CIMMERII, an ancient people of the far north or west of Europe, first spoken of by Homer (Odyssey, xi. 12-19), who describes them as living in perpetual darkness. Herodotus (iv. 11-13), in his account of Scythia, regards them as the early inhabitants of South Russia (after whom the Bosporus Cim merius [q.v.] and other places were named), driven by the Scyths along by the Caucasus into Asia Minor, where they main tained themselves for a century. But it is quite possible that some Cimmerii made their raids across the Hellespont, having been cut off by the Scyths as the Alani (q.v.) were by the Huns. Certain it is that in the middle of the 7th century B.C., Asia Minor was ravaged by northern nomads (Herod. iv. 12), one body of whom is called in Assyrian sources Gimirrai and is rep resented as coming through the Caucasus. They were probably Iranian speakers, to judge by the few proper names preserved. The name has also been identified with the biblical Gomer, son of Japheth (Gen. x. 2, 3). Later writers identified them with the Cimbri of Jutland, who were probably Teutonized Celts, but this is a mere guess due to the similarity of name.
For the Cimmerian invasions described by Herodotus, see SCYTHIA;