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ISSN 2658-3828 (print)
ISSN 2658-6665 (online)

V.A. Kisel. Scythians and magic (according to Herodotus)

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V.A. Kisel - Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
E-mail: kisel @ kunstkamera.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-7498-4837

 

Abstract

Herodotus in his “History” provides a relatively detailed description of the everyday and spiritual life of the Scythians, as well as the tribes that were part of the Scythian confederation — the Massagetae and the Issedones. Additionally, the work contains observations about the realities of Asian nomads. Therefore, based on Herodotus’ reports, it is possible to form an idea of the worldview of the ancient nomadic society. A number of Scythian customs mentioned in “History” are related to magical practices. The most important among them are: beheading, using cups made from skulls, funeral cannibalism, drinking blood, cutting off the right hand, piercing the left hand with arrows, using skin and scalps, burning “false prophets”, sticking spears around the king’s corpse, purification in a steam bath, and chasing a hare. Despite the large amount of information, significant difficulties arise in the analysis due to Herodotus’ specific point of view, characteristic of ancient Greek society. Thanks to this, many magical practices are interpreted from a rationalistic perspective. Moreover, “History” does not provide detailed scenarios of rituals, nor does it describe incantations, which are essential for magic. Therefore, it is impossible to create a complete and detailed picture of Scythian magical rituals. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that Scythian magic was based on universal mythopoetic representations of humans. Most rituals involved the dismemberment of the human body, followed by the use of organs and connective tissue. Separate episodes indicate the inclusion of wild animals in magical practices. It can be inferred that “History” records different types of magic — military, apotropaic, harmful, and economic. It is clear that no representative of Scythian society could do without using magical practices. Overall, Herodotus’ work allows us to imagine the significant role that magic played in nomadic culture, especially among military collectives.

 

Key words: Scythians, magic, Herodotus, pathrophagy, blood drinking, decapitation, scalps, human skin

 

UDC 397; 801.82
DOI: 10.31250/2658-3828-2025-1-84-105

 

For citation: Kisel V.A. Scythians and magic (according to Herodotus). Camera praehistorica. 2025, no. 1 (14), рр. 84–105. DOI: 10.31250/2658-3828-2025-1-84-105 (in Russian).

 

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