Scythian Religious Terms

Most of the Scythic gods mentioned by Herodotus around 500BC. have excellent Ural-Altaic, rather than Iranian explanations. Here is a more detailed list of religious & mythological terms which were recorded by Herodotus and their Ural-Altaic comparisons.

The main agglutinative languages of Asia today are Finn-Ugor(Uralic), Altaic (Turkic,Mongol,..) and Dravidian (in India). In the past most of Iran and the near east also spoke such languages, like Sumerian, Elamite, Hurri, Urartuan, Hatti, Guti, Lulubi, Kassite.. Their effect on Semitic languages therefore is also evident. These ancient Mesopotamian agglutinative languages in fact shared a lot of common vocabulary with the current language families, and were not isolated and unrelated until they were split due to the P.I.E. invasion, even though there were naturally some differences in pronunciation and some changes in the meaning of the root words. The following list will emphasize the commonly shared basic words as they relate to Scythian religious terms.

Tab-iti = "Hestia" fire god according to Herodotus The following words have to do with fire, aspects of fire or working with fire.

1.Scythic tab = fire
Hurrian tib-ir = god of fire "vulcan"
Sumerian tab = fire
Egyptian tep = fire, burn, flame
Ugrian tab-it,tab,tut= fire
Hungarian tu"z = fire t>s>z
Hungarian tap-lo = tinder
Sumerian tibira = metal worker, smith, to hit **
Turkic timur = iron (smith>>?)
Hungarian tibor = persn.name(was smith)

2.Scythian iti ? =father
Sumerian adda =father
Elamite atta =father
Mede atu =father
Dravidian atu =father
Finnic atti =father,grandfather **
[Vot,Cher,Mordv,Eston,Sam]

Chuvash atte =father
Hungarian atya =father,patriarch
Turkic ata =father

Though not unique to U.A. this word is very common there.

Oeto-syr-(us)= "Apolo"=sun god, according to Herodotus

1.Sumerian utu =sun/time god
Sumerian ud =time
Sumerian iti =month
Hungarian Idφ =time
Ujgur φdό =time
Turkic φt =sun
Turkic ot =fire.
Mongol ot-utsir =cause of years

2.Scythian syr =royal or king
Sumir sar =king
Scythian Sauro-mata=descendants of "royal" scythians **
Etrusk ae-sar =god >> Latin cesar
Assyrian kari-ja =ruler
Kotanese chara =commander,leader
Hun chur =prince
Hun kur-sik =a Hun ruler
Parthian ar-sak =ruler
Hungarian ur-sag =lordship k>h>-
Hungarian kor-many =govern-ment
Tibetan chor =ruler
Petcheneg chur =commander,leader
Kirghiz choro =commander,leader
Turk chur =early rulers (archaic)

Scythian Apia ="mother earth"

The birth of the world from the primeval great sea is shared by many from the Finns to most ancient myths. This following is a highly unreliable and questionable explanation based on the worlds origin from the sea.

1.Sumerian a-ab-ba =the sea, (NUMA=goddes of the sea)
Sumerian ia =god of wisdom/sea lands
Hungarian hab =wave, foam
Ugrian xump =wave

Artim-pasa ="celestial aphrodite", according to Herodotus
1.Sumerian a'r =a praise
Mongol Er-gim-basa =important,prominent person
Turkic Er-dem-pasa =head of righteusness?
Turkic Ar-dam =virtue
Hungarian Er-dem =virtuous,praisworthy
Cuman er-deng =virgin

2.Scythic pasa =chief or god
Sumerian basu =elder man
Ugric Paz =god
Turkic bash>basha =head>prince
Chuvash pus =head
Sumerian pa =top,chief
Osman beyin =head
Finn-Ugor paa,paaye =head
Hungarian fo",fey =top,head,chief p>f
Hungarian feye-del-em=prince
Dravidian pay =head
Thami-mas-ada(s) = "Poseidon"=sea god according to Herodotus
Thagi-mas-ada =alternate spelling, from other reference.

1.Mongol dagas, tagas =sea d>t
Mongol teng-rim =god
Sumerian ding-ir =god
Sumerian eng-ur =subteranean sea
Hun t'ing-li =god (Chinese ref R>L)
Hungarian teng-er =sea
Hungarian dag-ay =tides of the moon (dag=swelling)
Hungarian is-ten =god
Turkic teng-ere =god
Turkic teng-iz,ten-iz =sea r>z in Turkic

2.Sumir mis = prince/youngman/hero(like Gilga-MES)
Ugor mosh = man
Dravidian mas,mac = man
Hungarian meshe = folk tale, from hero tale
Turk masal = folk tale
Russian mozer-ian = Baskir (turkecized magyar)
Dravidian maga = male s>g
Hungarian magy-ari=man>>hungarian s>sh>z'>gy
Tuva madir = hero

3. see above for ATA = father
1.Tama also as temer =sea/lake
Scythian temer =lake/sea
Sumir tim =lake or well
Hungarian tav =lake m>v
Finnic ti =lake,sea [Vog,Ost,Zurj,Votj,Sam,Selk]
Cheremis tomoz =[Collianders ref,w/o explanation]
Selkup tama =river mouth??

