The writings of Herodotus go into much detail about the life of the early pastoral nomads. He gives the reader a lot of information concerning the everyday life of the early nomad: their burial rituals, food consumption and type of foods they ate, the animals they herded, the parts of the animals they used, their specific type of housing (yurts), domestication and use of horses, and various other aspects of life. Much of Herodotus’ writings come from first-hand accounts and observations of early pastoral nomads, specifically the Scythians. Herodotus also depended upon mythological accounts.
For example, some
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| Herodotus |
his knowledge about the Cimmerians and much of his knowledge regarding the reasoning for the Scythians travels comes from Aristeas, who was “possessed’ by Apollo, according to the
Arimaspea, when describing the history of the Scythians (et al.). The writings of the
Arimaspea (“Tale of the One-eyed”) are attributed to Aristeas, and were considered Herodotus’ greatest source of information (et al.). Despite the writings of the
Arimaspea reading a little like fantasy, it did in fact give
Arimaspea with his own first hand accounts to create a vast well of knowledge about the first pastoral nomads--knowledge that has subsequently been backed up by modern day archaeologists. Herodotus many details of the Scythians’ mythology. He combined the knowledge and mythology of the Arimaspea with his own first hand accounts to create a vast well of knowledge about the first pastoral nomads--knowledge that has subsequently been backed up by modern day archaeologists.
Some of the materials recovered that link directly to Herodotus’ accounts include some of the earliest known forms of the Central Asian animal style art, as well as beautiful gold vessels created for the Scythian royalty by the Greeks. The art discovered not only confirms Herodotus’ accounts of the Scythians, lending credence to his accounts, but it gives confirmation of daily life and proof of a
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| Fantasy Depiction of Cimmeran |
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| Cimmerian Lands Near Black Sea |
multicultural society. In Herodotus’ descriptions of other nomadic groups, specifically the Sauromatai, he depended again on Aristeas’ who stated that the Sauromatai pushed the Scythians into Cimmerian lands during the 5th century BC. Herodotus also detailed how the Scythians were known by other names throughout Asia, such as the Hu. Coincidentally the Hu appeared in the Chinese historical record around the same time the Sauromatai pushed the Scythians into Cimmerian lands--the 5th century B.C. Additional material evidence backs up Herodotus’ accounts that not only could the Scythians have also been the Hu, but that at the very least the Scythian culture was copied, absorbed, and spread in areas of China--due to the additional evidence of Scythian life and rituals discovered in China’s borderlands.
Archaeological evidence also revealed that the Scythian culture, or perhaps the Scythians themselves, traveled as far as Siberia. Frozen tombs reveal burial rituals similar to that of the Scythian princes, including evidence of horse sacrifices, tattooed bodies, and a hexapod cover-stand used for saunas and inhalation of hemp--all of which were described as having been part of Scythian culture by Herodotus.
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| Scythians |
The lengthy travel of nomadic groups like the Scythians appear to have spread their culture and customs across great distances in their efforts to claim and pillage other groups and cities, and those same travels made it possible for the evidence of multiculturalism that has been found by modern archaeologists. Herodotus himself detailed how multiculturalism found its way into the ancient pastoral nomad society of the Scythians. He explained how, the increasingly distant and extensive nomadic practices of the Scythians, that often time took many years to accomplish, left social vacuums within the groups that were left behind. Not every member of the group traveled, many were left behind, including the hunter gatherers and those focused on agriculture.
Herodotus explained that because the women
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| Hunting |
and youth were left behind, they intermingled with the slaves, producing offspring aware of their heritage and were defiant of it at the same time. They were also susceptible to invasions from other sedentary groups, and when those invasions occurred a natural mixing and blending of cultures also occurred.
To the modern historian and archaeologist, the writings of Herodotus, and his very matter of fact accounts of the Scythians, are invaluable resources when examining the early pastoral nomads. Although his dependence upon the
Arimaspea, which is heavily filled with mythology and stories that are clearly fantasy, does not take away the value of his writings. The parts of the
Arimaspea he used in conjunction with his own personal accounts,
paint a graphically detailed picture of the Scythians as well as other subordinate nomad groups. All of which have been backed up by modern day archaeological discoveries as far away as Siberia. Without his knowledge and writings, those discoveries could have possibly been overlooked as being part of the early steppe and pastoral nomad people.
Works Cited
Herodotus, and Paul Buell. “Narrative: Origins: Scythians, Saka, and Hu.”
paint a graphically detailed picture of the Scythians as well as other subordinate nomad groups. All of which have been backed up by modern day archaeological discoveries as far away as Siberia. Without his knowledge and writings, those discoveries could have possibly been overlooked as being part of the early steppe and pastoral nomad people.
his knowledge about the Cimmerians and much of his knowledge regarding the reasoning for the Scythians travels comes from Aristeas, who was “possessed’ by Apollo, according to the Arimaspea, when describing the history of the Scythians (et al.). The writings of the Arimaspea (“Tale of the One-eyed”) are attributed to Aristeas, and were considered Herodotus’ greatest source of information (et al.). Despite the writings of the Arimaspea reading a little like fantasy, it did in fact give Arimaspea with his own first hand accounts to create a vast well of knowledge about the first pastoral nomads--knowledge that has subsequently been backed up by modern day archaeologists. Herodotus many details of the Scythians’ mythology. He combined the knowledge and mythology of the Arimaspea with his own first hand accounts to create a vast well of knowledge about the first pastoral nomads--knowledge that has subsequently been backed up by modern day archaeologists.
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