Saka

Historical group of nomadic Iranian peoples

"Sacae" redirects here. For the South Australian College of Advanced Education, see University of South Australia.

For the land of the Saka under the Sassanid dynasty, see Sakastān. Not to be confused with the Sakha (people), the endonym of the Yakut people of Siberia. For other uses, see Saka (disambiguation).

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Sakas

Seima-Turbino phenomenon, Karakol culture, Karasuk culture, Deer stones culture
Followed by	Xiongnu, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire

The Saka^[a] were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who historically inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin.^[7][8]

The Sakas were closely related to the

culturally Scythian, they may have differed ethnically from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related, and who also displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.^[15]

Prominent archaeological remains of the Sakas include

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, they settled in Khotan, Yarkand, Kashgar and other places.^[24]

Name

Etymology

Linguist Oswald Szemerényi studied synonyms of various origins for Scythian and differentiated the following terms: Sakā 𐎿𐎣𐎠, Skuthēs Σκύθης, Skudra 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼, and Sugᵘda 𐎿𐎢𐎦𐎢𐎭.^[25]

Derived from an Iranian verbal root sak-, "go, roam" (related to "seek") and thus meaning "nomad" was the term Sakā, from which came the names:

• Eurasian steppe, including the Pontic Scythians^[26]
• Ancient Greek: Σάκαι Sákai
• Latin: Sacae
• Sanskrit: शक Śaka
• Old Chinese: 塞 Sək^[27][28][29]

From the

zero-grade

form, was descended the Scythians' self-name reconstructed by Szemerényi as *Skuδa (roughly "archer"). From this were descended the following exonyms:

• Akkadian: Iškuzaya and Askuzaya, used by the Assyrians
• Old Persian: 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼 Skudra
• Ancient Greek: Σκύθης Skúthēs (plural Σκύθαι Skúthai), used by the Ancient Greeks^[30]

• The
  itacistic
  Greek

A late Scythian sound change from /δ/ to /l/ resulted in the evolution of *Skuδa into *Skula. From this was derived the Greek word Skṓlotoi Σκώλοτοι, which, according to Herodotus, was the self-designation of the Royal Scythians.^[31][32] Other sound changes have produced Sugᵘda 𐎿𐎢𐎦𐎢𐎭.^[25]

Although the Scythians, Saka and Cimmerians were closely related nomadic Iranic peoples, and the ancient Babylonians, ancient Persians and ancient Greeks respectively used the names "Cimmerian," "Saka," and "Scythian" for all the steppe nomads, and early modern historians such as Edward Gibbon used the term Scythian to refer to a variety of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples across the Eurasian Steppe,

• the name "Scythian" in contemporary modern scholarship generally refers to the nomadic Iranic people who from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century BC dominated the steppe and forest-steppe zones to the north of the Black Sea, Crimea, the Kuban valley, as well as the Taman and Kerch peninsulas,^[33][34]
• while the name "Saka" is used specifically for their eastern members who inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin;^[34][35]

Identification

The name Sakā was used by the ancient Persian to refer to all the Iranian nomadic tribes living to the north of their empire, including both those who lived between the Caspian Sea and the Hungry steppe, and those who lived to the north of the Danube and the Black Sea. The Assyrians meanwhile called these nomads the Ishkuzai (Akkadian: Iškuzaya^[36][37]) or Askuzai (Akkadian: Asguzaya, mat Askuzaya, mat Ášguzaya^[36][38]), and the Ancient Greeks called them Skuthai (Ancient Greek: Σκύθης Skúthēs, Σκύθοι Skúthoi, Σκύθαι Skúthai).^[39]

Achaemenid army, Xerxes I tomb detail, circa 480 BC.^[40]

The Achaemenid inscriptions initially listed a single group of Sakā. However, following Darius I's campaign of 520 to 518 BC against the Asian nomads, they were differentiated into two groups, both living in Central Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea:^[39][41]

• the Sakā tigraxaudā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠) – "Sakā who wear pointed caps," who were also known as the Massagetae.^[42][43]
• the Sakā haumavargā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠) – interpreted as "Sakā who lay hauma (around the fire)",^[44] which can be interpreted as "Saka who revere hauma."^[45]

A third name was added after the Darius's campaign north of the Danube:^[39]

• the Sakā tayaiy paradraya (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎼𐎹) – "the Sakā who live beyond the (Black) Sea," who were the Pontic Scythians of the East European steppes

An additional term is found in two inscriptions elsewhere:^[46][39]

