastern part of Crimea - on the Kerch Peninsula. Here began the process of settling the Scythians on the ground. They were drawn into the sphere of influence of the newly formed Bosporus kingdom, which was interested in producing as much bread as possible. Recent nomads turned into farmers, founded long-term settlements, moved from the burial rite to the construction of soil cemeteries. The first barbarian, apparently Scythian burials at the necropolis of the Bosporus city of Nymphea date back to the same time. However, there were still very few Scythians living in the cities of the Bosporus. This is evidenced by a very small amount of stucco Scythian ceramics found in the Bosporus in layers of the 6th-5th centuries. BC uh…….

In the IV century. BC. life in the Crimean possessions of the Scythians has changed. During this time, the population increased several times. The limited space suitable for nomadic life led to the fact that most of the Scythians were forced to switch to agriculture. In the Steppe and Piedmont Crimea, there was a transition of the mass of nomadic Scythians to settled life. This phenomenon is especially noticeable on the Kerch Peninsula, as well as in the steppe and foothills near Feodosia. Sedentarization (transition to settled life) took place on the Scythian lands bordering on the lands of the Bosporus kingdom, or on the lands that were formerly Scythian, but in this century became part of the Bosporan state. Here, over the course of a century, several dozen villages populated mainly by barbarians arose. The sizes of the villages were different, from small farms with two or three manor houses located at a decent distance from each other, to large settlements covering an area of ​​several tens of hectares. In them, the distance between the houses was 30-50 m. The free space was occupied by gardens and orchards. Often low hills rose up between the houses - ash pans. It was also a garbage dump used by the family or related families, and at the same time served as a sanctuary for deities, guardians of the hearth and family well-being. The houses consisted of two or three rooms that had residential and household purposes, small rooms reserved for keeping animals. Their walls were built of stone with clay mortar. Sometimes only plinths were made of stone, and above the walls they consisted of raw, that is, unbaked, sun-dried bricks. The roofs were earthen, only occasionally do archaeologists find fragments of purchased flat tiles. In the yards there were numerous utility pits intended for storing grain in spikelets. Each of these containers with a depth of 1.5-2 m or more, contained from half a ton to a ton of grain. Sometimes there are also large pits with a capacity of several tons. Such storages with a wide lower part and a narrow mouth existed for a relatively short time. As a rule, a few years after the construction, they were covered with household garbage - ashes and fragments of broken dishes. Household items found in the rubbish are fragments of Greek amphoras, local molded and pottery purchased from the Greeks, pieces of clay braziers, clay weights for spindles - whorls. Occasionally there are larger loads for looms. Among the finds in the settlements are single Greek coins, bronze ornaments for horse harness, bronze arrowheads, iron tools and fragments of weapons.

The main occupation of the villagers was agriculture. They grew wheat, which they sold through the ports of the Bosporus kingdom to Greece, mainly to ancient Athens. The inhabitants of the villages were engaged in domestic and pastoral cattle breeding. The nature of domestic cattle breeding is understandable to modern man, pastoral can be associated with a long stay of the herd away from home on summer and winter pastures. The share of horses in their herds, in comparison with the nomadic herd, has decreased, but the share of cattle has increased. Some of the meat products were obtained by hunting wild animals. Gardening and horticulture existed on a small scale and was aimed at meeting the needs of family members. Families, judging by the size of the houses, were small - pairs, consisting of parents and their children. It seems that adult sons separated from their fathers, created their own estates and received new land plots.

Judging by the fact that all these houses are similar to each other, it can be assumed that the inhabitants of the villages had a similar level of material wealth. Most likely, these were recent ordinary nomads and impoverished Scythians, who lost their herds and the right to use pastures. Their work was used in their own interests by the highest Scythian nobility. It is possible that on the lands of the Bosporan state such "neighboring" communities were exploited by the royal authorities.

Near the settlements in the eastern Crimea, burial mounds appear, consisting of many mounds, under which there were stone and earthen crypts intended for members of the same family. The best tombs from well-cut stone were built by specially invited masons and Greek builders.

In the mounds of the steppe near the Sivash region, graves in the form of catacombs were common - small artificial caves intended for the burial of one or two people. The population of this part of the Crimea continued to adhere to the traditions characteristic of the steppes. In addition, there are no villages here, but often there are traces of camps - short stops of pastoralists. The nomadic way of life was preserved here.

The burial places of nomads are richer than the graves of farmers: their position in Scythian society was higher than that of farmers.

