Zarinaea

Zarinaia
Zarinaia
Predecessor	Cydraeus
Born	7th century BCE
Died	6th century BCE
Spouses	Cydraeus; Marmares; Stryngaeus(?)
Religion	Scythian religion

Zarinaeaalso referred to asZarinaia(Saka:*Zarinayā;Ancient Greek:ΖαριναιαZarinaiā;Latin:Zarinaea) orZarina^[1]was a queen of one of theSakatribes^[2]^[3]or of theDahae^[4]of the 7th century BCE who is mentioned by the Greek authorDiodorus Siculus.

Name

The nameZarinaeais theLatinform of the Greek nameZarinaiā(Ζαριναιᾱ), which is itself the Hellenisation of theSakaname*Zarinayā,meaning "the golden one."*Zarinayāis ahypocoristicname formed out of theOld Iranianterm*zari-,meaning "golden," and the suffix*-aya-.^[3]^[5]^[6]

Historicity

According to theIranologist Rüdiger Schmitt,Zarinaia was a legendary figure,^[3]while the historianAdrienne Mayorsuggests that she was a historical figure.^[7]

Life

Zarinaia was the sister and wife of the Saka kingCydraeus,but after he died while she was still young, she became the ruling queen of her tribe, among whom the women would fight alongside the men. Zarinaia was a strikingly beautiful woman whose beauty surpassed that of other Saka women, and she distinguished herself both as a warrior and a ruler, being considered a hero for defeating enemy tribes, and she reputedly founded multiple cities.^[2]^[7]

After Cydraeus's death, Zarinaia had married theParthiankingMarmares,and at one point theParthiansrevolted against theMedesand entrusted their country and their capital city to Zarinaia's people, after which a war broke out between the latter, led by Zarinaia herself, and the Medes.^[2]

Various accounts of the war of the Sakas against the Medes exist: according to one version Zarinaia was knocked off her horse byStryngaeus,the son-in-law of the Median kingCyaxares(whom Diodorus named Astibaras in his account), who, struck by her beauty, allowed her to remount her horse and flee unharmed; according to another version, Zarinaia was wounded and captured by Stryngaeus, who listened to her pleas and spared her life.^[7]^[2]

When Marmares later captured Stryngaeus, Zarinaia pleaded to her husband for his release because he had saved her life. And when Marmares was about to execute Stryngaeus, Zarinaia instead killed Marmares, freed Stryngaeus and the Median prisoners of war, and handed her land to the Medes.^[3]^[7]At the end of this war, the Parthians accepted Median rule,^[2]and peace was made between the Medes and the Saka.^[7]

Stryngaeus himself had fallen in love with Zarinaia, and he visited her in the city Rhoxanake, where she greeted him, kissed him publicly, and rode in his chariot while chatting happily.

When Stryngaeus told Zarinaia of his feelings, she gently rejected him and chastised him for his infidelity towards his own wife and concubines, after which Stryngaeus wrote a farewell letter to Zarinaia and decided to commit suicide. However the records beyond Stryngaeus's decision to kill himself have not been preserved, leaving his fate unknown.^[3]^[7]

Thanks to Zarinaia's heroic achievements and because she had kept her people happy, after her death she was honoured by them with a huge 600 feet highpyramidal mound-tombat the top of which was a golden statue.^[8]^[3]^[7]^[9]

Legacy

Several versions of the name, includingZarina,Zareena,orZareen,are common inSouth Asia,Western Asia,andEastern Europe.

The name of Zarinaia has also been artificially revived amongOssetiansin the formЗӕринӕ(Zærinæ).^[3]

References

^Mayor, Adrienne (2016-02-09).The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World.Princeton University Press. p. 380.ISBN 978-0-691-17027-5.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eOlbrycht, Marek Jan (2021).Early Arsakid Parthia (ca. 250-165 B.C.): At the Crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and Central Asian History.Leiden,Netherlands;Boston,United States:Brill.pp. 17–18.ISBN 978-9-004-46076-8.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gSchmitt 2000.
^Diakonoff 1985,p. 132.
^Hinz, Walther (1975).Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberleiferung[Old Iranian Language from Collateral Sources] (in German). Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz.p.277.ISBN 978-3-447-01703-9.
^Schmitt, Rüdiger(2011).Iranisches Personennamenbuch[Book of Iranian Personal Names] (in German). Vol. 5.5a.Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.pp. 192–193.ISBN 978-3-700-17142-3.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gMayor 2014.
^Rolle, Renate (1989).The World of the Scythians.Berkeley,United States:University of California Press.p.37.ISBN 978-0-520-06864-3.
^Kuzʹmina, Elena Efimovna(2007).The Origin of the Indo-Iranians.Leiden,Netherlands;Boston,United States:BRILL.p. 410.ISBN 978-9-004-16054-5.

Sources

Diakonoff, I. M.(1985). "Media". InGershevitch, Ilya(ed.).The Cambridge History of Iran.Vol. 2. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp. 36–148.ISBN 978-0-521-20091-2.
Mayor, Adrienne(2014).The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World.Princeton,United States:Princeton University Press.pp. 379–381.ISBN 978-0-691-14720-8.
Schmitt, Rüdiger(2000)."ZARINAIA".Encyclopædia Iranica.Retrieved2022-07-12.

[1] Mayor, Adrienne (2016-02-09).The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World.Princeton University Press. p. 380.ISBN 978-0-691-17027-5.

[Olbrycht-2] Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2021).Early Arsakid Parthia (ca. 250-165 B.C.): At the Crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and Central Asian History.Leiden,Netherlands;Boston,United States:Brill.pp. 17–18.ISBN 978-9-004-46076-8.

[FOOTNOTESchmitt2000-3] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gSchmitt 2000.

[FOOTNOTEDiakonoff1985132-4] Diakonoff 1985,p. 132.

[5] Hinz, Walther (1975).Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberleiferung[Old Iranian Language from Collateral Sources] (in German). Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz.p.277.ISBN 978-3-447-01703-9.

[6] Schmitt, Rüdiger(2011).Iranisches Personennamenbuch[Book of Iranian Personal Names] (in German). Vol. 5.5a.Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.pp. 192–193.ISBN 978-3-700-17142-3.

[FOOTNOTEMayor2014-7] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gMayor 2014.

[8] Rolle, Renate (1989).The World of the Scythians.Berkeley,United States:University of California Press.p.37.ISBN 978-0-520-06864-3.

[9] Kuzʹmina, Elena Efimovna(2007).The Origin of the Indo-Iranians.Leiden,Netherlands;Boston,United States:BRILL.p. 410.ISBN 978-9-004-16054-5.

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