Notes on Scythian Political Culture

Central Eurasia in the Middle Ages Studies in Honour of Peter B. Golden Edited by Istvan Zimonyi and Osman Karatay

2016

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

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Notes on the Scythian Political Culture Anatoly M. Khazanov

Political culture may be defined as a complex of concepts, beliefs, institutions, practices, customs, and rituals connected to the legitimation, organization, institutionalization, and symbolization of power and socio-political order. Peter Golden, in several seminal pub1 lications, has convincingly demonstrated the principal unity of the political culture of the Turkic-speaking nomads in pre-Chingisid times. This culture consisted of such important ideological concepts as the supernatural and/or divine origin of the ruling clan; the heavenly-mandated right to rule bestowed upon this clan; its corresponding charisma, good fortune, and the aura connected with this fortune; and the notion of common descent of all members of a dominant tribal polity. Amongst the particularly significant political institutions of this culture one may single out a specific state organization that consisted of a dominant, ruling tribe or tribal unit and subject tribes; collective or joint sovereignty, according to which a state and its populace belong not to an individual ruler, but to all members of the ruling clan and various appanage systems; diets or convocations composed of members of the ruling clan and other nobles; a partial overlapping of the administrative system with the military organization; a quite developed system of royal and administrative titles with corresponding rights and responsibilities of their holders; patrimonial mode of government; and royal retinue and bodyguard. Symbolic aspects of the ·political culture are reflected in the existence of sacred territories and cult centers; elaborate rank and status distinctions and practices reflected in color and decoration; and special investiture and funeral ceremonies. The aim of this paper is to argue that this culture did not emerge anew in the early medieval period. The Turks and their successors inherited and sometimes developed and further elaborated upon political culture that had emerged in the nomadic societies of the Eurasian steppes already in the first millennium B.C. The limited space of the paper allows me to dwell on only one society of ancient nomads in the region, namely the Scythians, as the most remote from the medieval Turkic ones in temporal, spatial, and linguistic respects.

1

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Peter B. Golden, "Imperial Ideology and the Sources of Political Unity amongst the Pre-Cinggisid Nomads of Western Eurasia," Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi II (1982): 37-76; idem, Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples, (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1992); idem, "Some Notes on the Comitatus in Medieval Eurasia with Special Reference to the Khazars," Russian History/Histoire Russe 28, Nos. 1-4 (2001): 153-70; idem, "The Terminology of Slavery and Servitude in Medieval Turkic," in Studies on Central Asian History in Honor of Yuri Bregel, ed. Devin De Weese, (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 2001), 27-56.

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Contrary to the early medieval Tfuks and Uighurs, the Scythians have not left their own literary records, and there is no indication that these had ever existed. The very few Scythians who were literate used the Greek language. Besides, information on the Scythians preserved in the classical sources that have survived to our time is much poorer and less detailed than that on the Hsiung-nu and early medieval Inner Asian nomads contained in the Chinese chronicles and other records. The data on Scythian political culture are very fragmentary and are mainly provided by but one ancient author, Herodotus. No wonder that the details are arguable and open to alternative interpretations due to numerous lacunae in the information at our disposal. However, the principle similarity of the Scythian political culture with that of the medieval nomads is quite obvious, and the purpose of this paper is to prove this point. Divine origins of the ruling clan 2 This notion is clearly revealed in the legends of the Scythian origins. According to Herodotus (IV, 5 - 7), the Scythians claimed that the parents of their primogenitor, Targitaus, had been Zeus (actually, Papaeus, the Scythian supreme god, whom the Pontic Greeks identified with Zeus) and the daughter of the river Borysthenes (the contemporary Dnieper). Their sons, Lipoxais, Arpoxais, and Coloxais ruled the land and became progenitors of some Scythian subdivisions (yE\111). From Lipoxais were born those who were called Auchatae, from Arpoxais those Catiari and Traspians, and from Coloxais came those called Paralatae. The name of all of them, adds Herodotus, is Skoloti, so called after their king. The Greeks called them the Scythians. The nature of these subdivisions is a matter of debate that has already been going on for a very long time but remains inconclusive. In all probability, this legend was just a part of the Scythian epic, but Herodotus conveyed only a small part of it, and one may doubt that he was acquainted with the whole epic. His information on the Scythians was mainly second-hand, obtained in Olbia. Perhaps Auchatae, Catiati, Traspians, and Paralatae were the names of ethnic (tribal) groups, or other subdivisions of the original Scythian polity. They are never mentioned by Herodotus again; nor are they mentioned in this context by other classical authors. 3 Herodotus describes quite different Scythian ethnic, (or rather, 2

