land of the Persians stretches along to the Erythraian Sea, including
Persia and next after it Assyria, and Arabia after Assyria: and this
ends, or rather is commonly supposed to end, 40 at the Arabian gulf,
into which Dareios conducted a channel from the Nile. Now in the line
stretching to Phenicia from the land of the Persians the land is broad
and the space abundant, but after Phenicia this peninsula goes by the
shore of our Sea along Palestine, Syria, and Egypt, where it ends; and
in it there are three nations only.
40. These are the parts of Asia which tend towards the West from the
Persian land; but as to those which lie beyond the Persians and Medes
and Saspeirians and Colchians towards the East and the sunrising, on one
side the Erythraian Sea runs along by them, and on the North both the
Caspian Sea and the river Araxes, which flows towards the rising sun:
and Asia is inhabited as far as the Indian land; but from this onwards
towards the East it becomes desert, nor can any one say what manner of
land it is.
41. Such and so large is Asia: and Libya is included in the second
peninsula; for after Egypt Libya succeeds at once. Now about Egypt
this peninsula is narrow, for from our Sea to the Erythraian Sea is a
distance there of ten myriads of fathoms, 41 which would amount to
a thousand furlongs; but after this narrow part, the portion of the
peninsula which is called Libya is, as it chances, extremely broad.
42. I wonder then at those who have parted off and divided the world
into Libya, Asia, and Europe, since the difference between these is not
small; for in length Europe extends along by both, while in breadth
it is clear to me that it is beyond comparison larger; 42 for Libya
furnishes proofs about itself that it is surrounded by sea, except so
much of it as borders upon Asia; and this fact was shown by Necos king
of the Egyptians first of all those about whom we have knowledge. He
when he had ceased digging the channel 43 which goes through from the
Nile to the Arabian gulf, sent Phenicians with ships, bidding them sail
and come back through the Pillars of Heracles to the Northern Sea and so
to Egypt. The Phenicians therefore set forth from the Erythraian Sea and
sailed through the Southern Sea; and when autumn came, they would put
to shore and sow the land, wherever in Libya they might happen to be as
they sailed, and then they waited for the harvest: and having reaped
the corn they would sail on, so that after two years had elapsed, in the
third year they turned through the Pillars of Heracles and arrived again
in Egypt. And they reported a thing which I cannot believe, but another
man may, namely that in sailing round Libya they had the sun on their
right hand.
43. Thus was this country first known to be what it is, and after this
it is the Carthaginians who make report of it; for as to Sataspes the
son of Teaspis the Achaimenid, he did not sail round Libya, though he
was sent for this very purpose, but was struck with fear by the length
of the voyage and the desolate nature of the land, and so returned back
and did not accomplish the task which his mother laid upon him. For this
man had outraged a daughter of Zopyros the son of Megabyzos, a virgin;
and then when he was about to be impaled by order of king Xerxes for
this offence, the mother of Sataspes, who was a sister of Dareios,
entreated for his life, saying that she would herself lay upon him a
greater penalty than Xerxes; for he should be compelled (she said) to
sail round Libya, until in sailing round it he came to the Arabian gulf.
So then Xerxes having agreed upon these terms, Sataspes went to Egypt,
and obtaining a ship and sailors from the Egyptians, he sailed to the
Pillars of Heracles; and having sailed through them and turned the point
of Libya which is called the promontory of Soloeis, he sailed on towards
the South. Then after he had passed over much sea in many months, as
there was needed ever more and more voyaging, he turned about and sailed
back again to Egypt: and having come from thence into the presence of
king Xerxes, he reported saying that at the furthest point which he
reached he was sailing by dwarfish people, who used clothing made from
the palm-tree, and who, whenever they came to land with their ship, left
their towns and fled away to the mountains: and they, he said, did no
injury when they entered into the towns, but took food 4301 from them
only. And the cause, he said, why he had not completely sailed round
Libya was that the ship could not advance any further but stuck fast.
Xerxes however did not believe that he was speaking the truth, and since
he had not performed the appointed task, he impaled him, inflicting upon
him the penalty pronounced before. A eunuch belonging to this Sataspes
ran away to Samos as soon as he heard that his master was dead,
carrying with him large sums of money; and of this a man of Samos took
possession, whose name I know, but I purposely pass it over without
mention.
