Chapter Six
SCYTHIANS
Cimmerians and Scythians
The original Twelve Tribes of Israel had split into two kingdoms. Two tribes comprising “Judah” were in the south, and the ten tribes of “Israel” were in the north. The Ten Northern Tribes were entirely taken away by the Assyrians to places in northern Mesopotamia, to the Caucasus area and to eastern Iran.
The Bible says that the Israelites had been exiled to Hala (Chala), Habor (Chabor), the River of Gozan, the Cities of the Medes (2-Kings 17:6), and to “Hara” (1-Chronicles 5:26). The Talmud and archaeological findings enable the identification of these places of re-settlement. Shortly after the exile and re-settlement every one of the said places became a center for a group of peoples who then appeared for the first time. They are known to history as the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Guti or Goths. These entities were (at least in part) the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel!
Apart from their being in Mannae, the Cimmerians were also reported as at first centered in the region of Iberia in the Caucasus. The Cimmerians killed the king of neighboring Urartu (Ararat) and overran his land. They also defeated and killed Sargon, king of Assyria, in 705. Sargon was replaced by Sennacherib (705-681) who beat off the Cimmerians after which a portion of them invaded the Land of Phrygia in Anatolia.
The Cimmerian king in Phrygia was called by the Assyrians “King of the Umman Manda [i.e. Cimmerians], king of the Sakae [Scyths] and Guti [Goths]”. Umman Manda means “People [Umman] of Menasseh”. The Cimmerians were soon driven out of Anatolia and crossed the Bosporus into Europe. Jerome (on Zecharia 10: 11), the translator of the Bible into Latin, had heard from Jewish sages the tradition that Israelites, exiled by the Assyrians, had reached the Bosporus and from there headed north, i.e. into Europe. These Cimmerians, via the Balkans and Danube valley, eventually reached Gaul, the British Isles, and Scandinavia. They became the major factor in “Celtic” civilization.
Meanwhile, those other of the Cimmerians who had not invaded Phrygia but had remained on the fringes of the Assyrian Empire managed to recuperate. By the end of Sennacherib's reign they had gained control of Mannae. They posed a serious challenge to Sennacherib's successor, Essarhaddon (681-669 BCE).
Scythians
Essarhaddon at first beat the Cimmerians, some of whom joined his forces. In about 676 a new element, known as “Ishkuza” emerged from the Cimmerian ranks. These are identified as the Scythians.
In 673 Esarhaddon slew the Scythian king who was replaced by Bartatua. Bartatua entered into alliance with the Assyrians, and married the daughter of Esarhaddon. The Assyrian Empire at that stage was troubled by rebellious Medes, Mannaeans, Cimmerians, and others. The Scythians from allies of the Assyrians progressed to hold the Assyrians in some type of subservience for 28 years. For a period they took control over much of the Assyrian Empire. According to Herodotos they ruled it. They established a center at Beth Shean in the former territory of Manasseh in northern “Israel”. Archaeological finds testify to their presence throughout the Israelite region. They attacked Egypt and raided the Philistine city of Ashkelon.
Parallels with Judah
At this stage the Jews of Judah in the south who had not been exiled by the Assyrians but had remained on part of their own land centered around Jerusalem were ruled by king Josiah ben Amon (628-609 BCE). Eusebius and G. Syncellus report that the Scythians were present in the Land of Israel during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. Whilst the Scythians were taking over control from the Assyrians and setting themselves up in Beth-Shean and over portions of the former land of Israel, King Josiah was also extending his influence into that very same area! King Josiah had made himself independent of Assyria, smashed idols which represented Assyria's authority, and established colonies in northern Israel, at Megiddo, in the north near Beth-Shean, and in Philistia on the coast. He also had a presence in Beth-Shean (which was considered the Scythian headquarters) itself! A stone pillar with an inscription testifying to the authority of King Josiah has been found in excavations of Beth-Shean.
The Scythians, as well as King Josiah, attacked Philistia and later also maintained a presence there in addition to the Judaean colonies in that place. In other words, the Scythians and Judeans of King Josiah were in the same areas, undertaking the same activities, and must have been working hand in hand. Also at this time, in eastern Iran (in the Scythian-controlled regions of Hara and Bactria), there arose a religious reformer named Zarathustra (Zoroaster) whose original doctrine was monotheistic and even Biblical in character. After Zoroaster's death, his religion was paganized by the Median tribe of Magi, even though the original message had been Hebraic. Zoroaster, according to Iranian tradition had been taught by the prophet Jeremiah or by a pupil of Jeremiah. Zoroaster himself had Scythian familial connections yet some reports identify him as an Israelite. Zoroaster is an additional indication that the historical Scythians were to a significant degree of Israelite origin.
Eventually, after enduring Scythian subjection and witnessing the partial disintegration of their Empire, the Assyrians attempted to re-assert themselves. At this stage, ca. 616 BCE, the Medes and Babylonians were in open revolt. About two years later, in 614, the Medes began to besiege Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. The Assyrians were supported by part of the Mannaeans and by Egypt. At first, the Scythians supported Assyria. The Medes, Babylonians, Guti, Gimiri (Cimmerians), and others were on the other side. Scythians from the city of Ecbatana were called to Assyria's help. Ecbatana (Hamadan) in Media was THEN a Scythian center but later became the capital of Media. It is one of the “cities of the Medes” to which Israelites were exiled (2-Kings 17:6). When the Scythians arrived at Nineveh they were somehow persuaded to change sides and to join the besiegers. According to a Babylonian inscription, Nineveh was taken and sacked by the allies with the Umman-Manda (meaning in this case, the Scythians) taking the leading role. Shortly afterwards all of the other Assyrian cities received similar treatment. The Assyrian Empire was destroyed.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian army under Pharoah Neco had been marching to the aid of Assyria. King Josiah of Judah attempted to stop the Egyptian progress but was killed fighting Pharoah Neco at Megiddo. The Egyptians continued northward, only to be defeated at Carcamish. King Josiah of Judah had died fighting on the Scythian behalf. After having defeated the Assyrians and the Egyptians, the Scythian leaders were invited by the Medes to a feast. The Medes got the Scythians drunk and then massacred them. The Medes and Babylonians then divided the former Assyrian Empire between each other. The Babylonians conquered Judah and exiled its inhabitants to Babylon. Later, the Medes lost control to their allies, the Persians. Cyrus the Persian king conquered Babylon and allowed the Judeans to return to their land. Medes, Babylonians and Persians progressively drove the Scythians out of the Middle East area and into the north. From the north the Scythians were eventually to continue westward into Europe.
PARALLELS: Were the Scythians, Israelites?
Talmudic sources and connected Commentaries state that King Josiah ben Amon of Judah sent Jeremiah the prophet to bring back the Lost Ten Tribes. They say that SOME FEW OF THEM DID IN FACT RETURN TEMPORARILY! They later left according to the report and returned to their places of exile (Arakin 33a, Megilla 14b, Nachmanides on Gittin). The religious reformer, Zarathustrar, had appeared in Scythian areas in the time of Jeremiah and was linked to Jeremiah in Iranian tradition. The message of Zoroaster was originally Hebraic but after his death the Iranian Magi paganized it. Tradition held that Jeremiah had taught Zoroaster. During the reign of King Josiah of Judah and in the time of Jeremiah the Scythians had temporarily settled for a time in the Land of Israel and had made it a center of theirs. King Josiah of Judah died fighting on the side of the Scythians. After Josiah's death the Scythians departed from the Land of Israel. The Scythians bore Tribal names similar to Israelite ones, they had a cult that was centered on a figure identified as Joseph of Israel1, and their artwork was of Israelite-Phoenician origin. The events of the Scythian-Assyrian epoch were also echoed in Biblical Prophecy. The prophets largely predicted events that in their fullness will occur in the Messianic era. Nevertheless, they often presented their account of the future in the description of events happening in their own time or not so long afterwards2 and thus history may be considered to repeat itself. There are a few Biblical passages concerning the fall of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which are also apposite to the Scythian-Judean symbiosis in the reign of King Josiah. The fifth chapter of Micah, for instance, speaks of a ruler coming out of Beth Lehem and King Josiah was a descendant of David, who came from Beth Lehem. The important verses, for our consideration, are verses 5: 5-8:
<<AND THIS MAN SHALL BE THE PEACE, WHEN THE ASSYRIAN SHALL COME INTO OUR LAND: AND HE [i.e. Assyria] SHALL TREAD IN OUR PALACES, THEN SHALL WE RAISE AGAINST HIM [i.e. against Assyria] SEVEN SHEPHERDS, AND EIGHT PRINCIPAL MEN>>
<<AND THEY SHALL WASTE THE LAND OF ASSYRIA WITH THE SWORD, AND THE LAND OF NIMRUD IN THE ENTRANCES THEREOF....