• the Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam (𐎿𐎣𐎡𐎲𐎡𐏁 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼 𐏐 𐎿𐎢𐎥𐎭𐎶) – "Saka who are beyond Sogdia", a term was used by Darius for the people who formed the north-eastern limits of his empire at the opposite end to the satrapy of Kush (the Ethiopians).^[47][48] These Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam have been suggested to have been the same people as the Sakā haumavargā^[49]

Moreover,

Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions mention two groups of Saka:^[50][51]

• the Sꜣg pḥ (𓐠𓎼𓄖𓈉) – "Sakā of the Marshes"
• the Sk tꜣ (𓋴𓎝𓎡𓇿𓈉) – "Sakā of the Land"

The scholar David Bivar had tentatively identified the Sk tꜣ with the Sakā haumavargā,^[52] and John Manuel Cook had tentatively identified the Sꜣg pḥ with the Sakā tigraxaudā.^[49] More recently, the scholar Rüdiger Schmitt has suggested that the Sꜣg pḥ and the Sk tꜣ might have collectively designated the Sakā tigraxaudā/Massagetae.^[53]

The Achaemenid king Xerxes I listed the Saka coupled with the Dahā (𐎭𐏃𐎠) people of Central Asia,^[47][49][46] who might possibly have been identical with the Sakā tigraxaudā.^[54][55][56]

Modern terminology

See also:

Scythian cultures

Although the ancient Persians, ancient Greeks, and ancient Babylonians respectively used the names "Saka," "Scythian," and "

culturally Scythian, they may have differed ethnically from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related, and who also displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.^[15]

Location

Sauro-
matians

Massagetae

Dahae

◁ ▷

class=notpageimage|

The Sakas ( ), and main Asian polities, circa 325 BC.^{[58][2][3][59]}

The Sakā tigraxaudā and Sakā haumavargā both lived in the steppe and highland areas located in northern Central Asia and to the east of the Caspian Sea.[39]^[41][60]

The Sakā tigraxaudā/Massagetae more specifically lived around

The Sakā haumavargā lived around the Pamir Mountains and the Ferghana Valley.[61]

The Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam, who may have been identical with the Sakā haumavargā, lived on the north-east border of the Achaemenid Empire on the Iaxartes river.^[39]

Some other Saka groups lived to the east of the Pamir Mountains and to the north of the Iaxartes river,^[60] as well as in the regions corresponding to modern-day Qirghizia, Tian Shan, Altai, Tuva, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan.^[61]

The Sək, that is the Saka who were in contact with the Chinese, inhabited the Ili and Chu valleys of modern Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, which was called the "land of the Sək", i.e. "land of the Saka", in the Book of Han.^[63]

History

Origins

The Scythian/Saka cultures emerged on the Eurasian Steppe at the dawn of the Iron Age in the early 1st millennium BC. Their origins has long been a source of debate among archaeologists.^[64] The Pontic–Caspian steppe was initially thought to have been their place of origin, until the Soviet archaeologist Aleksey Terenozhkin suggested a Central Asian origin.^[65][66]

Archaeological evidence now tends to suggest that the origins of

The Saka are attested in historical and archaeological records dating to around the 8th century BC.[79]

The Saka tribe of the

During the 7th century BC itself, Saka presence started appearing in the Tarim Basin region.^[79]

According to the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, the Parthians rebelled against the Medes during the reign of Cyaxares, after which the Parthians put their country and capital city under the protection of the Sakas. This was followed by a long war opposing the Medes to the Saka, the latter of whom were led by the queen Zarinaea. At the end of this war, the Parthians accepted Median rule, and the Saka and the Medes made peace.^[85][86][87]

According to the Greek historian Ctesias, once the Persian Achaemenid Empire's founder, Cyrus, had overthrown his grandfather the Median king Astyages, the Bactrians accepted him as the heir of Astyages and submitted to him, after which he founded the city of Cyropolis on the Iaxartes river as well as seven fortresses to protect the northern frontier of his empire against the Saka. Cyrus then attacked the Sakā haumavargā, initially defeated them and captured their king, Amorges. After this, Amorges's queen, Sparethra, defeated Cyrus with a large army of both men and women warriors and captured Parmises, the brother-in-law of Cyrus and the brother of his wife Amytis, as well as Parmises's three sons, whom Sparethra exchanged in return for her husband, after which Cyrus and Amorges became allies, and Amorges helped Cyrus conquer Lydia.^{[88][89][90][91][92][93]}

