In the 1st millennium BC. e. Ancient historians called the country of the Meotians - Meotida - the territory from the Azov to the Black Seas, and the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov was called the Meotian Lake.

Ethnicity

The question of the ethno-linguistic affiliation of the Meots is debatable. Strabo in the 11th book of his Geography classifies the Zikhs (ancient Greek Ζυγοί), Sinds (Greek Σινδοὶ ), agro (gr. Ἄγροι ), toreates (Greek. Τορέται ), dandariev (gr. Δανδάριοι ), arrehov (Greek. Ἀρρηχοί ), tarpets (gr. Τάρπητες ), boards (gr. Δόσκοι ), obidiakens (Greek. Ὀβιδιακηνοὶ ), sittakenov (Greek. Σιττακηνοὶ ) .

According to one version, the Meots are relics of the ancient Indo-European population of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, dating back to the time of the Yamnaya culture.

Religion and beliefs

Meots had their own system of religious cults and beliefs. Their beliefs are characterized by the deification of the forces of nature, natural phenomena, which appear to the Meots as the god of the sun, light, fire, the god of rain, thunder, the god of the forest, the god of the sea and other gods. The Meotians made sacrifices to these gods, accompanied by a complex ritual.

Culture and crafts

Meotian culture takes shape in the VIII-VII centuries BC. e. and it has its roots in the Bronze Age. The basis of the economy of the Meotian tribes was agriculture. They grew wheat, barley, millet, lentils, rye, and flax. Cattle breeding was also of great importance - large and small cattle, pigs and horses were bred.

The Meots knew well-developed handicraft production and metallurgy, their ceramics were in demand among neighboring settled and nomadic tribes. Meots, who were on the trade routes from the ancient world to the Scythian-Sarmatian nomads, also acted as trade intermediaries.

Military campaigns

There are references (by Aurelian's biographer, SHA. Vita Aurel. 16) to the participation of Meotian tribes in the Scythian war of the 3rd century.

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An excerpt characterizing Meots

- Ah, c "est vous!" - said Petya. - Voulez vous manger? N "ayez pas peur, on ne vous fera pas de mal," he added, timidly and affectionately touching his hand. – Entrez, entrez. [Oh, it's you! Want to eat? Don't worry, they won't do anything to you. Sign in, sign in.]
- Merci, monsieur, [Thank you, sir.] - the drummer answered in a trembling, almost childish voice and began to wipe his dirty feet on the threshold. Petya wanted to say a lot to the drummer, but he did not dare. He, shifting, stood beside him in the passage. Then, in the darkness, he took his hand and shook it.
“Entrez, entrez,” he repeated only in a gentle whisper.
“Oh, what should I do to him!” Petya said to himself and, opening the door, let the boy pass him by.
When the drummer entered the hut, Petya sat further away from him, considering it humiliating for himself to pay attention to him. He only felt the money in his pocket and was in doubt whether he would not be ashamed to give it to the drummer.