3

For a detailed analysis with corresponding bibliographies, see Anatolii M. Khazanov, Sotsial'naia istoriia skifov (Moskva: Nauka, 1975); idem, "Legenda o proiskhozhdenii skifov (Herodotus, IV, 5 -6)," in Skifskii mir, ed. Aleksei I. Terenozhkin, (Kiev: Naukova dumka, 1975), 74-93; George Dumezil, Romans de Scythie et d'alentour (Paris: Payot, 1978). See also Dimitrii Raevskii, Model' mira skifskoi kul'tury (Moskva: Nauka, 1985); Askold L. Ivanchik, "Une legende sur l'origine des Scythes (Hdt. 4. 5 -7) et le probleme des sources du Scythicos logos d'Herodote," Revue des etudes grecques 112 (1999): 169-89; idem, "La legende 'grecque' sur l'origine des Scythes (Herodote 4.8 -10)," in Origines Gentium (Ausonius Publications, Etudus 7), eds. Valerie Fromentine and Sophie Gottland, (Bordeaux, 2001), 207-20, and many others. Only Pliny (NH., VI, 50), who quite mechanically combined earlier sources, mentions Euchatae and Cotieri (cf. Auchetai in NH. IV, 88 and Auchatae in NH., VI, 22) amongst "multitudo populorum innumero" of Scythia (in a broader sense). One of the heroes of the poem Argonauteca by Valerius Flaccus (VI, 60) bears the name Auchus. However, the Roman poet borrowed this and many other names of his '

ethno-a1 polysen I wi from m: the Pen they we war, the 127). Tl nic godc Hen clan po] to what stolen d country. She adr with he1 returnee she aski settle th Hen test the girding country mother Scythes the cow Herodo1 that in 1 dants of This of their homelru some b Heracle they we is fun~ that d~

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Notes on the Scythian Political Culture

hians have not left their own existed. The very few Scy1formation on the Scythians me is much poorer and less Asian nomads contained in an political culture are very " Herodotus. No wonder that due to numerous lacunae in rity of the Scythian political I the purpose of this paper is

>rigins. 2 According to Heroteir primogenitor, Targitaus, i, whom the Pontic Greeks (the contemporary Dnieper). d became progenitors of solse who were called Auchaxais came those called Para. called after their king. The

as already been going on for liis legend was just a part of f it, and one may doubt that the Scythians was mainly aspians, and Paralatae were :he original Scythian polity. 1entioned in this context by Scythian ethnic, (or rather, M. Khazanov, Sotsial 'naia istoskifov (Herodotus, IV, 5 -6)," in 5), 74--93; George Dumezil, Roi Raevskii, Model' mira skifskoi r l'origine des Scythes (Hdt. 4. 5 des etudes grecques 112 (1999): :iote 4.8 -10)," in Origines Gen1d Sophie Gottland, (Bordeaux,

1

sources, mentions Euchatae and ngst "multitudo populorum innumen, when their menfolk eir offspring successfully them suggested that they rinish the number of their explained that as long as rould think that they were they would learn that they ~cythians carried out. The

>ility, the local population : active Scythians invaded te legend is another maniL of slavery. :th of the Black Sea was h century B.C. Almost si: lived in the forest-steppe is region, or roamed there :one continued for several 14 ogical materials. By the nission, and the sedentary ; was a crucial moment in : data on its political and e reconstructed it in quite

a stepnoi Skifii (VII -111 vv. do

'Skogo Universiteta, 1971 ), 13; Nomads as Agents of Cultural j and Michal Biran, (Honolulu:

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It is evident, however, that the socio-political organization of the second Scythian kingdom was based on the same patterns and principles that were characteristic of nomadic statehood in the Eurasian steppes for very many centuries to come. 16 In the 6th century and perhaps even later, the vassal tribes in the forest-steppe zone apparently retained their own leadership. Already since the late 7th and the early 6th centuries their elites had been trying to imitate the lifestyle and some customs, such as horsemanship, of their nomadic neighbors, who eventually became their overlords. Later the situation apparently changed, and these elites might be replaced, at least in part, by members of the Scythian ruling clan or tribe, i.e. by the Royal Scythians. In the 5th and especially in the 4th centuries the growing subordination of the forest-steppe tribes to the Scythians, accompanied by a new wave of nomads who arrived on both banks of the middle Dnieper River and in the middle Don region, resulted in a significantly declined lifestyle for the sedentary population in the region. Remarkably, many fortified settlements in the forest-steppe zone disintegrated, and their total number decreased. As a result of all these events, the Scythian nomadic aristocracy managed to put the lucrative trade with the Greek poleis in the northern Pont region under its control. They realized tribute in kind, paid by the dependent cultivators, on the Greek markets. Simultaneously, the Scythian kings began to exert pressure on the North Pontic poleis which at times had to pay tribute to them. At one time, Olbia became directly dependent on the Scythian kings, perhaps even a protectorate of them. 17 The wealth and power of the Scythian kings and aristocracy in the 5th to the early 3rd centuries are reflected by their kurgans (burial mounds), which contained numerous luxury items and objects made of precious metals, including highly refined artworks. About half of these objects were made by Greek artisans, but in accordance with the indigenous tradition and taste. The second Scythian kingdom reached its zenith in the 4th century B.C., but it succumbed somewhere in the first half or the middle of the 3rd century, possibly under pressure from the Celts and Getae from the west, and especially from the Sarmatians from the east. The territory of later Scythia in the northern Pontic region was confined to the foothills and steppes of the Crimea and the lower Dnieper area. 18 Apparently, new dynasties had come to power in this state, which I call the third Scythian kingdom, as well as in another Scythian state in Dobruja. Thus, the two Scythae Minores emerged, as they were called by Strabo (V, 4. 5; VII, 4, 5), in comparison with previous Scythia Magna. In the first Little Scythia, processes of sedentarization and even urbanization became quite noticeable. It survived