44. Of Asia the greater part was explored by Dareios, who desiring to
know of the river Indus, which is a second river producing crocodiles of
all the rivers in the world,—to know, I say, of this river where it runs
out into the sea, sent with ships, besides others whom he trusted to
speak the truth, Skylax also, a man of Caryanda. These starting from
the city of Caspatyros and the land of Pactyïke, sailed down the river
towards the East and the sunrising to the sea; and then sailing over the
sea Westwards they came in the thirtieth month to that place from whence
the king of the Egyptians had sent out the Phenicians of whom I spoke
before, to sail round Libya. After these had made their voyage round the
coast, Dareios both subdued the Indians and made use of this sea. Thus
Asia also, excepting the parts of it which are towards the rising sun,
has been found to be similar 44 to Libya.
45. As to Europe, however, it is clearly not known by any, either as
regards the parts which are towards the rising sun or those towards the
North, whether it be surrounded by sea: but in length it is known
to stretch along by both the other divisions. And I am not able to
understand for what reason it is that to the Earth, which is one, three
different names are given derived from women, and why there were set
as boundaries to divide it the river Nile of Egypt and the Phasis in
Colchis (or as some say the Maiotian river Tanaïs and the Kimmerian
ferry); nor can I learn who those persons were who made the boundaries,
or for what reason they gave the names. Libya indeed is said by most of
the Hellenes to have its name from Libya a woman of that country, and
Asia from the wife of Prometheus: but this last name is claimed by the
Lydians, who say that Asia has been called after Asias the son of Cotys
the son of Manes, and not from Asia the wife of Prometheus; and from
him too they say the Asian tribe in Sardis has its name. As to Europe
however, it is neither known by any man whether it is surrounded by sea,
nor does it appear whence it got this name or who he was who gave it,
unless we shall say that the land received its name from Europa the
Tyrian; and if so, it would appear that before this it was nameless like
the rest. She however evidently belongs to Asia and did not come to this
land which is now called by the Hellenes Europe, but only from Phenicia
to Crete, and from Crete to Lykia. Let this suffice now which has been
said about these matters; for we will adopt those which are commonly
accepted of the accounts.
46. Now the region of the Euxine upon which Dareios was preparing to
march has, apart from the Scythian race, the most ignorant nations
within it of all lands: for we can neither put forward any nation of
those who dwell within the region of Pontus as eminent in ability, nor
do we know of any man of learning 45 having arisen there, apart from the
Scythian nation and Anacharsis. By the Scythian race one thing which is
the most important of all human things has been found out more cleverly
than by any other men of whom we know; but in other respects I have no
great admiration for them: and that most important thing which they have
discovered is such that none can escape again who has come to attack
them, and if they do not desire to be found, it is not possible to catch
them: for they who have neither cities founded nor walls built, but all
carry their houses with them and are mounted archers, living not by the
plough but by cattle, and whose dwellings are upon cars, these assuredly
are invincible and impossible to approach.
47. This they have found out, seeing that their land is suitable to it
and at the same time the rivers are their allies: for first this land
is plain land and is grassy and well watered, and then there are rivers
flowing through it not much less in number than the channels in Egypt.
Of these as many as are noteworthy and also can be navigated from the
sea, I will name: there is Ister with five mouths, and after this Tyras,
Hypanis, Borysthenes, Panticapes, Kypakyris, Gerros and Tanaïs. These
flow as I shall now describe.
48. The Ister, which is the greatest of all the rivers which we know,
flows always with equal volume in summer and winter alike. It is the
first towards the West of all the Scythian rivers, and it has become the
greatest of all rivers because other rivers flow into it. And these
are they which make it great: 46—five in number are those 47 which flow
through the Scythian land, namely that which the Scythians call Porata
and the Hellenes Pyretos, and besides this, Tiarantos and Araros and
Naparis and Ordessos. The first-mentioned of these is a great river
lying towards the East, and there it joins waters with the Ister, the
second Tiarantos is more to the West and smaller, and the Araros and
Naparis and Ordessos flow into the Ister going between these two.