The high-ranking Scythian aristocracy at that time concentrated in the foothills of the peninsula. In the first half of the 4th c. BC. there was an aristocratic burial ground Dort-Oba, explored by archaeologists near Simferopol. Perhaps, nomarchs were buried here - the rulers of the Crimean part of Scythia, subordinate to the great king Atey, who led all the Black Sea Scythians. A later, dating back to the second half of this century, burial ground of the local nobility is located near the modern city of Belogorsk. Mounds about ten meters high indicate that a dynasty of its own appeared on the Tauride Peninsula, which considered itself only one rank below the great kings of all Scythia.

Indeed, on the tops of the Ak-Kaya and Besh-Oba mountains there is the largest aristocratic burial ground of the Crimean Scythians, which arose no earlier than the middle of the 4th century. BC. The Akkay kurgan necropolis bears original features. They are expressed in the thoughtful use of terrain features and are characterized by an architectural solution in which large mounds were included in the relief of the Crimean Mountains. So, when looking from the Steppe Crimea at the mountain-foothill interfluve of the Biyuk-Karasu and Kuchuk-Karasu rivers, already from a distance of 15-20 km, and on days with contrasting lighting - from a distance of several tens of kilometers, a rhythmic picture of sharp and domed peaks opens Crimean mountains, between which the silhouettes of large barrows, as if equalized with them in size and significance, appear. In a strictly thought-out choice of perspective, it is also convincing that in another part of the Piedmont Crimea, with all diligence, it would not have been possible to achieve such an effect. Therefore, the monument can be attributed to the number of landscape and architectural "parks" unique for the Northern Black Sea region. Among almost hundreds of small mounds, 10 mounds from 6 to 10 m high rise here. Under the embankment of each of them, a representative of the Scythian aristocracy was buried, who, in the conditions of the Crimean peninsula, during his lifetime could claim the royal title. For two and a half thousand years, these graves have been looted more than once (modern antiquities dealers do not understand this, so brigades of greedy tomb defilers continue to senselessly destroy monuments). Archaeologists managed to examine only two tombs located under the barrows. In one case, it was a large Scythian catacomb, the same as in the large mounds of the ancient kings of the Steppe Scythia. In the second, modern robbers unearthed a large stone crypt built by specially invited Greek craftsmen.

Another branch of the Scythian aristocracy with a high level of claims settled in the capital of the Bosporan kingdom, Panticapaeum. Its wealth was created by the Scythians, who lived in numerous villages, the remains of which were discovered by archaeologists on the Kerch Peninsula. After their death, the noble Scythians were buried in the mounds of Kul-Oba and Patinioti, located in the necropolis of Panticapaeum among the tombs of noble Greek families who lived in Panticapaeum.

Both Kul-Oba and the Patinioti barrow belong in size to the same group of aristocratic mounds as those located on Besh-Oba and Ak-Kaya in the Crimean foothills. This equalizes the social position of the barbarian leaders or kings buried in them. The stone crypt, over which the Kul-Oba barrow was built, had the form of a rectangle with a ledge ceiling 5 meters high. On a wooden couch rested the Scythian ruler in clothes embroidered with expensive ornaments. There were richly decorated weapons, jewelry, precious vessels. Nearby stood a cypress sarcophagus with the burial of a woman, in which numerous ornaments were found. The rest of the owners was guarded by a servant - a squire. Almost the same was the burial in the Patinioti barrow. It is possible that in these two mounds located close to each other, there were tombs of members of the same aristocratic family, who chose the Greek city as their place of residence.

In the western part of the Crimean peninsula, in the Chayan mound (near Evpatoria), another burial of a Scythian aristocrat was discovered. He probably led the Scythians of the Western Crimea.

Judging by the weapons found in the burials, the aristocrats in wartime were the leaders of the Scythian detachments, in which ordinary nomads formed the backbone of the cavalry, and the farmers were assigned the role of lightly armed infantry.

On the relationship of the Scythians with the Greek population of the Crimean peninsula in the 4th century. BC. can only be judged by fragmentary evidence from the history of the Bosporus state. So, at the beginning of the century, the Scythians, subjects of the king of all Scythia Atey, acted as allies of the Bosporan ruler Levkon in the war of the Bosporus kingdom against independent Theodosius. In the second half of the century there was a war already between the Scythians and the Bosporus. The reasons for it are not clear, but this collision was unlikely to be long. Probably, the Bosporus, using primarily economic levers, managed to appease the Scythians. Therefore, when two decades later the struggle for the Bosporan throne flared up between the legitimate pretender Satyr and his opponent Eumel (by the way, Satyr's brother), supported by the Azov Siraks from the powerful Sarmatian group of tribes, the Scythians took the side of Satyr, who eventually lost. This was their last active intervention in Bosporus politics, bringing closer the decisive clash between the Scythians and their eastern neighbors, the Sarmatians.