University ofHawai'i Publishers, 2015), 37ff; Varvara A. Il'inskaia and Aleksei I. Terenozhkin, Skifiia Vll-IVvv. do n.e. (Kiev: Naukova durnka, 1983); Andrei Iu. Alekseev, Khronografiia Evropeiskoi Skifii (St. Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, 2003), 153 ff. 16 Anatoly M. Khazanov, "The Early State among the Scythians," The Early State, eds. Henri J.M. Claessen and Peter Skalnik, (The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1978), 77-92. 17 Iurii G. Vinogradov, Politicheskaia istoriia Ol'viiskogo polisa VII-I vv. do n.e. (Moscow: Nauka, 1989), 89 ff. 18 Sergei V. Polin, Ot Skifii k Sarmatii (Kiev: Naukova durnka, 1992), 101.

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until the 3rd century A.D. but ceased to be a nomadic state, although its kings and aristocracy might to some extent have continued the nomadic way of life. In all, the political foundations of the Scythian states and their ideological perception demonstrate principle similarity with medieval nomadic states in the Steppe. The only really peculiar characteristic of Scythian statehood was the centuries-old contacts with the Greek world and its unique classical civilization. Specifics of these contacts in different historical periods may explain a number of seemingly isolated and puzzling events, both in the history of Scythians and of the Greek poleis in the northern Pontic region. However, they did not change the general patterns of Scythian statehood, nor could they, at any rate while the Scythians remained nomads. Intensive contacts with the Greeks were instrumental in the growing social stratification and cultural segmentation of Scythian society, but they were based on the same trade and/or tribute paradigm that was characteristic of the Hsiungnu and many later Inner Asian nomadic states in their interrelations with China.

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Joint sovereignty of a ruling clan Herodotus (IV, 7) relates that Coloxai"s divided Scythia into three parts, one kingdom for each of his three sons (-rpupaofo.~ -ra~ ~acriATJia~; the Greek word ~acrt.A.sim better reflects the essence of these administrative divisions than the word "kingdom" in traditional English translations). One of those kingdoms, in which the sacred gold was kept under guard, was by far the largest. Apparently, this largest kingdom, where the main cult center was located, was the domain of the supreme Scythian rulers. Herodotus claims that Coloxals divided his kingdom because its territory (XPTJ) was very large. But this explanation seems to be his own rationalization of the situation. In all probability, the division of the Scythian kingdom amongst the members of the ruling clan was the same practice that existed in medieval nomadic states and is often called the ulus system. It is plausible that descendants of the three sons ofColoxals, the members of the royal clan, continued to rule in all three parts of the Scythian kingdom. By the time of the war with Darius I, the Scythian polity remained tripartite and was ruled by three kings: Idanthyrsus, who was the supreme king, and two others, Scopasis and Taxakis (Her., IV, 120). Although the scarce data at our disposal are inconclusive, one cannot exclude the possiof the bility that at least some nomarchs, chieftains or governors of the lower subdivisions 19 Scythian kingdom that Herodotus calls names, were members of the royal clan. In this case, they might even retain the title basileus (cf. with Iranian xsaya, a component of the names not only of the first legendary Scythian king but also of his brothers). The word basileus has many meanings in Herodotus' lexicon. He applies it not only to kings but also to individuals of a lower rank, like chiefs. 20 But this is just speculation, since neither Herodotus, nor other classical authors conveyed the original tutelage that existed in the Scythian

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e parts, one kingdom for l ~am.N:icu better reflects ~dom" in traditional Eng,}d was kept under guard, ~ main cult center was lo-

: its territory (XIDPTJ) was on of the situation. In all embers of the ruling clan 1d is often called the ulus Is, the members of the rom. By the time of the war led by three kings: Idanfaxakis (Her., IV, 120). cannot exclude the possilower subdivisions of the f the royal clan. 19 In this foya, a component of the ' his brothers). The word not only to kings but also ation, since neither Hero1at existed in the Scythian

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In addition to the royal clan that was at the apex of the social pyramid there were other clans in Scythia. Lucian (Scyth., 1, 3) mentioned that some of them were considered noble, and others not. One might get the impression that the Scythians lacked a developed system of royal and administrative titles. But a more plausible explanation consists of the specificity of the sources at our disposal. The classical authors did not demonstrate a strong interest in recording and adequately conveying the tutelage that existed in the barbarian states and polities that were distant to almost all of them. In this regard they were quite different from the Chinese authors, when the latter described the Inner Asian nomads. Still, color symbolism, which in other nomadic societies was used as a means of demonstrating social distinctions and defining political rank is also quite noticeable in the Scythian one. 21 In this regard, gold associated with the sun and fire is especially conspicuous. It played an important role in dressing and decoration, as well as in the funeral rituals and ceremonies of the Scythians 22 and other Iranian-speaking nomads. 23 Similar notions and practices existed in medieval nomadic societies. 24

