Thyssagetae
The Thyssagetae (
Ancient Greek: Θυσσαγέται) were an ancient tribe described by Herodotus as occupying a district to the north-east of Scythia, separated from the Budini by a "desert" that took seven days to cross.[1] The Thyssagetae therefore seem to have occupied the southern end of the Ural Mountains, north of the Caspian Sea.[2]
According to the 19th Century archaeologist Sir
Sarmatian, like the neighbouring Massagetae (on the north-east shores of the Caspian).[3]
The 15th Century chronicler
Chusovaya (or Chussovaja) River in the Urals may be linked to the Thyssagetae.[3]
According to Ellis Minns, while Herodotus claimed that four rivers from the land of the Thyssagetae flowed into the
Maeotis (Sea of Azov), he appears to have been mistaken.[3] He may have confused the Caspian Sea with the Maeotis, as one of the rivers, named the "Oarus", was almost certainly the Volga.[2]
See also
Notes
- ^ Herodotus. Histories, 4.22.1: "...after the desert, if one inclines somewhat to the east, the Thyssagetae are reached, a numerous nation quite distinct from any other, and living by the chase."
- ^ a b Minns 1911.
- ^ a b c Ellis Hovell Minns, (2011; orig. 1903), Scythians and Greeks: A Survey of Ancient History and Archaeology on the North Coast of the Euxine from the Danube to the Caucasus, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press p. 107.
Sources
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Minns, Ellis Hovell (1911). "Thyssagetae". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 26.
