Enaree

Last updated

The Enarei, singular Enaree, were Scythian androgynous/effeminate priests and shamanistic soothsayers who played an important role in the Scythian religion.

Contents

Name

The English name Enaree is derived from the Ancient Greek name recorded by Herodotus of Halicarnassus as Enarees (Εναρεες), [1] [2] itself derived from the Scythian term Anarya, meaning "unmanly." [3] The term anarya was itself composed of the elements a-, meaning "non-," and narya, which was derived from nar-, meaning "man." [4]

The name Anarya was more accurately represented in Ancient Greek by Pseudo-Hippocrates as Anarieis (Αναριεις). [5] [3]

Religious role

The Anarya were affiliated to an orgiastic cult of the goddess Artimpasa and of the Scythians' ancestral Snake-Legged Goddess in their forms strongly influenced by Near Eastern fertility goddesses, and the rites of the Anarya thus combined indigenous Scythian religious practices of a shamanistic nature, which were themselves related to those of indigenous Siberian peoples, as well as ones imported from Levantine religions. [6] [7] [8]

Rituals

The Anarya may have used cannabis in their rituals, including both those of a communal and those of a funerary or psychopompic nature, thus being among the earliest spiritual practitioners to have used cannabis to achieve altered states of consciousness, implying that an ancient connection existed between gender non-conforming spiritual practitioners and the use of mind-altering substances. [6]

The Anarya may also have participated in Scythian funeral rituals, which included shamanic practises, and after the burial of the deceased, ritually cleansed themselves with the vapour of cannabis, which is attested archaeologically in Saka tombs from Siberia, which contained tripods, braziers, pelts, and charcoal containing remains of cannabis leaves and fruits, with one of the Pazyryk burials containing a pot, inside of which were cannabis fruits, as well as a copper censer used to burn cannabis. [6]

Divination

The Anarya also acted as seers and performed a particular form of divination which used the inner bark of the linden tree, unlike the methods of traditional Scythian soothsayers which used willow withies. [7] The method of divination of the Anarya consisted of cutting the inner linden bark into three pieces, and plaiting and unplaiting these pieces around their fingers to obtain answers. [9] [6]

The Anarya were especially consulted when the king of the Scythians was ill, [10] [6] which was itself believed by the Scythians to be caused by a false oath being sworn upon the king's hearth. [7] Once the Anarya had identified the suspect who had sworn the false oath, the said suspect would claim to be innocent. If the Anarya maintained the accusation, six more soothsayers were consulted, and if they upheld the original accusation, the suspect was executed by being beheaded. If the additional soothsayers declared the suspect was innocent, the process of consulting more soothsayers was repeated. [11]

If the soothsayers all found the accused to be guilty, the culprit was executed through beheading, and his property was divided among the Anarya who had found him guilty. [12]

If the larger number of soothsayers still declared the suspect to be innocent, the initial accusers were executed by being put into an oxen-pulled wagon filled with brushwood which was set on fire was made to be pulled by the oxen, who eventually also burned along with the wagon and the disgraced soothsayers; the sons of these Anarya were also all killed, but their daughters were spared. [11] [12]

Regalia

The Anarya may have worn additional regalia such as drums used in shamanic rituals and antlered headdresses similar to those found in Saka horse burials and those worn in more recent times by Siberian shamans. [11]

Sceptres capped with ornate pole tops, which have been discovered throughout the steppe from Mongolia to the Great Hungarian Plain were also used by the Anarya as symbols of authority: these pole tops often included rattles, and the oldest of these date from the 8th century BC, are from Tuva and the Minusinsk Basin, and are topped by a stag or ibex standing with its feet together as if perched on a rocky eminence. The more recent pole tops are more elaborate in design, such as one found in the Oleksandropilskiy kurhan  [ uk ], which is in the shape of a goddess with her hands on her hips, and another one from the same kurgan in the shape of a griffin in a frame from which two bells hang, and a third from that same kurgan which splits into three branches each topped by a bird of prey holding a bell in its beak. The rattling and tinkling of the sceptres' bells invited the audience to the impending rites. [11]