Overlapping of the administrative system with the military organization An overlapping of the Scythian administrative system with the military organization, at least on its highest levels, was evident during the war with Darius I. Each of the three Scythian kings came to war with his own army, but the largest one was under the command of the supreme king, Idanthyrsus (Her., IV, 120). In addition to the three ~am.AT)icu, Herodotus (IV, 62, 66) mentions other subdivisions of the Scythian state: provinces (apxai) and districts (voµoi). It is possible that the three Scythian kingdoms consisted of provinces, and the latter of districts. However, this reconstruction seems to be too orderly to correspond, at any rate completely, to the real practice of nomadic statehood. The term apxiJwv is never used again in the Histories; thus, any discussion about its nature remains quite speculative. On the other hand, voµoi might correspond to individual nomadic tribes, or a group of tribes, incorporated into the Scythian state. They were an integral part of the military organization, and their chieftains were also military leaders. Once a year they summoned their warriors to a special inspection. It is also worth to mention a testimony by Lucian (Tox., 47. 48) that the Scythian military units consisting of relatives were the most steadfast in a battle. Thus, one may assume that on the lower levels the military units of the Scythian troops consisted of relatives.

21 Thomas T. Allsen, Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire. A Cultural History of Islamic Textiles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 58, 65. 22 Valeri I. Guliaev and Evgenii N. Savchenko, "K voprosu o roli zolota v pogrebal'nom rituale," in Evraziiskie drevnosti, eds. Anna I. Meliukova, Marina G. Moshkova, and Vladimir A. Bashilov, (Moskva: Institut Archeologii, 1999), 151 ff. 23 Boris A. Litvinskii, '"'Zolotye liudi" v drevnikh pogrebeniiakh Tsentral'noi Azii (opyt istolkovaniia v

rza i Srednei Azii (Leningrad: ty Press, 1938), s.v.

svete istorii religii)," Sovetskaia etnografiia 4 (1982): 34-43. 24 Henry Serruys, "Mongol Altan "Gold" ="Imperial''," Monumenta Serica 21 (1962): 355-78; Allsen,

Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire, 60 ff.

f' Anatoly M. Khazanov

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In all, the main characteristics of the administrative system and military organization of the Scythian kingdom should be quite similar to those of medieval nomads of the Eurasian steppes. Even its tripartite organization was by no means unique. It is possible that it existed in some Sakas polities (Polyen., VII, 6, 12). There were later analogs as well. Mao-tun 25 divided the Hsiung-nu state into the left, right, and central parts. The Wu-sun followed this pattern, too. 26 In 166 A.D., T'an-shih-huai, a founder of the Hsien-pi state, also organized it in three parts. 27 At one time, at the end of the 3rd century A.D., Luguan, a ruler of 28 the inchoate T' o-ba state, did the same. One may assume that an administrative-political division into several parts was a characteristic feature not only of medieval but also of ancient nomadic states. However, it seems that in the ancient times the tripartite division of the state had been most common, while in the Turkic period the bipartite principle of rule prevailed. Still, this question needs further special study.

Diets The existence of diets in the Scythian state is nothing more than a surmise because of the paucity of literary sources. Still, there are two hints in the Scythian logos that give some ground to this assumption. The first is connected to the Scythian war with Darius. Herodotus relates that the tactics and coordinated actions of the Scythian troops before and during the war had been drawn up at some preliminary meeting of the three Scythian kings and, perhaps, other members of the ruling clan and some nobles (Her., lV, 120). The second hint is connected with the circumstances of the dethronement of king Scyles (Her. IV, 79, 80), in which the "leading men amongst the Scythians" (oi nposcrrsO:rrs~, sometimes translated as chiefs) played an important role. 1 In all, the political system of the Scythian kingdom in the 6 h to the middle of the 3rd centuries consisted of the ruling and privileged tribe, other non-privileged nomadic tribes, and subjugated sedentary tribes of cultivators. In addition, some Greek poleis in the northern Pont at times were also dependant upon the Scythian kings. Such systems were prone to centrifugal tendencies and were fraught with internal conflicts. The history of better known nomadic states is abundant with corresponding examples. But the Scythians were hardly different in this regard. First, there were power struggles within the ruling clan. Thus, king Scyles was deposed and later executed by his brother Octamasades (Her., IV, 78 -80). There were probably other similar cases in the long history of the Scythian kingdom; 25 Vsevolod. S. Taskin, Materialy po istorii siunnu (po kitaiskim istochnikam) (Moskva: Nauka, 1968), 40; Nikolai N. Kradin, lmperiia Khunnu 2nd ed., (Moskva: Logos, 2002), 204. 26 Evgenii I. Kychanov, Jstoriia prigranichnykh s Kitaem drevnikh i srednevekovykh gosudarstv (ot gunnov do manchzhurov) 2nd ed., (St. Peterburg: Peterburgskoe lingvisticheskoe obshchestvo, 2010), 61. 27 Vsevolod S. Taskin, Materialy po istorii drevnikh kochevykh narodov gruppy dunkhu (Moskva: Nauka, 1984), 76, 365; Sergei G. Kliashtomiy and Dmitrii S. Savinov, Stepnye imperii drevnei Evrazii (St. Peterburg: Filologicheskii fakultet St.-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 2005), 46. 28 Nikita lakinf Bichurin, Sobranie svedenii o narodakh, obitavshikh v Srednei Azii v drevnie vremena. Vol. I. (Moskva-Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo Akadenii Nauk SSSR, 1950), 169; Kychanov, Jstoriia prigra-

