sefi;g:v. - A Kabbalist walks into a bar, and the

SCYTHOPOLIS
territory once claimed by the Scythians. In the beginning of SEA, THE BRAZEN(llVn?g nl; THN BA~ACC&N
the second century the German Bastarnians made their appearance.
A Scythian reaction seems to have occurred under THN ..... YAAKHN 2 K. 25 17 Tei. 5217 fom. A1 I Ch. 18 81.
n--. . .. . .
Scilurus who, however, was defeated by Mithridates VI., 1. Size and THE MOLTEN SEA ‘(pyn-qg ; THk
105 B.C. After Mithridates(132-163) had conquered the country
N. of the Euxine, he could lead armies of Scythians as well as form. OAhACCAN [BIv T. 8. AyTHN [AI. T. 8.
Sarmatians, Bastarnians, and Thracians against the Romans.
XYTHN [LIS I K. 723; T. e. XYTHN
Later, the legionaries of Rome found Sarmatians as soon as [BAL], 2 Ch.42), or simply THE SEA (I K. 744, 2 K.
they had crossed the Danube. Finally, the Scythians were 16 17, 2 Ch. 4 IS), the large bronze reservoir which shod
absorbed in the prevailing Slavonic population.
in the SE. ana, of the court of Solomon’s temple. The
From their old home the eastern bradh OT this designation ‘ sea ’ is explained by Josephus from the size
people was also driven by invaders across the JaGartes (Ant. viii. 35 ; P~h?j8q . . . Bdhauua 6rb ~b p,ky~Bos).
l,. Eastern into Chornsmin, llargiana, and Bactria. According to the description in I K. 7 23-26 the ‘sea’ was
Scythians. ;\ccording to Ktesias, Cyrus fought round, measuring IO cubits (17.22 ft.’) in width and 5
nginst these Scythims, and forced (8.61) in depth; ‘and a line of 30 cubits (@BAL 33
Amorges to aid him in his war-upon Croesus (546).
cubits) compassed it round about.’ These numbers are
There is probably also a nucleus of truth in his account of course only approximate-not givenwith mathematical
of Cyrus’ war with the Derbikkae, though he has precision, otherwise to a diameter of IO cubits would
wrongly connected his death with this war. There have corresponded a circumference of 31.41 59.. . cubits ;
is no reason for doubting the substantial accuracy of failure to observe this has caused commentators need-
Herodotus’ account of his death in the war upon less trouble. The capacity of the a sea ’ ( I K. 7 26 ; @BL
Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae, though there are as om.) was 2000 baths=16,010 gallons (see WEIGHTS
usual some embellishments. The grounds on which AND MEASURES, 5 3). 2 Ch. gives 3000 baths (= 24,015
Duncker rejected this story are quite insufficient.
gallons), certainly an impossible figure, even that of
Darius had to fight with Scythians whom he designates as
Saka humauarku. These are probably identical with the I K. being too large for the data ; a hemisphere of the
Amyrgian Scythians. Fressl may be right in connecting both dimensions given contains only 6376 gallons and a
these words with Margiana. According to Fr., Muller (WZKM cylinder 10,798 gallon^.^ Even if, in view of what is
7 258) they are the ‘Soma-preparing Scythians : but Ed. Meyer
(GA 3 IIO~) doubts this interpretation. Scythian archers took
said about the 12 oxen, we come to the conclusion that
art in the battle of Marathon, and were also in the army of the sea’ must have been more or less cylindrical in shape,
gerxes. Where their home was, is not indicated. Alexander not, as Josephus (Antviii. 3 5, ~b +piu@alprov) will have
came into contact with Scythians only after he had crossed the it, hemispherical, we can hardly suppose it to have held
Jaxartes in Sogdiana. For some time before 138, Scythians had
held possession of Margiana
much more than (say) 7000 gallons. There is, how-
Through Chang-kian’s account of his mission (in Ssematsien), ever, no recorded ancient parallel even for such a
it is possible to trace the political situation in Iran in 128, and casting. It is one of very considerable magnitude
to discern some of the events that led up to it. Pressed by the
Hiungnu, a Turkish people, the Yuechi ( robably Massagetre)
(great bell of Moscow 198 tons ; great bell of St.
had forced the Szii (caka Saka Scythians? across the axartes. Paul’s-largest in England-174 tons). The ancients
In 175 the SzB conquered’Sogdiana from Eucratides o/Bactria. no doubt usually did their large castings in pieces ; but
This king defended Bactria against their attack with the aid of where possible they preferred hammered work.
