1. The Scythians

The first Assyrian reference to the Scythians is in a letter from Sennacherib to his father Sargon about the situation north of the Assyrian frontier. The Scythians are mentioned together with the Cimmerians, as both being present in the region of Urartu. This letter dates back to the first years of the reign of Sargon II (722-705 BC), and could probably even date back to before 713 BC. The Cimmerians played the major destructive role in Asia Minor in the early 7th century, whereas the Scythians became the principal nomadic invaders only later.

The Scythians were first enemies of the Assyrians. In 679 BC they attacked Assyria themselves, and in 673 BC together with the Medes. Later, however, they managed to keep relatively good relations with the Assyrians. In 623/22 BC they helped to save Assyria when in great danger, and the final destruction of Ninive in 612 BC cannot be attributed to them. The date of Kelermes tumuli - the 3rd quarter of the 7th century thus falls at the time of Ashurbanipal and of relatively friendly relations between the Assyrians and the Scythians, although it is likely that some troubles in the south were the reason for some of them to return north of the Caucasus. Urartu was under their control between 625-585 BC. The Scythians governed the highlands of Asia for 28 years¹ and their raids even reached Egypt. Their raids are depicted along with those of the Cimmerians, in the apocalyptic pictures of overall destructions in the Bible, namely in the books of Jeremiah and Isaiah.

2. Scythian Art

H. Kossack came to the conclusion that the Scythian style in its modest early stage began in ca. 700 BC, as was notably documented by the Tli grave 85.² From the point of view of art history, Scythian art is a similar continuation of the Pontic and North Caucasian artistic tradition under new "Orientalistic" impulses, as was the transition between Geometric and Archaic art in Greece and Etruria.

The Scythians did not come with an established sophisticated artistic tradition. Their first products are simple, and it was only after contact with more sophisticated artistic traditions during their invasions in the Near East that Scythian art achieved a high standard.³ The Kelermes barrows began during the second third of the 7th century, roughly around the middle, while some of the earliest tumuli may be even earlier and some date from the late 7th century BC.⁴

3. Near Eastern and Assyrians models

One close link with the tumuli at Kelermes can be seen among the finds from Northwest Iran, including the Ziwiyé treasure⁵ as well as other finds from this area connected both with the early art of the Medes and with an earlier tradition. In addition, the vessels of gold and silver from the aforementioned area⁶ as well as others are of particulat interest: one gold vessel from North Iran now on loan in the Los Angeles County Museum and two silver vessels in Paris, Louvre AO 20136 and 20181. As P. Alexandrescu has shown, they were also the source of inspiration for the art of the Getae. It is generally known that many objects from the Kelermes tumuli derive from the Assyrian artistic tradition.⁷ The bowls from Tumulus 1/S,⁸ the silver rhyton and mirror from tumuli 3/S and 4/S⁹ are dated in the 3rd quarter of the 7th century.

It is possible that some of the Kelermes tumuli may have been constructed even slightly earlier. These complexes seem to be the burials of those Scythians who had just returned from their campaigns. Other important objects are the scabbard of an akinakes with fantastic animals from tumulus 1/S, the oblong objects with ram’s and lion's heads (cat. nos. 34-35) from Kurgan 3/S and a similar lion’s head probably from Kelermes (cat. no. 91). The inlays of amber are also interesting. Galanina compared all of them to Assyrian art of the third quarter of the 7th century BC.

In order to confirm the results gained by Galanina, there are extremely important new finds, helping us to improve our knowledge of the origins of Scythian art, namely the three tombs of Assyrian queens found in Nimrud.¹⁰ The first tomb yielded gold brooches, neck-rings, colliers, boat-shaped earrings and also Egyptian scarabs. In this instance, we do not know the name of the queen. The second tomb belonged to Queen Jaba, the wife of Tiglath-Pileser (744-727 BC) and to Banitu or Atalia, the wives of Shalmaneser V (726-722 BC) and Sargon II (721-705 BC) respectively. The most important objects amongst the finds are the bracelets with lion's heads, three phialai and a pectoral, while the enameled bracelets also show parallels with the Kelermes enamelled items.