Cyrus, accompanied by the Sakā haumavargā of his ally Amorges, later carried out a campaign against the Massagetae/Sakā tigraxaudā in 530 BC.^[53] According to Herodotus, Cyrus captured a Massagetaean camp by ruse, after which the Massagetae queen Tomyris led the tribe's main force against the Persians, defeated them, and placed the severed head of Cyrus in a sack full of blood. Some versions of the records of the death of Cyrus named the Derbices, rather than the Massagetae, as the tribe against whom Cyrus died in battle, because the Derbices were a member tribe of the Massagetae confederation or identical with the whole of the Massagetae.^[94][53] After Cyrus had been mortally wounded by the Derbices/Massagetae, Amorges and his Sakā haumavargā army helped the Persian soldiers defeat them. Cyrus told his sons to respect their own mother as well as Amorges above everyone else before dying.^[93]

Possibly shortly before the 520s BC, the Saka expanded into the valleys of the Ili and Chu in eastern Central Asia.^[63] Around 30 Saka tombs in the form of kurgans (burial mounds) have also been found in the Tian Shan area dated to between 550 and 250 BC.^[79]

Darius I waged wars against the eastern Sakas during a campaign of 520 to 518 BC where, according to his inscription at Behistun, he conquered the Massagetae/Sakā tigraxaudā, captured their king Skunxa, and replaced him with a ruler who was loyal to Achaemenid rule.^[53][93][95] The territories of the Saka were absorbed into the Achaemenid Empire as part of Chorasmia that included much of the territory between the Oxus and the Iaxartes rivers,^[96] and the Saka then supplied the Achaemenid army with a large number of mounted bowmen.^[97] According to Polyaenus, Darius fought against three armies led by three kings, respectively named Sacesphares, Amorges or Homarges, and Thamyris, with Polyaenus's account being based on accurate Persian historical records.^[93][98][99] After Darius's administrative reforms of the Achaemenid Empire, the Sakā tigraxaudā were included within the same tax district as the Medes.^[100]

During the period of Achaemenid rule, Central Asia was in contact with Saka populations who were themselves in contact with China.^[101]

After Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid Empire, the Saka resisted his incursions into Central Asia.^[57]

At least by the late 2nd century BC, the Sakas had founded states in the Tarim Basin.^[24]

Kingdoms in the Tarim Basin

Kingdom of Khotan

The

Archaeological evidence and documents from Khotan and other sites in the Tarim Basin provided information on the language spoken by the Saka.^[104][105] The official language of Khotan was initially

The region once again came under Chinese suzerainty with the campaigns of conquest by Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649).^[107] From the late eighth to ninth centuries, the region changed hands between the rival Tang and Tibetan Empires.^[108][109] However, by the early 11th century the region fell to the Muslim Turkic peoples of the Kara-Khanid Khanate, which led to both the Turkification of the region as well as its conversion from Buddhism to Islam.

Although the ancient Chinese had called Khotan Yutian (于闐), another more native Iranian name occasionally used was Jusadanna (瞿薩旦那), derived from Indo-Iranian Gostan and Gostana, the names of the town and region around it, respectively.[111]

Shule Kingdom

Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan, the people of

The Saka were pushed out of the Ili and Chu River valleys by the Yuezhi.^{[120][21][22]} An account of the movement of these people is given in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. The Yuehzhi, who originally lived between Tängri Tagh (Tian Shan) and Dunhuang of Gansu, China,^[121] were assaulted and forced to flee from the Hexi Corridor of Gansu by the forces of the Xiongnu ruler Modu Chanyu, who conquered the area in 177–176 BC.^{[122][123][124][125][126][127]} In turn the Yuehzhi were responsible for attacking and pushing the Sai (i.e. Saka) west into Sogdiana, where, between 140 and 130 BC, the latter crossed the Syr Darya into Bactria. The Saka also moved southwards toward the Pamirs and northern India, where they settled in Kashmir, and eastward, to settle in some of the oasis-states of Tarim Basin sites, like Yanqi (焉耆, Karasahr) and Qiuci (龜茲, Kucha).^[128][129] The Yuehzhi, themselves under attacks from another nomadic tribe, the Wusun, in 133–132 BC, moved, again, from the Ili and Chu valleys, and occupied the country of Daxia, (大夏, "Bactria").^[63][130]