<<AND THE REMNANT OF JACOB SHALL BE IN THE MIDST OF MANY PEOPLE AS A DEW FROM THE LORD>>
<<AND THE REMNANT OF JACOB SHALL BE AMONG THE GENTILES IN THE MIDST OF MANY PEOPLE AS A LION AMONG THE FLOCKS OF SHEEP>>
The main point of these passages may be applicable only to the Messianic era yet it is also descriptive of our explanation of the Israelite-Scythian equation. The Assyrians, at first, came into the land of Israel and trod it down, including the Royal palaces, as archaeological excavations of Samaria have proven. They then exiled all of the surviving inhabitants. From their places of exile, the Israelite-Scythians made peace with Assyria, then became “Shepherds” i.e. allies and protectors of Assyria, and after that graduated to be the effective rulers of the Assyrian Empire, i.e. “eight principal men”. Finally the Israelite-Scythians destroyed the Assyrian cities and wasted “the land of Assyria with the sword”, just as Micah describes. Similarly, the Talmud says (Shabbat 147) that the Lost Ten Tribes came to a calamity because of the “Wine of Phrygia”3, and perhaps the reference is to the same drunken feast that caused the Scythian leaders to be killed and to lose control of the Assyrian empire. Other parallels can be drawn between descriptions of the exiled Israelites and the Scythians. The evidence is such that it must be acknowledged that at least part of the Scythian hosts was descended from Israel. The only question that remains is what segments of the Scythians were Hebrew in origin, what percentage they were of the total, and what became of them.
Micah and the Lost Ten Tribes in the End Times
We have explained Micah chapter 5 as describing King Josiah and the Scythians. There is a principle that all Prophecy speaks about the latter times. Even when contemporary or historical or soon-to-occur-in-their-own-time events are described by the Prophets an additional application for the Latter Days is also intended.
The Commentary of the Malbim to Micah chapter five explains the passage in light of the tradition that in the Last days there will be two messiahs:
1. Messiah son of Joseph considered head of the Lost Tribes by the Malbim and others and associated more with the material and power-politics aspects of Redemption.
2. Messiah son of David linked with Judah (i.e. the Jews) and connected more to the spiritual side though eventually uniting the material and spiritual aspects into one:
The Malbim (Micah 5:1-2) says:
<<This has already been explained in Ezekiel chapter 37 [about the sticks of Judah and Israel being joined]: At the time of the end the Ten Tribes will first be aroused. Over them will be the Messiah son of Joseph. They shall work mightily. The Tribe of Judah will be scattered amongst the nations, weak and a minority. They will be attached to the Ten Tribes and subservient to them under the rule of the Messiah son of Joseph. After that however the Messiah son of David will arise with the strength of the Almighty. Then they will all receive upon themselves the yoke of the Kingdom of the House of David….
