Massagetae
The
Massagetae, or
Massageteans,
[1] (
Greek:
Μασσαγέται (
Massagétai),
Iranian:
*Masyaka-tā)
[2][3] were an
ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation,
[4][5][6][7] who inhabited the
steppes of
Central Asia, north-east of the
Caspian Sea in modern
Turkmenistan, western
Uzbekistan, and southern
Kazakhstan. They belonged to the
Saka people,
[2][3] and were part of the wider
Scythian cultures,
[8]
According to Greek and Roman scholars, the Massagetae were neighboured by the
Aspasioi (possibly the
Aśvaka) to the north, the
Scythians and the
Dahae to the west, and the
Issedones (possibly the
Wusun) to the east.
Sogdia lay to the south.
[9]
Name
The exonym "Massagetae" (
Greek:
Massagétai) is the Grecized plural form of the personal name
Masságēs.
[3] The
Iranologist Rüdiger Schmitt notes that although the original name of the Massagetae is unattested, it appears that the most plausible etymon is
Iranian *Masyaka-tā.
[2][3] *Masyaka-tā is the plural form, containing the
East Iranian suffix
*-tā, which is reflected in
Greek -tai.
[3] The singular form is
*Masi̯a-ka- and is composed of Iranian
*-ka- and
*masi̯a- "fish", derived from
Young Avestan masiia- (cognate with
Vedic mátsya-).
[3] The name literally means "concerned with fish", or "fisherman."
[2][3] This corresponds with the remark by the ancient Greek historian
Herodotus (1.216.3) that "they live on their livestock and fish."
[2] Schmitt notes that objections to this reasoning, based on the assumption that instead of
masi̯a- a derivation from Iranian
*kapa- "fish" (compare
Ossetian kæf) would be expected, is "not decisive".
[3] Schmitt states that any other interpretatations on the origin of the original Iranian name of the Massagetae are "linguistically unacceptable".
[3]
History
The Massagetae are known primarily from the writings of
Herodotus who described the Massagetae as living on a sizeable portion of the great plain east of the
Caspian Sea.
[10] He several times refers to them as living "beyond the River
Araxes", which flows through the Caucasus and into the west Caspian.
[11] Scholars have offered various explanations for this anomaly. For example, Herodotus may have confused two or more rivers, as he had limited and frequently indirect knowledge of geography.
[12]
According to
Herodotus, the Massagetae attacked the
Scythians, who in response crossed the river Araxes and invaded the country of the
Cimmerians, who fled into Anatolia due to the Scythian invasion, with the Scythians pursuing them and eventually invading the
Medes.
[13]
Death of Cyrus
Many Greek historians recorded that the Massagetae queen
Tomyris "defeated and killed"
Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia), founder of the
Achaemenid Empire, during his invasion and attempted conquest of her country. Herodotus, who lived from approximately 484 to 425 BC, is the earliest of the classical writers to give an account of this conflict, writing almost one hundred years later, and Tomyris's history was well known and became legendary.
Strabo,
Polyaenus,
Cassiodorus, and
Jordanes also wrote of Tomyris, in
De origine actibusque Getarum ("The origin and deeds of the
Goths/Getae").
[14]
Cyrus and
Croesus offered the Massagetae a treaty of peace via the marriage of Cyrus to the Massagetae queen Tomyris. Tomyris turned down the offer, and sent a strongly-worded letter to Cyrus warning him against any advancement. However, in an attempt to bring peace and order to the northern territories of the growing
Persian empire, Cyrus made an advance towards
Jaxartes with the
Persian army in circa 530 B.C.E. Following the advice of Croesus, Cyrus left behind a small group of Persians and set up a banquet, intending for the Massagetians to attack and slaughter this small pocket of Persian resistance and gorge themselves on the food and wine. Among the Massagetians was Tomyris' son and the general of her army, Spargapises, who ate and drank himself to inebriation and satiation.
[15][16]
According to the accounts of Greek historians, Cyrus was victorious in his initial assault on the Massagetae. His advisers suggested laying a trap for the pursuing Scythians: the Persians left behind them an apparently abandoned camp, containing a rich supply of wine. The pastoral Scythians were not used to drinking wine—"their favored intoxicants were
Hasheesh with fermented mare's milk"
[17]—and they drank themselves into a stupor (with the alcohol deliberately left behind by Cyrus). The Persians returned while their opponents were incapacitated and attacked the Massagetian force, defeating the Massagetae forces, and capturing Spargapises. Of the one third of the Massagetae forces that fought, there were more captured than killed.