The ancient Greco-Roman geographer Strabo noted that the four tribes that took down the Bactrians in the Greek and Roman account – the Asioi, Pasianoi, Tokharoi and Sakaraulai – came from land north of the Syr Darya where the Ili and Chu valleys are located.^[131][63] Identification of these four tribes varies, but Sakaraulai may indicate an ancient Saka tribe, the Tokharoi is possibly the Yuezhi, and while the Asioi had been proposed to be groups such as the Wusun or Alans.^[131][132]

The

The region in modern Afghanistan and Iran where the Saka moved to became known as "land of the Saka" or

• Later Saka polities
• 
  The Indo-Scythians ruled in northwestern South Asia from circa 100 BC
• 
  The Northern Satraps ruled in northern India until their replacement by the Kushans circa 150 AD
• 
  The Western Satraps was a Saka dynasty which ruled in western India until circa 400 AD

Historiography

The Sacae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, and had on their heads tall stiff caps rising to a point. They bore the bow of their country and the dagger; besides which they carried the battle-axe, or sagaris. They were in truth Amyrgian (Western) Scythians, but the Persians called them Sacae, since that is the name which they gave to all Scythians.

Strabo

In the 1st century BC, the Greek-Roman geographer Strabo gave an extensive description of the peoples of the eastern steppe, whom he located in Central Asia beyond Bactria and Sogdiana.^[147]

Strabo went on to list the names of the various tribes he believed to be "Scythian",^[147] and in so doing almost certainly conflated them with unrelated tribes of eastern Central Asia. These tribes included the Saka.

Now the greater part of the Scythians, beginning at the Caspian Sea, are called

Aria

. Between them and Hyrcania and Parthia and extending as far as the Arians is a great waterless desert, which they traversed by long marches and then overran Hyrcania, Nesaea, and the plains of the Parthians. And these people agreed to pay tribute, and the tribute was to allow the invaders at certain appointed times to overrun the country and carry off booty. But when the invaders overran their country more than the agreement allowed, war ensued, and in turn their quarrels were composed and new wars were begun. Such is the life of the other nomads also, who are always attacking their neighbors and then in turn settling their differences.

(Strabo, Geography, 11.8.1; transl. 1903 by H. C. Hamilton & W. Falconer.)^[147]

Indian sources

The Sakas receive numerous mentions in Indian texts, including the

Issyk inscription

Issyk dish with inscription.

Drawing of the Issyk inscription.

Modern scholarly consensus is that the

Attestations of the Saka language show that it was an Eastern Iranian language. The linguistic heartland of Saka was the Kingdom of Khotan, which had two varieties, corresponding to the major settlements at Khotan (now called Hotan) and Tumshuq (now titled Tumxuk).^[150][151] Tumshuqese and Khotanese varieties of Saka contain many borrowings from the Middle Indo-Aryan languages, but also share features with the modern Eastern Iranian languages Wakhi and Pashto.^[152]

The Issyk inscription, a short fragment on a silver cup found in the Issyk kurgan in Kazakhstan is believed to be the earliest example of Saka, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language.^[153] The inscription is in a variant of Kharosthi. Harmatta suggests that the inscriptions are a variant of the Kharosthi language, while Christopher Baumer has said that they closely resemble the Old Turkic runic alphabet. From Khotanese Saka, Harmatta translates the inscription as: "The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal, then added cooked fresh butter on".^[154]

The earliest studies could only analyze segments of mtDNA, thus providing only broad correlations of affinity to modern West Eurasian or East Eurasian populations. For example, in a 2002 study the mitochondrial DNA of Saka period male and female skeletal remains from a double inhumation kurgan at the Beral site in Kazakhstan was analysed. The two individuals were found to be not closely related. The HV1 mitochondrial sequence of the male was similar to the Anderson sequence which is most frequent in European populations. The HV1 sequence of the female suggested a greater likelihood of Asian origins.^[160]

More recent studies have been able to type for specific mtDNA lineages. For example, a 2004 study examined the HV1 sequence obtained from a male "Scytho-Siberian" at the Kizil site in the Altai Republic. It belonged to the N1a maternal lineage, a geographically West Eurasian lineage.^[161] Another study by the same team, again of mtDNA from two Scytho-Siberian skeletons found in the Altai Republic, showed that they had been typical males "of mixed Euro-Mongoloid origin". One of the individuals was found to carry the F2a maternal lineage, and the other the D lineage, both of which are characteristic of East Eurasian populations.^[162]

These early studies have been elaborated by an increasing number of studies by Russian and western scholars. Conclusions are (i) an early, Bronze Age mixing of both west and east Eurasian lineages, with western lineages being found far to the east, but not vice versa; (ii) an apparent reversal by Iron Age times, with an increasing presence of East Eurasian

Unterländer, et al. (2017) found genetic evidence that the modern-day descendants of Eastern Scythians are found "almost exclusively" among modern-day Siberian Turkic speakers, suggesting that future studies could determine the extent to which the Eastern Scythians were involved in the early formation of Turkic-speaking populations.^[166]

Haplogroups

Ancient Y-DNA data was finally provided by Keyser et al in 2009. They studied the haplotypes and haplogroups of 26 ancient human specimens from the

The samples of

W1c and G2a1.^[168]

According to Tikhonov, et al. (2019), the Eastern Scythians and the Xiongnu "possibly bore proto-Turkic elements", based on a continuation of maternal and paternal haplogroups.[169]

Autosomal DNA

Hunter Gatherers from West Siberia

, respectively.

Arzhan-2, in their burial costumes (650-600 BC).^[170]

The 2018 in study detected significant genetic differences between analyzed Inner Asian Saka-associated samples and Scythian samples of the

Khotanese).^[175][176]

A later different Eastern influx is evident in three outlier samples of the

Devil’s Gate Cave specimen, suggesting them to be recent migrants from further East. The same additional Eastern ancestry is found among the later groups of Huns (Hun Berel 300CE, Hun elite 350CE), and the Karakaba remains (830CE). At the same time, western Sarmatian-like and minor additional BMAC-like ancestry spread eastwards, with a Saka-associated sample from southeastern Kazakhstan (Konyr Tobe 300CE) displaying around 85% Sarmatian and 15% BMAC ancestry. Sarmatians are modeled to derive primarily from the preceding Western Steppe Herders of the Pontic–Caspian steppe.^[177]

The most closely related modern population to the Saka (and other Scythian groups) are the Tajiks, an Iranian peoples indigenous to Southern Central Asia, which display genetic continuity to Bronze and Iron age Central Asians. These genetic links are paralleled by previous proposed "linguistic and physical anthropological links between the Tajiks and Scythians".^[179] There is also increasing evidence for genetic affinities between the Eastern Scythians (such as the Pazyryk culture) and Turkic-speaking groups,^[180] which formed via admixture events during the Iron Age between local Saka groups and geneflow from the Eastern Steppe,^[181] but also Uralic and Paleo-Siberian peoples.^[182] The admixture with West Eurasian sources was found to be "in accordance with the linguistically documented language borrowing in Turkic languages".^[183]

East-West migrations and cultural transmission

Genetic data across Eurasia suggest that the Scythian cultural phenomenon was accompanied by some degree of migration from east to west, starting in the area of the Altai region.^[184] In particular, the Classical Scythians of the western Eurasian steppe were not direct descendants of the local Bronze Age populations, but partly resulted from this east-west spread.^[184] This also suggests that Scythoïd cultural characteristics were not simply the result of the transfer of material culture, but were also accompanied by human migrations of Saka populations from the east.^[184]

The region between the

Filippovka kurgan, and define the "Prokhorovka period" of the Early Sarmatians.^[185]

• 
  Warriors with daggers and bows. Dagger blade decoration from Kurgan 4, Burial 2,

  Sarmatian, 5th-4th century BCE.^[186]
• 
  "Golden Lady " from the Taksai kurgans, c. 500 BCE.^[187][188]

Archaeology

Saka kurgans[189]
Salbyk Arzhan Pazyryk Issyk Boralday Taksai Eleke Sazy Tasmola Ingala Tillya Tepe
Arzhan-2 c. 650 BCE Bes Shatyr c. 550 BCE Taksai c. 500 BCE Ingala c. 500 BCE Tasmola 7th-5th centuries BCE Boralday c. 600-400 BCE Salbyk c. 600-400 BCE Eleke Sazy c. 600-400 BCE Berel-1 c. 350 BCE Pazyryk-1,2 c. 300 BCE Berel-11 c. 300 BCE Issyk c. 400-200 BCE Tillya Tepe 1st century BCE
v t e

The spectacular grave-goods from

Ice Maiden

of the 5th century BC.

