SkythiaScythia

The ancient name for the area northwest of the Euxine (Black Sea) on the lower courses of the Borysthenes (Dnieper) River.

The earliest accounts we have about the Skythians are from the historian Herodotus and he freely admits that he had never been to Skythia and that his source of information had, likewise, never been there; with this in mind, Herodotus reported that Skythia was reputed to be the home of the Amazons and a variety of nomadic people; Herodotus described the inhabitants as only slightly civilized and resistant to any form of foreign influence; he also states that the Skythians were like the majority of Greeks in that they despised menial labor and preferred the art of war to any trade or profession.

It’s interesting to note that Herodotus says the Skythians worshiped the same gods and goddesses that the Greeks but then goes on to say that the Skythian gods had different names; the primary deities were: Histia (Hestia) (Tabiti), Zeus (Papaeus, i.e. Great Father) and Gaia (Api); I assume that Herodotus meant that the Skythian gods had similar attributes and for that reason he recognized them to be the same gods and goddesses.

In 634 BCE the Skythians invaded the heart of the Median Empire in western-central Asia and defeated the Median king, Kyaxares (Cyaxares); they marched south through Syria and were ready to enter Egypt but the Egyptians were able to negotiate a truce before the Skythians could crossover into Africa; despite their military prowess, the Skythians were brutal and inefficient administrators; they ruled western-central Asia for twenty-eight years before Kyaxares and the Medes were able to drive them back to their homeland near the Euxine.

• Histories, book 1, chapters 103-106; book 2, chapter 167; book 4, chapter 59