When Spargapises realized his army's blunder and his own mistake, he begged Cyrus for freedom. Cyrus responded by ordering that he should be set free. Once free, Spargapises committed suicide by falling on his own sword in despair at his humiliation and defeat.
[18][19][15] Spargapises's behavior, including his intoxication, suicide, and lack of maturity when compared to that of Cyrus the Great, has led some scholars to term him
adulescentulum filium.[19]
Tomyris sent a message to Cyrus denouncing his treachery, and with all her forces, challenged him to a second battle. In the fight that ensued, the Massagetae got the upper hand, and the Persians were defeated with high casualties. According to Herodotus, Cyrus was killed and Tomyris had his corpse beheaded and then crucified,
[20] and shoved his head into a wineskin filled with human blood. She was reportedly quoted as saying, "I warned you that I would quench your thirst for blood, and so I shall"
[21][22] (Hdt 1.214)
[18] Xenophon, on the other hand, says that Cyrus died peacefully in his bed,
[23] and a number of other sources report different causes of death.
Culture
The original language of the Massagetae is little-known. While it appears to have had similarities to the
Eastern Iranian languages (Spargapises's name is of
Scythian origin, and his name and the name of the
Agathyrsi king
Spargapeithes are variants of the same name, and are cognates with the Avestan name
Sparəγa-paēsa.
[24]), these may have resulted from interactions with neighbouring peoples, such as
language contact or
sprachbund-type assimilation.
Possible connections to other ancient peoples
Ancient writers
Herodotus stated the Massagetae were a great and warlike nation, dwelling beyond the river Araxes and that they are regarded as a
Scythian race.
[25]
Ammianus Marcellinus considered the
Alans to be the former Massagetae.
[26] At the close of the 4th century CE,
Claudian (the court poet of Emperor
Honorius and
Stilicho) wrote of Alans and Massagetae in the same breath: "the Massagetes who cruelly wound their horses that they may drink their blood, the Alans who break the ice and drink the waters of
Maeotis' lake" (
In Rufinem).
Medieval writers
Procopius writes in History of the Wars Book III: The Vandalic War:
[27] "the Massagetae whom they now call
Huns" (XI. 37.), "there was a certain man among the Massagetae, well gifted with courage and strength of body, the leader of a few men; this man had the privilege handed down from his fathers and ancestors to be the first in all the Hunnic armies to attack the enemy" (XVIII. 54.)..
Evagrius Scholasticus (Ecclesiastical History. Book 3. Ch. II.): "and in
Thrace, by the inroads of the
Huns, formerly known by the name of Massagetae, who crossed the
Ister without opposition".
[28]
A 9th century work by
Rabanus Maurus,
De Universo, states: "The Massagetae are in origin from the tribe of the Scythians, and are called Massagetae, as if heavy, that is, strong Getae."
[29][30] In Central Asian languages such as
Middle Persian and
Avestan, the prefix
massa means "great", "heavy", or "strong".
[31]
Modern writers
Some authors, such as
Alexander Cunningham,
James P. Mallory,
Victor H. Mair, and
Edgar Knobloch have proposed relating the Massagetae to the
Gutians of 2000 BC Mesopotamia, and/or a people known in ancient China as the "Da
Yuezhi" or "Great Yuezhi" (who founded the
Kushan Empire in South Asia). Mallory and Mair suggest that
Da Yuezhi may at one time have been pronounced
d'ad-ngiwat-tieg, connecting them to the Massagetae.
[32][33][34] These theories are not widely accepted, however.
Many scholars have suggested that the Massagetae were related to the
Getae of ancient Eastern Europe.
[35]
Tadeusz Sulimirski notes that the
Sacae also invaded parts of Northern India.
[36] Weer Rajendra Rishi, an Indian linguist
[37] has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical
Sacae influence in Northern India.
[31][36]
According to Guive Mirfendereski at the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS), the Massagetae are synonymous with the
Sakā haumavargā of South Asian historiography.
Rüdiger Schmitt notes Ptolemy's conflicting reports concerning the Massagetae.
[3] First, localizing them near Margiana, then later Ptolemy calls them a tribe of the Saka in the vicinity of the Hindu Kush and Karakorum.
[3] Schmitt also notes that Byzantine authors used the word "Massagetae" as an antiquated term for
Huns,
Turks,
Tatars and other related peoples, "what has no relevance, however, for ancient times"