Arzhan 1 kurgan (c. 800 BC)

Main article:

Arzhan culture

Arzhan-1 was excavated by M. P. Gryaznov in the 1970s, establishing the origins of Scythian culture in the region in the 10th to 8th centuries BC:^[192] Arzhan-1 was carbon-dated to circa 800 BC.^[193] Many of the styles of the artifacts found in Arzhan 1 (such as the animal style images of deer, boar, and panther) soon propagated to the west, probably following a migration mouvement from the east to the west in the 9th-7th centuries BC, and ultimately reaching European Scythia and influencing artistic styles there.^[194]

• 
  Arzhan-1, dated to circa 800 BC, partly looted in Antiquity
• 
  Curled-up feline animal from Arzhan-1, circa 800 BC.^[195]

Shilikty/ Baigetobe kurgan (c. 700 BC)

Main article: Shilikty

Shilikty is an archaeological site in eastern

Arzhan-2 kurgan in Tuva.^[196]

The Kurgans contained vast quantities of precious golden jewelry.[198] Remains of a "golden man" (similar to the Issyk kurgan golden man) were found in 2003, with 4262 gold finds.^[199]

Arzhan 2 (c. 650 BC)

See also: Aldy-Bel culture

Arzhan-2 was an undisturbed burial.^[201] Archaeologists found a royal couple, sixteen murdered attendants, and 9,300 objects.^[201] 5,700 of these artifacts were made of gold, weighing a Siberian record-breaking twenty kilograms.^[201] The male, who researchers guess was some sort of king, wore a golden torc, a jacket decorated with 2,500 golden panther figurines, a gold-encrusted dagger on a belt, trousers sewn with golden beads, and gold-cuffed boots.^[201] The woman wore a red cloak that was also covered in 2,500 golden panther figurines, as well as a golden-hilted iron dagger, a gold comb, and a wooden ladle with a golden handle.^[201]

• 
  "Animal style" deer, (7-6th century BC) Tuva.
• 
  Pectoral plate, from burial mound Arzhan (7-6th century BC) Tuva.
• 
  Akinak (dagger) burial mound Arzhan (7-6th century BC) Tuva.

Eleke Sazy Burial Complex (c. 800-400 BC)

In 2020, archaeologists excavated multiple burial mounds in the Eleke Sazy Valley in East Kazakhstan. Here, a large number of gold artifacts were found. These artifacts included golf harness fittings, pendants, chains, appliqués, and more – most of which are in the Animal Style of the Scythian-Saka era dating back to the 5th–4th centuries BC.^[202]

Berel burial mound (c. 350-300 BC)

Near the selo of Berel in the Katonkaragay District of eastern Kazakhstan (49°22′24″N 86°26′17″E / 49.3732082°N 86.4380264°E / 49.3732082; 86.4380264 (Berel)^[203]) excavations of ancient burial mounds have revealed artefacts the sophistication of which are encouraging a revaluation of the nomadic cultures of the 3rd and 4th centuries BC.^[204]

• 
  Catlike predator with protomas of two elk, burial mound

  Berel

  (4th-3rd centuries BC) Kazakhstan, Pazyryk culture.
• 
  Deer in Griffin's beak, burial mound Berel (4th-3rd centuries BC) Kazakhstan.
• 
  Tigergriffin arthor work based on Scytian- saka animal style, burial mound Berel (5th-3rd centuries BC) Kazakhstan.
• 
  Griffins, burial mound Berel (5th-3rd centuries BC) Kazakhstan.
• 
  Frontal decoration (harness), burial mound Berel (4th-3rd centuries BC) Kazakhstan, Pazyryk culture.

Pazyryk culture (c. 300 BC)

Main article: Pazyryk culture

Saka burials documented by modern archaeologists include the kurgans at Pazyryk in the Ulagan (Red) district of the Altai Republic, south of Novosibirsk in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia (near Mongolia). Archaeologists have extrapolated the Pazyryk culture from these finds: five large burial mounds and several smaller ones between 1925 and 1949, one opened in 1947 by Russian archaeologist Sergei Rudenko. The burial mounds concealed chambers of larch-logs covered over with large cairns of boulders and stones.^[206]

The Pazyryk culture flourished between the 7th and 3rd century BC in the area associated with the

Sacae

.

