The Massagetae, or Massageteans, were an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribalconfederation, who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia, north-east of the Caspian Sea in modern Turkmenistan, western Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan. They were part of the wider Scythian cultures. The Massagetae are known primarily from the writings of Herodotus who described the Massagetae as living on a sizeable portion of the great plain east of the Caspian Sea. He several times refers to them as living "beyond the River Araxes", which flows through the Caucasus and into the west Caspian. Scholars have offered various explanations for this anomaly. For example, Herodotus may have confused two or more rivers, as he had limited and frequently indirect knowledge of geography. According to Greek and Roman scholars, the Massagetae were neighboured by the Aspasioi to the north, the Scythians and the Dahae to the west, and the Issedones to the east. Sogdia lay to the south.
Possible connections to other ancient peoples
Ancient writers
stated the Massagetae were great and warlike nation, dwelling beyond the riverAraxes and that they are regarded as a Scythian race. Ammianus Marcellinus considered the Alans to be the former Massagetae. At the close of the 4th century CE, Claudian wrote of Alans and Massagetae in the same breath: "the Massagetes who cruelly wound their horses that they may drink their blood, the Alans who break the ice and drink the waters of Maeotis' lake".
Medieval writers
writes in History of the Wars Book III: The Vandalic War: "the Massagetae whom they now call Huns", "there was a certain man among the Massagetae, well gifted with courage and strength of body, the leader of a few men; this man had the privilege handed down from his fathers and ancestors to be the first in all the Hunnic armies to attack the enemy". of the Massagetae, receiving the head of Cyrus the Great, circa 530 BCE. Evagrius Scholasticus : "and in Thrace, by the inroads of the Huns, formerly known by the name of Massagetae, who crossed the Ister without opposition". A 9th century work by Rabanus Maurus, De Universo, states: "The Massagetae are in origin from the tribe of the Scythians, and are called Massagetae, as if heavy, that is, strong Getae." In Central Asian languages such as Middle Persian and Avestan, the prefix massa means "great", "heavy", or "strong".
Modern writers
Some authors, such as Alexander Cunningham, James P. Mallory, Victor H. Mair, and Edgar Knobloch have proposed relating the Massagetae to the Gutians of 2000 BC Mesopotamia, and/or a people known in ancient China as the "Da Yuezhi" or "Great Yuezhi". Mallory and Mair suggest that Da Yuezhi may at one time have been pronounced d'ad-ngiwat-tieg, connecting them to the Massagetae. These theories are not widely accepted, however. Many scholars have suggested that the Massagetae were related to the Getae of ancient Eastern Europe. Tadeusz Sulimirski notes that the Sacae also invaded parts of Northern India. Weer Rajendra Rishi, an Indian linguist has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical Sacae influence in Northern India. According to Guive Mirfendereski at the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies, the Massagetae are synonymous with the Sakā haumavargā of South Asian historiography. Rüdiger Schmitt, notes Ptolemy's conflicting reports concerning the Massagetae. First, localizing them near Margiana, then later Ptolemy calls them a tribe of the Saka in the vicinity of the Hindu Kush. Schmitt, who states these terms are not relevant for ancient times, also notes that Byzantine authors used the word Massagetae as an antiquated term for Huns, Turks and Tatars.
Culture
The original language of the Massagetae is little-known. While it appears to have had similarities to the Eastern Iranian languages, these may have resulted from interactions with neighbouring peoples, such as language contact or sprachbund-type assimilation. According to Herodotus:
History
Concerning the death of Cyrus the Great of Persia by the Massagetae, Herodotus writes:
