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Massagetae
The Massagetae or Massageteans, also known as Sakā Tigraxaudā or Orthocorybantians or Massagets, were an ancient Eastern Iranian Saka people who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia and were part of the wider Scythian cultures. The Massagetae rose to power in the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, when they started a series of events with wide-reaching consequences by expelling the Scythians out of Central Asia and into the Caucasian and Pontic Steppes. The Massagetae are most famous for their queen Tomyris's alleged defeating and killing of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
The Massagetae declined after the 3rd century BCE, after which they merged with some other tribes to form the Alans, a people who belonged to the larger Sarmatian tribal confederation, and who moved westwards into the Caucasian and European steppes, where they participated in the events of the Migration Period.
The name Massagetae is the Latin form of Ancient Greek: Μασσαγέται Massagétai.
The Iranologist Rüdiger Schmitt notes that although the original name of the Massagetae is unattested, it appears that the most plausible etymon is the Iranian *Masyaka-tā. *Masyaka-tā is the plural form, containing the East Iranian suffix *-tā, which is reflected in Greek -tai. The singular form is *Masi̯a-ka- and is composed of the Iranian *-ka- and *masi̯a-, meaning "fish," derived from Young Avestan masiia- (𐬨𐬀𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬀; cognate with Vedic mátsya-). The name literally means "concerned with fish," or "fisherman." This corresponds with the remark made by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (1.216.3) that "they live on their livestock and fish." Schmitt notes that objections to this reasoning, based on the assumption that, instead of masi̯a-, a derivation from Iranian *kapa- "fish" (compare Ossetian кӕф (kæf)) would be expected, is "not decisive." Schmitt states that any other interpretations on the origin of the original Iranian name of the Massagetae are "linguistically unacceptable."
The Iranologist János Harmatta has, however, criticised the proposal of Massagetai's derivation from masyaka-ta, meaning "fish-eating (men)," as being semantically and phonologically unacceptable, and instead has suggested that the name might be derived from an early Bactrian language name Maššagatā, from an earlier Mašyagatā related to the Young Avestan terms maṣ̌a- (𐬨𐬀𐬴𐬀), maṣ̌iia- (𐬨𐬀𐬴𐬌𐬌𐬀), maṣ̌iiāka- (𐬨𐬀𐬴𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬐𐬀), meaning "men," with the ending of the name being derived from the East Iranian suffix *-tā or from the collective formative syllable from which the suffix evolved. According to Harmatta's hypothesis, the Bactrian name Maššagatā would have corresponded to the name Dahā, meaning "men," used by the Massagetae for themselves.
The Old Persian name Sakā tigraxaudā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠) meant "Saka who wear pointed hats", with the descriptive tigraxaudā (𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭), meaning "wearer of pointed hats," being composed of the terms tigraʰ (𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼), "pointed," and xauda- (𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠), "cap." This name was a reference to the Phrygian cap worn by the ancient Iranian peoples, of which the Sakā tigraxaudā wore an unusually tall and pointed form.
The name Orthocorybantians given to the Massagetai/Sakā tigraxaudā is derived from the Latin name Orthocorybantes, which is derived from the Ancient Greek: Ορθοκορυβαντες, romanized: Orthokorubantes, which is itself the literal translation of the Old Persian name tigraxaudā (𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭), meaning "wearer of pointed hats.",
The proposed etymologies for the Massagataean sub-tribe of the Apasiacae, whose name is not attested in ancient Iranian records, include *Āpasakā, meaning "Water-Sakas," and *Āpašyāka, meaning "rejoicing at water," which have so far not been conclusive.
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Massagetae
The Massagetae or Massageteans, also known as Sakā Tigraxaudā or Orthocorybantians or Massagets, were an ancient Eastern Iranian Saka people who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia and were part of the wider Scythian cultures. The Massagetae rose to power in the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, when they started a series of events with wide-reaching consequences by expelling the Scythians out of Central Asia and into the Caucasian and Pontic Steppes. The Massagetae are most famous for their queen Tomyris's alleged defeating and killing of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
The Massagetae declined after the 3rd century BCE, after which they merged with some other tribes to form the Alans, a people who belonged to the larger Sarmatian tribal confederation, and who moved westwards into the Caucasian and European steppes, where they participated in the events of the Migration Period.
The name Massagetae is the Latin form of Ancient Greek: Μασσαγέται Massagétai.
The Iranologist Rüdiger Schmitt notes that although the original name of the Massagetae is unattested, it appears that the most plausible etymon is the Iranian *Masyaka-tā. *Masyaka-tā is the plural form, containing the East Iranian suffix *-tā, which is reflected in Greek -tai. The singular form is *Masi̯a-ka- and is composed of the Iranian *-ka- and *masi̯a-, meaning "fish," derived from Young Avestan masiia- (𐬨𐬀𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬀; cognate with Vedic mátsya-). The name literally means "concerned with fish," or "fisherman." This corresponds with the remark made by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (1.216.3) that "they live on their livestock and fish." Schmitt notes that objections to this reasoning, based on the assumption that, instead of masi̯a-, a derivation from Iranian *kapa- "fish" (compare Ossetian кӕф (kæf)) would be expected, is "not decisive." Schmitt states that any other interpretations on the origin of the original Iranian name of the Massagetae are "linguistically unacceptable."
The Iranologist János Harmatta has, however, criticised the proposal of Massagetai's derivation from masyaka-ta, meaning "fish-eating (men)," as being semantically and phonologically unacceptable, and instead has suggested that the name might be derived from an early Bactrian language name Maššagatā, from an earlier Mašyagatā related to the Young Avestan terms maṣ̌a- (𐬨𐬀𐬴𐬀), maṣ̌iia- (𐬨𐬀𐬴𐬌𐬌𐬀), maṣ̌iiāka- (𐬨𐬀𐬴𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬐𐬀), meaning "men," with the ending of the name being derived from the East Iranian suffix *-tā or from the collective formative syllable from which the suffix evolved. According to Harmatta's hypothesis, the Bactrian name Maššagatā would have corresponded to the name Dahā, meaning "men," used by the Massagetae for themselves.
The Old Persian name Sakā tigraxaudā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠) meant "Saka who wear pointed hats", with the descriptive tigraxaudā (𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭), meaning "wearer of pointed hats," being composed of the terms tigraʰ (𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼), "pointed," and xauda- (𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠), "cap." This name was a reference to the Phrygian cap worn by the ancient Iranian peoples, of which the Sakā tigraxaudā wore an unusually tall and pointed form.
The name Orthocorybantians given to the Massagetai/Sakā tigraxaudā is derived from the Latin name Orthocorybantes, which is derived from the Ancient Greek: Ορθοκορυβαντες, romanized: Orthokorubantes, which is itself the literal translation of the Old Persian name tigraxaudā (𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭), meaning "wearer of pointed hats.",
The proposed etymologies for the Massagataean sub-tribe of the Apasiacae, whose name is not attested in ancient Iranian records, include *Āpasakā, meaning "Water-Sakas," and *Āpašyāka, meaning "rejoicing at water," which have so far not been conclusive.