[Micah 5:3] THEREFORE WILL HE GIVE THEM UP, UNTIL THE TIME THAT SHE WHICH TRAVAILETH HATH BROUGHT FORTH: THEN THE REMNANT OF HIS BRETHREN SHALL RETURN UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
<<All the time up until the end of gathering in the exiles is considered as travailing in child-birth. Until the end of that time the House of Judah will be subservient to the House of Israel. After that,
[Micah 5:4] AND HE SHALL STAND AND FEED IN THE STRENGTH OF THE LORD, IN THE MAJESTY OF THE NAME OF THE LORD HIS GOD: AND THEY SHALL ABIDE: FOR NOW SHALL HE BE GREAT UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
<<The Messiah from Bethlehem in Ephratha will arise and overcome the nations and be shepherd to Israel….>>
The Malbim goes on to explain it all as describing the union of Judah with the Ten Tribes and the War against Gog and Magog. At all events we can see that the co-operation and attempted re-union between Judah and “Joseph” that took place in the reign of Josiah ben Amon foreshadowed what will take place with much greater intensity and on a permanent basis in the future.
Did the Scythians Revere Joseph?
One of the places besides which, and beyond of, were said to be found the Lost Ten Tribes was the Sambation River. The Don River was identified with the “Sambation” from early times. The name “Sambation” was recorded as a personal name at Tanais which was a trading center at the Don River mouth. Tanais (“Tanaskvil”) was also important in Scandinavian mythology and Snorre of Iceland related the area to that from which the ancestral gods of Scandinavia originated. These gods were also those of the Angles and Saxons and their fellows. Tanais was a major trading center from the 300s BCE to the 300s CE. It had worldwide importance as a supplier of grain from the Scythian hinterland and competed with Egypt in this regard. Tanais was on the shores of the Black Sea and in this area Greek colonists had founded several cities. The city may too have been founded by Greek settlers and influenced by Greek characteristics but its population was basically Scythian as described by Irma Haynman (1994). The Greek influence was never really very strong in Tanais and what there was appeared at a relatively late date. Tanais was Scythian in the sense that the Royal Scythes and the Arasacid Parthian rulers were Scythians. The whole area had once been controlled by Royal Scythes and kin. These were being pushed out and moving westward. They were being replaced by Sarmatians and others. The city of Tanais however appears to have retained its original Royal Scythe-type ethnic composition even though the surrounding peoples were no longer close kin of theirs.
Inside Tanais the only cult was that of Zeus Hypsistos, whose name means “The Supreme God”. This was a monotheistic religion the same as that prevalent elsewhere in the region especially amongst the Dacae and Getae who were also of Israelite descent. The Dacae were considered a western branch of the Scythian Sakae. The Getae were a branch of the Goths. Some scholars have attributed the cult of Zeus Hypsistos to Jewish influence. The cult is considered to be “monotheistic” according to historians and students of religion who are speaking on a relative level. We would not necessarily so consider it. Along with Zeus Hypsistos they also revered other lesser deities and their belief system was quite pagan. Jews were present in the area, were influential, and some of the Jews did attempt to reformulate their religion in terms more aligned with the general Hellenized culture of the area. Even so, the overall consensus is that the worship of Zeus Hypsistos in Tanais was of native origin and only marginally influenced by Judaism, if at all. Haynman implies that this cult outside of Tanais may have been due to Jewish, Christian, or other influences but inside Tanais it was unique and indigenous. Haynman quotes J. Ustinova who associated the cult in Tanais with the Sacae-Scythians. The Sacae-Scythians were Israelites, ancestors of the Angles and Saxons and related peoples.
In Tanais they never ate pork even though the surrounding Iranian and Greek peoples did. The Royal Scythians and their kin also did not eat pork according to Herodotos. The Massagetae from east of the Caspian Sea sacrificed horses to a deity named “Tanais” (Maximus Tyranius 8.8). This suggests that the Massagetae worshipped the same deity as that of Tanais. The name “Massagetae” has been interpreted to mean “Great Goths”. They too were of Israelite descent. Some of the followers of Zeus Hypsistos in Tanais had Greek names, others had Iranian names, and still others had “Jewish” [i.e. Hebrew] names. The three types of name were about equally distributed. One of the recorded Jewish names is “Sabation” which could be pronounced in that area, as “Sambation”. In addition to Zeus Hypsistos in Tanais they revered a “great mother” identified with Astarte.
There was a dynasty in Tanais known as “Aspourgos”, as well as a cult by the same name. “Aspourgos” was a name taken by one of the kings when he had himself deified. “Aspourgos” may have also been a name found amongst surrounding peoples. There was a religious and military organization of “Aspourgians” on an island near Tanais. The monarch, <<Aspourgos belonged to the Arsacides-Royal Scythian family from the Tanais [Don] river region, the other branches ruled over Parthia, Arminia, the Kushana Empire (Strabo 11.9.2).>> [The Arsacides were the rulers of the Parthian Empire in Persia. The Parthians rulers were of Israelite descent.] Some scholars trace the name “Aspourgos” to the Iranian “aspa” meaning horse or to the Akkadian-Syrian “aspuraku” meaning “horseman”. The name however had a different original connotation and any similarity with the word for “horse” and the like deviates from the primary root of the name. Haynman traces the name “Aspourgos” to the Semitic-Hebrew root “asaph” (to gather in) and to “biraka” which she understands to, mean “thy self-creation” or something similar. She points out that the name Joseph has the same origin.
<<AND SHE [Rachel, the mother of Joseph] CONCEIVED, AND BARE A SON; AND SAID, GOD HATH TAKEN AWAY [Hebrew “asaph”, gather in, take away] MY REPROACH:
<<AND SHE CALLED HIS NAME JOSEPH [Joseph connotes both “gather in” and [“add on”, i.e. God has taken away and will add to me more]; AND SAID, THE LORD SHALL ADD TO ME ANOTHER SON>> [Genesis 30:23-24].
The second part of the name Haynman also links to Joseph:
<<AND HE MADE HIM [i.e. Pharaoh made Joseph] TO RIDE IN THE SECOND CHARIOT WHICH HE HAD; AND THEY CRIED BEFORE HIM, BOW THE KNEE [Hebrew: “Avrech”]: AND HE MADE HIM RULER OVER ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT>> [Genesis 41:43]. The word translated as “BOW THE KNEE” in Hebrew is “Avrech” and actually connotes “My Father Reigns” or something similar. Haynam links the name “Aspourgos” to the two elements in names associated with Joseph, “asef” and “avrech”. Haynman says that the cult of “Aspourgos” in Tanais had the same origins as that of the Assyrian-Caucasian Aseph/Savaz, Biblical Joseph “abreh” [i.e. “avrech”] (Gen. 41:43), Bosporan Aspourgos, Thracian Sabazius/Attis, and Central Asian Sijawish…Each of [the] deities evolved in different ethnical and historical milieu, but retained common features.” [Some, or all, of these cults were associated with peoples of Israelite descent it is natural that they had features in common]. She relates the cult also to “chariots of the sun” worshipped by idolatrous kings of Judah and horses dedicated by them to sun worship (2-Kings 23:11).
<<AND HE [King Josiah son of Amon] TOOK AWAY THE HORSES THAT THE KINGS OF JUDAH HAD GIVEN TO THE SUN, AT THE ENTERING IN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, BY THE CHAMBER OF NATHAN MELECH THE CHAMBERLAIN, WHICH WAS IN THE SUBURBS, AND BURNED THE CHARIOTS OF THE SUN WITH FIRE>> [2-Kings 23:11].
She suggests that Hosea 14:14 also refers to the same superstitions:
[Hosea 14:3] ASSHUR SHALL NOT SAVE US; WE WILL NOT RIDE UPON HORSES: NEITHER WILL WE SAY ANY MORE TO THE WORK OF OUR HANDS, YE ARE OUR GODS: FOR IN THEE THE FATHERLESS FINDETH MERCY.