Exam-pe-us means "The holy way" according to Herodotus

1.Ugor cham,kami =spirit,holy
Turkic kam =shaman,holy
Japanese kami =godly spirit
Hawaian hemo-lele =holy spirit

2.Scythic peus =pathway d>t>s
Sumir bad =far away, remote
Hungarian fφs-vιny =forrest pathway d>t>s p>f
Hungarian bal-ag =stroll d>l, p>b

Papa-ios or Pa-paios "Zeus" king/ancestor/father of the gods.

1.Sumerian ab,abba =father,old man,elder p/b
Sumerian basu =old man
Akkadian abu =father >> Semitic languages
Mongol baba =lord, father
Turk baba =father, ancestor (clan head)
Bulgar baba =ruler (old Bulgar Hun)
Osman aba =father
Dravidian apa,apu,apan =father
Hungarian apa,apu =father
Hungarian ba-chi =respected elder man s>ch
Ujgur ba-ch =respected elder man s>ch
Mede,Elamite an-apa =chief god "heavenly father"

Elamite ne-bo =royal, heavenly ruler
Dravidian,Egypt,Polynesian,Hungarian
=nip,nab,anapu,nap=fire/light/sun
If second segmentation is correct see reference to head/chief.

2."ios"

Chuvas as+atte =grand+father
Hungarian o"sh =ancestor,ancient
Turk yash =elderly,time

-------- other --------------

Ash has the meaning of first,one,ancestor [Sumir,Turk,Hung]
Assyria Ash-ur =pre-semitic father of gods
According to Herodotus, they use no images, altars, or temples except in the worship of Ares the war god. .. whose main symbol is the blood soaked sword placed on top of a mound. Similarly in 12th century Hungarian Chronicles, -not invented recently- the custom of the blood soaked sword, was carried around in times of war calling to arms all able bodied men. Those not heeding this warning could be tossed into slavery. Also the custom of burrying swords on top of mountain top point up continued amongst Transylvanian Hungarians. Blood oaths
were also identical to Scythian and Parthian customs.**

Their burial customs included the burial of the chief with his favorite horses and often his wife in a burial mound. The horse burial was common among Sumerians (onager), Scythians, Huns, Turks, Cumans, Hungarians.

Indo-saka tope =a mound
Sumir dub =mound,hill
Egypt tep =mound,hill
Turkic tepe =mound,hill
Ugrian tomp =mound,hill,island
Hungarian domb =mound,hill
Sanskrit stupa =temple in shape of a mound

The Buddha was a prince of the Scythian [SAKA] tribe of the Budda.
Herodotus also mentions a "Bud-ini" tribe in Eastern Europe. Budun
can mean "people" in Turkic.

Daughter of Boristen(es)

Herodotus mentioned more than one myth of origin for the Scythians.
One of these claimed the mating of Papaois (Zeus) and the daughter of "Bor-isten", as the father of Targi-taur-us the father of the Scythian nations. His sons were supposedly Leip-ox-ais, Arp-ox-ais, and Col-ax-ais. The "ax" term is U.A. [UK] for clan,family while "ais" is more common in Turkic [yas] and Hungarian [o"s] as "ancestor". The root name is therefore Leip, Arp, and Col .. similar to the the following:

Scyth Mede ................Parthian .........................Hungarian ***

Arp-ox-ais
Arp-ax-ad ..................Ehrp-at ..........................Arp-ad (-ed=diminutive)

Leip-ox-ais ......................................................- Leb-ed=Lev-ed b>v

Col-ax-ais ..................Kal-du -.......................... Kaal,Kal-ti,Gaal

The Targi-taur name is also but a variant of the Tarx-an name, whichwere the Parthian "prince" and Turk "nobility" and also the source of the Hungarian Taryan tribal name. (Etrusk Tarkini-us ??) ***

NAGA/NAICK

Another version claimed Heracles and a half serpent (mermaid like) being as the ancestors of the Scythians. Both have ties with similar stories among other Ural-Altaic legends. Starting with the serpent like mother of the Scythians, who in India was called Naga, by the local Scythian incomers. The NAK suffix and root word also has a very rich set of meanings in the Ugrian languages, including

( 4, feminine, joint-vertabra, genetive - source, navel, rule of
important person.)

To a lesser extent the root word is part of most U.A. and Sumerian languages. Several of the local Scythian tribes use this word for chief/ruler "Naick". Similarly the Ugrians Nay=queen, Nayer=king. Hungarian Nyek tribe. (Scythian NAICK-erde tribe next to the Aral Sea.)