About the catastrophe that befell both the Scythians and the Greeks in the 70-60s. 3rd century BC, can be judged from the materials of the Scythian settlements of the Feodosiya and Kerch zones, as well as the Chersonesos settlements of the North-Western Crimea, including Kerkinitida and Kalos Limena. Life suddenly stopped in hundreds of settlements, some of them were found traces of fires and the remains of dead people. The picture of the complete defeat is depressing, apparently, the Sarmatian tribes who came from behind the Don during one or several campaigns completely finished off the Scythians, they had folding knives and sharp axes in their arsenal, not sparing the Greek possessions. Only the Greek cities survived, protected by powerful stone walls.

Scythians in Crimea: area and ethnic composition

Scythian tribes appeared in Eastern Europe in the 7th century. BC e. Regarding their genesis, scientists put forward a variety of versions. For example, that the Scythians are a people descended from the population of the Black Sea region, who lived at the end of the Bronze Age. Or - that these nomadic tribes came from Asian territory. Modern research confirms the version of the Caucasoid type of the Scythians. It is known that the speech of the nomads belonged to the Indo-European languages. More precisely, to their Iranian group.

To date, it is reliably known that the Scythians lived in the Crimea from the end of the 7th century BC. BC. Cimmerians, probably, did not want to shed blood and voluntarily ceded their lands to alien nomads. The oldest monuments of the Scythian period of the history of Crimea discovered by historians are two mounds. One of them is located on the Perekop isthmus, the other - on Temir-Gora, what is near Kerch.

The early Scythians (7th-6th centuries BC) were mounted archers who instilled fear in the Near East. Destroying everything that was in their path, the brave warriors even reached Egypt. At the end of VI - beginning of V centuries. BC e. their number in the Crimea was replenished, thanks to immigrants from Eurasia. After that, a new Scythia began to form.

The steppe Crimea was inhabited by royal Scythians, who considered themselves superior to other nomads. Their capital was Ak-Kaya (later - Scythian Naples). In the 5th century BC e. the rulers of the Scythians were actively engaged in military affairs. However, ordinary members of their society still roamed with their herds. Near Feodosia begins the gradual transition of the Scythians to a settled way of existence. In the IV century. BC e. villages appear in the steppe regions of the Crimea and on the Kerch Peninsula. The process of forming a new way of life is associated with a sharp increase in the number of inhabitants of the Crimean lands.

There were no permanent settlements in the Sivash region. But single (rarely paired) cave burials and traces of temporary sites of the Scythians were found there. Thus, a nomadic way of life was preserved in this territory.

Foreign policy and trade relations of Scythia

The ancient history of Crimea is an interweaving of relationships between different tribes and peoples. Already in the middle of the 5th c. BC e. The Scythians became allies of the Greeks. On the territory of Nymphea, a Scythian burial mound was found, similar to those located in the Kuban region.

The relationship between the Scythians and the Hellenes was changeable. In 480 BC. e. the Scythians lost the battle with the army of Archeonact. Around the same time, defensive structures were built around the ancient cities. Probably the Greeks feared the invasion of the Scythians. And if large settlements could defend themselves, the villages were subjected to barbaric destruction.

At the beginning of the IV century. BC e. the Scythians, together with the Bosporan kingdom, fought against Theodosius. In the second half of the same century, military confrontation was already between recent associates. The conflict soon ended. A few decades later, Scythia helped Satyr, who wished to sit on the Bosporan throne. Fate was not favorable to him, and his brother Eumel won the victory, supported by the Sarmatians.

Before the Scythians, Tauris lived in the mountainous part of the peninsula. The active promotion of the Scythian tribes, which intensified in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. gave rise to the emergence of the so-called Tauro-Scythians. Over time, they move to the steppe and the population Mountain Crimea is significantly reduced. That part of the Tauri, which did not accept the Scythian customs, was forced move to Southern Crimea or move to remote forest areas.

Archaeologists have not found any banknotes belonging to the early Scythians. There was a barter trade in Scythia. Most of the items purchased in the ancient city-states, where Greek ceramics, cosmetics, fabrics, wines, glass, products made of marble and precious metals were brought. Expensive, painted dishes were bought by wealthy Scythians, and for ordinary nomads, the Greeks offered relatively cheap utensils, most of which were made in Athens. All this the Scythians could purchase for the products of their own economy or by exchanging them for slaves. The Hellenes strongly influenced the Scythian culture.

From the 4th century BC e. Scythians began to trade in grain. Bread was delivered to the ports of the Bosporus kingdom, and then exported to Greece and Asia Minor. During the excavations of the Scythian cities and villages, ancient coins were repeatedly found.

