Issedones
Encyclopedia
The Issedones were an ancient people of Central Asia
at the end of the trade route leading north-east from Scythia
, described in the lost Arimaspeia of Aristeas
, by Herodotus
in his History (IV.16-25) and by Ptolemy
in his Geography. Like the Massagetae
to the west, the Issedones are described by Herodotus as similar to, yet distinct from, the Scythians.
Herodotus, who allegedly got his information through both Greek
and Scythian sources, describes them as living east of Scythia and north of the Massagetae
, while the geographer Ptolemy
(VI.16.7) appears to place the trading stations of Issedon Scythica and Issedon Serica in the Tarim Basin
. They may have been identical with the people described in Chinese sources as the Wusun
. J.D.P. Bolton places them further north-east, on the south-western slopes of the Altay mountains
.
Another location of the land of the Issedones can be inferred from the account of Pausanias
. According to what the Greek traveller was told at Delos in the second century CE, the Arimaspi
were north of the Issedones, and the Scythians were south of them:
mentioned "Essedones" and Herodotus reported that a legendary Greek of the same time, Aristeas
son of Kaustrobios of Prokonnessos (or Cyzicus
), had managed to penetrate the country of the Issedones and observe their customs first-hand. Ptolemy relates a similar story about a Syria
n merchant.
The Byzantine scholiast John Tzetzes
, who sites the Issedones generally "in Scythia", quotes some lines to the effect that the Issedones "exult in long flowing hair" and mentions the one-eyed men
to the north.
According to Herodotus, the Issedones practiced ritual cannibalism
of their elderly males, followed by a ritual feast at which the deceased patriarch's family ate his flesh, gilded his skull, and placed it in a position of honor much like a cult image
. In addition, the Issedones were supposed to have kept their wives in common. This may indicate institutionalized polyandry
) and a high status for women (Herodotus IV.26: "and their women have equal rights with the men"). Similar customs could be found until recently among many Tibet
an tribes, leading some to speculate that the Issedones were of Tibetan extraction. However, the similarities with the Tibetans may be the result of proximity alone.
, have argued (Antiquity, 74 (2000):388-94) that Herodotus was mistaken in his interpretation of what he imagined to be cannibalism. Recently-excavated sites in southern Siberia
, such as the large cemetery at Aymyrlyg in Tuva
containing more than 1,000 burials of the Scythian period, have revealed accumulations of bones often arranged in anatomical order. This indicates burials of semi-decomposed corpses or defleshed skeletons, sometimes associated with leather bags or cloth sacks. Marks on some bones show cut-marks of a nature indicative of defleshing, but most appear to suggest disarticulation
of adult skeletons. Murphy and Mallory suggest that, since the Issedones were nomads living with cattle herds, they moved up the mountains in summer, but they wanted their dead to be buried at their winter camp; defleshing and dismemberment of the people who died in summer would have been more hygienic than allowing the corpses to decompose naturally in the summer heat. Burial of the dismembered remains would have taken place in fall after returning to winter camp, but before the ground was frozen completely. Such procedures of defleshing and dismemberment may have been mistaken for evidence of cannibalism by foreign onlookers.
Murphy and Mallory do not exclude the possibility that the flesh removed from the bodies was consumed. Archeologically these activities remain invisible. But they point out that elsewhere, Herodotus names another tribe (Androphagi
) as the only group to eat human flesh.
On the other hand, Dr. Timothy Taylor points out:
Dr. Taylor concludes: "Inferring reverential funerary cannibalism in this case is thus the most academically cautious approach".
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
at the end of the trade route leading north-east from Scythia
Scythia
In antiquity, Scythian or Scyths were terms used by the Greeks to refer to certain Iranian groups of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists who dwelt on the Pontic-Caspian steppe...
, described in the lost Arimaspeia of Aristeas
Aristeas
Aristeas was a semi-legendary Greek poet and miracle-worker, a native of Proconnesus in Asia Minor, active ca. 7th century BCE. In book IV of The Histories, Herodotus reports...
, by Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
in his History (IV.16-25) and by Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
in his Geography. Like the Massagetae
Massagetae
The Massageteans or Massagetaeans were an Iranian nomadic confederation in antiquity known primarily from the writings of Herodotus. Their name was probably akin to Thyssagetae.-Name:...
to the west, the Issedones are described by Herodotus as similar to, yet distinct from, the Scythians.
Location
The exact location of their country in Central Asia is unknown. The Issedones are "placed by some in Western Siberia and by others in Chinese Turkestan," according to E. D. Phillips.Herodotus, who allegedly got his information through both Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Scythian sources, describes them as living east of Scythia and north of the Massagetae
Massagetae
The Massageteans or Massagetaeans were an Iranian nomadic confederation in antiquity known primarily from the writings of Herodotus. Their name was probably akin to Thyssagetae.-Name:...
, while the geographer Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
(VI.16.7) appears to place the trading stations of Issedon Scythica and Issedon Serica in the Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of about . It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west. Its northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The...
. They may have been identical with the people described in Chinese sources as the Wusun
Wusun
The Wūsūn were a nomadic steppe people who, according to the Chinese histories, originally lived in western Gansu in northwest China west of the Yuezhi people...
. J.D.P. Bolton places them further north-east, on the south-western slopes of the Altay mountains
Altay Mountains
The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in East-Central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the original locus of the speakers of Turkic as well as other members of the proposed...
