American writer Robert Howard, creating a cycle of his fantasy novels about Conan the Barbarian, by some whim of fate gave him a Cimmerian origin. Moreover, in his works, he deduced the idea that Conan was a representative of the people who first mastered the processing of iron. And the main character himself was the son of a blacksmith and knew a certain "secret of steel".
Who would have guessed that the author of naive children's books about the adventures of a fictional character came so close to the truth that he practically guessed the main historical milestones of that period …
Modern official history has little to tell us about the Cimmerians. It is believed that they lived in the territories of modern Turkey, Armenia and Iran. Sometimes they fought with Assyria and were destroyed or assimilated by the Scythians. However, there are dozens of interesting archaeological and cultural evidence indicating that things were not quite that simple.
The first evidence of the existence of the Cimmerians was the Odyssey of the legendary Homer. Created in the 8th century BC, it described the Cimmerians as inhabitants of the northern regions, living on the shores of a cold ocean, in a country where the sun never rises. Many scholars are skeptical about such a fictional description, however, let's not forget about Schliemann, who exactly according to Homer's work restored the historical events of the Trojan War, and found that very Troy.
The Cimmerians are mentioned in the Assyrian chronicles as a people who terrorized the northern borders of Mesopotamia for more than a century.
When the historian Herodotus (5th century BC) "reached" the Cimmerians, their civilization was already considered to have disappeared. However, her traces are repeatedly mentioned by Herodotus in various works. It is worth at least to mention the "Cimmerian ferries", the first systematic transport connection in history through the Kerch Strait.
After that, for more than two and a half thousand years, no one talks about the Cimmerians in any way. Unless the biblical narrative mentions them in passing. According to the Bible, the Cimmerians descend from Homer (no, not Greek), the eldest son of Japheth. Moreover, ethnic groups such as the Germans, Slavs, Celts and Armenians are descended from the Cimmerians. Here we are interested in precisely the "original" origin of the Cimmerians - from the eldest son; even the Greeks, according to the Bible, are descended from another tribe of the Japhetians - from his fifth son Javan. Perhaps this is insignificant, however, let us remember what an important role the birthright played in the ancient world. The survivals of the primacy law have not yet become obsolete.
In the middle of the 20th century, many ancient habitats of people of the late Bronze and early Iron Ages were found on the territory of modern Russia and Ukraine. They all looked alike, like two drops of water. Medium-sized forts surrounded by wooden palisades with many wooden log cabins inside. So this culture was called - "Srubnaya". When they began to systematize all similar finds, a lot of interesting circumstances emerged.
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Firstly, they all dated to approximately the same period: 11-8 centuries BC. Secondly, their geography was so vast that it covered not only the Dnieper and Central Russian plains, but occupied territories from the Balkans to the Volga from west to east and from Karelia to Asia Minor from north to south. And thirdly, the main items found during the excavations were not pots or decorations, but horse harness and weapons.
Everywhere in the excavation sites there were approximately the same metal objects, with the same patterns and the same chemical composition. Basically, it was bronze, however, among them, among them, the most often from the excavations of that period, came across iron products. The fact that this is not a Scythian culture became clear immediately, after the first analysis of the artifacts. These were people who lived before the Scythians. It is they who, according to all historical descriptions, fall under the legendary Cimmerians.
All such excavations contained objects depicting two symbols. The first was a rhombus extended from top to bottom with a small circle in the middle and a large one outside. The second one is like a Maltese cross, also located in a circle. This is the first ever appearance of the Maltese cross.
In addition, the first stirrups were found in these excavations. It may seem ridiculous now, but at that time it was a weapon, akin to an atomic bomb today. A rider in stirrups could unleash the full power of his sword strike on opponents. The stirrup cavalry was a strategic weapon at the time. That is, no one could resist her. Naturally, having such weapons, and in fact an unlimited number of horses, the Cimmerians could not be afraid of anyone.
However, the real sensation awaited scientists a little later. In 2000, a male chromosome of haplogroup R1a was found in most representatives of the Srubna culture. This is the most common haplogroup of the Eastern European peoples. It is most often found among the Eastern Slavs: Poles, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. From 60 to 45% of representatives of these peoples carry chromosomes akin to those found in excavations of the 10th century BC. That is, modern East Slavs are distant descendants of the ancient Cimmerians!
Who was this people, what did they live for and why did they disappear? Many are inclined to believe that the Cimmerians did not have a single state. These were numerous groups of nomadic pastoralists who lived on the territories of vast steppes and forest-steppes. The cities founded by them were used as intermediate strongholds. There one could sell or buy something, relax before the next pasture of the horses, and so on.
Based on the chronology, the time of the existence of the Cimmerians was very difficult: the general decline of civilization of that period was caused by the crisis of the Bronze Age. At the turn of the 11-10th centuries BC, the climate became relatively arid, which significantly affected agriculture and led to the breakdown of many trade ties. Sedentary peoples (Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians) experienced certain problems with both food and the economy in their states. Nomads, less dependent on the vagaries of the weather and their influence on agriculture, lived a little simpler. Actually, that gave them the opportunity to populate large territories and exist quite comfortably for about half a millennium. Apparently, the large territory did not give them the opportunity to make a kind of state, yes, in fact,there was no need for it - none of the more or less powerful peoples claimed their lands.
This can explain the fairly good development of their crafts, in particular, metallurgy. It is believed that the inhabitants of the southern coast of the Black Sea were the first to start smelting iron, however, the latest archaeological finds refute this theory: the first products made of ore iron appeared on the western coast of the Black Sea. They appeared, but were not imported - the composition of iron corresponded to the composition of local ores. And just at that time there was a culture of the Cimmerians.
Another interesting fact: many historians describe the clothing of the Cimmerians as a leather suit made from a jacket and pants with a pointed hat. In 1979, in the Arkhangelsk region, the burial of a warrior was discovered in such clothes and with all the attributes of the Cimmerian culture. That, in fact, is the confirmation of Homer's words about "the country where the sun never rises" … What could the warriors of the city-states of Ancient Greece oppose if, due to some vicissitudes of fate during the Trojan War, nomads would come to them- conquerors from the north with their invincible cavalry? Most likely nothing.
Fortunately for the Greeks, this did not happen, but the ancient Greeks guessed something. Perhaps that is why they gave a much greater role in their infantry to spearmen, and not to swordsmen - to restrain the possible expansion of the Cimmerians.
Be that as it may, all beautiful things come to an end. In the 6-7 centuries BC, the Cimmerians were conquered by the Scythians - a nomadic tribe similar in occupation, however, possessing the most powerful weapon of all time: the vertical of power. The Scythians did not begin to organize genocide, as the conquerors of that time often liked to do. Having "dissolved" the Cimmerians in themselves, they owned their lands for almost a thousand years, until new owners came - the Sarmatians. Cimmerians disappeared, however, their genes still live in millions of people in modern Europe.