BOR-isten

The term Bori, Buri, Pur is an ancient term referring to a totemic ancestor of many Ural-Altaic nations. Seen on the pertoglyps of the Altai and Sayan. Now due to its animal - totemic nature, the animal may be different even though its totemic name is the same, for it represents the "ancestor spirit". Among some, the *"horned" deer is the ancestor like Hungarians and some Scythians.

In time some of the characteristics of the stagg totem were transferred over to the horse, which was on ceremonial occasions decorated with antlers. The Persian story of Rustvanshad (of eastern, non Iranian origin) reflects the close analogy with the Hungarian legend and even calls the queen "sar-istani"=doe-goddes.

Some Hun tribes also had a hind totem as is illustrated in stone engravings from Mongolia and frescoes from Dung-Huan.

Also European references to their myths. The Greek goddes Artemis which is just the borrowed form of the Scythian Artimpaz, is also symbolized with the horned-doe, indicating her identity with the Scythian totemic mothergoddess. These symbols can be traced from Luristan, to the Scythians, and Huns over a very wide area of Asia rather than from I.E. terrytories to them.

There is even a Japanese legend of the ancestors hunting a magical stagg, who in the process find the island of Japan. A few references from Gyula Laszlo's "Regeszeti Tanulmanyok" illustrate the BUR, PUR, BUW name with examples.

BUR-kan =god in Teleut, Sor, Sagaj, Kachinco, Koibal, Kara-gas, Soyot. "PUR" =the son of the chief god Ulgen, among the Teleut.

He is the ancestor of man. The Urjanchai shaman calls the ancestor spirit, the horned-doe, as my "grandmother". The Kirghiz call their ancestress "Bu-gu", who is imagined as a horned woman. Some tribal names which derive from the horned ancestress/ancestor are the Ujgur Buga-syr clan, Kirghiz Bur-lak (bull), Bur-das. Among the Ugrians PARI-aske, I believe is the name of Noah, the ancestor of man. This again is Christianized from the original. The Hungarian word for people/man em-BER is probably related. A Hungarian balad of the stagg also shows the heavenly association as the mother not just of man, but the cosmos. It has been slightly Christianized over a millenia.

"Wonderous headed hind, with horns of thousand branches and knobs
Thousand branches and knobs (shining like) a thousand candles
Amongst its horns it carries the light of the blessed sun
On its forehead a star, on its chest the moon
It starts on the banks of the heavenly Danube (Milky Way/river)
That it may be the messenger of heaven and bringer of good news
About our creator and caring god."

According to the Byzanteen historian, Procopius.
"The nation of the Uti-gurs and Kuti-gur Huns originate from the
twin sons of a Hun king. The twins separated from their father
during the hunting of a stagg. .. These same Huns also had two
princes called Mauger and Gorda, who ruled after their father's
death." Much like parts of the Hungarian legends Hunor & Magor.

A Greek legend of the origin of the Anatolian Megari claims that Zeus maries a Scythian nymph and their childred are the source of this nation. In another variation the sons of Zeus and Nemesis, are known as the Gemini twins. According to Greek tradition even Zeus originates from the east. The pre-Vedic Gathas also call the constellation Capricorn by the name Makar, while Gemini is Mit-huna. Much like the Hunor and Magor twins of Hungarians dealing with the mythical stagg. Similarly the Sumerian god ENKI is also known as Daramah the "great stagg", whose other symbol is the fish, the combination of the two is Capricorn.

Many of the Hun and Turkic tribes had the wolf and various dog breeds as the totem animals and in Turkic languages bo"ru" refers to wolf. Herodotus also mentions the Scythian NEURI, who "turn into wolves once per year.. as a ceremony no doubt. This tribal name is much like the Hurrian NAIRI tribal name. The royal tribes of the Huns had the dragon (LIU-ente dynasty) as their totem like the Medes and royal Scythians. It would only be natural for the royal Scythians to have the half serpent half woman being to be their ancestress with the type of legend Herodotus related about the mating of Zeus with such a mythical "mermaid", which Herodotus calles the daughter of Bor-isten(es).

bor-ISTEN

Isten in Hittite and Hattic was a sun god while in Parthian and Hungarian it is God, (Is=Os=ancestor). A Parthian temple to their mother goddess Nana in the city of Nisa included an inscription on its walls of the following phrase N.N.Y.S.T.N. ="Nana Isten". Ysten in the ancient Yzdanite religion of Iran, was the uncreated, eternal, nonmaterial creator of all, the ONE-god=universal. Their sacred book the DAB-ISTAN was supposedly handed down from the time of the pre-Iranian Peshdadian monarchs and translated to Iranian.



by Fred Hamori

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