| Bartatua | |
|---|---|
| King of the Scythians | |
| Reign | c. 679-c. 658/9 BCE |
| Predecessor | Išpakaia |
| Successor | Madyes |
| Died | c. 658/9 BCE |
| Spouse | Šērūʾa-ēṭirat (?) |
| Issue | Madyes |
| Scythian | Pṛtatavah |
| Father | Išpakaia (?) |
| Religion | Scythian religion |
Bartatua or Protothyes was a Scythian king [1] who ruled during the period of the Scythian presence in Western Asia in the 7th century BCE.
The Akkadian name Partatua [2] or Bartatua [3] (𒁹𒁇𒋫𒌅𒀀 [4] ) and the Ancient Greek name Protothuēs (Προτοθυης, [2] [3] whence Latin : Protothyes) are derived from a Scythian language name whose original form was either *Pr̥ϑutavah, meaning "with far-reaching strength," [3] or *Pṛtatavah, meaning "mighty in battle." [5] [6] [7] [8]
In the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, a significant movement of the nomads of the Eurasian steppe brought the Scythians into Southwest Asia. This movement started when another nomadic Iranic tribe closely related to the Scythians, either the Massagetae [9] or the Issedones, [10] migrated westwards, forcing the Early Scythians of the to the west across the Araxes river, [11] following which the Scythians moved into the Caspian Steppe from where they displaced the Cimmerians. [11]
Under Scythian pressure, the Cimmerians migrated to the south along the coast of the Black Sea and reached Anatolia, and the Scythians in turn later expanded to the south, following the coast of the Caspian Sea and arrived in the steppes in the Northern Caucasus, from where they expanded into the region of present-day Azerbaijan, where they settled and turned eastern Transcaucasia into their centre of operations in Western Asia until the early 6th century BCE, [12] [13] [14] [15] with this presence in Western Asia being an extension of the Scythian kingdom of the steppes. [16] During this period, the Scythian kings' headquarters were located in the steppes to the north of Caucasus, and contact with the civilisation of Western Asia would have an important influence on the formation of Scythian culture. [9]
Bartatua was the successor of the previous Scythian king, Išpakaia, and might have been his son. After Išpakaia had attacked the Neo-Assyrian Empire and died in battle against the Assyrian king Esarhaddon around 676 BCE, Bartatua succeeded him. [17]
In the later mid-670s BCE, in alliance with an eastern group of the Cimmerians who had migrated into the Iranian plateau, Bartatua's Scythians were menacing the Assyrian provinces of Parsumaš and Bīt Ḫamban, and these joint Cimmerian-Scythian forces together were threatening communication between the Assyrian Empire and its vassal of Ḫubuškia. [18] [19] However, the Assyrians had started negotiations with Bartatua immediately after Išpakaia's death, [20] and in 672 BCE [16] he asked for the hand of Esarhaddon's daughter Šērūʾa-ēṭirat in marriage, which is attested in Esarhaddon's questions to the oracle of the Sun-god Šamaš. [17] Whether this marriage did happen is not recorded in the Assyrian texts, but the close alliance between the Scythians and Assyria under the reigns of Bartatua and his son and successor Madyes suggests that the Assyrian priests did approve of this marriage between a daughter of an Assyrian king and a nomadic lord, which had never happened before in Assyrian history; the Scythians were thus brought into a marital alliance with Assyria, and Šērūʾa-ēṭirat was likely the mother of Bartatua's son Madyes. [21] [22] [20] [23] [24]
Bartatua's marriage to Šērūʾa-ēṭirat required that he would pledge allegiance to Assyria as a vassal, and in accordance to Assyrian law, the territories ruled by him would be his fief granted by the Assyrian king, which made the Scythian presence in Western Asia a nominal extension of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. [17] Under this arrangement, the power of the Scythians in Western Asia heavily depended on their cooperation with the Assyrian Empire; [25] henceforth, the Scythians remained allies of the Assyrian Empire. [17] Around this time, the Urartian king Rusa II might also have enlisted Scythian troops to guard his western borderlands. [22]
Over the course of 660 to 659 BCE, Esarhaddon's son and successor to the Assyrian throne, Ashurbanipal, sent his general Nabû-šar-uṣur to carry out a military campaign against Mannai, who had previously, in alliance with Bartatua's predecessor Išpakaia, expanded their territories at the expense of Assyria. After trying in vain to stop the Assyrian advance, the Mannaean king Aḫsēri was overthrown by a popular rebellion and was killed along with most of his dynasty by the revolting populace, after which his surviving son Ualli requested help from Assyria, which was provided through the intermediary of Ashurbanipal's relative, the Scythian king, after which the Scythians extended their hegemony to Mannai itself. [26]
The marital alliance between the Scythian king and the Assyrian ruling dynasty, as well as the proximity of the Scythians with the Assyrian-influenced Mannai and Urartu placed the Scythians under the strong influence of Assyrian culture. [14]
Bartatua was succeeded by his son, Madyes, who would bring Scythian power in Western Asia to its peak. [17]
