Within the vast heritage of the ancient tradition about the tribes of the Scythian-Sarmatian circle, Herodotusâ Scythian Logos occupies a special place as the main written source containing information about the religion and mythological ideas of the Iranian-speaking population of the Northern Black Sea region. Naturally, those chapters of Book IV of his âHistoryâ, in which legends about the origin of the Scythian tribe and stories about Scythian deities and religious rites are transmitted, were subjected to a thorough comprehensive analysis by several generations of specialists.
Herodotusâ information was compared with the data of related traditions, archaeological and ethnographic materials, folklore data, and was subjected to linguistic analysis. All this together allows us to present a picture of the worldview of the Scythian tribes with a sufficiently high degree of reliability, although not in full, which is primarily due to Herodotusâ reticence in what concerns this subject.
However, it seems that the reconstruction of the ideological views of the Scythians can be significantly supplemented by considering the data of Herodotusâ Scythian Logos in the light of the Ossetian tradition. In the present work we intend to illustrate the possibilities given by this approach, already successfully tested in the works by Vs. F. Miller, G. Dumézil, D. S. Raevskij, E. A. Grantovskij and other researchers, as applied to the Scythian legend about consecration of a huge bronze cauldron by the King Aryantas in Exampaeus, transmitted by Herodotus (IV, 52, 81).
1 Herodotusâ Account
Describing the sights of the Scythian country, Herodotus tells about a huge cauldron shown to him in the area of Exampaeus, which by a Scythian legend was associated with the name of King Ariantas: âFor their king, whose name was Ariantas, desiring to know the census of the Scythians, commanded every Scythian to bring him the point from an arrow, threatening death to all who did not. So a vast number of arrow-heads were brought, and he decided to make and leave a memorial out of them; and he made of these this bronze vessel, and set it up in this country Exampaeusâ (IV, 81).
Above Herodotus mentions Exampaeus in his description of Hypanis (IV, 52), reporting that at a distance of four daysâ voyage from the mouth of the Hypanis a bitter spring flows into it, âso bitter that although its volume is small its admixture taints the Hypanis, one of the few great rivers of the world. This spring is on the border between the farming Scythians and the Alazones; the name of it and of the place where it rises is in Scythian Exampaeus; in the Greek tongue, Sacred Waysâ.
It is worth noting that Herodotusâ report about the cauldron of Ariantas should be considered among the most reliable places of the Scythian Logos, experts point to it as the most important of Herodotusâ evidence of autopsy in Scythia. As D. A. Shcheglov notes, âHerodotus describes in detail the copper cauldron of the Scythian king Ariantas in the area of Exampaeus on the middle reaches of the Hypanis (Southern Bug). He twice directly indicates that he saw this cauldron in person (IV, 81.2â4), and when describing the legend connected with the cauldron of Ariantas, he refers to the words of local inhabitants. It is also indicative that the story about Ariantasâ cauldron is given by Herodotus at the very end of the narrative part of the Scythian logos and, in fact, is not connected with the preceding narrative in any way, being a kind of post scriptum. Most likely, this is due to the fact that this information was obtained by Herodotus himself, who mechanically joined it to the general description of the Scythians, borrowed from other sourcesâ (Shcheglov 1999).
2 Research Experience
Attempts to interpret Herodotusâ message about the cauldron of king Ariant in Exampaea have been made repeatedly. As early as 1909 Kiessling suggested that there was a Scythian sanctuary in Exampaeus, which follows from the very name âE
Dumézil, in connection with the cauldron of Ariantas, considered the information of the Nart epic: âIn the Nartsâ tales of the Ossetians a magic cauldron also appears. Is it not a memory of ancient ritual cauldrons?â And further: âIs this huge bronze vessel of the Scythians or other analogies prototypes of the huge and marvellous cauldron of the Narts? In any case, there is no doubt about its cultic purpose: the Scythian king âdedicatesâ the vessel to the area called âSacred Waysâ and located near the bitter waters, whose magical and sinister glory has been brought to our days in folklore, if one recognizes in the bitter spring of Herodotus a certain tributary of the Bug, the ancient Hypanis, called Mertvovodâ (Dumézil 1976: 46f.).
Analyzing Herodotusâ report about the feast connected with the Scythian sacred gold, Raevskij considers the finding of Aryantasâ cauldron in the Exampaeus area as an indication that this feast was held in Exampaeus, noting that âThe size of the vessel leaves no doubt about its ritual purpose, and its origin (â¦) indicates the all-Scythian character of this shrineâ (Raevskij 1977: 114). In his opinion, the Scythian festival was connected with the solar cult, marked the beginning of a new time cycle and a new solar year, which correlates with the data of other ancient Indo-European traditions. In many of them, the spring festival was tied to the vernal equinox and included a fire ritual. The content of the ritual was determined by the idea of the necessity of annual renewal of the world through actions reproducing the sacred act of the first creation. The tour of the sacred area by a man acting as a sacral deputy of the Scythian king, who embodied the image of the solar hero Colaksais, as well as the sacred marriage of the âkingâ with the goddess of fire Tabiti, which were part of the festive ritual, were intended to ensure the renewal of the cosmic order.
At the same time, Raevskij, considering Herodotusâ report that Scythia is a quadrangle, regards it as a reflection of the mythological model of the organized world, and Exampaeus as the sacral centre of this quadrangle: âAccording to Herodotus, the tract of Exampaeus is thus located in the geometric centre of this quadrangle. This circumstance is hardly accidental. It has already been noted above that the quadrangular Scythia is a reflection of the idea of an organized universe. In the ordered world, according to archaic ideas, it is the centre of the world, through which the axis mundi passes, and where the act of creation took place at the beginning of the world, which led to the creation of an ordered cosmos, that possesses the maximum of sacredness â¦â.
It is indicative that Herodotus himself interprets the name Exampaeus as âSacred Pathsâ. The sacral properties of the centre of the world are determined first of all by the fact that it is through it that the shortest path runs, âconnecting the earth and man with Heaven and the Creatorâ. It is the âcentre of the worldâ that is usually the site of a feast that reproduces in ritual the events of the âbeginning of the worldâ. Therefore, we have every reason to believe that the Scythian feast took place exactly in the tract of Exampaeus, and the data reported by Herodotus about the location of this tract are largely conventional, as they are subordinated not to the real geography, but to the concept of the quadrangular configuration of the world and its centreâ (Raevskij 1977: 114). The translation of the Scythian name of Exampaeus given by Herodotus, ʽI
There is still no satisfactory explanation of the Scythian name of Exampaeus in the literature. According to Miller, this word defies interpretation (Miller 1887: 132). The etymologies proposed in the literature ignore â fully or partially â the Herodotus translation. Müllenhoff, believing that
In connection with the Herodotusâ interpretation of Scythian âE
All these facts, as well as a number of successful interpretations of Scythian words given by Herodotus and other ancient authors on the basis of their Greek translations, suggests parsing the name of Exampaeus on the basis of its explanation by Herodotus. However, none of the proposed explanations fully satisfies Herodotusâ explanation of the Scythian name of Exampaeus as âsacred waysâ (ʽI
The search for acceptable Iranian correspondences for the first part, for which the meaning âsacredâ is assumed, prompts us to turn to the consideration of Scythian notions of âsacredâ. In another passage, Herodotus, just as in his report about Exampaeus, refers to Scythian sacred things, namely, to the sacred gold of the Scythian kings. According to a Scythian legend cited by Herodotus, golden objects fell from the sky onto the Scythian land to the face of the sons of the first Scythian king Targitaos: a plough with a yoke, a double-edged axe and a bowl. When the eldest and the middle brothers had tried to approach and take the treasures, the gold burst into flames. Only when the youngest, Colaksais, had approached the gold did the flames go out and he took the gold to himself. After that the older brothers handed over all royal power to the younger one (IV, 5).
Thus, the sacred gold of the Scythians, the possession of which determines the right to kingship, is associated with fire. At the same time, the institution of royal power by the Scythians was connected with the cult of fire, as it is clearly shown by Raevskij (1977: 87ff.). Therefore, the message of Herodotus that âwhen the Scythians will swear their mightiest oath, it is by the kingâs hearth that they are accustomed to swearâ (IV, 68) deserves special attention. It can be assumed that Colaksais could take the treasure without harming himself just because the blazing sacred gold and the royal power have the same nature.
In Valerius Flaccusâ poem âArgonauticaâ, among other chiefs, Colax (= Ko
The ideas about the nature of royal power are reflected in the term denoting it, which goes back to the root *xÅ¡a(y)- âto shine, burn, blazeâ. From this root, numerous terms for the highest degrees of social hierarchy are formed in various Iranian languages, e.g., Old Persian xÅ¡ayaθiya, Avestan xÅ¡aya âprinceâ, Sogdian axÅ¡ewan ârulerâ, Parthian axÅ¡end âprinceâ, etc. In Ossetic, a derivative of xÅ¡a(y)- is the social term æxsin âmistressâ (Abaev 1958â89: IV/243). For other terms etymologically related to xÅ¡a(y)- the semantic field of âfireâ and âsunâ is also evident, e.g. æxsidaf âfire stickâ, æxsidæn âburning coal, sparkâ, æxsidgæ âburning, flaming, ardent, blazingâ, æxsid âdawnâ. In verbal usage it occurs with the verb suzyn âto burnâ. In Iranian languages *xÅ¡a(y)- is contaminated with the base xÅ¡aud- âto melt, to be liquidâ (av. xÅ¡audah âwater stream, liquidâ).
The supreme goddess of the Scythians, whose investiture rites largely coincide with the rituals of the festival of cosmic renewal, was Tabiti. Dumézil explains her name as âthe Warmingâ and compares her with the wife of the Nart Soslan, the divine daughter of the Sun Wacyruxs (Dumézil 1990: 98ff.). Another possible translation of Tabitiâs name, suggested by Widengren, is âthe Flamingâ (Widengren 1965: 158; s. also Raevskij 1977: 92). The Scythian ruler Idanthyrsus calls Hestia-Tabiti âQueen of the Scythiansâ:
Idanthyrsus the Scythian king replied: âIt is like this with me, Persian: I never ran from any man before out of fear, and I am not running from you now; I am not doing any differently now than I am used to doing in time of peace, too. As to why I do not fight with you at once, I will tell you why. We Scythians have no towns or cultivated land, out of fear for which, that the one might be taken or the other wasted, we would engage you sooner in battle. But if all you want is to come to that quickly, we have the graves of our fathers. Come on, find these and try to destroy them: you shall know then whether we will fight you for the graves or whether we will not fight. Until then, unless we have reason, we will not engage with you. As to fighting, enough; as to masters, I acknowledge Zeus my forefather and Hestia queen of the Scythians only. As for you, instead of gifts of earth and water I shall send such as ought to come to you; and for your boast that you are my master, I say âWeep!ââ Such is the proverbial âScythian speechâ.
Herodotus IV, 127
The special role of the semantic series âfireâ, âlightâ, âsunâ, âgoldâ in the religious ideas of Iranian peoples of antiquity is well known (Raevskij 1977: 91f.). In Ossetian ritual speech the epithet rÅ«xs (Digor roxs) âlight, bright, luminousâ is often attached to the names of saints, e. g. Roxs izædtæ âbright angelsâ, ruxs Alardy âbright Alardyâ. The name of the daughter of the Sun in Ossetian mythology is Wacyruxs, literally âthe light of wac (holiness, divinity), divina luxâ (Abaev 1958â89: II/435ff., IV/26ff., 32). The ideosemantic transition âfire, lightâ > âpurityâ > âholinessâ is manifold in Ossetic and other Iranian languages. Thus, Old Iranian *sauk-: suk- yields in Ossetic suÊyn âburn, kindleâ, suÊag âburning, bitterâ and syÄdæg âpure, holyâ. It can therefore be assumed that Exampaeus, as a place considered to be the centre of Scythia, i.e. the projection of the Scythian mythological picture of the world in general, and associated with the legend of the Scythian sacred gold falling from the sky, as well as with the ideas of the sacral nature of the power of the Scythian kings, which in their turn were connected with brilliance, light, fire, sun, etc. (cf. Yima xÅ¡aeta â âYima the shiningâ), could well receive a name, one of the components of which was a term to denote the category of âsacredâ, in this case *xÅ¡a(y)-.
Thus, the reconstruction of the Scythian name Exampaeus is possible in the form *xÅ¡a(y)-(a)m(a)-pÄyah âsacred waysâ, with a low-productive suffix of indefinite meaning -ama > -m; cf. Avestan hao-ma âHomâ (from hu- âto squeezeâ), gar-ma âwarmâ (cf. Ossetic qarm/Äarm), tax-ma âvigorousâ, Ossetic wærm âpit, cellarâ < *war âto closeâ etc.
â¦
The etymological explanation of the name of Exampaeus can be considered as an additional argument in favour of the hypothesis that Exampaeus was an important cult centre connected with the legend of the âsacred goldâ of the Scythians, and where, in all probability, the annual festival, about which Herodotus tells, was held. But what could have been the cult role of the legendary cauldron of Ariantas in this connection? What, apart from the desire to immortalize his name, prompted the Scythian ruler to order manufacturing and consecrating this vessel, amazing evidence of the high level of metallurgical technique of the Scythian masters, in Exampaeus? Have the heirs of the Scythian tradition preserved in their historical memory the recollections of this kind of a miracle of the Scythian steppes?
It has already been mentioned above that the Ariantasâ cauldron (
The Balkar epic speaks of a miraculous cauldron suspended on a sacred chain in the house of Alik (Lipkin 1969: 92). Another place describes a magic cauldron kept in the house of the Alagata family, which does not need to be filled with meat, one only needs to pour water over it and put it on the fire â it will be filled with meat of forty bulls; the well-being of the Nartsâ family is associated with this cauldron:
The belonging of the wonderful cauldron to the Alagatæ clan is of special interest in connection with the functional characteristics of the Narts Aligatæ-Alægatæ. The attribution of the miraculous cauldron to the clan associated with the priestly function allows us to raise the question of its ritual-symbolic role.
In Ossetian texts, the marvellous cauldron of the Narts is also well known, although it is not directly associated with the Alagatas. In particular, the marvellous narty ag â âthe cauldron of the Nartsâ is mentioned (Kajtmazov 1889: 14ff.); in another text, a huge cauldron of the Borata family â Boræty cæǵǵīnag (Salagaeva 2007: I/85). However, apparently, in this text we encounter a substitution of the clan name of the owners of the cauldron, as it also speaks of the ceremonial house of the Borata family, which is usually associated with the Alagatas.
Another cauldron of the Ossetian Narts is called cæǵǵīnag-Ãrdamongæ (Salagaeva 2007: I/212) âard (âoathâ) pointerâ. Another text speaks of a huge cauldron with a marvellous property: âa drink once brewed in it lasts for seven years, and then every day, no matter how much you drink, the cauldron becomes fuller and fuller. If the brewed beer is used to moisten the forehead of a new-born baby, the child does not need the motherâs breast for a year. This cauldron was the treasure of the Nart ancestors, which was taken away from them by force, and Wastyrgy and Marguz undertook a long journey to return this treasure (Gazzaev 1949: 650f.). In a variant of the tale the theft of a gold-lined cauldron is described, which was stored by a wide river. Warziati compared the motif of a huge cauldron by a wide river with the cauldron of Ariantas, noting that Exampaeus is localized in the interfluve of the Dnieper and the Southern Bug (ancient Hypanis), two large rivers of the South Russian steppes (Warziati 1995a: 172).
Recent studies on the semiotics of the traditional culture of Turkic peoples have noted the role of the cauldron as one of the central object symbols. The conclusions drawn on the basis of the analysis of huge folklore and ethnographic material can be correlated with the facts of the Ossetian tradition, taking into account a certain typological similarity of various cultural traditions of the Eurasian steppes and the established facts of interaction between these cultures over a long period of time.
According to a group of researchers, âthe cauldron was one of the links in the chain of isomorphic and isofunctional loci: the centre of the clan territory â dwelling â hearth â cauldron. Its median position could be described not only by spatial but also by temporal coordinates. This, in particular, was manifested in the designation of the period of the longest summer days among the Tuvans of the Mongun-Taiga region â chalypcha tip turar. The term comes from the name of a small cast-iron boiler chalypcha tash. (â¦) In summer time the sun shone through the smoke hole directly into the boiler. It thus corresponded with summer, midday, zenith, the point of maximum balance in natureâ (Lâvova et al. 1988: 139). Along with the dwelling and the hearth, the cauldron was the most important indicator of space reclamation (op cit.: 140). Immutability, inexhaustibility of the âgraceâ filling the cauldron was a prerequisite for an abundant family life. According to mythopoetic ideas, it was the basis of happiness (yrys) and success of a person (op cit.: 144). The cauldron was used in fortune-telling at the horse leash, which in turn was considered the symbol of the âworld axisâ, and as a ritual object served the purpose of establishing a connection between the worlds (op cit. 1988: 141f.).
Of particular interest is the symbolic complex from the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasevi in Turkestan, which was the headquarters of the Kazakh khans, which consisted of a huge, human-sized cauldron, with attached banners with tails of horse hair, symbolizing the unification of the Kazakh tribes. This cauldron has already been compared with the copper vessel of the king Aryantas in Exampaeus (Galiev 1987: 78). It is also worth noting the Turkmen legend about the leader and legendary ancestor of the Salyr tribe, who had the nickname Kazan, which he received because he had a huge cauldron (Gundogdyev 1996: 29).
Ossetian ethnographic materials contain a series of informative data concerning the role of the âfull vesselâ in cult and ritual. These data can be considered from the viewpoint of partitioning of space through symbolic objects, and thus are directly relevant to our topic. The ritual role of the cauldron, bowl and other vessels is assumed as synonymous (Raevskij 1977: 76). It is known in particular that in some Ossetian sanctuaries a bowl filled with a drink (usually beer) was kept from holiday to holiday, during the year, and then the priest predicted by the amount of liquid or by the shape of the foam on its surface what the harvest would look like and what the future would bring for the country in general (Baraqty 1992: 115).
The vessel with a drink also appears in connection with the founding of a settlement and in building rituals. The legend about the foundation of the South Ossetian village of Kâusḱytæ tells about two brothers, Tuga and Kortia, who, looking for a place to settle, found a sanctuary in the area they had chosen, in the wall niche (kâusk) of which a bowl full of beer stood. Tuga drank the beer and put the bowl back, but on the second day the bowl was miraculously full again. He drank from it a second time, and on the third morning there was again beer foaming in the bowl. This time another brother claimed the right to drink from the bowl, but Tuga insisted on drinking beer from the miraculous bowl a third time. On the fourth day the cup was no longer full. A village was founded on this spot (Bjazyrty 1959â62: III/119f.).
In South Ossetia, when choosing a place to build a house, a clay jug with milk poured halfway into it was buried on the site of the proposed construction. After a month the level of liquid in the jug was checked; if it decreased, the place was considered unfavourable for construction, if the volume of liquid increased, the place was considered lucky (Pchelina 1930: 10). Similar divinations were known among the Eastern Slavs (Bajburin 1983).
In connection with the role of Exampaeus as the main cult centre of Scythia and the location of the cauldron of Ariantas as one of the Scythian shrines, the tribal division of the Scythians is of special interest. Raevskij notes that according to Herodotus Exampaeus was located in the territory of the Scythian tribes Alizons (Alazons) and Callipides, to which he attributes the first Dumézilâs social function and considers them as tribes of âpriestsâ (Raevskij 1977: 156f.). Trubachev believes that the name Alizons (Alazons) was given by the Black Sea Indo-Aryans to their nearest foreign neighbours and means âanother clanâ: Old Indian *ali-jana (Trubachev 1979: 36f.). However, Grantovskij and Raevskij rightly point out the possibility of Iranian interpretation of this ethnonym, assuming here the components zana, attached to family and clan groups, tribe, nation, and ala-, ali < arya-. Besides, interpreting the name of âA
The name and supposed functional characteristics of the Alizons suggest a comparison with the Alagats (Alægatæ) of the Ossetian Nart epic. The Alagats are confidently identified as bearers of the first function: in the âGreat Houseâ of the Alagats various ritual and cultic activities were performed, all public meetings and feasts of the Narts were held, including those called afæÊy æmbyrd, cyty kwyvd âannual meeting, feast of gloryâ, which ârecall in memory similar victorious feasts of the Scythians reported by Herodotus (IV, 66)â (Gaglojti 1989: 14).
The name of the Alagata family derives from the name of their ancestor Alag, which goes back to Old Iranian *Äryaka < *arya âAryanâ. The assignment of this name to the Alagata priestly caste can be explained through the definition of Ärya in ancient Indian texts as a religious figure â âone who offers sacrificesâ, âone who squeezes or prepares somaâ, âone who chants or praises the godsâ (Dumézil 1986a: 236; Dzitstsojty 1992: 11). The name of the Nart family Alagatas finds correspondences in other national versions of Nartsâ stories of a number of Caucasian peoples: the Aligate of the Balkar epic, the Alejkher (Alijevs) of the Adyghe epic, and the Alikanovs of the Svan epic. At the same time, the generic name Alytæ is known in Ossetian texts, the first component of which Bailey connects with Alæ- in Alægatæ (Bailey 1980: 241). In turn, the etymon of the name Alytæ must have had the form *Äryata, which finds correspondence in the Sarmatian ethnonym Areatas, which J. Harmatta explains from *ary âAryanâ (Harmatta 1970: 77; Dzitstsojty 1992: 22).
The archaic trifunctional scheme of social organization was preserved not only in Ossetian Nartsâ tales, but also in their social life up to the mid-19th century. In the Alagir Gorge, a kind of reserve of Ossetian antiquity, a legend of descent from the mythical Ossetian ethnarch Os-Bagatar was carefully handed down from generation to generation. According to it, from the three sons of Os-Bagatar the three wæzdan (noble) clans of Alagir descend: Kâusægontæ, Cæræzontæ and Sidæmontæ. The tradition assigned a certain functional role to each of these tribes: Kâusægontæ were the judges and embodied the priestly function, Cæræzontæ were considered unrivalled warriors, and Sidæmontæ were distinguished by their great number and wealth, in full accordance with the ancient scheme.
There are many legends connected with the ancient cauldrons in Ossetia, but the most remarkable is the legend of the miraculous cauldron of the âpriests and judgesâ Kâusægontæ, which literally resembles in detail the motif of the Nartsâ cauldron, likewise preserved by the clan, associated with the religious and legal function. The legend says that when Os-Bagatarâs sons divided their fatherâs inheritance, Kâusæg(on), the ancestor of the Kâusægontæ clan, received a cauldron which, like the Nart cauldrons, had a miraculous property: its contents never diminished. This ancient cauldron was kept in the sanctuary of MiÄdaw, the main cult centre of the Kâusægontæ clan. It was placed in a special building at the sanctuary called Æ·agdaræn (from Êag âfullâ and daræn âstorehouseâ, s. Baraqty 1992: 113). In other versions of the legend about Os-Bagatarâs inheritance, a golden bowl or a golden ball appears as Kâusægonâs share; it is emphasized that the object delivered to Kâusægon symbolized glory; at the same time, the clan Kâusægontæ is associated with the first social function according to Dumézil.
Abaev argues that âthe distribution of treasures among the three brothers corresponds to three social functions according to Dumézil (â¦): the ball (âorbâ) symbolizes supreme power, the sword symbolizes military activity, and the cloth symbolizes wealthâ (Abaev 1958â89: III/103). In another work, he pays special attention to the name of the clan-ancestor: âThe family name Kâusægon is popularly interpreted as derived from kâus âbowlâ: according to an ethnogenetic legend, the ancestor of this surname inherited a bowl from which he got the name Kâusæg. This time folk etymology was apparently on the right track. According to the well-known theory of G. Dumézil, the bowl in the mythology and folklore of the Indo-European peoples, in particular in the legend of the origin of the Scythians told by Herodotus, has a certain symbolic meaning: it is a symbol of the first social function, the cultic one. The meaning of this legend is, therefore, that the family name of Kusagonovs represented a cult function, from its environment were recruited in ancient times priests, clergymenâ (Abaev 1982: 115f.). In connection with the socio-functional characteristics of the Kâusægontæ clan, researchers draw attention to its special role in the traditional Ossetian court system: in North Ossetia, the âsupremeâ court of the Alagiri Gorge, Madizæn, was located in the Kâusægon village of Dagom, and the decisions of this court were unquestionable; the Kâusægon clan was also the highest court of the South Ossetians (Bzarov 1987: 20f., 24ff.: Gagloiti 1989: 23f., 28).
As a matter of fact, the presence of a cauldron at the sanctuary and a particularly reverent attitude to this object is not a specific feature of the cult complex MiÄdaw. Huge Ossetian cauldrons for brewing beer have been repeatedly compared to the cauldron of Aryantas (Dumézil 1976: 46f., Kuznetsov 1993: 162f.; Warziati 1995: 172). These cauldrons were used in traditional Ossetian life until recently, and a wide range of beliefs were associated with them. Pfaff wrote: âBeer is brewed in large copper cauldrons, which are available at every significant Êwar (sanctuary, K. K.), in specially arranged booths (â¦) Beer cauldrons of large Êwars, for example, in Dzvgis-dzwar or Rekom are huge and sometimes have inscriptions in Georgian. Such cauldrons are gifts of Georgian pretenders to the throne who seek help from the mountaineersâ (Pfaff 1872: 131). It is curious that âpretenders to the throneâ donated cauldrons to Ossetian sanctuaries, as if remembering the dedication of a huge cauldron by Ariantas to the main Scythian sanctuary.
As regards the traditional Ossetian notions about the connection between brewing cauldrons and the sacred, an entertaining comment by the ethnographer G. Kokiev is of interest: âOssetians considered brewing cauldrons sacred and believed that all sorts of insults to brew pots did not go unpunished. In confirmation of their belief Ossetians of Dargavs village told me the following case. Mansurovs had a two-storied house. Cattle were kept in the lower floor, where also a family brewing boiler was placed in a special compartment. The Mansurovs married their son, and the newly-weds were put in the room above the boiler. The young couple had no children. The parents were very upset. They went to the local witch doctor. The witch doctor listened to the old people and said that the young couple were punished with infertility for their lack of respect for the sacred family cauldron. âIt is necessary, the witch doctor said, to transfer the young marrieds to another room, and to the cauldron you must bring a sacrifice (emphasis added, K. K.)â. The young couple were transferred to the room of the old men, and the old men to the room of the young couple, and the newly-weds had offspringâ (Kokiev, manuscript: 110).
One of the names of Nartâs cauldrons contains a significant indication of the ideological notions that made the cauldron motif particularly important in the Ossetian tradition, as well as in the preceding one. Attention is drawn in particular to Ãrdamongæ cæǵǵīnag, lit. âthe truth-pointing cauldronâ. If a truthful story about the outstanding feats of the Nartsâ heroes was narrated in the presence of this cauldron, it boiled over without fire, testifying to the truth of the story. There were quarrels between the Narts for the right of possession of the miraculous cauldron, which was their common treasure. Finally, it was decided that it âwould go to the one who would make the water boil in it with three wordsâ (Salagaeva 2007: I/213). Ju. S. Gagloiti drew attention to similar motifs in Abkhazian and Balkar tales about the Narts (Gaglojti 2000: 15f.). It should also be noted a parallel to this motif in the Irish epic tale of Cormacâs journey to the Other World, where a pig in a cauldron could not be boiled âuntil a truth were uttered for each quarter of itâ. In the same tale a golden cup is told of that breaks into three pieces if three lies be told under it, and becomes whole again if three words of truth are uttered (Rhys/Rhys 1961: 311). Cormacâs golden cup was already compared by V. I. Abaev with the motif of a miraculous cup in the Nartsâ tales of Ossetians (Abaev 1990: 43).
The cauldron Ãrdamongæ cæǵǵīnag is similar in its purpose to the bowl Wacamongæ / Nartamongæ / Amongæ, which holds such a significant place in Ossetian Nart stories. The similar characteristics of these two objects in many texts should be noted here. Sometimes Ãrdamongæ is a âcupâ, the honour of drinking from which was given for special distinctions, which reminds of Herodotusâ report (IV, 66) about the Scythian custom of honouring distinguished warriors with a goblet of wine at a special festival, which was pointed out by Miller (1882: 162f.; s. also Dumézil 1990: 163). In connection with the twoness of these objects, it should be pointed out that Herodotus also speaks not only about the goblets from which the distinguished Scythians drank, but also about the crater with wine, which was prepared by the ânomarchâ, just as the Nartsâ epic speaks about a huge cauldron, from which, apparently, the drink was drawn, and about the cup, from which the heroes drank it.
The famous cauldron of the Narts was kept in the ceremonial house Ãrdamongæ xæÊar âHouse of Ãrdamongæâ, which in other texts is called Narty styr xæÊar âGreat House of the Nartsâ, Ãlægaty dynǵyr xæÊar âGreat House of the Alagatsâ. This house with a similar name appears in other national versions of the epic. In Adyghe texts, the house of the Aledzhkher (Aligov) family or the house of Aledzh is described as âwhite and longâ (Tambiev 1896: 263). Dzitstsoity connects this characteristic with the role of white in the colour symbolism of the ancient Indo-Iranians, where it âcorresponds exactly to the first function, the representatives of which in the epic are the Alagataâ (Dzitstsojty 1992: 14f.).
The role of the Alagata house in the life of Nartsâ society is very prominent. Here Nartsâ feasts take place, the ceremonial drinking from the cup of Amongæ is arranged, the Narts gather here to settle all important affairs and disputes, and honours are paid to the most courageous and magnanimous of them. Finally, the ancient custom prescribed killing of old men is carried out here (Dumézil 1990: 163). In short, the purpose of the Alagat-Aligovsâ house is connected primarily with the activities belonging to the sphere of the first function (religious rituals, court procedures, making the most important decisions, etc.). The miraculous vessels, i. e. the cauldron Ãrdamongæ cæǵǵīnag and the bowl Wac- or Nart-Amongæ, belong to this functional sphere.
The term ard, included in the name ærdamongæ, is associated in Ossetic with the notion of âoathâ. The expression ard xæryn âto swearâ, with xæryn âto eatâ, is often understood literally as âto eat an oathâ, referring to real actions during the oath rite, when the object sworn by (Abaev 1958: 61 f.) is eaten. However, the absence of the use of the word xæryn with other terms for âoathâ (somy, wasxæ) suggests connecting xæryn in the combination ard xæryn with the homonymic Iranian root *xvar- âto swearâ, i.-e. *swer-, English swear, German schwören (Perikhanian 1973: 545; Abaev 1958â89: IV/183). Ard xæryn âto swearâ has a more solemn sound in comparison with somy kænyn âid.â (Abaev 1958â89: III/133); the somy oath was not accompanied with a special ceremonial.
In the past, the importance of the oath in the Ossetian traditional system of legal proceedings was enormous. âIn legal life of Ossetians the oath â ard â occupies one of the most prominent places among those actions, whose totality constitutes Ossetian customary lawâ (Shanaev 1873: 1 = Shanaev 1992: 119), so wrote in the early 70s of the 19th century a famous talented and active folklorist and researcher of Ossetian ethnography Dzhantemir Shanaev, who, while still a student of the law faculty of Odessa University, dedicated a special ethnographic essay to this institution of the traditional Ossetian law.
The Ossetians resorted to oaths in legal practice when, in the absence of evidence, the innocence of the defendant or of the accused was doubted, in order to give âhim a means of judicial defense, a means of acquittal at trial, which, due to the sanctity of the oath in the popular consciousness, at the same time, indirectly, served as a means of exposing the truthâ (Shanaev 1873: 3f. = Shanaev 1992: 121). The procedure of taking an oath had different forms, depending on the type of offence and its gravity (Shanaev 1873: 14ff. = Shanaev 1992: 130ff.; Kovalevskij 1886: II/255ff.; Gatiev 1876: 76ff.). Thus, the âoath of landâ was taken in extremely important cases and on issues not only of a land nature; the one who violated such an oath, as well as his family, was indelibly disgraced. Those who violated the oath of land (zæxxæjard) had no right to arrange ziw âassistance in agricultural work rendered by fellow-villagers to poor or disabled members of communityâ (Pchelina 1930: 9, 47, n. 5). This circumstance seems significant considering the ritual character of ziw (work on Sunday and Monday, i.e. days when work in oneâs household was forbidden, a ritual feast at the end of work, etc.). Perhaps it is connected with the idea of the ritual uncleanness of the oath-breaker. A person who was suspected of false swearing lost all respect in the eyes of society. The Ossetians felt mystical horror before breaking an oath, which can be explained not only by ethical norms and moral notions in traditional Ossetian culture. There are many phraseological clichés, such as Ard basættyn mælæt u âto break an oath is tantamount to deathâ, Ardfælivæg xwycawæj ælÄyst u âthe oath breaker is cursed by godâ (Gwytâiaty 1976: 20). False oath (mængard) according to Ossetian beliefs brought terrible punishment from the higher powers, and not only on the oath-breaker himself; the punishment could also fall on those who were simply in contact with him (Shanaev 1873: 13 = Shanaev 1992: 129). This circumstance reinforces the opinion of D. S. Raevskij that in Scythia a false oath by royal sacred fires (Herodotus, IV, 68) was severely punished, because it not only caused illness of the king, but also jeopardized the well-being of the whole society (Raevskij 1977: 163).
Another form of oath in traditional Ossetian legal practice was a purification oath at the shrine (Êuar), in which the suspect, accompanied by his co-jurors, the swearer and witnesses, after a week of ritual purification, went to the Êuar, dressed in white clothes, with his head uncovered, and holding a stick in his hand extended in the direction of the Êuar, pronounced an oath in the name of the saint. After this, the swearer would throw the stick towards the Êuar, and all those present would hurriedly leave the place where the oath had been taken and go home. After this, for fear that a false oath might bring punishment from the saint, people avoided meeting the oath-bearer for a long time, and he himself took refuge in a secluded place, not returning home for a fortnight or more (Shanaev 1873: 13 = Shanaev 1992: 129). The aforementioned co-surrogates took part in the swearing-in procedure by the decision of the arbitral tribunal in especially important cases. They were appointed from among the relatives of the oath taker; as a rule, they were persons who had a reputation of honest and respectable people.1 Kovalevskij (1886: II/296) cites an ancient Ossetian legal term for these co-jurors or sureties: ærdamongæ. The fact that the name of the Nart cauldron coincides with this legal term, contributes to explanation of the role of the cauldron from the Great House of the Narts.
The curse formulas ard baxæræg wæ makwy racæwæd âthat no oath-taker ever comes out of youâ and ard xæryny karmæ wæ maḱi fæcæræd (Kodzati 2000: 207) âthat none of you live to the age of an oath-takerâ recorded in Ossetian phraseology suggests that in the past an age limit for acquiring the right of taking oath existed, and testifies to a special significance of this right for the social status of a person.
The concept of ard is associated not only with the judicial oath, but also with the âoathâ in its other forms, such as the military oath, the oath of cessation of blood feud or twinning, etc. In all these cases, the oath was associated with the notion of ard, and the ritual of these oaths, albeit varied, included a number of stereotyped actions dating back to antiquity. Dumézil notes: âThe oath rites of the Scythians and Ossetians are as similar as the time interval and the difference of civilizations allowâ (Dumézil 1976: 47). Herodotus describes the Scythian oath rite as follows: âAs for giving sworn pledges to those who are to receive them, this is the Scythian way: they take blood from the parties to the agreement by making a little cut in the body with an awl or a knife, and pour it mixed with wine into a big earthenware bowl, into which they then dip a scimitar and arrows and an axe and a javelin; and when this is done those swearing the agreement, and the most honorable of their followers, drink the blood after solemn cursesâ (IV, 70). Lucian describes a somewhat simplified version of the oath at the rite of fraternization, in which the cup contains only the blood of both fraternizers, and before drinking, each of them dips the tip of his sword into it (Toxarides, XXXVII). The Ossetiansâ oath ritual of fraternization reveals surprising similarity to the oath ritual attested among Scythians. âThe Ossetians have the following ritual of fraternization: they fill a cup with vodka or wine, throw a coin in it and drink each of them three times, swearing loyalty to each other. The oaths, for example, are as follows: âLet this become poison for me! Let this money turn against me if I do not love you like a brother!â or âI swear allegiance to this silver, this gold â¦â and thus money is considered by Ossetians as something sacred, having the power to punish. After making a vow, G. Shanaev says, the coin remains with the younger of the two brothers. Thus, these two rituals are similar. Only with the passage of centuries bloodshed stopped, and the metal evidence of the vow has changed somewhat: the cups are no longer loaded with weapons, whose anger one was afraid of, now it is coins. The sign of the times â¦â (Dumézil 1976: 47f.; Shanaev 1876: 22, n. 2).
