Archaeology and Historical Overview

The archaeological records of the Cimmerians and the Scythians are similar, and there is some debate over how much Cimmerian culture is “pre-Scythian” (von Bredow, “Cimmerii” 337). Most of what is known about the Cimmerians comes from Greek and cuneiform sources, and the early history is difficult to determine. Homer describes the Cimmerians as people from a foggy land (Odyssey 11.13–19; compare Strabo, Geography 7.4.3), and their original homeland might have been the Russian steppes along the northern shores of the Black Sea (Aristeas, Arimáspeia). Herodotus records the displacement of the Cimmerians by the Scythians and tells of Cimmerian aristocrats killing one another instead of submitting to Scythian rule (Herodotus, Histories 4.11).

Cuneiform sources record the military activities of the Cimmerians in Anatolia. After being pushed south by the Scythians in the eighth century bc, the Cimmerians twice attacked Urartu in the region near Lake Van. According to Parpola, the Assyrians viewed the Cimmerians as godless barbarians (Parpola, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars, 89), and their pressure provoked Sargon II to attack them in Tabal, where he died in the battle. Esarhaddon’s concerns about the Cimmerians are visible in his queries to Shamash (Starr, Queries to the Sungod, 1990), but he defeated them at Tabal around 678 bc.

As the Cimmerians moved into central Anatolia, perhaps because of pressure from the Assyrians, they destroyed the Greek colony of Sinope and then the Phrygian capital Gordion around 676 bc. This was home to the legendary King Midas, who committed suicide in the face of defeat by drinking bull’s blood (Strabo, Geography 1.3.21). Continuing their campaigns in Anatolia, the Cimmerians attacked Gyges of Lydia between 668 and 645 bc. Gyges solicited help from Ashurbanipal, and Assyrian assistance seemed to repel a further Cimmerian wave (Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 297–98). However, Gyges turned his allegiance to Psammetichus I of Egypt, and Ashurbanipal responded by cursing him. The Cimmerians overran the Lydians and killed Gyges in 645 bc.

The Cimmerians, under the leadership of King Lygdamis (referred to as Tugdamme in Assyrian sources), turned further west as they attacked Smyrna, Magnesia, and Ephesus (Strabo, Geography 1.3.21). Lygdamis died after allying with the kingdom of Tabal and attacking Assyria. The Cimmerians suffered further defeats from the Scythian king Madyes and the Lydian king Alyattes, and disappeared from the historical record around the end of the seventh century bc (Herodotus, Histories 1.103.3).