Androgyny

The Anarya belonged to the most powerful Scythian aristocracy. They were born male, but wore women's clothing, [6] performed women's jobs, spoke like women, [9] and were believed by the Scythians to be inherently different from other males and that their androgyny was of divine origin; according to indigenous Scythian shamanic traditions, the Anarya were considered "transformed" shamans who changed their sex, which characterised them as being the most powerful shamans, due to which they inspired fear and were thus accordingly given special respect in Scythian society, and the Scythians ascribed their androgyny to a "female disease" causing sexual impotency. [7]

Artimpasa and the Snake-Legged Goddess to whom the Anarya were affiliated were themselves androgynous goddesses: Artimpasa was believed to have the power to turn men into women; [13] while the Snake-Legged Goddess was often represented with a beard. [14]

Central Asian origins

The traditions of "gender-crossing shamanism," whereby men obtain the power of prophecy and of becoming religious figures possessed by spirits by abandoning their masculinity, have been preserved until recent times by indigenous Siberians. [9]

The Greek Pseudo-Hippocrates later incorrectly ascribed the androgyny of the Anarya to the Scythians' practise of riding horses and wearing trousers. [6] [7]

West Asian influences

During the 7th century BC, the Scythians expanded into West Asia, during which time the Scythian religion was influenced by the religions of the peoples of the Fertile Crescent. The Scythians believed that the androgyny of the Anarya originated during this period from a curse by the goddess Artimpasa to the perpetrators of the sack of the temple in Ascalon of the goddess Astarte, who was herself an androgynous vegetation-fertility goddess who was believed to have the ability to change men into women and women into men, and whom the Scythians identified with their own goddess Artimpasa; this curse was hereditary and was inherited by the descendants of the perpetrators of the sack. The transvestite androgyny of the Anarya was thus also typical of the cult of the Levantine celestial ʿAštart. [9] [7]

The Anarya combined the traits of both the "transformed" shaman of the steppe peoples and the gender non-conforming priests of the West Asian Great Goddess, such as the Kelabim of ʿAštart, the Galli of Kubeleya, and the Megabyzoi or Megabyxoi of Ephesian Artemis. [6]

Heredity

Given the hereditary nature of the Anarya and the belief that the curse of Astarte affected the looters of her shrine at Ascalon as well as their descendants, the Anarya appear to have lived their early lives as men, with their transvestite transformation happening late in their lives after they found out that they were no longer able to have sexual intercourse. [9] [7]

Purported sexuality

It is unknown whether the Anarya practised ritual castration or merely refrained from heterosexual intercourse, although they were not celibate, and the writings of Pseudo-Hippocrates concerning them suggest that they may have also played the receptive role during anal intercourse with men. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anacharsis</span> Scythian philosopher

Anacharsis was a Scythian prince and philosopher of uncertain historicity who lived in the 6th century BC.

The Androphagi were an ancient Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Greco-Roman authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scythians</span> Nomadic Iranic people of the Pontic Steppe

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cimmerians</span> Ancient nomadic Iranic people who invaded West Asia in the 8th and 7th centuries 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bastet</span> Ancient Egyptian goddess

Bastet or Bast is a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty. Her name also is rendered as B'sst, Baast, Ubaste, and Baset. In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neuri</span> Ancient tribe described by Herodotus

The Neuri or Navari were an ancient Baltic people whose existence was recorded by ancient Graeco-Roman authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agathyrsi</span>

The Agathyrsi were an ancient people belonging to the Scythian cultures who lived in the Transylvanian Plateau next to the Sigynnai and Sindos, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scythian languages</span> Group of Eastern Iranic languages

The Scythian languages are a group of Eastern Iranic languages of the classical and late antique period, spoken in a vast region of Eurasia by the populations belonging to the Scythian cultures and their descendants. The dominant ethnic groups among the Scythian-speakers were nomadic pastoralists of Central Asia and the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Fragments of their speech known from inscriptions and words quoted in ancient authors as well as analysis of their names indicate that it was an Indo-European language, more specifically from the Iranic group of Indo-Iranic languages.