49. These are the native Scythian rivers which join to swell its stream,
while from the Agathyrsians flows the Maris and joins the Ister, and
from the summits of Haimos flow three other great rivers towards the
North Wind and fall into it, namely Atlas and Auras and Tibisis. Through
Thrace and the Thracian Crobyzians flow the rivers Athrys and Noes
and Artanes, running into the Ister; and from the Paionians and Mount
Rhodope the river Kios, 48 cutting through Haimos in the midst, runs
into it also. From the Illyrians the river Angros flows Northwards and
runs out into the Triballian plain and into the river Brongos, and the
Brongos flows into the Ister; thus the Ister receives both these, being
great rivers. From the region which is above the Ombricans, the river
Carpis and another river, the Alpis, flow also towards the North Wind
and run into it; for the Ister flows in fact through the whole of
Europe, beginning in the land of the Keltoi, who after the Kynesians
dwell furthest towards the sun-setting of all the peoples of Europe;
and thus flowing through all Europe it falls into the sea by the side of
Scythia.
50. So then it is because these which have been named and many others
join their waters together, that Ister becomes the greatest of rivers;
since if we compare the single streams, the Nile is superior in volume
of water; for into this no river or spring flows, to contribute to its
volume. And the Ister flows at an equal level always both in summer and
in winter for some such cause as this, as I suppose:—in winter it is
of the natural size, or becomes only a little larger than its nature,
seeing that this land receives very little rain in winter, but
constantly has snow; whereas in summer the snow which fell in the
winter, in quantity abundant, melts and runs from all parts into the
Ister. This snow of which I speak, running into the river helps to swell
its volume, and with it also many and violent showers of rain, for it
rains during the summer: and thus the waters which mingle with the Ister
are more copious in summer than they are in winter by about as much as
the water which the Sun draws to himself in summer exceeds that which he
draws in winter; and by the setting of these things against one another
there is produced a balance; so that the river is seen to be of equal
volume always.
51. One, I say, of the rivers which the Scythians have is the Ister; and
after it the Tyras, which starts from the North and begins its course
from a large lake which is the boundary between the land of the
Scythians and that of the Neuroi. At its mouth are settled those
Hellenes who are called Tyritai.
52. The third river is the Hypanis, which starts from Scythia and flows
from a great lake round which feed white wild horses; and this lake is
rightly called "Mother of Hypanis." From this then the river Hypanis
takes its rise and for a distance of five days' sail it flows shallow
and with sweet water still; 49 but from this point on towards the sea
for four days' sail it is very bitter, for there flows into it the water
of a bitter spring, which is so exceedingly bitter that, small as it is,
it changes the water of the Hypanis by mingling with it, though that
is a river to which few are equal in greatness. This spring is on
the border between the lands of the agricultural Scythians and of the
Alazonians, and the name of the spring and of the place from which it
flows is in Scythian Exampaios, and in the Hellenic tongue Hierai Hodoi.
50 Now the Tyras and the Hypanis approach one another in their windings
in the land of the Alazonians, but after this each turns off and widens
the space between them as they flow.
53. Fourth is the river Borysthenes, which is both the largest of these
after the Ister, and also in our opinion the most serviceable not only
of the Scythian rivers but also of all the rivers of the world besides,
excepting only the Nile of Egypt, for to this it is not possible to
compare any other river: of the rest however the Borysthenes is the most
serviceable, seeing that it provides both pastures which are the fairest
and the richest for cattle, and fish which are better by far and more
numerous than those of any other river, and also it is the sweetest
water to drink, and flows with clear stream, though others beside it are
turbid, and along its banks crops are produced better than elsewhere,
while in parts where it is not sown, grass grows deeper. Moreover at its
mouth salt forms of itself in abundance, and it produces also huge fish
without spines, which they call antacaioi, to be used for salting, and
many other things also worthy of wonder. Now as far as the region of the
Gerrians, 51 to which it is a voyage of forty 52 days, the Borysthenes
is known as flowing from the North Wind; but above this none can tell
through what nations it flows: it is certain however that it runs
through desert 53 to the land of the agricultural Scythians; for these
Scythians dwell along its banks for a distance of ten days' sail. Of
this river alone and of the Nile I cannot tell where the sources are,
nor, I think, can any of the Hellenes. When the Borysthenes comes near
the sea in its course, the Hypanis mingles with it, running out into the
same marsh; 5301 and the space between these two rivers, which is as it
were a beak of land, 54 is called the point of Hippoles, and in it is
placed a temple of the Mother, 55 and opposite the temple upon the river
Hypanis are settled the Borysthenites.
