Around 7th century BC, the Scythians traveled across the Caucasus from the Northern region of the Black Sea. The First Scythian kingdom was dominated by a form of inter-ethnic dependence based on the conquest of the agricultural population in eastern South Caucasus. They also relied on Predatorial Attacks and Taxation (sometimes as far south as Syrian region), regular tribute (from Media), compliments disguised as gifts (from Egyptian 25th dynasty) and perhaps payment as Military Aid (from Neo-Assyrian Empire). It might be, that the same dynasty ruled in Scythia in much of their history. The legendary founder of the dynasty i.e. Koloksai, was mentioned by Alcman (Ancient Greek choral lyric poet from Sparta) in the seventh century BC. Protothyes and Madyes, Scythian kings in the Near Eastern period of their history, and their successors in the north Pontic steppes belonged to the same dynasty. Herodotus lists five generations of Scythian royalty from the late 7th century BC to the 6th century BC namely :- Spargapeithes, Lycus, Gnurus, Idanthyrsus, Saulius and Prince Anacharsis. After the defeat and expulsion from the Middle East, the Scythians were forced to withdraw but ultimately regained land north of the Black Sea in the first half of the 6th century BC! Later in that century, the Scythians succeeded in controlling and receiving homage to the agricultural tribes of the forest steppe. Consequently their status greatly improved with the advent of the Second Scythian Kingdom, which was founded in the 4th century BC. Herodotus later also mentioned three Scythian rulers contemporaneous with him: Ariapeithes, Scyles, and Octamasadas. (Credit: Scythia, Wikipedia) [Image:: 1. The location of the Black Sea 2. 1994 map of Caucasus region prepared by the U.S. State Department]
Saka and Scythians
