SOCIAL AND CULTURAL VALUES OF THE SCYTHIANS:ANCIENT ASHGUZS / ISHKUZS / GUZS
Zaur HASANOV*
Chapter I is devoted to the research of Iranologists. Social and cultural versions of the myth of “the Scythian descent from Tagitaus” (described byHerodotus) have been studied by many Iranologists. Basing on the analyses of heir research it can be concluded that:
1) the names of the four Scythian tribes – Auchatae, Catiaroi, Traspi and Paralaltai (which represent social categories) cannot be reconstructed on the basis of Iranian linguistic and mythological tradition.
2) Iranologists (Miller, Tokhtasev) point out that plural suffix -t- (in the Scythian ethnic names Auchatae, Paralaltai, Scolotoi) originates from the languages of the Altaic language family.
3) Abaev assumes that in the ancient Iranian languages there is no phoneme -l- , which appears in the individual’s names “Lipoxais” and “Colaxais” and in the names of ethnic groups “Paralaltai” and “Scolotoi” from the myth of the Scythian descent from Tagitaus.
4) As far as the text of Protogenes inscriptions is concerned, it becomes clear that “aksai/oksai” in the names of the first Scythians (Lipoksai, Arpoksai, Kolaksai) is not a single word, as Iranologists try to present it, but two separate roots ok/ak and sai. Thus it can be concluded that these two words are not associated with the Iranian title hšaya-. For the reasons mentioned above, it may be concluded that the myth of the Scythian descent from Tagitaus (in which, according to many researchers, the social structure of the Archaic Scythian society is described) is not genealogically connected with the Iranian world.
5) According to V.Miller and V. Abaev traces of the Iranian languages were virtually not present in the names of the Royal Scythians at the time of Herodotus. They believe that Iranisation of the Scythians had started in the later (Sarmatian) period.
6) In order to prove Iranian origin of the Scythians and Sakians Iranologists use the “circular argument”, which means that “conclusions of the researcher depend on his/her original assumptions”. This “circular” approach has been criticized by the Indo-European researchers.
7) Written sources (Herodotus) evidence of the existence of seven different languages in the Scythian Empire. These facts do not allow us to accept the false concept of the Iranian mono-ethnic origin of the Scythian society. The issue of the origin of different languages of the Scythian Empire remains relevant in the current research.
Chapter II.
1) The correct Ancient Greek transcription of the Scythian(Σκυθαι) ethnic name is “Skuthai”. The identical Assyro-Babylonian (Ashguzai, Ishkuzai) and Ancient Greek (Skuthai) forms of the Scythian ethnic name suggest that this was the real name of this people.
2) The name of the Scythian tribes is identical with the name of the Turkic tribal union Oghuz, Guz.
3) The comparative research of the Herodotus’ information about the Royal Scythians and Rashid al-Din’s information about ancient Oghuzs shows parallel details, concerning their military campaigns, migrations and even historical period (7th century BC).
4) Archaeological sources of the Archaic Scythian period reveal that the information of Rashid al-Din about migrations of the ancient Oghuzsis correct.
5) The information about division of Oghuz tribes into İç Oğuz (Inner Oghuz) and Taş Oğuz / Aş Oğuz (Outer Oghuz) can be found in Assyro-Babylonian written sources, where Scythians are named Ishkuzai and Ashguzai. In general the Turkic sources allow us to reveal structure virtually identical with the social, military and geographical organization of the Scythian society.
Chapter III.
The souces prove that Scythians and Turko-Mongolian nations (Xiongnu, Hunns, Tuchue, Mongols, Oghuz, Kipchaks etc.) had analogical traditions of:
1) burial , 2) horse sacrifice, 3) blood oath, 4) cult of defeated enemy skull, 5) sword worship, 6) views about Earth and 7) anti-assimilation attitude.
Chapter IV.
Iranologists cannot explaine etymological meanings of all of the eight gods of the Royal Scythians Pantheon.
1) The research on the basis of the ancient Turkic languages, and its comparison to the Shamanism and Tengrianism of the Altaic language family, allows us to establish clear etymological meanings of all eight Royal Scythian gods and to reveal a clear structure of the Pantheon.
2) Study of the names of the Royal Scythian gods on the basis of the ancient Turkic languages allows us to reveal their polisemous etymological meanings. Multifunctional images of the Scythian gods are identical with multifunctionalimages of the Greek gods (that were identified with the Scythian gods by Herodotus).
3) In this chapter some additional evidence is brought to support the argument about sameness of the Royal Scythian and Turkic gods.
Chapter V.
The images of goddesses in the Scythian art are analysed and compared to the information in written sources and traditions of Shamanism in the Altaic language family. It allows us to establish that:
1) Scythian depictions of a female deity with big feet, a fire and a mirror refer to the Scythian goddess Tabiti.
2) Scythian images of a female creature with zoomorphic limbs, wings, surrounded by animals, holding a severed male’s head in her hand, are depicting Scythian goddess Argimpasa.
3) The Cimmerain, Scythian and Sakian archaeology discoveries, its comparison to the written sources, ethnographic materials, and Shamanism of the people of Altaic language family, allows us to determine the semantic meanings of series of the archaeological finds and funeral ritual, which is reflected in the construction materials and stratigraphy of the burial mounds.
4) The research of the cross-shaped (romb-shaped) Cimmerian, Scythian and Sakian ornament reveals that its semantic meaning originates from the concept of the Centre of Universe in the Uralo-Altaic shamanism. In general it should be stated that the comparative research leads to the conclusion that Cimmerian, Scythian and Sakian shamanic practices were identical with to those of the Siberian shamans.
Chapter VI.
Describing the myth of the “Scythian descent from Tagitaus” Herodotus cites the names of the first Scythians (Lipoxais, Arpoxais, Colaxais), their tribes (Auchatae, Catiaroi, Traspi, Paralaltai) and golden objects that had fallen from the sky (a plough, a yoke, a battle-axe, a drinking-cup).
1) Etymology on the basis of ancient Turkic languages helps to determine that the functions of the golden objects were reflected in the names of the first Scythians and their tribes.
2) The names of the first Scythians and their tribes reflected their social and economic functions, which were associated with the semantic value of the golden object that they received from the sky.
3) The names of the tribes reflected actions performed by the golden object: a battle-axe (sword) - to cut , a plough –to hoe, a yoke –to conquer, a drinking-cup (cauldron) – to hang over the fire.
4) The myth of the “Scythian descent from Tagitaus” reflected the social structure of the Scythian society in the Archaic Scythian period.
* PhD, Senior research associate at The Department of Antique Archaeology at The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. Author of more than sixty papers published in Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, USA, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Turkey and Iran. Author of the monograph “The Royal Scythians” published in four languages and reviewed by many researchers. The monograph offers a new insight into the ethnic and religious composition of the Scythian Empire. Hasanov Zaur is a member of the ISSR (International Society for Shamanistic Research). He has participated innumerous international conferences in different countries.
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