.
Another location of the land of the Issedones can be inferred from the account of Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
. According to what the Greek traveller was told at Delos in the second century CE, the Arimaspi
Arimaspi
The Arimaspi were a legendary people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains, variously identified with the Ural Mountains or the Carpathians...
were north of the Issedones, and the Scythians were south of them:
Description
The Issedones were known to Greeks as early as the late seventh century BCE, for Stephanus Byzantinus reports that the poet AlcmanAlcman
Alcman was an Ancient Greek choral lyric poet from Sparta. He is the earliest representative of the Alexandrinian canon of the nine lyric poets.- Family :...
mentioned "Essedones" and Herodotus reported that a legendary Greek of the same time, Aristeas
Aristeas
Aristeas was a semi-legendary Greek poet and miracle-worker, a native of Proconnesus in Asia Minor, active ca. 7th century BCE. In book IV of The Histories, Herodotus reports...
son of Kaustrobios of Prokonnessos (or Cyzicus
Cyzicus
Cyzicus was an ancient town of Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula , a tombolo which is said to have originally been an island in the Sea of Marmara only to be connected to the mainland in historic...
), had managed to penetrate the country of the Issedones and observe their customs first-hand. Ptolemy relates a similar story about a Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n merchant.
The Byzantine scholiast John Tzetzes
John Tzetzes
John Tzetzes was a Byzantine poet and grammarian, known to have lived at Constantinople during the 12th century.Tzetzes was Georgian on his mother's side...
, who sites the Issedones generally "in Scythia", quotes some lines to the effect that the Issedones "exult in long flowing hair" and mentions the one-eyed men
Arimaspi
The Arimaspi were a legendary people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains, variously identified with the Ural Mountains or the Carpathians...
to the north.
According to Herodotus, the Issedones practiced ritual cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
of their elderly males, followed by a ritual feast at which the deceased patriarch's family ate his flesh, gilded his skull, and placed it in a position of honor much like a cult image
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
. In addition, the Issedones were supposed to have kept their wives in common. This may indicate institutionalized polyandry
Polyandry
Polyandry refers to a form of marriage in which a woman has two or more husbands at the same time. The form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers is known as "fraternal polyandry", and it is believed by many anthropologists to be the most frequently encountered...
) and a high status for women (Herodotus IV.26: "and their women have equal rights with the men"). Similar customs could be found until recently among many Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an tribes, leading some to speculate that the Issedones were of Tibetan extraction. However, the similarities with the Tibetans may be the result of proximity alone.
Cannibalism controversy
The archeologists E. M. Murphy and J. P. Mallory of the Queen's University of BelfastQueen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
, have argued (Antiquity, 74 (2000):388-94) that Herodotus was mistaken in his interpretation of what he imagined to be cannibalism. Recently-excavated sites in southern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, such as the large cemetery at Aymyrlyg in Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
containing more than 1,000 burials of the Scythian period, have revealed accumulations of bones often arranged in anatomical order. This indicates burials of semi-decomposed corpses or defleshed skeletons, sometimes associated with leather bags or cloth sacks. Marks on some bones show cut-marks of a nature indicative of defleshing, but most appear to suggest disarticulation
Disarticulation
In medical terminology, disarticulation is the separation of two bones at their joint, either naturally by way of injury or by a surgeon during amputation....
of adult skeletons. Murphy and Mallory suggest that, since the Issedones were nomads living with cattle herds, they moved up the mountains in summer, but they wanted their dead to be buried at their winter camp; defleshing and dismemberment of the people who died in summer would have been more hygienic than allowing the corpses to decompose naturally in the summer heat. Burial of the dismembered remains would have taken place in fall after returning to winter camp, but before the ground was frozen completely. Such procedures of defleshing and dismemberment may have been mistaken for evidence of cannibalism by foreign onlookers.
Murphy and Mallory do not exclude the possibility that the flesh removed from the bodies was consumed. Archeologically these activities remain invisible. But they point out that elsewhere, Herodotus names another tribe (Androphagi
Androphagi
Androphagi was an ancient nation of cannibals north of Scythia , probably in the forests between the upper waters of the Dnepr and Don...
) as the only group to eat human flesh.
On the other hand, Dr. Timothy Taylor points out:
- 1. Herodotus reports that the so-called "Androphagoi" are the "only" people in the region to practice cannibalism. However, a distinction should be drawn between "aggressive gustatory cannibalism" (i.e., hunting humans for food) and the ritualized, reverential practices reported among the Issedones and Massagetae.
- 2. Scythian-type peoples were renowned embalmers and presumably would have no need for funerary defleshing to delay decompositionDecompositionDecomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
of the corpse. - 3. Herodotus specifically describes the removal of the meat and mixing it with other foodstuffs to make a funerary stew.
Dr. Taylor concludes: "Inferring reverential funerary cannibalism in this case is thus the most academically cautious approach".
External sources
- Herodotus. The Histories. Book 4.
- Scythians at Livius.org
- T. Sulimirski. The Sarmatians in the series Ancient Peoples and Places (Thames & Hudson,1970)
- E. D. Phillips, "The Legend of Aristeas: Fact and Fancy in Early Greek Notions of East Russia, Siberia, and Inner Asia" Artibus Asiae 18.2 (1955), pp. 161–177.