However, in Ossetia, even in the recent past, weapons figured in the oath ritual, and not only in connection with twinning. V. S. Tolstoj tells that in the old days the following ritual was performed to conclude an oath of twinning: âTwo warriors went to Rekom (a sanctuary in the Tsei Gorge, which enjoyed special reverence, K. K.), took an arrow from each quiver, mixed them, one was broken in half and both pieces were left in the walls of Rekom. This obliged to defend each other in battle with selflessness, and in case of death of one twin, the other must carry the body out of the battle and bury itâ (Tolstoj 1875: 267). According to E. Barakova, when performing the rite of reconciliation of blood brothers, which is also a kind of sworn agreement, the blood brothers came to the sanctuary of MiÄdaw, where they broke the arrows in half and left them in the sanctuary as a sign or pledge of reconciliation (Baraqty 1992: 113). The symbolism of arrows in this rite can be interpreted in the light of the story of the death of Akhsar and Akhsartag2 from the Ossetian Nartsâ epic. Calling the higher powers as witnesses, i.e. appealing to the ard, one of the twins shoots an arrow into the sky, which, having risen to the sky and returned back, is supposed to fulfil the judgement (Kajtmazov 1889: 8).
Raevskij, commenting on the episode with the Scythiansâ âgiftsâ to Darius (Herodotus IV, 127 and 131â132), where five arrows appear among the âgiftsâ, points to the wide distribution of rituals with arrows used to express the idea of modelling the spatial structure in a number of archaic traditions. The meaning of these rituals, which included shooting arrows by the king on the four sides of the world, âwas determined by a specific task: it was necessary to express not only the structure of space, but also the idea of its absolute protection from all sidesâ (Raevskij 1985: 66f.). There are numerous indications of the role of arrows in the rites of protective magic, where they again act as allegorical means of expressing the idea of structuring and marking the protected space (Akishev 1984: 44). According to Akishev, the fortune-telling sticks, færsæn fat (lit. âfortune-telling arrowâ), used by Ossetian diviners dæsnytæ (in sets of four), could be connected with the same circle of cosmological ideas (Akishev 1984: 45).
In the Iranian tradition, the idea of structured space is closely connected with the concept of arta. In the Avesta, the motif of the arrow is again found in connection with the arta (Av. aÅ¡Ì£a-), namely, in Yasht 13, 99 and 19, 83â85. The ancient tradition (Herodotus IV, 36; Lycurgus 86, etc.) preserved a myth (probably of Scythian origin) about the Hyperborean (or Scythian) Abaris, who saved the world from a terrible plague and wandered âwith an arrow in his handâ (Dumézil 1976: 62, n. 12). The arrow of Abaris in the context of his feat is quite correlated with the role of the arrow as an attribute of the arta.
The object symbolism of the arrow as an arta-tool seems to explain the role of the bow and arrows as investiture attributes and the correlation of these weapons with the idea of the sacral nature of royal power among the peoples of the Indo-Iranian circle (Raevskij 1977a: 81ff.; Raevskij 1981: 44ff.). Cf. Pomponius Melaâs account of the royal Scythians: âthe Basilids are descended from Hercules and Echidna, their character is regal, their weapons are only arrowsâ (De Horographia II, 10).
Ossetic phraseology provides rich material for a fairly clear definition of the semantics of ard in Ossetic and outside the field of âoathsâ in the modern sense. On the one hand, ard can be interpreted in connection with moral and ethical views: the word ænæard âdishonourable (person)â (lit. âdeprived of ardâ)3 stands in a synonymic row with fydæÄdaw â(a person) of bad behaviourâ (cf. a Scythian personal name with the opposite meaning A
Here, the rather general notion of âmagic powerâ is directly adjacent to the semantic field of Old Iranian arta- and Old Indian rÌ¥ta-, namely to the idea of âtruth, order, universal lawâ, which is associated with the normal state of things, and the violation of which threatens incalculable disasters. Ossetian folklore contains many didactic stories about heavenly punishment falling on a perjurer. Of particular interest are materials on the traditional Ossetian juridical practice, where he who has taken an oath (ard) turns for a certain period of time into an untouchable, direct communication with whom may bring terrible misfortune if he has sworn falsely (Shanaev 1873: 12f. = Shanaev 1992: 129). Violation of the oath, âlieâ as ânot-truthâ led to the violation of this world order; in the Avesta the departure of the xvarÉnah from the lying Yima is associated with the destruction of harmony, the reign of chaos, etc. (Akishev 1984: 102). Herodotus tells about a Scythian belief according to which it was customary to associate the illness of the king with a false oath by the royal fires (IV, 68).
As the latest research shows, notions such as âoathâ, âcurseâ, âtruthâ, âcontractâ according to archaic beliefs belong to a single semantic complex. The range of concepts covered by the terms ard/arta/rÌ¥ta can be regarded as a variant of this complex. Cases of polysemy, when one and the same word is associated with two different semantic fields that do not overlap in modern consciousness, are quite common, cf. English swear or Russian
However, it would be incorrect to consider them as homonyms. The connection of these meanings in archaic consciousness was direct, immediate and natural, and should be regarded as inherent. The origins of the âritual-oathâ are connected with the instinct to protect oneâs âliving spaceâ, which is embedded in the behavioural program of biological species. âOathâ is a verbal version of âritualâ in the biological sense. At the same time, a characteristic feature of ritual acts is their simultaneous orientation towards âownâ and âalienâ addressees, which determines a positive or negative interpretation of the ritual act. In ritual thinking such meanings coexist inseparably. At the linguistic level, a connection between the concepts of âownâ and âenclosed spaceâ is reconstructed, which is explained through the notions of âboundaryâ, âbarrierâ, and âprohibitionâ. Ritual thinking, subdividing space into oneâs own, alien and neutral, connects the oath both with the centre and the border of oneâs territory. At the same time, ritual thinking is characterized by the unity of space and time. Material symbols marking the world space symbolize both the space of this world and the time of the events taking place in this space, especially the âcircle of eventsâ (Monich 2000: 72ff.).
â¦
Thus, according to ancient beliefs, the sacred cauldron as a material symbol was connected with order, stability, embodied the idea of abundance conditioned by the cosmic order. Let us cite a definition related to the ancient Indian tradition, but quite applicable also to the ancient Iranian/Scythian: âAccording to Vedic mythological ideas, to the ideal cosmos such a state of the Vedic microcosm corresponds, which is characterized by a maximum of benefits of the most diverse nature: from poetic inspiration and complete safety from enemies to herds of cattle and other riches (brave army, numerous offspring, large harvest, etc.) (â¦) The elementary cosmogonic act (â¦) entails precisely this kind of transformation at the level of life of Vedic manâ (Ogibenin 1967: 129).
