Great Scythia and the Middle East. Part of 2
Great Scythia and the Middle East in the I millennium BC. erThe first Assyrian inscriptions (these were reports of intelligence officers to the king of Assyria) about the campaigns of the Gimirri people in the South Caucasus refer to the second half of 8 c. BC er “Gimirri”, as in the ancient state in the Northern Mesopotamia, was called the Cimmerians, who inhabited the Northern Black Sea region in the iron age. Archaeological research shows that the material culture of Cimmerians is similar to the tribes of the Scythian community.
After the change of the military-political elite in the Great Scythia, one part of the Cimmerians moved to the Balkans, the other to the Caucasus and then to Asia Minor. They are marked in the wars with Urartu, Assyria, Phrygia and Lydia. The main part of the Cimmerians remained in their homeland, and became known as "Scythians". During this period, the growth of the military-political power of the Great Scythia occurs, respectively, the expansion to the south increases. Derbent, which was founded on the site of a bronze dreneari settlement, is becoming a stronghold for trekking to the south.
At this time, there were two opposing military-political blocs in Front Asia. It was the Assyrian Empire, which sought to subjugate all the neighboring states and nationalities, and its opponents, the most powerful of them were Urartu, Media and Babylon. A new factor that changed the situation in the region was the Cimmerians and the Scythians.
In 720 BC. er Cimmerian-Scythian troops began a war with Urartu and by the 711 year they defeated this Transcaucasian state. Urartu became a Scythian-dependent state. Then the Scythians entrenched themselves in the east of Asia Minor, and soon the Allied Scythian-Urartu forces defeated Phrygia. Developing an offensive, the Scythians attacked Assyria: in 705 BC. er Assyrian king Sargon the Second died in a battle with the Scythian army. At the same time, a part of the Scythians advanced into Media, and this caused a revolt of the local population against the Assyrians. On the part of the ancient Mussel, the Scythians entrenched and established their own state, which existed until 590 BC. er Another Scythian-Cimmerian state formation (“the country of Gimir”) was created in the east of Asia Minor, on the site of the former Hittite empire. In Anatolia, the Scythians reached the Aegean coast, defeating Phrygia.
In 679 year BC. er The new Scythian campaign against Assyria ended in failure - King Ishpakai died (perhaps this is the same person with the Cimmerian king Teushpa, who died in the 670 in the battle with the Assyrians), his son Partatay concluded in 673 BC. er peace with the Assyrians and married the daughter of the Assyrian king. A military alliance was concluded between the Scythians and Assyria, but it turned out to be fragile and temporary. After a brief respite, the struggle was continued. In 665 BC. er the Lydian king Gig asked the Assyrians for support against the “Cimmerians,” Assyria came to the aid of Lydia. But Assyrian intervention could not change the situation at the front in Asia Minor: in 655 BC. er The Scythian king Madii defeated the Lydians and took them to the capital of Sardis, and in 653 BC. er established control on the Mede (northwestern Iran).
The fact of such large-scale hostilities, going from the western coast of Asia Minor to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, speaks of the excellent organization of the army of "barbarians". And the level of organization of the army (and from ancient times to the present day) indicates the level of development of civilization. Great Scythia was a world-class power capable of conducting active hostilities in several strategic areas at once. Around 633 year BC. er the final stage of the battle for Asia Minor began, the Scythians and the Media dependent on them, concluded an alliance with Babylon against Assyria. Scythian troops like a hurricane passed through all the two years, Syria, Palestine and reached the borders of Egypt. Pharaoh Psammetichus I with great difficulty managed to persuade the Scythians not to invade his lands and buy off their invasion. However, at this time the Medes split the union. In response to their treachery, the Scythians stopped the onslaught on Assyria and defended the Assyrian capital Nineveh from being defeated by the Medes in 623-622. Soon, Media established a new alliance with the Scythians (615 BC), and the combined Scythian-Median-Babylonian army took over 612 BC. er Nineveh. The last Assyrian territory, Harran in the west of Upper Mesopotamia, was conquered by Babylonia in 609 BC. er Around the same time, the Scythians finished Urartu, destroying the last capital of this state - Teyshebaini. Shortly after the fall of Urartu, the main Scythian forces left Front Asia — around 580 BC. er According to legend, the Medes again betrayed - they invited the Scythian leaders to the banquet and killed them.
Thus, in fact, the centenary war ended with the fall of the Assyrian military empire. Scythians became the main factor that dramatically changed the geopolitical situation in the region. They won their victories thanks to a higher level of organization and military technology. In this they surpassed the achievements of the civilizations of the Middle East. They introduced a new type of army: mounted riflemen. In addition, the Scythians widely spread a new type of arrows - with faceted bronze tips with a sleeve and introduced the saddle into use. Superiority in military affairs and organization gave political supremacy. No wonder Herodotus and other authors report that all of Asia was under the complete domination of the Scythians at the turn of 7 - 6 centuries. BC er The “islands” of the Scythian civilization remained in the Middle East as far back as 5-4 centuries. BC er
One of the oldest references to the name of the Rus, the Russian people is connected with the events of this long war for supremacy in the Middle East. In the prophecy of Ezekiel, who threatens his poor fellow tribesmen, that God will punish them and send the formidable people of "Gog and Magog, Prince Rosh." Obviously, this prophecy appeared under the impression of the invasion of Scythian warriors in Palestine. Under the name "Rosh" we see the Scythians, the direct ancestors of the Rus, the Russian people. Later, the Greek (Byzantine) authors also began to use this name, replacing the word “Rosh” with a more “rosh”. The people of "Rosh" ("Ros") for more than a millennium will act as the spokesman of the divine will, punishing the peoples mired in sins.
