УДК 90313(4-11) Vita Antique, № 10,2018, p. 176-191 Nikos Chausidis* 'River People' of the Northern Black Sea and Macedonia The article is based upon the thesis of the existence of intense relations between the Northern Black Sea and Macedonia towards the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, confirmed with various traditions related to rivers. Toponyms and ethnonyms containing the following roots sind-, sinth-, sith-, are given as a first indicator, confirmed in both regions through ancient sources, thus considering its Indo-Aryan interpretation as a river. Such interpretation is considered in context of the theories of Indo-Aryans moving south of the Northern Black Sea at the second half of the 2nd millennium BC; the Balkans being one of their directions. This last trajectory is related to the presence of Cimmerians and Hyperboreans at this peninsula, also verified in ancient written sources. A special significance is given to the ancient reports of Aria as the oldest name for Thrace. Numerous archaeological finds also refer to these motions, confirmed with a relevant literature. Moreover, different traditions witnessed in ancient sources are noted regarding the role of rivers in the spiritual culture of populations of both regions, especially in genealogical myths. Bull as a zoomorphic epi­ phany of river gods is especially emphasized, manifested with similar traditions, among which the roots taur-, taor found in the toponymy, ethnonymy and the theonymy of both regions. Key words: Indo-Aryans, Macedonia, river cults, Thraco-Cimmerians, Sindoi, Tauria Communication between the Northern Black people known as Sindi (Iiv6oi) and by him referred Sea and Macedonia can be traced during all his­ to as Indi (7v<5or) and by other ancient sources as torical periods, that is, since prehistory up until 'Indian people' used to live in the Kuban region the middle ages. Processes originating from the (T.I). These seemingly speculative interpretations periods of the first use of the metal and the Early have a linguistic validity. After several unsuccessful Middle Age are the most referred ones in the li­ attempts they were interpreted within the global terature. This paper focuses on facts and acknowle­ concept of the aforementioned author. Following dgements which refer to relations between these the theories of P. Kretschmer, he associates the two geographical locations by the end of the 2nd Indo-Aryan sindu - river/great river, referring to millennium up until the first few centuries of the the Kuban River, once probably called *Ziv6oq, of 1st millennium BC. Moreover, the already known which *sinda(va) signifying river people was de­ archaeological facts will be supplemented with rived, which in Indo-Aryan would sound like sindhu relevant written sources referring to exact histo­ and as hindu in Iranian. It is the origin of the name rical events and populations and their ethnonyms, of this river (Indus) that Greeks and other ancient toponyms and other cultural features. This pa­ people took, and accordingly named this Pontic per was relevant for the conference where it was land as India and its people as Indians (a product presented as the majority of the facts refer to the of the same elements is also Sindhi, name of both river, which, also, directly or not is contained in the the modern region and the people in South Paki­ names of these populations and in manifestations stan). Analogously, as Sinu (reduced of Sindhu), of their spiritual culture. also sounded the Scythian (i.e. Pre-Scythian) name of Tanais River (Don). In the Kuban region, ancient 1. Ethnonyms and toponyms with the fol­ authors located 'Sindian Scythia', referred to as 'old, lowing roots: sind-, sinth-, sith-1 i.e. primordial Scythia’ by Herodotus, determined as a) Northern Black Sea the land of the primordial inhabitants of this area In his research, O.N. Trubachev pays a great (Trubachev 1999, 15-41,69, 163, 275, 276)2. Sindhi attention to ethnonyms and toponyms containing originally inhabited the territory extending from the root sind-/ sinth-, found in the Northern Black Bosporus (Crimea) to Tanais. Albeit having a state, Sea. Moreover, having in mind the old Indian lan­ they didn't discover literacy (T.I) (Trubachev 1999, guages, he relates them to sindu-, signifying a river. 