Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

bodies clothed in skins
In Europe there is a Scythian race called Sauromatae… . Their women ride on
horseback, use the bow and throw the javelin from their horse, and fight with their
enemies as long as they remain virgins; and they do not lay aside their virginity until
they kill three of their enemies nor have any connection with men until they perform
the sacrifice according to the law. Whoever takes to herself a husband, gives up riding
on horseback unless she is obliged to by the necessity of a general expedition.
(On Airs, Waters, and Places, 17)
He goes on to explain that when the girls are young their mothers cauterized their
right breast to stop it from developing; ‘all the strength and fullness are driven to the
right shoulder and arm’, giving the young warrior enhanced strength as an archer.
Herodotus calls these women Amazons (a-mazos in Greek, ‘without a breast’) but
says that in the Scythian language they are known as oiorpata (‘man-slayers’). He provides
them with a fanciful origin myth to explain how they eventually reached the territory
of the Sauromatae, going on to say, ‘and have continued to today to practise their
ancient customs, frequently hunting on horseback with their husbands, sometimes
even on their own; in war taking the field; and even dressing like men’ (Hist. iv. 116). He
confirms the point made in the Hippocratic text that no girl is allowed to marry until
she has killed a man in battle. If we take these two texts at face value, it does seem that
women among the Sauromatae may have been allowed or encouraged to adopt male
gender roles. Herodotus’ passing remark, that some died unmarried at an advanced
age, hints that not all women were prepared to revert to female gender roles in later life.
The general validity of these accounts is, at least to a degree, supported by the
archaeological evidence. In the territory of the Sauromatae one fifth of the excavated
warrior burials dating from the fifth to fourth century are females, while in Scythian
territory more than forty female warrior burials are known. At Chertomlÿk,
where fifty warrior graves have been found, at least four are anatomically female.
That females were able to serve as warriors is not in doubt. Herodotus’ observation
that among one of the more distant of the nomadic people, the Issedonians, men and
women shared equal power may be a further hint that not all nomadic societies were
male dominated. Nor should we forget that the Sakā were at one time led against the
Persians by a warrior queen, Tomyris.
Pseudo-Hippocrates has an interesting comment to make on male sexuality:
There are many eunuchs among the Scythians who perform female work and speak
like women. Such persons are called Andrieis (effeminates). The Scythians attribute the
cause of their impotence to god, and venerate and worship such persons, everyone
dreading that a similar fate might befall himself.
(On Airs, Waters, and Places, 22)
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