An inscription from Saqqez written in the Scythian language using the Hieroglyphic Luwian script refers to the a king named Partitava, that is Bartatua. [27]
| Line | Phonetic transliteration | Scythian transliteration | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pa-tì-na-sa-nà tà-pá wá-s₆-na-m₅ XL was-was-ki XXX ár-s-tí-m₅ ś₃-kar-kar (HA) har-s₆-ta₅ LUGAL | patinasana tapa. vasnam: 40 vasaka 30 arzatam šikar. UTA harsta XŠAYAI. | Delivered dish. Value: 40 calves 30 silver šiqlu. And it was presented to the king. |
| 2 | Par-tì-ta₅-wa₅ ki-ś₃-a₄-á KUR-u-pa-ti QU-wa-a₅ | Partitava xšaya DAHYUupati xva- | King Partitavas, the masters of the land pro- |
| 3 | i₅-pa-ś₂-a-m₂ | ipašyam | -perty |
Graeco-Roman authors confused Bartatua with his predecessors and successors, including his son Madyes, into a single figure by claiming that it was Madyes himself who led the Scythians from Central Asia into chasing the Cimmerians out of their homeland and then defeating the Medes and the legendary Egyptian king Sesostris and imposing their rule over Asia for many years before returning to Scythia. Later Graeco-Roman authors named this Scythian king as Idanthyrsos or Tanausis, although this Idanthyrsos is a legendary figure separate from the later historical Scythian king Idanthyrsus, from whom the Graeco-Romans derived merely his name. [28] [13] [29] According to one theory, the legendary Armenian king Paroyr Skayordi mentioned in the history of Movses Khorenatsi is identifiable with Bartatua. [30]
Alyattes, sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He died after a reign of 57 years and was succeeded by his son Croesus.
The Androphagi were an ancient Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Greco-Roman authors.
The Scythians or Scyths in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC from Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe in modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia, where they remained established from the 7th century BC until the 3rd century BC.
The Cimmerians were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asia. Although the Cimmerians were culturally Scythian, they formed an ethnic unit separate from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related and who displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.
Sadyattes was the third king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Ardys and the grandson of Gyges of Lydia. Sadyattes reigned 12 years according to Herodotus.
The Agathyrsi were an ancient people belonging to the Scythian cultures who lived in the Transylvanian Plateau, in the region that later became Dacia. The Agathyrsi are largely known from Herodotus of Halicarnassus's description of them in the 5th century BC.
Cyaxares was the third king of the Medes. Cyaxares ascended to the throne in 625 BCE, after his father Phraortes lost his life in a battle against the Assyrians.
The Melanchlaeni, also known as the Saudaratae, were an ancient Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Graeco-Roman authors.
Teušpâ was an early 7th-century BC king of the Cimmerians.
The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex, sometimes conventionally called the Cimmerian culture, is an archaeological complex associated with the first steppe nomads of ancient eastern and central Europe, especially with the Cimmerians.
Madyes was a Scythian king who ruled during the period of the Scythian presence in West Asia in the 7th century BCE.
The Budini were an ancient Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Graeco-Roman authors.
Scythia or Scythica, also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
Ardys was the son of Gyges of Lydia, whom he succeeded as the second king of the Mermnad dynasty.
Dugdammî or Tugdammî, also known by the Greeks as Lygdamis and Dygdamis, was a Cimmerian king of the mid-seventh century BC.
Sandakshatru or Sandakuru was the last known Cimmerian king.
Treri is the name of a Thracian tribe.
Išpakāya was a Scythian king who ruled during the period of the Scythian presence in Western Asia in the 7th century BCE.
Šērūʾa-ēṭirat, called Saritrah in later Aramaic texts), was an ancient Assyrian princess of the Sargonid dynasty, the eldest daughter of Esarhaddon and the older sister of his son and successor Ashurbanipal. She is the only one of Esarhaddon's daughters to be known by name and inscriptions listing the royal children suggest that she outranked several of her brothers, such as her younger brother Aššur-mukin-paleʾa, but ranked below the crown princes Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin. Her importance could be explained by her possibly being the oldest of all Esarhaddon's children.
Sakez also known as Sekez, Sekakez and Scyth (Eskit) was a sizable urban settlement and historical ancient city in the first millennium BC in Iran. It was the political and military capital of Scythians in western Iran and one of the few ancient cities that has been the residence of people and the center of civilization and it still is. Archaeologists believe that the present-day city of Saqqez in Kurdistan is the remnant of the city of Sakez, which takes its name from the Scythians and, with a slight change in pronunciation, is still called by the same name.