From the drummer, who, on the orders of Denisov, was given vodka, mutton, and whom Denisov ordered to dress in a Russian caftan, so that, without sending him away with the prisoners, to leave him at the party, Petya's attention was diverted by the arrival of Dolokhov. Petya in the army heard many stories about the extraordinary courage and cruelty of Dolokhov with the French, and therefore, since Dolokhov entered the hut, Petya, without taking his eyes off, looked at him and cheered more and more, twitching his raised head so as not to be unworthy even of such a society as Dolokhov.
Dolokhov's appearance struck Petya strangely with its simplicity.
Denisov dressed in a chekmen, wore a beard and on his chest the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker, and in his manner of speaking, in all methods, he showed the peculiarity of his position. Dolokhov, on the other hand, who had previously worn a Persian suit in Moscow, now looked like the most prim guards officer. His face was clean-shaven, he was dressed in a Guards padded frock coat with Georgy in his buttonhole and in a plain cap put on directly. He took off his wet cloak in the corner and, going up to Denisov, without greeting anyone, immediately began to question him about the matter. Denisov told him about the plans that large detachments had for their transport, and about sending Petya, and about how he answered both generals. Then Denisov told everything he knew about the position of the French detachment.
“That’s true, but you need to know what and how many troops,” Dolokhov said, “it will be necessary to go. Without knowing exactly how many there are, one cannot go into business. I like to do things carefully. Here, if any of the gentlemen wants to go with me to their camp. I have my uniforms with me.
- I, I ... I will go with you! Petya screamed.
“You don’t need to go at all,” Denisov said, turning to Dolokhov, “and I won’t let him go for anything.”
- That's great! Petya cried out, “why shouldn’t I go? ..
- Yes, because there is no need.
"Well, you'll have to excuse me, because... because... I'll go, that's all." Will you take me? he turned to Dolokhov.
- Why ... - Dolokhov answered absently, peering into the face of the French drummer.
- How long have you had this young man? he asked Denisov.
- Today they took it, but they don’t know anything. I left it pg "and myself.
Well, where are you going with the rest? Dolokhov said.
- How to where? I’m sending you under Mr. Aspis! - Denisov suddenly turned red, exclaimed. - And I can boldly say that there is not a single person on my conscience. than magic, I pg, I’ll say, the honor of a soldier.
“It’s decent for a young count at sixteen to say these courtesies,” Dolokhov said with a cold smile, “but it’s time for you to leave it.
“Well, I’m not saying anything, I’m only saying that I will certainly go with you,” Petya said timidly.
“But it’s time for you and me, brother, to give up these courtesies,” Dolokhov continued, as if he found particular pleasure in talking about this subject that irritated Denisov. “Well, why did you take this with you?” he said, shaking his head. "Then why do you feel sorry for him?" After all, we know these receipts of yours. You send a hundred of them, and thirty will come. They will die of hunger or be beaten. So isn't it all the same to not take them?
Esaul, narrowing his bright eyes, nodded his head approvingly.
- It's all g "Absolutely, there's nothing to argue about. I don't want to take it on my soul. You talk" ish - help "ut". Just not from me.
Dolokhov laughed.
“Who didn’t tell them to catch me twenty times?” But they will catch me and you, with your chivalry, all the same on an aspen. He paused. “However, the work must be done. Send my Cossack with a pack! I have two French uniforms. Well, are you coming with me? he asked Petya.
- I? Yes, yes, certainly, - Petya, blushing almost to tears, cried out, looking at Denisov.
Again, while Dolokhov was arguing with Denisov about what should be done with the prisoners, Petya felt awkward and hasty; but again he did not have time to understand well what they were talking about. “If big, well-known think like that, then it’s necessary, so it’s good,” he thought. - And most importantly, it is necessary that Denisov does not dare to think that I will obey him, that he can command me. I will certainly go with Dolokhov to the French camp. He can, and I can."
To all Denisov's persuasion not to travel, Petya replied that he, too, was accustomed to doing everything carefully, and not Lazarus at random, and that he never thought of danger to himself.

MEOTES

In the first millennium BC, the coast of Meotida ( Sea of ​​Azov), almost the entire area North Caucasus, with the plains adjacent to it from the north, are inhabited by related peoples. These peoples are Sinds, Zikhs, Psesses, Dandarias, Doskhs, Toreats, Abidiakenes, Arreahi, Achaei, Moskhi, Sittakens, Tarpets, Fatei in the annals Ancient Greece And ancient rome collectively referred to as maiotis (hereinafter Meots).

The peoples of the Caucasus in the first millennium BC

(Approximate map).

Meots- excellent craftsmen, among them blacksmiths, stonemasons, potters, shoemakers, tailors, jewelers. Representatives of each craft made up a tribal estate. At the same time, it was unacceptable for someone to do their own thing.

Meots had their own system of religious cults and beliefs. Their beliefs are characterized by the deification of the forces of nature, natural phenomena, which appear to the Meots as the god of the sun, light, fire, the god of rain, thunder, the god of the forest, the god of the sea and other gods. The Meots made sacrifices to these gods, accompanied by a complex ritual.

Various magical rites performed by the elders of the clan were widespread. The rites consisted of casting special spells, preparing magic potions. The elder family, the most sophisticated in magical knowledge, plunged into a trance, during which he "saw" the events of the past, present, future, "talked" with dead relatives, gods, asked for help or advice on what to do in this or that case. Immersion in a trance was accompanied by a preliminary fast and solitude, or vice versa, the adoption of plentiful food, intoxicating drinks and incense.

The composition of the Meotian pantheon is very complex and difficult to comprehensively classify. The Meotian gods could personify both natural and elemental phenomena - the gods of heaven, earth, sun, fire, wind, and abstract concepts: hospitality, honesty, loyalty to the traditions of ancestors, loyalty to an oath, etc. There were also gods patrons of representatives of each craft.

Cults of veneration of dead relatives and funeral rites were very important for the Meotians. The body was placed in a pit in a crouched position. Items that the deceased might need in the land of the dead were lowered into the grave. Funeral gifts from relatives and fellow villagers of the deceased were also lowered there - dishes, weapons, clothes, jewelry. An earthen embankment - a mound - was made over the burial.

For a certain period of time from several weeks to several months, depending on which class the deceased belonged to, funeral rituals were performed near the grave. Meots arranged a circular procession around the grave, with ritual chants, crying, noise, driving away evil spirits. In order to frighten and drive away evil spirits, all kinds of "terrible" images of predators, phantasmagoric monsters were installed around the grave.

The main god of the Meots was the god of the sun, fire, light, heat. The Meots identified these phenomena with each other, and considered the source of life on Earth, deified them. They, like the peoples of the Maikop, dolmen, and North Caucasian cultures, sprinkled the body of the deceased with red paint - ocher, which symbolized fire.

Meots lived in the mountains and on the plains of Ciscaucasia.

The Meots-highlanders led a settled way of life and were mainly engaged in agriculture. On the plains, the Meotians usually led a semi-nomadic lifestyle and were mainly engaged in transhumance. Fishing was an important branch of the economy. For fishing, a net, net, hook tackle was used.

Sarmatians

In the first millennium BC, from the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, related nomadic tribes of the Iranian-speaking Sarmatians penetrated into the Kuban plains. The peoples included in this union constantly staged internecine skirmishes for power in the union. This led to the splitting of the Sarmatians into separate, warring groups. The largest known of these groups are the Aorses, Siraks, Alans, Roxolans, and Yazygs. By the 4th century, the Sarmatians inhabit the Kuban plains bordering with the Meotians very densely. According to Strabo, "the Aorses live along the Tanais. Siraki along the Akhardei (Kuban), which flows from the Caucasus Mountains and flows into the Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov). Strabo claims that the Aorses owned a vast territory and dominated most of the Caspian coast. The Sarmatians outnumbered countless peoples conquered by them, not only in number but also in weapons, ability to fight.They were excellent riders, their weapons were not only bows and arrows, but spears, long swords, heavy armor.

The presence of such warlike, dangerous neighbors like the Sarmatians, led to the rallying of the Meots. A set of laws and customs appeared, relating to all spheres of life and everyday life. The class of warriors and military leaders appeared.

Swords, shields, spears made by Meotian craftsmen are many times stronger than Sarmatian ones. Arrows shot from Meotian bows cover a distance several times greater than the arrows of nomads. But the Meots could not rely only on their weapons in front of countless hordes of nomads. We also needed the means of military diplomacy. To anyone who came in peace, the Meots readily provided food, shelter, bestowed generous gifts, and rendered all kinds of honors. Any foreigner was revered on an equal footing, if not more, than a natural inhabitant. Anyone who needed shelter could count on it. If the foreigner had hostile intentions, then he met with militant resistance. If the enemy was outnumbered, outgunned, the meot could not immediately resist him, he still must do it later. Revenge was supposed to be blood for blood, death for death, mutilation for mutilation. For a relative driven into slavery, the Meot took revenge by enslaving a relative of the enemy. Particularly cruel revenge awaited those who dared to desecrate the main shrine - the memory of their ancestors, their graves, the hearth, its attributes. The culprit must be punished with death, his corpse beheaded and burned.

If a Meot died without having time to make retribution, this should have been done by his relatives. It was believed that Meot could not enter the "kingdom of the dead" while his enemy was alive. This imposed special obligations on all his relatives, without exception, because the safe entry of the deceased "into the land of the dead" was their main task during the burial ritual.