The development of agriculture and crafts of the Crimean Scythians

The main occupation of the Scythians of the archaic period is nomadic cattle breeding. They kept sheep and goats. The number of cattle was much smaller. The oxen were harnessed to the wagons. The Scythians also had large herds of horses. The tribe remained in one place until the stocks of feed for livestock were exhausted. With the advent of winter, they often localized near the Sivash lakes, the water in which was drinkable. In winter, the animals had to get food on their own: they undermined the ice crust and ate last year's grass. There is an assumption that in the summer the herds were driven to the Crimean Mountains. This is probably how the assimilation of the Taurians took place.

Above, we recalled that the poorest Scythians gradually ceased to lead a nomadic lifestyle, began to settle near the Greek policies. They grew grain, fruits, kept domestic animals. Cattle breeding of those times was of a domestic and pastoral character. The first type of livestock rearing is practically no different from the one that exists today. The second is notable for the fact that living creatures were driven out to pastures and stayed there for a long period. Usually a specific season. The settled Scythians had fewer horses than their nomadic ancestors and began to actively raise cattle.

Whorls of different sizes were found on the site of such settlements, which proves the existence of weaving.

The tools and weapons of the Scythians correspond to the era. Many samples of swords, arrowheads, horse harness of those times, made of bronze and iron, have been preserved. Most Scythian jewelry is made in the "animal" style, but some of them are excellent sources for studying the appearance and life of the Scythian population. Gold and silver works of art were made to order, they were made by the Greeks.

Life and religion of the inhabitants of Scythia

The ordinary population of archaic Scythia lived in felt yurts, which were attached to wagons. Large Scythian clans usually included separate paired families who had a small herd of cattle and were engaged in nomadism.

Simple Scythians had clay vessels, wooden bowls, leather bags. Less often - jugs, bowls and plates. They made some ceramic products on their own, using a potter's wheel. Among the artifacts of the Scythian period of the history of Crimea, Greek amphoras are often found. Nomads bought wine poured into them, and then filled them with milk, water or sour-milk products.

In the finds of the end of the VI century. BC e. more and more often there are Scythians of warlike appearance. The remains of the Crimean barbarians, dressed in iron armor, were found in the mounds of that time. Their weapons had precious decorations, gold decor. Around this period in the history of the Crimea, the Scythian military aristocracy was born.

In parallel, two types of Scythian settlements arose. Archaeologists come across small farms, in which there were 2-3 wicker houses, and entire villages located on several tens of hectares. Gardens and orchards were located around the main dwellings. Stone houses had two or three rooms; they not only lived in them, but also kept animals. In the courtyards of the Scythians there were pits for grain. As a rule, up to a ton of harvest was filled into such storage facilities. Scientists are also aware of a few storage facilities with large volumes. The pits were used for several years, and then covered with household waste. Unnecessary things were also thrown away in the area of ​​the ash pans, which were located between the houses. It is interesting that these small hills were at the same time sanctuaries that served as a place of worship for deities who protected everyday life.

The modest size of the Scythian houses suggests that the families were small. Grown up sons separated from their parents and began to run their own household. Mounds of that time found in Eastern Crimea. They were located near the settlements and served as a burial place for representatives of one family.

Scythian mounds of representatives of the aristocracy and small graves with a mound of simple nomads and farmers, "boxes" and pits, have a common feature - the presence of things that were used in everyday life. This means that the Scythians believed in an afterlife. The population of the Crimean Scythia revered the Great Goddess and the male deity, which was depicted on horseback. The Scythians had a cult of the sword.

Was previously written a series of articles about the Scythian fortified cities located on the territory of Crimea. Here we will not talk about them and invite the reader to independently familiarize themselves with the material already posted.

Thus, the Scythians began to penetrate into the Crimea somewhere at the end of the 7th century. BC e. and lived on the peninsula until the III-IV centuries. n. e.

In the VII-VI centuries. BC e. all Scythians were nomadic warriors, but over time, a military aristocracy separated from the mass of horse archers. The so-called Royal Scythians lived on the territory of Crimea. Their first capital was the settlement of Ak-Kaya, later, in the 3rd century. BC e., Scythian Naples appeared.

While the top of society was engaged in military affairs, the rest of the tribe continued to roam along with their herds. In the IV century. BC e. Crimean Scythians began to move to a settled way of life, and in the first third of the 3rd century. BC e. they almost disappeared, since the Sarmatians came to the peninsula. However, they managed to survive and the Late Scythian state existed until the arrival of the Goths and the Huns, although it seriously weakened during military confrontations with the Pontic kingdom at the end of the 2nd century BC. e. The best sources for studying the Scythian past of the Crimea are burial mounds and the ruins of fortified settlements of that time.