nichnykh s Kitaem, 76.

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Notes on the Scythian Political Culture

military organization of nomads of the Eurasian t is possible that it existnalogs as well. Mao-tun ~ 5 The Wu-sun followed Isien-pi state, also orgaA.D., Luguan, a ruler of

ito several parts was a iadic states. However, it iad been most common, Still, this question needs

surmise because of the an logos that give some rar with Darius. Herodo:roops before and during rree Scythian kings and, ., IV, 120). The second ing Scyles (Her. IV, 79, :i=:Grri=:~, sometimes trans-

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to the middle of the 3rd ivileged nomadic tribes, ne Greek poleis in the ngs. Such systems were :onflicts. The history of oples. But the Scythians ~s within the ruling clan. ;tamasades (Her., IV, 78 f the Scythian kingdom;

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we just don't know about them because they were not recorded in the written sources. 29 Second, there was internal strife between the dominant tribe and dependant tribes and tribal groupings of the Scythian kingdoms. The 5th century, in particular, seemed to be a period of internal conflicts and strife. 30 Thucydides (II, 97) noticed that no kingdom in Europe and no people in Asia could match the military might of the Scythians if they were united. Patrimonial governance It is quite evident from Herodotus' description of Scythian customs. Warriors carried to the king the heads of all those they had killed in battle. A Scythian who brought in a head took a share of whatever loot he had obtained, but without bringing a head he got nothing (Her., IV, 64). One may doubt whether Herodotus meant the supreme Scythian kings; more probably they were members of the royal dynasty but of a lower rank, perhaps nomarhs. After all, it was the nomarhs who gave annual feasts to their warriors during which those who had killed their enemies were rewarded with a bowl of wine, and those who had not were dishonored. 31 These stories, however brief and incomplete they may be, clearly indicate that in the Scythian militaristic society, ordinary warriors had a right to a share of booty and expected other signs of reciprocity from their rulers. Herodotus (IV, 65) also relates another interesting Scythian custom. He claims that conflicts between kinsmen were settled by combat in the king's presence. Moreover, the Scythians made drinking cups from the skulls of relatives they killed, just like they did with skulls of their deadliest enemies. 32 When a Scythian was visited by important guests, he brought these skulls out and told that each of them had belonged to his kinsfolk, who had waged war upon him but were defeated. Herodotus adds that the Scythians considered such behavior an act of valor. Needless to say, this story is quite difficult to interpret because this practice was quite uncommon in other nomadic societies. It is tempting to translate the word oiKl']t0t as kith

(Moskva: Nauka, 1968), 40;

29 Alekseev, Khronografiia Evropeiskoi Skifii, 182 ff., suggests that at the end of the 6'h century B.C. a new dynasty from a new dominant tribe came to power in Scythia. His argument is mainly based on archaeological data indicating that at that time the Scythian material culture underwent significant changes. However, Herodotus, who would certainly know about these crucial events, never mentions them in his Scythian logos. On the contrary, it seems that he and his main informant about the Scythian kings, Tymnes, a trustee of the Scythian king Ariapithes, were sure that the same dynasty ruled Scythia from the end of the 7th century to their own days (Herodotos, IV, 76). This makes Alekseev's hypothesis quite vulnerable.

ekovykh gosudarstv (ot gun1e obshchestvo, 2010), 61. 'PY dunkhu (Moskva: Nauka, 1erii drevnei Evrazii (St. Pe'ersiteta, 2005), 46. 'nei Azii v drevnie vremena. 1; Kychanov, Istoriia prigra-

30 Alekseev, Khronografiia Evropeiskoi Skifii, 210 ff. 31 Cf. with a very similar custom of the Hsiung-nu described by Sima Qian. See Taskin, Materialy po istorii siunnu, 41; Burton Watson (tr.), Records of the Great Historian II, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), 95. 32 The custom of making cups from the skulls of killed enemies was also recorded amongst the Hsiung-nu and some medieval Turkic-speaking nomads, such as the Pechenegs. The same can be said about scalping - another Scythian custom. In Eurasia, however, this custom had long preceded the emergence of pastoral nomadic cultures (Denis Sinor, "The Custom of Scalping in Inner Asia," in Proceedings of the

35'h Permanent International Altaistic Conference (Taipei: 1992), 447-52).