Scythian-Persian Wars and Alexander the Great
In general, the centenary war in the Middle East was fruitful. The Scythians gave impetus to the development of a new Indo-European (Aryan) civilization - the Median-Persian (Iranian) civilization. The Medes and Persians were relatives of the Scythians, but they were already quite different. In particular, the Iranians have created their own religion - Zoroastrianism. The invasion of the Scythians led to the uprising of the Medes under the rule of Assyria, and the restoration of independence. During the war with Assyria, Media is at the height of power, subjugating the regions of Persia, the Assyrian Empire, Urartu, a number of small states, part of Anatolia.
Around 550 BC er in the course of the palace coup, power in Media was captured by Persian Cyrus II, the Achaemenid state was created. This new state continued its expansion - the Persians quickly subjugated the whole of Asia Minor (Cilicia, the Lydian kingdom and other states), and then Babylon. After this, the new empire turned its gaze to the East — expansion began to Central Asia, which was then under the control of the Scythians (Saks). The large forces of the Persians began a war with the Scythian Saki. After a series of fierce battles, the Persian army was destroyed (according to ancient tradition, thousands of Scythian women took part in the war, along with men), and Cyrus was "drank the blood" of Queen Tamiris.
Later the war continued. Under Daria, the Persians, after a series of wars, were able to subjugate the southern regions of Central Asia. But further progress to the north was stopped. New subjects of the Achaemenid Empire provided the most combat-ready contingents, which were noted in a number of famous battles. So, in the battle of Marathon - this is one of the largest land battles of the Greco-Persian Wars, held on September 12 490 BC. e., it was the Saki broke through the center of the Greek army.
In 512 year BC. er Darius tried to strike at the center of Great Scythia - a huge Persian army moved across the bridge from ships in the narrowest part of the Bosphorus, and then across the Danube. The Scythians used their favorite scorched-earth tactics (much later their experience was repeated by Tsar Peter in the Northern War and Barclay de Tolly and Mikhail Kutuzov to the war with Napoleon's “Great Army”), leaving, destroying along the village path, stealing cattle, burning the steppe. At the same time, Scythian cavalry detachments regularly made raids, destroying individual enemy detachments, constantly keeping Darius’s army in suspense. After a long offensive, realizing that he had been lured into a trap, Darius threw the sick and wounded soldiers, the carts, and hastily retreated (ran). The happy occasion was saved by the thinned troops of Darius and they got out of the way. Great Scythia remained undefeated.
In 5-4 vv. BC er Scythia "goes into itself", an internal reorganization is underway, several external areas are lost. In the natural geopolitical center of the northern civilization - in the region of the Don and Volga to the Urals, a new statehood (elite) is being formed. Soon Scythia will replace Scythia. Sarmatians-Alans will be a new burst of energy of the northern civilization, which will generate a series of world political events.
During this period, Western Scythians, near the banks of the Danube, will have to withstand the onslaught of the commanders of the new power - Macedonia. In 339 year BC. er Scythians in the western, “Ukrainian” turn will suffer defeats from the army of Philip of Macedon, 90-year-old King Atey fell in this battle. However, apparently, the victory came at a high price, and the Macedonians would stop the onslaught to the east. The next "reconnaissance in force" will take place already under Alexander Filippich. The Macedonians will be able to advance to the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Zorios will besiege Olbia, but unsuccessfully.
It should be noted that the relations between Macedonia under Alexander and Scythia were rather complicated. On the one hand, the great king probed the northern power, conducted reconnaissance, on the other hand, mutually beneficial cooperation went on, the Scythian selective squad was part of Alexander's army. The Macedonian king, having made a “spear strike” through Persia and entrenched himself in Central Asia, tried to probe the boundaries of Scythia. However, the resistance in Bactria and Sogdiana, the uprising of satrap Bess, who relied on the support of the Scythians (and then of Spitamen), showed Alexander that the march to the north would be too dangerous. As a result, he chose the south direction. The border with Great Scythia was stabilized. In the Nikanorovskaya Chronicle it is reported that San, Velikosan, Avelgasan - the princes of “the bravest people of the Slovenian, the most glorious and distinguished tribe of the Russian” and Alexander Filippych separated the spheres of influence, pledged not to enter foreign territory. The territory of the Scythians recognized all lands from the Baltic to the Caspian seas.
Parthians
The last significant impulse of the northern civilization in the Middle East was the Parthians, who created the Parthian state (3 in. BC - 2 in the AD). At the end of 3 - the beginning of 2 centuries. BC er The situation in Scythia has changed a lot. The Sarmatian period of northern civilization began. The old "Scythian" elite retained power only in the Crimea, and Sarmatians restored the influence of Scythia-Sarmatia to Iran and India in the South, and the Balkans in the west.
One of the Scythian-Massaget tribes is the Parthians (parny) headed by Arshak (the ancestor of the Arshakids dynasty) around 250 of the year BC. er established control to the south and south-east of the Caspian Sea on the territory of modern Turkmenistan. Later, the Parthians subjugated a vast territory from Mesopotamia to the borders of India. In the west, Parthia encountered Rome and stopped its advance to the east. In 53 year BC. er Marc Licinius Crassus was defeated by the Parthians at Carrh and was killed along with his son Publius. 40-thousand Roman army ceased to exist - half died, about 10 thousand were captured, the rest were able to escape.
From 3 century BC. er on 3-4 cc. n er Great Sarmatia (Alania) retained most of Eurasia in its sphere of influence: Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, Iran (through Parthians), Central Asia and Afghanistan (Saka-Kushan principalities), North India (Indo-Scythian or Indo-Saka kingdoms). Sarmatia kept the onslaught of Rome to the east with the help of Parthia, and conducting military operations on the territory of Bulgaria.
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