According to the third account (which Herodotus prefers), the Scyths dwelt in Asia, and were forced by the Massagetae (q.v.) over the Araxes (Volga?) into the land of the Cimmerians. Aris teas says that the first impulse came from the Arimaspi, who dis placed the Issedones, who in turn fell upon the Scyths. The Cim merians appear to have given way in two directions, towards the south-west, where the tombs of their kings were shown on the Tyras (Dniester), and one body joined with the Treres of Thrace in invading Asia Minor by the Hellespont, and towards the south east where another body threatened the Assyrians, who called them Gimirrai (Hebrew Gomer ; Gen. xi.). They were followed by the Scyths (Ashguzai, Heb. Ashkenaz), whom the Assyrians welcomed as allies and used against the Cimmerians, against the Medes and even against Egypt. Hence the references to the Scyths in the Hebrew prophets (Jer. iv. 3, vi. 7). This is all put in the latter half of the 7th century B.C. Herodotus says that the Scyths ruled Media for 28 years, and were then massacred or expelled. The Assyrian evidence is in the main a confirmation of Herodotus.
Hippocrates says that the Scyths are quite unlike any other race of men, and very like each other. The main point seems to be a tendency to slackness, fatness and excess of humour. The men are in appearance very like eunuchs, and both sexes have a tendency to sexual indifference amounting in the men to impo tence. When a man finds himself in this condition he assumes the woman's dress and habits. Herodotus (iv. 67) mentions the ex istence of this class, called Enarees (TvItpcfs), and says that they suffer from a sacred disease owing to the wrath of the goddess of Ascalon, whose shrine they had plundered. The whole account suggests a Tatar clan in the last stage of degeneracy.
The burial customs and some other institutions of the royal Scyths are certainly strongly reminiscent of those of the nomads of upper Asia. Distinctive weapons, such as a short sword that the Greeks termed aKtvaKns, as opposed to the axes current in pre Scythian times, are likewise oriental. Scythian art, however, may be related to a style best represented in north-eastern Europe. Yet even this art province may have extended very much farther east than it has yet been traced. The skulls dug up in Scythic graves throw no light on the question, some being round and some long. The representations of nomads on objects of Greek art show people with full beards and shaggy hair such as cannot be reconciled with Hippocrates ; but the only reliefs which seem to be accurate belong to a late date when the blood of the ruling clan was probably much mixed.
lived upon the produce of their herds of cattle and horses, their main food being the flesh of the latter, either cooked in a cauldron Or made into a kind of haggis, and the milk of mares from which they made cheese and kumys (a fermented drink resembling but termilk). They constantly moved in search of fresh pasture, spending the spring and autumn upon the open steppe, the winter and summer by the rivers for the sake of moisture and shelter. The men journeyed on horseback, the women in wagons with felt tilts. These were drawn by their cattle, and were the homes of each family. Hence the Greek epithets iii3tot (perhaps "of primi tive life"), tIrrnAokyoi. ("mare-milkers") and `AyaOlitot ("liv ing in wagons"). The women were kept in subjection, unlike those of the Sauromatae (q.v.). Polygamy was practised, the son inherit ing his father's wives. Both men and women avoided washing, but there was something of the nature of a vapour bath, with which Herodotus has confused a custom of using the smoke of hemp as a narcotic. The women daubed themselves with a kind of cosmetic paste. The dress of the men is well shown upon the Kul Oba and Chertomlyk vases, and upon other Greek works of art made for Scythic use. It must not be confused with the fanciful barbarian costumes that are so common upon the Attic pots. They wore coats confined by belts, trousers tucked into soft boots, and hoods or tall, pointed caps. The women had flowing robes, tall, pointed caps, and veils descending over most of the figure. Both sexes wore many stamped gold plates sewn upon their clothes in lines or semes. Their horses had severe bits, and were adorned with nose pieces, cheek pieces and saddle cloths. True stirrups were un known. In war the nation was divided into three sub-kingdoms, and these into companies, each with its commander. The com panies had yearly feasts, at which the commander honoured war riors who had slain one or more of the enemy. As evidence of such prowess, and as a token of his right to a share of any spoil, the warrior was accustomed to scalp his enemy and adorn his bridle with the trophy. In the case of a special enemy or an adversary overcome in a private dispute before the king, he would make a cup of the skull, mounting it in bull's hide or in gold. The tactics in war were the traditional nomad tactics of harassing the enemy on the march, constantly retreating before him and avoiding a general engagement. Their weapons were bows and arrows, short swords, spears and axes. The government was a despotism, but a king who aroused the extreme dissatisfaction of his subjects was liable to be murdered.