RELATIONS OF THE MEOTES WITH THE SARMATS

Meotian military diplomacy had certain results. By the middle of the 5th century BC, the Meotians were fenced off from the Sarmatian nomad camps, with an area of ​​​​relatively friendly Siraks. For three centuries there has been a gradual mutual penetration of the cultures of the Meotians and Sarmatians. This and possibly ethnic kinship explains the relatively peaceful coexistence of these tribes for a long time. And the fact that the nomads constantly did not get along with each other was used by the Meots with unconditional benefit.

In subsequent years, the Meotians experienced a strong Sarmatian influence. In the second half of the 2nd century BC, Sarmatian weapons, agricultural implements, utensils, and jewelry were increasingly found among Meotian household items. The funeral rite is changing. The beliefs of the Meotians remain the same, but are supplemented by many elements of the Sarmatian cults. At the same time, Sarmatian ideas do not displace and do not conflict with Meotian beliefs; the Meotians, rather, perceive them as additional information received from strangers who came from afar.

Many Siraks, under the influence of a settled agricultural settlement, go over to settled life, and settling among the Meots, they are gradually assimilated by them.

With the settling of a large number of Siraki among the Meotians, the character of the Meotian community changes. Family ties are broken. Increasing property and social differentiation. With the increasing danger of the Alans' invasion, on the left bank of the Kuban, the Meots with the Siraks partially assimilated by them move from small villages to large fortified settlements.

CINDY

One of the largest Meotian tribes was the Sinds, who lived from the beginning of the first millennium BC on the Taman Peninsula and the northeastern Black Sea coast. By the beginning of the 5th century BC, Sinds create their own state - Sindika, ruled by the dynasty of Sind kings. The capital of Sindika was the city of Sindika (now the city of Anapa). The ancient Greeks called this city the Sindh harbor. Like other Meots, Sinds were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing, handicrafts. Sindica was a slave state.

In 480 BC, the Greek cities - colonies located on the shores of the Kerch Strait - united into one state. This state became known as the Bosporan Kingdom. Its capital was the city of Panticapaeum.

The Sinds actively traded with the cities of the Bosporus. In the markets and cramped streets of the Sindiki one could often meet Greek merchants. The townspeople sold them bread, grain, vegetables, milk. In the markets, the Greeks bought slaves.

Like Greek cities, an amphitheater built by the Greeks towered over the houses of Sindica. It hosted theatrical performances and gladiator fights.

The Greeks supplied salt, amphoras, wine, fabrics to Sindika. Many Sinds adopted the habits of the Greeks, Greek clothes, Greek weapons, methods of building houses. Studied the art of Greek painting and sculpture.

At the same time, the Bosporan rulers hatched plans to capture Sindica and turn it into a Greek colony. Numerous diplomatic intrigues and bribery did not yield any results, and in 479 the Bosporans launched an open military invasion of Sindica. According to contemporaries, “one day at dawn, an armada of Greek warships arrived at the shores of the Sind harbor. The inhabitants, seeing this, gathered on the walls of the city and prepared for battle. The inhabitants of the surrounding villages hurried to take refuge in the city, its gates were tightly closed behind them .. .The Greek spies who were in the city, dressed in Sindian clothes, by prior agreement with the legionnaires, moved to the eastern gate and attacked the soldiers guarding them, stabbed them .... The Greeks penetrated the city and by noon captured the city completely with heavy losses .. .".

Subsequently, large detachments of Sinds and other Meots more than once made an attempt to recapture Sindika from the Greeks. During these wars, the city was destroyed. In its place, the Greeks built their city colony, which was called Gorgypia by them.

With the fall of Sindika, the Meotians began to consolidate around the Meotian tribe, the Zikhs, who lived to the east of the Sinds on the Black Sea coast. The Greeks called them Zikhs, but the word ADZAHA is also found in the Bosporan inscriptions, which most likely corresponds to the Adyghe adzehe ("troops" or "people of the troops"). Perhaps this was the self-name of the Zikhs, which eventually transformed into "Adyghe". According to another version, the name Adyghe is associated with the spread of the cult of worship of the sun and has a fairly close sound to the early Adyghe "a-dyge" - the people of the sun. In Italian and Greek sources, the name "zihi" in relation to the Adygs was used until the 15th century. The Genoese author Interiano, who devoted many articles to the Adygs, reports: "They are called Zikhs in Italian, Greek, Latin, Tatars and Turks call them Circassians, they call themselves Adyghes.