Archaic mythopoetic notions of space-time defined the cosmos in opposition to chaos as a finite continuum, with its finiteness determined by its structural nature. Overcoming the temporal finitude of the cosmos was associated with cyclicity and carried out through ritual, which reproduced or modelled the act of the original creation. The structuring of space was done through ritual and the use of a set of object symbols marking the centre and the sides of the world. Various elements were used for structuring, which were part of the repeatedly duplicated systems of symbolic classifications projected onto society and the universe.
The cauldron in the ritually actualized mythopoetic beliefs was associated with the centre and represented an image of the mastered space. The vessel with the ritual drink in the Scythian/Ossetian ritual acts as one of the means of modelling the world and correlates with the notion of arta/ard âcosmic orderâ, âharmonyâ.4 The huge cauldron made of arrowheads at the command of the Scythian king and called to embody cosmic order, stability and prosperity can be represented as an embodiment or image of arta, the symbolism of which is emphasized by the material used to make the cauldron. Akishev, considering the ritual-symbolic role of the arrow in Indo-Iranian, Slavic and Turkic cosmogonic myths, regards the cauldron of Ariantas, cast from arrowheads and installed in the sacred centre of Scythia, as a sacral cosmogram (Akishev 1984: 45). In connection with the cosmological symbolism of the cauldron, the Ossetian New Year ritual song attracts attention, in which the picture of the ideal well-being of the house (which was interpreted by the mythological consciousness as a projection of the universe) is depicted as follows (s. Salagaeva 2007: II/300):
It is also worth noting a report by Makharbeg Tuganov, an outstanding collector and connoisseur of Ossetian antiquity, according to whom one of the central rites of the New Yearâs cycle in Ossetia in ancient times was the dance nærton simd (âthe simd of Nartsâ), in which adult men of the entire district aged 30 to 40, i.e. in the prime of life, took part. The dancers formed a three-rowed circle, inside which huge cauldrons stood, where meat and festive beer were boiled (Tuganov 1977: 71). The performance of this ritual dance was given great importance; it was believed that those who performed the simd received Godâs favour (Warziati 1995a: 174).5 It is worth recalling that, according to Raevskij, the Scythian feast in Exampaeus, where the cauldron of Aryantas was kept, was also timed to the New Year.
The description of the âarchetypalâ cauldron from the New Yearâs song as âfour-earedâ attracts attention. The Wacamongæ bowl is similarly characterized in the epic tale: Alægatæ raxastoj æmbyrdmæ cyppærqusyg nomÊyd Wacamongæ (Gazzaev 1949: 175) âAlægatæ brought out to the assembly the glorious four-ear Wacamongæâ, and in another text âa large four-ear amongæâ (Shanaev 1871: 6; Dumézil 1986: 464).6 This characteristic is probably motivated by the ancient fourfold division of space through the allocation of the four sides of the world, and testifies to homomorphism of the Nartsâ cauldron and the universe. Similar characteristics of the earthly and heavenly worlds are also found in the old Indo-Iranian traditions. Thus, in the Rigveda (10, 58, 3) the circle of the earth is called Äaturbhr̥ṣá¹i âfour-corneredâ and ÄaturÅrÌ¥ngo âfour-hornedâ. In the Avesta, where the sky has the epithet Äatru
A special significance could be attached to collecting the material for the cauldron from the whole Scythian people, i. e. in a hoard, which should have increased the magical effect of the ritual symbol thus produced. Bajburin, considering the ritual symbolism of the gathering motif, believes that it could be caused by the intention to present society at a critical moment in the most complete form. In this case, âthe sphere of âoneâs ownâ becomes somewhat condensed, compacted, i. e. acquires those qualities that must be extended to the rest of the worldâ (Bajburin 1993: 188). In the Ossetian tradition, barley for brewing ritual beer intended for especially important festivals was collected from each family of the village in the way of hoarding (kâusbar), to which special significance was apparently attached: the grain collected from all members of the community was supposed to multiply the ritual value (significance) of the sacrificial drink and, accordingly, the impact of the festive rites.
It is appropriate to compare the cauldron of Ariantas, cast from arrowheads, with the Ossetian legends about a cauldron made of copper coins (Bliev 1961: 83; Warziati 1984: 149, n. 41; Kokiev 1989: 51), just as arrows were replaced with silver coins in the oath ritual. Let us also point to the parable cited by Plutarch about the Scythian king Skilurus, who, before his death, gathered all his numerous sons, and, giving each one an arrow, offered to break the shaft, which they did without difficulty. Then Skilurus ordered to put all 80 arrows together. It proved impossible to break them. âIf you stick together like these arrowsâ, said the king, âyou will be strong and invincible, but if there is no strong union between you, you will be easily defeatedâ (Latyshev 1890â1906: I/496).
The Ãrdamongæ cauldron can be considered a reflection of the ideas associated with the sacred Scythian cauldron in the Nartsâ epic. The connection between the concept of inexhaustible magical abundance, prosperity, power and well-being in all its manifestations being a âconsequenceâ of the central cross-linking archaic concept of the ancient Ossetian tradition i. e. arta âTruthâ and âJusticeâ, and the idea of an interrelation between the oath and the âworld orderâ is reflected in Ossetian legends about magical eternally full cauldrons or other vessels placed in shrines where oaths were taken, with arrows being guarantee of their inviolability and serving as a symbol of divine justice (ard), protecting the agreement and punishing the oath-breaker.
Participation of co-jurors or guarantors in the Ossetian procedure of taking oath finds a parallel in Herodotusâ report about oath taking among Scythians (IV, 70), where in addition to the jurors the worthiest of the attendants take part in the ritual (for a commentary on Herodotusâ report on the oath, see Grantovskij 1980: 150).
In the original: Akhsnart and Akhsnartag.
Cf. Sanskrit anrÌ¥ta âdisorderliness as deprivation of rÌ¥taâ, s. Toporov 1988: 384.
If we assume that the cauldron at Exampaeus had a name also connected with the term ard, as in the case of Ãrdamongæ of the Ossetian Narts tales, the question arises whether the Herodotus legend about the collection of arrowheads by Ariantas is not to be explained by an attempt at a pseudo-etymological interpretation of the name of the cauldron through the Greek
The name of this dance ultimately derives from Arabic samÄâ âdervish danceâ (Abaev 1958â89: III/107ff.).
In the notes Dzh. Shanaev explains âThis is a Nartâs congratulatory bowl; it is kept at the Alagate family, which usually hosts all public folk gatherings, feasts, treats, etc. (â¦) This word (Nartamonge) is also used without the first word (amonge) (ibid., note 10).