Maeotians
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TheMaeotians(Adyghe:МыутIэхэр,romanized:Mıwt'əxər;Ancient Greek:Μαιῶται,romanized:Maiōtai;Latin:Maeōtae[1]) were an ancient people dwelling along theSea of Azov,which was known inantiquityas the "Maeotian marshes"or"Lake Maeotis".[2]They are often considered to be the ancestors of theUrums,Circassians,Abkhazians,andAbazins.
Identity[edit]
Theetymologyof the name and the identity of the people remain unclear.Edward James[2]andWilliam Smith[citation needed]were of the opinion that the term "Maeotian" was applied broadly to various peoples around the Sea of Azov, rather than the name of the sea deriving from a certain people. Their subdivisions included theSindi,theDandarii,theToreatae,theAgri,theArrechi,theTarpetes,theObidiaceni,theSittaceni,theDosci,and "many" others.[3]Of these, the Sindi are the best attested, and were probably the dominant people among the Maeotians.[4]The language of the Maeotians - and even its language family - is uncertain. One princess of theIxomateswas calledTirgatao,[5]comparable toTirgutawiya,a name on a tablet discovered inHurrianAlalakh.[6]
Ukrainian archaeologists and modernHellenistsclaim that Maeotians were ancient Greeks who established colonies in Maeotia. A Greek historianApostolos Vakalopoulosclaimed that Greeks settled in the south of present-dayDonbassand later established colonies on the coast ofKuban.He did not contest the possibility ofGreeksintermixing with the localSarmatians.The Maeotians named themselves after the name of the region, Maeotia, as the Greeks named it.
Karl Eichwaldclaimed that the Maeotians originated as a "Hindu" (Indian) colony,[7]but this view is rejected by the majority of scholars.[8][9][10][11]Soviet archaeologists,historians, and ethnographers concluded that the Maeotians were one of theCircassiantribes.[13][15]The Cambridge Ancient Historyclassifies the Maeotians as either a people ofCimmerianancestry or asCaucasian aboriginals.[4]
History[edit]
The earliest known reference is from thelogographerHellanicus of Lesbos.[16]According toStrabo,the Maeotians lived partly on fish and partly from agriculture but were as warlike as their nomadic neighbors. These wild hordes were sometimes tributary to the factor at the RiverTanais(the present-dayDon) and at other times to theBosporani.In later times, especially underPharnaces II,Asander,andPolemon I,theBosporan Kingdomextended as far as the Tanais.
References[edit]
- ^Other variant transcriptions includeMæotians,Maeotae,Maeotici,andMæotici.
- ^abJames, Edward Boucher."Maeotae" and "Maeotis Palus"in theDictionary of Greek and Roman Geography,1st ed.,Vol. II.Walton & Maberly (London), 1857. Accessed 26 Aug 2014.
- ^Strabo.Geographica,xi.(in Latin).
- ^abBoardman & Edwards 1991,p. 572
- ^Polyaenus.Stratagems,8.55.
- ^AT 298 II.11.[clarification needed]
- ^Eichwald, Karl.Alt Geogr. d. Kasp. M.[clarification needed]p. 356.
- ^Bayer,[who?]Acta Petrop.[clarification needed]ix.p. 370.
- ^St. Croix,[who?]Mem. de l'Ac. des Inscr.[clarification needed]xlvi.p. 403.
- ^Larcher,[who?]ad Herod.[clarification needed]vii.p. 506.
- ^Ukert, Friedrich August,Vol. iii.[clarification needed]pt. 2,p. 494.
- ^TheGreat Soviet Encyclopedia."Adyghe people".
- ^"The Kuban tribes (Adyghe people) are usually referred to by the ancient writers under the collective name Maeotae"[12]
- ^Piotrovsky, Boris.Maeotae, the Ancestors of the Adgyghe (Circassians).1998.
- ^"The study of language, toponymy and onomastics of the north-Western Caucasus gives the grounds referred ancient Maeotae population to theAdyghe-Kassogiansethnic array, which is also in line with archeological monuments Maeotae culture and its links with the subsequent cultures of medievalAdyghe (Circassians)."[14]
- ^Hellanicus's actual reference is to aMaliōtai(Μαλιῶται), which Sturz[who?]emended toMaiōtai.
Sources[edit]
- Boardman, John;Edwards, I. E. S.(1991).The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 3. Part 2.Cambridge University Press.ISBN0521227178.RetrievedMarch 2,2015.