Madyes was a Scythian king who ruled during the period of the Scythian presence in West Asia in the 7th century BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thracian religion</span> Religious beliefs and practices of the Thracians

The Thracian religion comprised the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Thracians, a collection of closely related ancient Indo-European peoples who inhabited eastern and southeastern Europe and northwestern Anatolia throughout antiquity and who included the Thracians proper, the Getae, the Dacians, and the Bithynians. The Thracians themselves did not leave an extensive written corpus of their mythology and rituals, but information about their beliefs is nevertheless available through epigraphic and iconographic sources, as well as through ancient Greek writings.

The Budini were an ancient Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Graeco-Roman authors.

The Gelonians or Geloni were an ancient Scythian people whose existence was recorded by ancient Graeco-Roman authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scythian religion</span> Ancient religion of the Scythians

The Scythian religion refers to the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Scythian cultures, a collection of closely related ancient Iranic peoples who inhabited Central Asia and the Pontic–Caspian steppe in Eastern Europe throughout Classical Antiquity, spoke the Scythian language, and which included the Scythians proper, the Cimmerians, the Sarmatians, the Alans, the Sindi, the Massagetae and the Saka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scyles</span> 5th-century BC king of the Scythians

Scyles, Skyles, or Scylas, was a Scythian king who lived in the 5th century BC. He is mentioned in the histories of Herodotus as having been an admirer of Greek culture and traditions, which led to his falling out of favor with his people and being executed by his brother.

Tabiti was the Scythian goddess of the primordial fire which alone existed before the creation of the universe and was the basic essence and the source of all creation. She was the most venerated of all Scythian deities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entheogenic use of cannabis</span> Marijuana used spiritually

Cannabis has served as an entheogen—a chemical substance used in religious or spiritual contexts—in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. It was introduced to the New World by the Spaniards in 1530-1545. Cannabis has been used by shamanic and pagan cultures to ponder deeply religious and philosophical subjects related to their tribe or society, to achieve a form of enlightenment, to unravel unknown facts and realms of the human mind and subconscious, and also as an aphrodisiac during rituals or orgies. There are several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians, thought to have occurred from the 5th to 2nd century BCE. Itinerant Hindu saints have used it in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Mexican-Indian communities occasionally use cannabis in religious ceremonies by leaving bundles of it on church altars to be consumed by the attendees.

Targitaos or Scythes, was the ancestral god of the Scythians according to Scythian mythology. The ancient Greeks identified him with their own hero Hēraklēs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artimpasa</span> Ancient central Asian goddess

Artimpasa was a complex androgynous Scythian goddess of fertility who possessed power over sovereignty and the priestly force. Artimpasa was the Scythian variant of the Iranian goddess Arti/Aṣ̌i.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snake-Legged Goddess</span>

The Snake-Legged Goddess, also referred to as the Anguipede Goddess, was the ancestor-goddess of the Scythians according to the Scythian religion.

The Scythian genealogical myth was an epic cycle of the Scythian religion detailing the origin of the Scythians. This myth held an important position in the worldview of Scythian society, and was popular among both the Scythians of the northern Pontic region and the Greeks who had colonised the northern shores of the Pontus Euxinus.

References

  1. ↑ Herodotus. "105". Ἱστορίαι[The History] (in Ancient Greek). Vol. 1.
  2. ↑ Herodotus. "67". Ἱστορίαι[The History] (in Ancient Greek). Vol. 4.
  3. 1 2 Ivantchik 2018: "referred to by Herodotus as enareës (ἐνάρεες; 1.105.4; 4.67.2), and more accurately by Pseudo-Hippocrates (Aër. 22) as anarieis (ἀναριεῖς, from the Scythian term anarya, "unmanly")"
  4. ↑ Ivantchik 2016, p. 308.
  5. ↑ Pseudo-Hippocrates. "22". Περί Αέρων, Υδάτων, Τόπων[On Airs, Waters and Places] (in Ancient Greek).
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Conner 1997.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ustinova 1999, p. 67-128.
  8. ↑ Ustinova 2005, p. 78.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Ascherson 1995, pp. 121–122.
  10. ↑ Phillips 1972.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Cunliffe 2019, p. 265–290.
  12. 1 2 Parzinger 2004, p. 104-105.
  13. ↑ Ustinova 1999, p. 78-80.
  14. ↑ Ustinova 2005, p. 78-79.

Sources

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.