Ordinary Pazyryk graves contain only common utensils, but in one, among other treasures, archaeologists found the famous Pazyryk Carpet, the oldest surviving wool-pile oriental rug. Another striking find, a 3-metre-high four-wheel funerary chariot, survived well-preserved from the 5th to 4th century BC.^[207]

Southern Siberian kurgans excavated in the 18th century

Main article: Siberian Collection of Peter the Great

During the 18th century and the Rusian expansion into Siberia, many Saka kurgans were plundered, sometimes by independent grave-robbers or sometimes officially at the instigation of

Altai mountains.^[208]

Many of these artifacts were part of the archaeological presents sent by

Saint-Petersburg, and form the Siberian Collection of Peter the Great. Their estimated datation ranges from the 7th century BC to the 1st century BC, depending on the artifacts.^[208]

• 
  Aigrette, 4th-3rd century BC. Siberian Collection of Peter the Great.^[212]
• 
  Boar hunter (Hermitage Museum), 2nd-1st century BC.^[213]
• 
  Belt plaque from the Siberian collection of Peter the Great, probably Ingala Valley
• 
  Siberian gold, Siberian Collection of Peter the Great

Tillia Tepe treasure (2nd-1st century BC)

Main article:

Tillia Tepe

A site found in 1968 in

lapis-lazuli

.

A high degree of cultural

Indo-Greek kingdom

in the northwestern Indian sub-continent until the beginning of our era. This testifies to the richness of cultural influences in the area of Bactria at that time.

Culture

Gender roles

Recently, evidence confirmed by the full-genomic analysis of a Scythian child's remains found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, which was discovered in Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva, revealed that the individual, previously thought to be male because it had items that were associated with the belief that Scythian society was male-dominated, was actually female. Along with the leather skirt, the burial also contained a leather headdress painted with red pigment, a coat sewn from jerboa fur, a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles, a leather quiver with arrows with painted ornaments on the shafts, a fully-preserved battle pick, and a bow. These items provide valuable insights into the material culture and lifestyle of the Scythians, including their hunting and warfare practices, and their use of animal hides for clothing.^[215]

Art

Further information:

Scythian art

The art of the Saka was of a similar styles as other Iranian peoples of the steppes, which is referred to collectively as

Arzhan illustrated Scythian animal-style gold that lacks the direct influence of Greek styles. Forty-four pounds of gold weighed down the royal couple in this burial, discovered near Kyzyl, capital of the Siberian republic of Tuva

.

Ancient influences from Central Asia became identifiable in China following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories from the 8th century BC. The Chinese adopted the Scythian-style animal art of the

steatite.^[216]

Following their expulsion by the

Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing.^[217]

Saka influences have been identified as far as Korea and Japan. Various Korean artifacts, such as the royal crowns of the kingdom of

Kofun era Japan.^[219]

Clothing

Majiayuan culture tomb figurines (3rd-2nd century BC).^[220]

Similar to other

eastern Iranian peoples represented on the reliefs of the Apadana at Persepolis, Sakas are depicted as wearing long trousers, which cover the uppers of their boots. Over their shoulders they trail a type of long mantle, with one diagonal edge in back. One particular tribe of Sakas (the Saka tigraxaudā) wore pointed caps. Herodotus in his description of the Persian army mentions the Sakas as wearing trousers and tall pointed caps.^[221]

Xinjiang Region Museum, Ürümqi.^[222][223] Could alternatively be a Greek hoplite.^[224]

Men and women wore long trousers, often adorned with metal plaques and often embroidered or adorned with felt appliqués; trousers could have been wider or tight fitting depending on the area. Materials used depended on the wealth, climate and necessity.[225]

Herodotus says Sakas had "high caps tapering to a point and stiffly upright." Asian Saka headgear is clearly visible on the Persepolis Apadana staircase bas-relief – high pointed hat with flaps over ears and the nape of the neck.^[226] From China to the Danube delta, men seemed to have worn a variety of soft headgear – either conical like the one described by Herodotus, or rounder, more like a Phrygian cap.

Saka women dressed in much the same fashion as men. A Pazyryk burial, discovered in the 1990s, contained the skeletons of a man and a woman, each with weapons, arrowheads, and an axe. Herodotus mentioned that Sakas had "high caps and … wore trousers." Clothing was sewn from plain-weave wool, hemp cloth, silk fabrics, felt, leather and hides.

terracotta army.^[229]

Pazyryk findings give the most almost fully preserved garments and clothing worn by the Scythian/Saka peoples. Ancient Persian bas-reliefs, inscriptions from

Behistun

and archaeological findings give visual representations of these garments.

Based on the Pazyryk findings (can be seen also in the south Siberian, Uralic and Kazakhstan rock drawings) some caps were topped with zoomorphic wooden sculptures firmly attached to a cap and forming an integral part of the headgear, similar to the surviving nomad helmets from northern China. Men and warrior women wore tunics, often embroidered, adorned with felt applique work, or metal (golden) plaques.