Mithridates I. in 160. In 130 the Scythians took most of
Bactria from Heliocles. But they were in their turn driven Solomon’s ‘ sea ’ may, therefore, it has been suggested,
from Bactria and fled into Kipin, Kashmir Nepal and India have been a wooden vessel plated with bronze. On the
where they kstablished kingdoms. MaueH reigne‘d in Kip& notice in I K. 776 see ADAM, I ; .and for a different view,
and Pnnjab (130-IIO), Azes ( ~IO-~O), and Aspavarma, Aziles, and
Vanones after 80. Between 70 and 30 Spalahoras Spalag-
SUCCOTH, 2.
dames, Spalyris, and Spalyrisis reigned in W. Iudi;, though As to the form of the ‘ sea ’ the only further data we
their power was much limited by Hermaios. They were finally have are that the brass was an handbreadth thick, that
overthrown by Kadphizes I. (Kiutsiu-Kio), the founder of the the brim was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the
Yuechi dynasty. This dynasty (until 116 A.D.), whose most
famous king is Kanishka (70.90 A.D.), was also designated as flower of lily, and that below the brim ran two rows of
the Scythian ($aka), and the Caka-era begins with the year gourd-like ornaments o’p~? (see GOURD, end). These
78 A.D. The E. Scythians wed confused with their kinsmen
the Massagetz, and other neighhours in India, as the W: ornaments, as distinguished from those of the brazen
Scythians had been confused with their kinsmen the Sar- pillars, were cast when the sea itself was-cast ; in other
matians, and other neighhours in Europe. In Iidia, as in words we have to think of them as in relief, not as
Afghanistan, the Scythians were absorbed in the native undercut. The sea rested upon 12 brazen oxen arranged
population.
I) On the biblical references see the commentaries on Genesis, in four groups facing the four quarters of the heavens.
Jiemiah, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel, and the histories of Israel On every other point worth knowing-the height of
[also Crit. Bib.]. The best modern history the oxen, the shape of the basin, and so forth-the
18. Literature. of Mithridates of Pontils is by Theodore
Reinach (Mzfhn‘date Eujator, 18go). writer is silent. Nor are we told in what manner the
(2)
For descriptions of Scythia see especially Ukert Geog. der Gniech. water was supplied or drawn :; one naturally thinks of
rrnd Ramer 32. Reclus Ghg. Univ: LindnLr, SkytFaien u. d. the temple spring or a conduit from it.
Skythen &s &erodot, ’ 1841, and e&cially Neui.:ann, Die
Hellenen im Skythenlande, 1855 ; Baer, Hist. Frqen, 1873, and Klostermann satisfies our curiosity as to the mode of filling
Tomaschek in Berichfe d. Wiemr Akademie, 1888. (3) The by conjectural emendation of I K. 7 23 where he reads ‘There
most important works on the language are Zeus, Die Deufschen were 30 cocks around the sea; 20 were under the brim and
una’ die NachbarstZmme, 1837 ; and Miillenhoff, Deufsch supplied it, and at the bottom of the sea were IO which drained
Altertumskunde 3 (7892). Fressl, Die Skythen-Saken 1886 is it ; the cocks were in two rows and their flow was according to
not sufficiently &tical. (4) For the antiquities see Siephaki, their measure. The Vss., however, supply no sort of hint
Antiguiti’s du Bosflhore Cimmlrien, 1854 : MacPherson, An- towards any such emendation.
tiquities of Kerfch, 1857; Neumann (see under 2). Rayet, According to the Chronicler (2 Ch.46) the sea was
@udes d’arckiologie et Zarf, m a ; Solomon Reinach, Antzquif4s
du Bosjhore Ci,nmdrien 1885. (5) For the history,
see, in addition to primary sdurces Winckler Gesch. d. 1 [On the assumption that by ammZh is meant the long cubit ;
Alterturn!, 1878,(5! 2430,fl: Gutschmih, EBW aitt. ‘Scythia’ see WEIGHTS and MEASURES, 9 1.1
and ‘Persia,’ discriminating, but wrongly excluhg the eastern 2 [Prof. Unwin F.R.S. in a private communication, says:
Scythians; the suggestive discussions of H. Winckler, AOF ‘ I make ont that H hemisGherica1 cup, 15 ft. external diameter
1484fl:; the admirable summaries of Ed. Meyer, GA, especi- and 4 ins. thick would require 113.5 cubic ft. olbrass, and would
ally 3, $5 608 (1901): Lassen, Zndische Altertumskunde, weigh 26% tons. It would contain 770 cubic fi. or 4805 gallons
1847-1857 ; Schriider, Zndiens Liferatur und Cultur, 1887, of water and this would weigh Z I tons. ~ A cylindrical vessel
and Lefmann, Gesch. des Alien Indiens, 18p. N. S. would 4eigh more and contain more-hut the spherical shape is
the most favourable for po-sibility.’]
SCYTHOPOLIS (CKyeWN IToAIN), 2 Macc. 1229 ;
8 ap?? lt$ in I K. 7 24 is usually rendered ten in a cuhit’
in Josh. etc. BETH-SHEAN [q.v.] ; cp HAMONAH.
SEA (a;, yzm; eahacca). see GEOGRAPHY. s 4 ;
also DEAD SEA, GALILEE (Sea of), MEDITERRANEAN,
RED SEA, SALT SEA.
4339
SEA, THE BRAZEN
(so RVmg. and AV) and accordin-ly the total number of gourds
in each row reckonid to be 3w. ?he words as they stand, how-
ever, can only mean ‘in a length of IO cubits’: but this gives no
sense. The clause is (with Stade) to be deleted as a gloss (cp
Benzinger, ad ?oc.).
4340