13, 28, 30, 106). A tomb stone found near Cape During the time of Herodotus and even later, a Tuzla close to the Taman Peninsula (Sea of Azov) 1 Original publication of these comparisons: Chausidis 2017, 2 L. Kleyn (2010, 182, 183) accepts and further develops 889-892, 998, 999. these interpretation. ' Ss.Cyril & Methodius University in Skopje, Institute for Historyof © VitaAntiqua, 2018 Art and Archaeology, Republic of Macedonia © N. Chausidis, 2018 'River People' of the Northern Black Sea and Macedonia with an inscription 'India' (Tv6[q) contributes signifi­ Phrygian lexeme he points sintis signifying a black­ cantly towards these analyses, denoting the name smith (Petrova 1996, 155, 186). Another toponym of the deceased (Novichikhin 2014, 111). (also probably the ethnonym) with the same root In his studies O.N. Trubachеv cites some an­ could be registered in Macedonia: the town of Sin- cient sources which mention Sindi along Danu­ tia that Tit Livius mentions while describing the be (T.I). He also registered some Macedonian raids of Philip the Fifth against Dardanians in 211 BC ethnonyms and toponymes with the root sind-. (T.II) (Livius, Ab urbe condida 26.25.3). Based on the However, without the facts and contexts presented route of this raid, F. Papazoglu concludes that the herewith, they evidently did not sufficiently attract town was on the territory of modern Republic of his attention (Trubachev 1999, 22, 106). Macedonia, somewhere at the border between Some researchers accept this concept of Dardania and Pelagonia, perhaps 'the western bor­ O.N. Trubachеv, while others criticize it by either der o f Pelagonia, on the road leading from Tetovo giving counter arguments or by interpreting the Region towards Macedonia’ (Papazoglu 1969, 116, same material from a different approach. In at­ 117, 192, 194, 367)8. Not only her, other researchers tempt to solve these dilemmas archaeologists use as well somehow relate this toponym to the Sinthi­ archaeological finds of the relevant space and time ans living on the banks of Struma River9. (Novichikhin 2014). c) Models and interpretation b) Central and Southern Balkans Hereby, we present three models regarding Several ethnonyms and toponyms on the ter­ to the origin of the aforementioned Balkan names ritory of Macedonia and its surrounding containing containing sinth- i.e. sind-. According to the first sind-, sinth-, sith- are to be found in ancient written model, they would have been products of the mi­ sources (T.II). When describing the conquests of gration of Sindi from the Northern Black Sea to Xerxes the Great, Herodotus speaks of the 'Land Central Balkans, who kept their original name in­ of Sithonia' (Явси via) in the middle of the Halkidiki tegrated in the given ethnonyms and toponyms Peninsula (Herodotus 7.122)3. Sithones, along with even after migrating to new territories. Coinci­ Mygdonians, are mentioned as a tribe which was dently or not, the Indo-Aryan root sind-, signifying part of Edoni kingdom4. The same source also men­ a river, also semantically relates it to the Balkan tions the town of Sindos [Iiv6oq) in Mygdonia, also ethnonyms and toponyms. Almost all the given noted in the conquests of Xerxes, only as a town examples are located in the lower course of the big in the Thermaic Gulf (Herodotus 7.123)5. Hecataeus Macedonian and Thracian rivers: Axios, Strymon, mentions a Thracian tribe by the name of Sindo- Haliakmon and Nestos (T.II). We could base the naioi, which even though with a clearly undeter­ second model upon this fact, according to which mined location some researchers associate with another anonymous ethnicity (perhaps from the Sindos and its inhabitants (Hecataeus, fr. 146, 147)6. same area), upon arriving in the Central Balkan Furthermore, Sinti/Sintia^ iv r iK n were located in region, got a new name containing the same root the lower course of Struma River and refers to the (signifying river), based on its migration near a Sinthians, their land and central settlement being dominant river or globally according to a whole re­ later renamed as Heraclea Sintica7. Sinthians are gion full of rivers. The third model, however, could mentioned in the Iliad as people who populated be a variation of the first two. According to it, the the Lemnian coast and helped Hephaestus stand common origin of both Balkan and North Black Sea up after falling from Olympus (Homeri Ilias 1. 592­ names could be somewhere in between (perhaps 594). Despite the analogous name, their relation to the area around Danube) from where they would the aforementioned Sinthians is considered suspi­ have been taken both to the North Black Sea and cious (Fol 1975, 26). This ethnicity was related to the Macedonia via migration of some people or via the local Phrygian, i.e. Brygean substrate, to which his expansion of their language (T.I). Regardless of categorization by W. Tomaschek in the Phrygian/ these models, all cases would indicate an ethnicity Mysian group refers, additionally confirmed by the with Indo-Aryan features of their language. In favor of these hypotheses are the Indo- 3 Source and interpretation: Delev 2014, 447; Fol 1975, 21, 25, 26. Eponymous hero of Sithonia (Chalkidiki) and of Odo- Aryan parallels of some other Macedonian hydro- mantes is Sithon (Srejovic and Cermanovic 1987, 387; Marazov nyms: Axios (from aksi - black), its contemporary 1992, 66, 73, 74). name Vardar (from vari - water; *kali-vardi - black 4 On the Brygean origin of Sithonians: Petrova 1996, 155, water) (Trubachev 1999, 9, 223, 245, 269, 287) 156; on their belonging to the Edoni: Bouzek 1982, 45.