Persepolis Apadana again serves a good starting point to observe the tunics of the Sakas. They appear to be a sewn, long-sleeved garment that extended to the knees and was girded with a belt, while the owner's weapons were fastened to the belt (sword or dagger, gorytos, battle-axe, whetstone etc.). Based on numerous archeological findings, men and warrior women wore long-sleeved tunics that were always belted, often with richly ornamented belts. The Kazakhstan Saka (e.g. Issyk Golden Man/Maiden) wore shorter and closer-fitting tunics than the Pontic steppe Scythians. Some Pazyryk culture Saka wore short belted tunic with a lapel on the right side, with upright collar, 'puffed' sleeves narrowing at the wrist and bound in narrow cuffs of a color different from the rest of the tunic.

Men and women wore coats: e.g. Pazyryk Saka had many varieties, from fur to felt. They could have worn a riding coat that later was known as a Median robe or Kantus. Long sleeved, and open, it seems that on the Persepolis Apadana Skudrian delegation is perhaps shown wearing such coat. The Pazyryk felt tapestry shows a rider wearing a billowing cloak.

Tattoos

Men and women are known to have been extensively tattooed. The men in the Pazyryk burials had extensive tattoos in the Siberian animal style.^[230] A Pazyryk chief in burial mound 2, had his body covered in animal style tattoos, but not his face.^[231] Parts of the body had deteriorated, but much of the tattooing was still clearly visible (see image). Subsequent investigation using reflected infrared photography revealed that all five bodies discovered in the Pazyryk kurgans were tattooed.^[232] No instruments specifically designed for tattooing were found, but the Pazyryks had extremely fine needles with which they did miniature embroidery, and these were probably used for tattooing. The chief was elaborately decorated with an interlocking series of striking designs representing a variety of fantastic beasts. The best preserved tattoos were images of a donkey, a mountain ram, two highly stylized deer with long antlers and an imaginary carnivore on the right arm. Two monsters resembling griffins decorate the chest, and on the left arm are three partially obliterated images which seem to represent two deer and a mountain goat. On the front of the right leg a fish extends from the foot to the knee. A monster crawls over the right foot, and on the inside of the shin is a series of four running rams which touch each other to form a single design. The left leg also bears tattoos, but these designs could not be clearly distinguished. In addition, the chief's back was tattooed with a series of small circles in line with the vertebral column.^[233] The Siberian Ice Maiden is also known for her extensive tattoos.^[234]

• 
  Tattoos of the Pazyryk-2 chief.^[235]
• 
  Tattoos of the chief's right arm, with zoomorphic symbols.^[234]
• 
  Tattoos of the chief's back and left arm.^[234]
• 
  Tattoo motif on the arm of the Siberian Ice Maiden.^[234]

Warfare

A skull from an Iron Age cemetery in

South Siberia shows evidence of scalping. It lends physical evidence to the practice of scalp taking by the Scythians living there.^[236]

Later depictions of "Sakas" in China (1st-3rd century AD)

Numerous depictions of foreigners of Saka appearance appear in China around the

Kushans in the area of Xinjiang. They were generally called "Hu" by the Chinese.^{[237][238][239]}

• 
  Kushans. Later Han, 3rd century AD. Guimet Museum (MA 4660).^[237]
• 
  Eastern Han tombs sometimes have depiction of battles between Hu barbarians, with bows and arrows and wearing pointed hats (left), against Han troops. Eastern Han Dynasty (151–153 AD). Tsangshan Han tomb in Linyi city. Also visible in Yinan tombs.^[239]
• 
  General appearance of the numerous

  Eastern Han period.^[238]
• 
  Yinan tombs relief, depicting an attack by Hu barbarians with pointed hats, bow and arrows. 2nd century AD, Eastern Han.^[240]
• 
  Hu statue from Wu Baizhuang tomb (吳白莊), Han dynasty period, Linyi, Shandong.^[241]
• 
  Hu statue from Wu Baizhuang tomb (吳白莊), Han dynasty period, Linyi, Shandong.^[241]
• 
  Man hunting, circa 500 BC,

  Gansu Museum.^[242]

See also

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v t e

• Besshatyr Burial Ground
• History of the central steppe
• Sakas in the Mahabharata
• Sakzai
• Shaka era
• Sagetae [it]
• Maga Brahmin
• Scytho-Siberian world

References

1. 𓈉 sꜣg; Chinese: 塞, old *Sək, mod. Sè, Sāi), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): 𑀰𑀓, , Śaka; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): शक Śaka, शाक Śāka), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: Σάκαι Sákai; Latin
   : Sacae

Citations