The richest of the three was Tomb III. It was constructed for Mulisiu-mukanišat-Nimea, wife of Ashurbanipal II (883-59 BC), but some items date from the reign of Shalmaneser III (858-24 BC) and some are probably later. The most important find is the pitcher with a lion's head attachment and friezes with riders and hunting scenes, which bear a close resemblance to the Kelermes scabbard and to the lion's heads of the flat objects mentioned above. It can also be remembered that the figure of a winged goddess from the wreath from this tomb comes quite near to the earliest Ionian jewellery, best known from Ephesus.

New findings of figurines from Central Anatolia confirm once again how close relations existed in the jewellery made for the upper class in all these neighbouring empires.¹¹ The bridge between Assyria and Ionia was probably first the empire of the Phrygians, destroyed by the Cimmerians under the reign of Sennacherib (704-681 BC), and later that of the Lydians. When the Cimmerians attacked Gyges, he sought help from Ashurbanipal. The latter had already asked the Scythians to help; the Scythians were apparently willing to fight their old enemies, the Cimmerians.

4. Ionian works made for the Scythians

Yet, again, those who compared the mirror and the rhyton with Greek art since Karl Schefold were right to some extent. The lions, the sphinxes and the Potnia Theron (Mıstress of Animals) on the mirror, the griffin, the goats and the centaur on the rhyton can also be compared with Greek art. Late Protocorinthian and Middle White Goat II styles offer simply the best parallels, and they show that the roots of these objects can be seen in the Anatolian koine. We know of close relations between Greek art and the art of its eastern neighbours. Phrygians and Lydians, as well as Aeolic lyrics describe the free movement of Greek merchants towards the East. Ephesian art, whch is now better known, shows a mixture of Greek and Anatolian elements.

A group of objects in Early Scythian style from the Greek and Lydian towns in western and central Anatolia is also important for the study of origins of Scythian art. These objects known from Sardis, Boghazköy and Ephesus represent a more sophisticated artistic standard of the Early Scythian style. They were probably made in Ionian cities, and thus may well represent fashionable objects made also for the Scythians (but not only for them) by East Greek craftsmen. They are much superior in comparison to what is known from Tli, Norsuntepe and Irmler. In any case, they represent the style preferred by the Scythians and used by them, as is the case with other later objects of art made by the Greeks for the Scythians. Their list was composed by P. Amandry and elaborated by R. Stucky, while new finds from the Austrian excavations in the Artemision of Ephesus have been published by A. Bammer.¹² The ibex is the most common animal depicted, the boar takes second place, while there are also figures of wild cat (lynx?), hare and a winged monster. Most of the items are of bronze and bone, a few of silver. Most of these objects seem to have been connected with horse trappings, but some were probably parts of furniture. They reflect the admiration of the Greeks and the Lydians for the horsemanship of the Scythians, which was much superior to their own; P. Amandry has given examples of Greek predecessors of this style, known in Late Geometric art, and by extension this preparation for later Scythian art.¹³

Several of these objects were found outside Anatolia. One item came from Gela.¹⁴ It may have been brought there as a curiosity, but an import of the famous Scythian horses, or a similar service of the Scythians in Sicily, as we know it from Athenian police, is not beyond the realms of possibility. The Scythians were often represented in Etruscan and South Italian art. Another piece found in Hungary has arrived there probably with the Scythian raids in the 6th century BC, like many other items discussed by various scholars.¹⁵ Another related group is the bone carvings from Kelermes.¹⁶

Much of what is known as the more sophisticated Scythian art was also produced by Ionian artists in the late 7th century BC. The Kelermes mirror and the rhyton from the same site came from the same artististic school in Anatolia, in the area between the Ionian production centres proper and those of late Assyria. The style resembles the Protocorinthian and Wild Goat vases. The gold plaque in repoussé with a monkey and a bird from the Melgunov tumulus, and the ivory lion heads with amber-inlaid eyes from Smela, are other examples of Archaic works probably made specifically for upper class Scythians; in this case probably in early 6th century BC.¹⁷ The leading role of the Ionians (including those who later worked for the Persians) is evident.¹⁸ The most sophisticated items from the Witaszkowo (Vettersfelde) treasure kept in Berlin are also their work. The famous fish from there is the work of an Ionian artist from c. 540/530 BC,¹⁹ and its Etruscan parallels only document how, after the troubles with the Persians around 540, Ionian artists worked as emigrés in different parts of the ancient world for different customers. This early Ionianizing period of Scythian art ended in the early 5th century BC., when Attic masters took over the role of the Ionians.