Over the next years, until 438, bloody battles take place between the Meotians and the Greeks. The Meotians, under the auspices of Zichia, constantly attack the cities of the Bosporus.

In 438, Spartok I came to power in the Bosporus, a Meot by origin, the founder of the Spartokid dynasty. With his arrival, the wars between the Zikhs and the Greeks cease. But the begun process of consolidation of the Meotians around Zikhia continues in subsequent years.

The trade relations between the Bosporus and the Meotians are growing stronger. Meots are suppliers of bread to the cities of the Bosporus kingdom, to other cities of Ancient Greece, including Athens.

The Meotians borrowed from the ancient Greeks a number of achievements in material and spiritual culture. Under the influence of the Greeks, the potter's wheel appeared. Amphoras appear among the Meotian objects, jewelry made in ancient greece, greek battle armor. The Bosporans, in turn, borrow from the Meotians many types of weapons, battle tactics, cut of clothing, more convenient in local conditions than the Greek.

ZIKHIA

In the second century, the Zikh king Stahemfak, wishing to strengthen the positions of the Zikhs among the surrounding tribes, calls himself a subject of the Roman Emperor. Like foreign rulers, Zih kings began to start harems, where they lived up to several hundred concubines brought here from different countries.

Over time, the Zikhs unite an increasing number of Meotian tribes around them. This leads to the formation of a military alliance, which has become the core of the Meotian confrontation with warlike aliens.

Like other Meots, the Zikhs are engaged in cattle breeding, agriculture, and fishing. Viticulture is gaining ground.

A significant part of the population is concentrated in large settlements, surrounded on all sides by fortified earthen ramparts, behind which, from the outside, new houses continue to be built all the time, which then, after some time, are again surrounded by a ring of earthen defensive dams. In small settlements, houses are arranged in a circle and form a defensive wall on the outside.

Navigation is developing in Zikhia. Initially, the Zikh ships were small boats of the longboat type. The Zikhs borrow many shipbuilding skills from the Bosporans. The Zikhs invariably decorate their ships with the image of the god of the sea, Hatha, with a trident in his hand and a fish tail instead of legs. Zikh ships move along the northwestern coast of the Black Sea in a group consisting of several ships. They use different combat strategies in such a way that a foreign ship suddenly found itself surrounded by several ships at once, which approached it from different sides and boarded it.

The influence of Ancient Greece is not limited to viticulture, shipbuilding, pottery sources. Slavery was widespread in Zihya. The slaves captured in pirate raids were sold by the Zikhs in the markets in the Bosporan cities.

In the 1st century BC, Zichia relies on the support of the Pontic kingdom. Frequent robberies, raids on neighbors led to a great abundance of gold and jewelry in Zikhia. There was so much gold that it was inferior in price to bronze, steel, and other more durable metals used to make weapons of war and labor.

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The meaning of the word meota

meots in the crossword dictionary

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

meots

ancient tribes (Sinds, Dandaria, Doskhi, etc.) on the eastern and southeastern coast of the Azov m. in the 1st millennium BC. e.

Meots

(Greek Maiotai, lat. Maeotae), the collective name of the ancient tribes that lived in the 1st millennium BC. e. on the eastern and southeastern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and along the middle course of the Kuban. The name "M." found in ancient authors and in the inscriptions of the Bosporan kingdom. The ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabo attributed Sinds, Dandaris, Doskhs, and others to M. M. were engaged in agriculture and fishing. Part of M. was related in language to the Adyghes, part was Iranian-speaking. In the 4th-3rd centuries BC e. many of the M. became part of the Bosporan state.

Wikipedia

Meots

Meots- ancient Indo-European (mainly Indo-Aryan) tribes (Sinds, Dandaria, Doskhi, etc.) on the eastern and southeastern coasts of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov in the 1st millennium BC. e. Ancient historians called the country of the Meotians - Meotida - the territory from the Azov to the Black Seas, and the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov was called the Meotian Lake. Presumably by the 5th c. BC e. part of the Scythians assimilated in the Meotian environment. In IV - III centuries. BC e. the lands of many Meotian tribes became part of the Bosporus state.