54. This is that which has to do with these rivers; and after these
there is a fifth river besides, called Panticapes. This also flows 56
both from the North and from a lake, and in the space between this river
and the Borysthenes dwell the agricultural Scythians: it runs out into
the region of Hylaia, and having passed by this it mingles with the
Borysthenes.
55. Sixth comes the river Hypakyris, which starts from a lake, and
flowing through the midst of the nomad Scythians runs out into the sea
by the city of Carkinitis, skirting on its right bank the region of
Hylaia and the so-called racecourse of Achilles.
56. Seventh is the Gerros, which parts off from the Borysthenes near
about that part of the country where the Borysthenes ceases to be
known,—it parts off, I say, in this region and has the same name which
this region itself has, namely Gerros; and as it flows to the sea it
borders the country of the nomad and that of the Royal Scythians, and
runs out into the Hypakyris.
57. The eighth is the river Tanaïs, which starts in its flow at first
from a large lake, and runs out into a still larger lake called Maiotis,
which is the boundary between the Royal Scythians and the Sauromatai.
Into this Tanaïs falls another river, whose name is Hyrgis.
58. So many are the rivers of note with which the Scythians are
provided: and for cattle the grass which comes up in the land of Scythia
is the most productive of bile of any grass which we know; and that this
is so you may judge when you open the bodies of the cattle.
59. Thus abundant supply have they of that which is most important;
and as for the rest their customs are as follows. The gods whom they
propitiate by worship are these only:—Hestia most of all, then Zeus and
the Earth, supposing that Earth is the wife of Zeus, and after these
Apollo, and Aphrodite Urania, and Heracles, and Ares. Of these all
the Scythians have the worship established, and the so-called Royal
Scythians sacrifice also to Poseidon. Now Hestia is called in Scythian
Tabiti, and Zeus, being most rightly named in my opinion, is called
Papaios, and Earth Api, 57 and Apollo Oitosyros, 58 and Aphrodite Urania
is called Argimpasa, 59 and Poseidon Thagimasidas. 60 It is not their
custom however to make images, altars or temples to any except Ares, but
to him it is their custom to make them.
60. They have all the same manner of sacrifice established for all their
religious rites equally, and it is thus performed:—the victim stands
with its fore-feet tied, and the sacrificing priest stands behind the
victim, and by pulling the end of the cord he throws the beast down; and
as the victim falls, he calls upon the god to whom he is sacrificing,
and then at once throws a noose round its neck, and putting a small
stick into it he turns it round and so strangles the animal, without
either lighting a fire or making any first offering from the victim or
pouring any libation over it: and when he has strangled it and flayed
off the skin, he proceeds to boil it.
61. Now as the land of Scythia is exceedingly ill wooded, this
contrivance has been invented for the boiling of the flesh:—having
flayed the victims, they strip the flesh off the bones and then put it
into caldrons, if they happen to have any, of native make, which
very much resemble Lesbian mixing-bowls except that they are much
larger,—into these they put the flesh and boil it by lighting under it
the bones of the victim: if however thy have not at hand the caldron,
they put all the flesh into the stomachs of the victims and adding water
they light the bones under them; and these blaze up beautifully, and the
stomachs easily hold the flesh when it has been stripped off the bones:
thus an ox is made to boil itself, and the other kinds of victims each
boil themselves also. Then when the flesh is boiled, the sacrificer
takes a first offering of the flesh and of the vital organs and casts
it in front of him. And they sacrifice various kinds of cattle, but
especially horses.