Haynman then concludes that Aspourgos was associated with Joseph by Hellenized Jewish immigrants and by Christians. She also says that the guilds dedicated to Aspourgos in Tanais had ceremonies that recalled (or were later interpreted as recalling) the messianic aspects of Joseph, the selection of Joseph as ruler, and the reconciliation of Joseph with his brothers (Genesis 45:4, 5). [Hynman apparently believes that the story of Joseph was a myth derived from Semitic mythology. It was, she claims, part of a general cultural tradition that also gave rise to the cult of Aspourgos. Since Joseph and Aspourgos had common features and a common origin it was natural that the two should later be identified as one and the same by those who were familiar with the story and traditions concerning both. That is what Hynman implies. We would say something else. The Scythians were descended from the Lost Ten Tribes. They had been exiled because they worshipped foreign gods and went in the ways of the nations around them. They had been influenced by pagans and pagans by them. They were also apparently largely illiterate and given to superstitious fancies. Nevertheless something of the original beliefs must have remained. They would have revered Joseph the forefather of their two most important tribes and rulers and by whose name they are referred to in scripture. After the synthesizing practice of pagans they would have had no difficulty in adapting their memories of Joseph to general pagan beliefs around them. The people of Tanais did have their own independent form of monotheistic belief, similar to but not derived from Judaism. They did not eat pork. They were part of the Sacae-Scythian people who had Israelite tribal names and are shown for other reasons to have been of Israelite descent. It may therefore be concluded that they revered “Joseph” under the name “Aspourgos” because they were descended from Joseph. The guilds connected with Aspourgos really did have ceremonies commemorating traditions about Joseph. They also retained some degree of monotheistic sentiment because they were of Hebrew origin. This was also the reason they did not eat pork whereas all other peoples in the region at that time did. They were largely illiterate superstitious pagans fighting for their life and often on the move from one place of exile to another, subject to influences and pressures of all the peoples around them who sometimes ruled over them and at other times were subjects of theirs. Even the language they used in their new homes was now a different one. We can expect deviations from the story of Joseph as we know it with the central theme being, to some degree, retained. We know about these features of the people of Tanais because archaeologists and historians have been able to study them. These researchers have suggested that the features found in Tanais were part of the Sakae-Scythian culture in general. “Aspourgos” is identical with Joseph. He was revered by the most important elements amongst the Scythians who also retained something of their Israelite monotheistic tradition. Yair David(i)y in “The Tribes” (1991) had already remarked on the presence of the root “Asp” in Scythian ethnic names (Aspacarea, Aspageni, Aspassi, etc) and had noted the connection of this root to the name Joseph in the eyes of people in the region. We had noted the additional fact that neighboring and related Scythian peoples bore names that were identical with or very similar to those of important tribal clans belonging to the tribes of Joseph. Tanais was abandoned in the early 400s CE, about the time of the Hun invasion of Europe, and its inhabitants apparently joined their Scythian brothers and moved westward.
The Scythians had been spread over areas extending from Afghanistan, North China, Siberia, and Central Asia into East Europe. They were not the only peoples in these areas but rather dwelt alongside other groups and often ruled over them. They did not intermix very much with the local populations. We know that in Germany the Angles and Saxons and related peoples who came from Scythia forbade intermarriage with the local inhabitants. A Scythian area had been along the shores of the Black Sea. This included the region of Tanais on the Don River. Another Scythian area had been east of the Caspian Sea where historians refer to the Scythian as “Sacae” even though this name is really applicable to Scythians everywhere. In both these regions archaeological findings show similarities with the cultures of Scandinavia and Germany that developed from them. The name “Saxon” comes from the same root as “Sacae”. A Frisian legend from Holland says that the ancestors of the Angles (of Brunswick), Saxons, and Frisians had originally been in Jerusalem before its capture by the Babylonians. They had then moved to the region east of the Caspian Sea and from there westward into Europe. This same source says that the previous inhabitants of the British Isles had fled from the Assyrians before coming to Britain. The concept of “Jerusalem before its capture by the Babylonians” is a popularized simplification concerning the Northern Israelites who were exiled by Assyrians before the Jews were taken away into captivity in Babylon. Part of the Lost Ten Tribes was amongst the Scythian peoples and these moved westward into Europe.
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