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Anatoly M. Khazanov

or retin joyed t house t agamp Sey rayed b the Sey told th~ revolte1 Mai ticular doubts in time: chora v time th tainly l accomr Olbia.' more n nue, th1 funeral the atte makes mediev

and kin, or even as compatriots. Perhaps Herodotus meant not real but fictitious, genealogical kinship. After all, all Scythians considered themselves the descendants of Targitaus and his sons. This assumption, however, meets with a serious problem. Herodotus in his Histories used the words oiKT)ioc; and oiKT)iot eleven times and always in one specific context - kinsmen, cognate. (Her., I, 108; III, 33, 65, 119; IV, 65, 104; V, 5, 41; VII, 39). 33 Still, some other authors used these words in a broader sense, and maybe in this particular case Herodotus did the same. In any case, his story indicates that, on the one hand, the Scythian penal system was quite undeveloped and was based on the customary law, but, on the other hand, that blood feuds were somehow regulated by the Scythian authorities, whoever exactly they might be in this particular case.

i'

The royal retinue/bodyguard Herodotus (IV, 71-72) narrates that attendants (8i:punov'rnc;) of the Scythian king wer~ those he ordered to serve him. All of them were native-born Scythians, since they did not purchase slaves. When the king died, his wine-bearer, cook, horse groom, valet, and messenger were buried with him, along with one of his concubines and his horses. After one year, fifty more young men of the remaining attendants were strangled, mounted in riding position on sacrificed and stuffed horses, and then were set in a circle around the burial mound. 34 In the later nomadic societies, the personal military retinues of a ruler were often considered his attendants, and there are some reasons to assume that attendants of the Scythian kings were also their multifunctional retinue and bodyguards, who simultaneously played an important role in their patrimonial households. Some royal kurgans contain accompanying male graves. The orientation of the deceased in those graves is characteristically Scythian: they were laid up in the latitudinal direction. Thus, they might be attendants, who went to the afterworld with their kings. Some of these graves are rather poor, but the deceased were buried close to sacrificed horses. The deceased in other accompanying graves were certainly warriors. They were buried with a large number of arms - arrowheads, spears, swords, and in some cases even armor. In addition, their graves sometimes contain objects decorated in the Scythian animal style, some of which were even made of gold. In all probability, these attendants served as the king's retinue and bodyguards. Despite their official status, they actually might enjoy rather high positions at the court of their kings. Perhaps these people are mentioned by Herodotus in a quite different context. To argue this I have to return once more to his story about the king Scyles (Her., IV, 78 -80). The son of a Greek mother, who had taught him the Greek language and literacy, Scyles, even after becoming the Scythian king, preferred the Greek manner of life to the Scythian one. He often came to Olbia with his army (it O°'tpa:niJ), left it in the suburbs, went within the walls and shut up the gates. While in Olbia, Scyles took off Scythian clothes and put on Greek garments. When he walked to the marketplace, he did this alone, without bodyguards

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33 see, for example Henry G. Liddell and Robert Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), s.v. 34 It seems that this practice was traced during additional excavation of the royal kurgan Chertomlyk

35 Vine

(Ivanchik, "The Funeral of the Scythian Kings," 91-2).

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Notes on the Scythian Political Culture

il but fictitious, genealodescendants of Targitaus ·oblem. Herodotus in his . always in one specific , 104; V, 5, 41; VII, 39). i maybe in this particular at, on the one hand, the te customary law, but, on cythian authorities, who-

the Scythian king wer~ :hians, since they did not e groom, valet, and mesmd his horses. After one ngled, mounted in riding . circle around the burial

if a ruler were often contttendants of the Scythian io simultaneously played gans contain accompanyis characteristically Scynight be attendants, who ~ rather poor, but the deb.er accompanying graves r of arms - arrowheads, lfaves sometimes contain :re even made of gold. In Jodyguards. Despite their e court of their kings. ifferent context. To argue s (Her., IV, 78 -80). The md literacy, Scyles, even ' life to the Scythian one. suburbs, went within the rthian clothes and put on lone, without bodyguards