62. To the others of the gods they sacrifice thus and these kinds
of beasts, but to Ares as follows:—In each district of the several
governments 61 they have a temple of Ares set up in this way:—bundles
of brushwood are heaped up for about three furlongs 62 in length and
in breadth, but less in height; and on the top of this there is a level
square made, and three of the sides rise sheer but by the remaining one
side the pile may be ascended. Every year they pile on a hundred and
fifty waggon-loads of brushwood, for it is constantly settling down by
reason of the weather. 63 Upon this pile of which I speak each people
has an ancient iron sword 64 set up, and this is the sacred symbol 65 of
Ares. To this sword they bring yearly offerings of cattle and of horses;
and they have the following sacrifice in addition, beyond what they make
to the other gods, that is to say, of all the enemies whom they take
captive in war they sacrifice one man in every hundred, not in the same
manner as they sacrifice cattle, but in a different manner: for they
first pour wine over their heads, and after that they cut the throats of
the men, so that the blood runs into a bowl; and then they carry this up
to the top of the pile of brushwood and pour the blood over the sword.
This, I say, they carry up; and meanwhile below by the side of the
temple they are doing thus:—they cut off all the right arms of the
slaughtered men with the hands and throw them up into the air, and then
when they have finished offering the other victims, they go away; and
the arm lies wheresoever it has chanced to fall, and the corpse apart
from it.
63. Such are the sacrifices which are established among them; but of
swine these make no use, nor indeed are they wont to keep them at all in
their land.
64. That which relates to war is thus ordered with them:—When a Scythian
has slain his first man, he drinks some of his blood: and of all those
whom he slays in the battle he bears the heads to the king; for if he
has brought a head he shares in the spoil which they have taken, but
otherwise not. And he takes off the skin of the head by cutting it round
about the ears and then taking hold of the scalp and shaking it off;
afterwards he scrapes off the flesh with the rib of an ox, and works the
skin about with his hands; and when he has thus tempered it, he keeps it
as a napkin to wipe the hands upon, and hangs it from the bridle of the
horse on which he himself rides, and takes pride in it; for whosoever
has the greatest number of skins to wipe the hands upon, he is judged to
be the bravest man. Many also make cloaks to wear of the skins stripped
off, sewing them together like shepherds' cloaks of skins; 66 and many
take the skin together with the finger-nails off the right hands of
their enemies when they are dead, and make them into covers for their
quivers: now human skin it seems is both thick and glossy in appearance,
more brilliantly white than any other skin. Many also take the skins
off the whole bodies of men and stretch them on pieces of wood and carry
them about on their horses.
65. Such are their established customs about these things; and to the
skulls themselves, not of all but of their greatest enemies, they do
thus:—the man saws off all below the eyebrows and clears out the inside;
and if he is a poor man he only stretches ox-hide round it and then
makes use of it; but if he be rich, besides stretching the ox-hide he
gilds it over within, and makes use of it as a drinking-cup. They do
this also if any of their own family have been at variance with them and
the man gets the better of his adversary in trial before the king; and
when strangers come to him whom he highly esteems, he sets these skulls
before them, and adds the comment that they being of his own family had
made war against him, and that he had got the better of them; and this
they hold to be a proof of manly virtue.
66. Once every year each ruler of a district mixes in his own district
a bowl of wine, from which those of the Scythians drink by whom enemies
have been slain; but those by whom this has not been done do not taste
of the wine, but sit apart dishonoured; and this is the greatest of
all disgraces among them: but those of them who have slain a very great
number of men, drink with two cups together at the same time.
67. Diviners there are many among the Scythians, and they divine with a
number of willow rods in the following manner:—they bring large bundles
of rods, and having laid them on the ground they unroll them, and
setting each rod by itself apart they prophesy; and while speaking thus,
they roll the rods together again, and after that they place them in
order a second time one by one. 67 This manner of divination they have
from their fathers: but the Enareës or "man-women" 68 say that Aphrodite
gave them the gift of divination, and they divine accordingly with
the bark of the linden-tree. Having divided the linden-bark into three
strips, the man twists them together in his fingers and untwists them
again, and as he does this he utters the oracle.