Scythians
historical ethnical group
(Redirected from Scythia)
The Scythians or Scyths.[1] were Iranian nomadic Eurasian people.
![]() Approximate extent of East Iranian languages the 1st century BC is shown in orange. | |
Total population | |
---|---|
Unknown | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Eastern Europe Central Asia West Asia Northern India | |
Languages | |
Scythian language | |
Religion | |
Animism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
They were nomadic, famous for their skills at horse riding,[2][3] who dominated the Pontic steppe (modern Ukraine and Southern Russia) throughout the ancient world. By the 2nd century AD the closely-related Sarmatians came to dominate the Scyths in this area. Much of our information about the Scyths comes from the famous Greek historian Herodotus (c. 440 BC) in his Histories, and from archaeologically from the beautiful goldwork found in Scythian kurgan burial mounds in Ukraine and southern Russia.
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ Scythians are pronounced /'sɪθɪən/ or /'sɪðɪən/
- ↑ Scythian, member of a nomadic people originally of Iranian people who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in the 8th and 7th centuries BC - The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition - Micropaedia on "Scythian", 10:576
- ↑ Scythian mummy shown in Germany, BBC News