~on

(Oxford: Clarendon Press,

185

or retinue, and, thus, the Scythians could not see him wearing Greek dress. In Olbia, he enjoyed the life a la grecque and made offerings to gods in the Greek fashion. He built a house there and married a Greek woman. After living in Olbia for a month or more, Scyles again put on Scythian clothes and returned to his kingdom. Scyles' misfortune began when he was initiated into the Bacchic mystery and was betrayed by one of the citizens of Olbia. This citizen secretly brought the leading men among the Scythians to the city tower to see their king in Bacchic frenzy. They were shocked and told the whole army what they had witnessed. When Scyles returned home, the Scythians revolted against him and made his half-brother Octamasades their king. Many historians translate the word it cnpcnu'j literally, as an army. However, in this particular context the literary translation and its corresponding interpretations leave many doubts and unanswered questions. The nomads did not have standing armies, at any rate not in times of peace. Besides, Olbia was a small polis, and at the time of Scyles its agricultural chora was shrinking. 35 The city would be unable to feed frequently and for long periods of time the whole Scythian army. Whoever Scyles was coming to Olbia with, they were certainly horsemen, and horses had to be pastured. But Herodotus claims that the troops that accompanied their king were not disbanded while he enjoyed the Greek way of life in Olbia. They were waiting for him in the vicinity of the city. It seems that it would be much more reasonable to assume that Scyles was coming to Olbia with the relatively small retinue, the same people whom Herodotus mentions in other contexts, when he describes the funeral of a Scythian king. If this conjecture is correct, it may serve as another proof that the attendants of Scythian kings, at any rate some of them, served as their bodyguard. This makes the described Scythian institution even more similar to analogous institutions of the medieval nomads. Deities, cult practices and centers, and sacred territories According to Herodotus (IV, 59), the Scythians worshipped seven gods, and following his Greek informants he tries to match them with corresponding Greek ones. Thus, Papaeus is identified with Zeus, and identified very properly, adds Herodotus, who apparently was not so sure with regard to other identifications. Tabiti, who king Idanthusus called "the queen of the Scythians", (Her., IV, 127) is identified with Hestia; Api with Gaia; Argimpasa with Aphrodite Urania; and Goetosurus with Apollo. The two other Scythian gods were Ares (Herodotus does not provide his Scythian name), and Heracles, who was worshiped as a god by the Scythians. In addition, Thagimasadas, to whom only the Royal Scythians made sacrifice, is identified by Herodotus with Poseidon. These identifications may sometimes be rather arbitrary, and in some cases Herodotus understood this himself Thus, he mentions that contrary to the Greeks, the Scythians consider Tabiti-Hestia the wife of Papaeus-Zeus. Religions of the Iranian-speaking nomads seem to be quite different from the religions of Turkic-speaking ones. Still, there are remarkable similarities. Since I am discussing the Scythian religion only so far as it is relevant to their political culture, it is worth to note that in various forms the cult of Heaven and Earth associated with the notion of royal power was characteristic not only of the Scythians but also of many other nomadic societies, like

the royal kurgan Chertomlyk 35 Vinogradov, Politicheskaia istoriia Ol'viiskogo polisa, 107.

f 186

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Anatoly M. Khazanov

the Hsiung-nu, or the early medieval Turks. It seems that the worship of Papaeus and Tabiti by the Scythians had many functional similarities with the worship of the sky-god Tangri and the earth goddess Umay by the medieval Tilrks. The Scythian cult of the chthonic goddess Echidna can be compared with the worship ofyir-sub (earth-water) by the Ashina-led Turks. Likewise, horse sacrifices that were practiced by the Scythians (Her., IV, 61) and the Massagetae (Her.,I, 216; Strabo, IX, 513), as well as by the Parthians (Tac., Ann., VI, 37; Filost., Vita Apoll., I, 23), existed also in the medieval nomadic societies. Herodotus also claims that it was not in the Scythian tradition to make images, altars, and temples to their gods, except for Ares. There was a shrine established to him in every district (name) of Scythia (Her., IV, 62). Each shrine consisted of huge piles of brushwood topped by an ancient iron sword, the symbol of Ares. As has already been mentioned, every year the Scythians sacrificed to this sword not only small stock and horses, but also one of every hundred enemies that they took alive. There was nothing unusual in this custom. Human sacrifices were quite common in many pre-Islamic and pre-Buddhist nomadic societies. Likewise the funerals ofScythian kings so vividly described by Herodotus (IV, 71, 72), in some regards resemble descriptions of the funerals of Attila, the Khazar qaghans, and Chingis Khan. The available sources are insufficient to decide if the Scythians had what Golden calls 36 refugium, sacred territories like those of the Hsiung-nu, Juan-Juan, and later of the Turks, Uighurs, and Mongols. In all probability, the place where the Heaven-sent golden gifts were kept and propitiated with annual festivals and great sacrifice should be considered sacred. Apparently, the Scythians also perceived as sacred the territory where their kings were buried, and indeed the burials themselves. This follows from the answer given to Darius I by the king Idanthyrsus (Her., IV, 127). When challenged to fight a decisive battle, instead of retreating from the Persian army, he replied that the Scythians did not have cities or fields for which they had to fear, but there were graves of their fathers. The Scythians would fight for them ifthe Persians found and tried to destroy them. Still, the hypothesis about the sacredness of the territory where the Scythian kings were buried is somewhat problematic. Herodotus claims that the Scythians buried their kings in the land of the Gherri tribe (rEppoi; x&poi;), the remotest of all the tribes over whom these kings ruled and the last point where the Borysthenes-Dnieper was still navigable (Her., 53, 56, 71). In accordance with his description, the region should be located below the Dnieper rapids. It is just there, on a territory with a radius of forty five kilometers, most of the richest Scythian kurgans, including those that more or less plausibly may be attributed to the Scythian kings, are located. They are dated to the 5th and the 4th centuries B.C. 37 However, this region cannot be considered the most distant in the Scythian kingdom. Herodotus visited Olbia somewhere in the middle of the 5th century, but there are no royal kurgans that can be firmly dated to that time. Thus, he had to rely on the memory, know36 Golden, "Imperial Ideology and the Sources of Political Unity," 48. 37 Aleksei I. Terenozhkin and Boris N. Mozolevsky, Melitopol'skii kurgan (Kiev: Naukova dumka, 2005), 188, fig. 161; Boris N. Mozolevsky and Sergei V. Polin, Kurgany skifskogo Gerrosa IV v. do n.e. (Babina, Vodiana i Soboleva mogily) (Kiev: Stilos, 2005), 17 ff.

