Cercetae

The Cercetae are an ancient people of Scythia mentioned by Strabo^[1] and Pliny the Elder.^[2] They are one of many ancient tribes of the Northwestern Caucasus which are the ancestors of modern Circassians.^[3] The name "Cercetae" apparently was the basis of the name of the people that arose later - the Circassians.^[3] The ethnonym itself of presumably Iranian origin^[4] or derived from the κερκέτηζ, is a kind of "stern oar”, and is the nickname given to them by the Greeks due to their skill in the sea business.^[5]

Pliny places them beyond the Amazons and the Hyperboreans, together with the Cimmerii, Cissianti, Achaei, Georgili, Moschi, Phoristae and Rimphaces.

1. ^ Geographia 11.2
2. ^ Chorographia 1.12
3. ^ ^{a b} БСЭ. Керкеты
4. ^ Новичихин А.М. Керкеты. Псессы. Синды. Тореты
5. ^ Oleg Trubachyov, Некоторые данные об индоарийском языковом субстрате Северного Кавказа в античное время // Journal of Ancient History № 4. 1978, с. 41

• "Strabo, Geography, Book 11, Chapter 2, Section 1". Retrieved November 17, 2010.

This article about ethnicity is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

• v
• t
• e