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1ry where their kings were : answer given to Darius I lt a decisive battle, instead ms did not have cities or ~ir fathers. The Scythians m. re the Scythian kings were ilians buried their kings in he tribes over whom these .s still navigable (Her., 53, located below the Dnieper lometers, most of the richy may be attributed to the ~nturies B.C. 37 in the Scythian kingdom. ury, but there are no royal :ly on the memory, know-

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Notes on the Scythian Political Culture

187

ledge, and truthfulness of his informants. Ivanchik suggests that Herodotus got his information about the royal funerals from a Hellenized Scythian, an adherent to the old Scythian tradition, which dictated that the kings should be buried on the periphery of their realm. 38 But this suggestion raises many doubts. First, the very existence of this individual who allegedly intentionally misinformed Herodotus is very dubious. Herodotus himself testifies that Hellenization and an adherence to old traditions did not go hand-in-hand amongst the Scythians. Second, in the previous period, most of the richest kurgans dated from the midih to the first half of the 6th, and even to the early 5th century, are located on the plains of the North Caucasus. 39 By the time ofldanthyrsus, that is, by the end of the 6th century B.C., this region too was by no means the most remote in the Scythian kingdom. One has to conclude that Herodotus' information on the burials of the Scythian kings contains some inaccuracies. Still, he correctly grasped the ideological significance and meaning of the Scythian royal burial mounts and the certain aura of sacredness attached to them. To sum up, the political culture of the early medieval nomads of the Eurasian steppes did not emerge out of the blue. It had its predecessors and models in the political culture, or cultures that had already existed in the Steppe for more than one thousand years. The earliest of them was the political culture of the Scythians. As little as we know about it, its main parameters demonstrate remarkably common characteristics with the later nomadic political culture. Thus, there are many reasons to assume that the political culture of the nomads of the Eurasian steppes had emerged already in the first half of the first millennium B.C. in the formative period of their history. Since that time their cultures as revealed in archaeological excavations and described in literary sources had demonstrated many striking similarities. These similarities can hardly be explained only by parallel and independent development and the nomadic way of life. One should assume direct and indirect influences, borrowings, and imitations as well. Golden has already noticed that not only the structural patterns of the Hsiung-nu society, but also of some Iranian-speaking nomads influenced those of the Turkic ones. 40 Indeed, many traits, artifacts, ideological concepts, and sociopolitical institutions spread across the Steppe. Ancient and medieval contemporaries of the nomads, as well as some modern historians, were sometimes astonished by the sudden and swift rise of strong nomadic polities, which seemingly sprung from out of nowhere. This should be less surprising if one would take into account that most, if not all, nomads of the Eurasian steppes were well acquainted with the idea and practices of statehood. Knowledge, models, and symbols of the higher

38 Askold I. Ivanchik, "The Funeral of the Scythian Kings: The Historical Reality and the Description of Herodotus (4, 71 -72)," in The Barbarians of Ancient Europe: Realities and Interactions, ed. Larissa Bonfante, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 96-97. 39 Vladimira G. Petrenko, "Scythian Culture in North Caucasus," in Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age, eds. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, Vladimir A. Bashilov, and Leonid T. Yablonsky, (Berkeley, CA: Zinat Press, 1995), 5 ff. 40 Golden, Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples, 69.

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188

Anatoly M. Khazanov

forms of political organization existed, though in their latent or semi-latent forms, even in those nomadic polities that can hardly be characterized as states. This quite original, polyethnic political culture was represented by different synchronic and diachronic variants, which reflected temporal, spatial, ethnic, and other differences, as well as various foreign influences. Nonetheless, the culture was by no means confined to individual nomadic polities and states. It bore many similar characteristics across the whole region. This culture began to undergo substantial changes only after the political and cultural space in the Eurasian steppes was fragmented by dissemination of different world religions, especially after most of the nomads converted to Islam and the Mongols in the east converted to Buddhism. Still, some of its traits were noticeable even much later. The sources of this political culture that, apparently, included indigenous characteristics as well as those borrowed from sedentary societies but reinterpreted and adjusted to the nomadic specifics, are not yet sufficiently identified. Likewise, the ways of its transmission in different ethno-linguistic milieus and in different political formations are far from clear. But these are exiting subjects for further studies.

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