Examples of the use of the word meota in the literature.

The sages of my country have been arguing for many years about the shape of the world in which we all live - both the people of Albion and meots, and Aitals, Endasians and Rainites, and all other peoples and tribes.

From the northwest, a vast plain - there meots they raised war horses, and there stood the great city of Prast.

But men meots were of great value - too great to risk their lives in bloody skirmishes with the wild northern tribes.

looked meots quite gracefully, although they were completely devoid of masculinity, usually inherent in representatives of the culture of the sword and spear.

However, he does not understand how meots prolong their race - none of the young women has a lover.

However, in addition to the Greek mercenaries, Tiribaz had others: Thracians, Paphlagonians, meots, cadusii - the army should consist of different tribes, since one-tribesmen cannot be used to punish each other.

I. N. Anfimov

MEOTIC TRIBES OF THE KUBAN

In the VIII-VII centuries. BC e. on the territory of the North-Western Caucasus, the production of tools and weapons from iron is spreading. Iron probably came here from Asia Minor and Transcaucasia, where the secret of its production was discovered in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The relatively late development of iron by man is explained by the fact that it is almost never found in nature in its pure form, it is difficult to process it, and, moreover, before the discovery of the carburizing technique, iron was too soft a material for making tools. Iron, unlike deposits of copper and tin, is widely distributed in nature. In ancient times, it was mined everywhere from brown iron ore, marsh and other ores. But the smelting of iron from ore for the ancient metallurgists was not available due to the very high temperature its melting (1528°C). The only technology for producing iron in primitive society was the raw-blown method: iron was recovered from ore carbon dioxide when burning charcoal, the layers of which alternated with ore in the furnace. For better combustion of coal, ancient metallurgists blew into the furnace atmospheric air without heating ("raw"), hence the name of this method - raw-blown. Iron was obtained in a pasty state in the form of a chicken weighing several kilograms at a temperature of 1110°-1350°. The obtained kritsa was repeatedly forged to compact and remove slag. Already in ancient times, a method was discovered for hardening (cementation) of soft bloomery iron by saturating it with carbon in a forge. The higher mechanical qualities of iron, the general availability of iron ores and the cheapness of the new metal ensured that it quickly replaced bronze and stone, which continued to be used for the manufacture of certain types of tools and weapons until the end of the Bronze Age.

The technological revolution caused by the spread of iron greatly expanded man's power over nature and changed his life. F. Engels, noting the revolutionary role of the transition from bronze to iron, wrote: “Iron made possible field cultivation on large areas, clearing wide spaces for arable land, it gave the artisan tools of such hardness and sharpness that not a single stone, not one of then known metals. In historical periodization, the Early Iron Age stands out, which covers the time from the beginning of the widespread use of iron to the era of the early Middle Ages, that is, until the 4th century BC. n. e. inclusive. In the era of the early Iron Age in the Kuban region, major shifts in the development of the economy and public relations. The steppe tribes are finally moving from a pastoral-agricultural economy to intensive nomadic cattle breeding. The development of arable farming, animal husbandry, various crafts, primarily metallurgical production, served as the basis for the flourishing of the culture of settled agricultural tribes of the North-Western Caucasus. The development of productive forces in all areas of economic activity has led to social stratification: rich families appear in the genus, tribe, forming a tribal aristocracy, on which the ordinary mass of community members becomes dependent. In conditions of frequent military raids in order to seize pastures, livestock, slaves, more or less large unions of tribes are created, a class of professional warriors-druzhinas, led by leaders-military leaders, is gradually taking shape.

The tribes of the Kuban region, which were at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system, did not have their own written language, but already from the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e., thanks to ancient Greek and partly ancient Eastern written sources, the names of the tribes that inhabited the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and the North Caucasus become known. These are steppe Iranian-speaking nomads - the Cimmerians, later - the Scythians and their eastern neighbors, the Savromats. The middle and lower reaches of the river. The Kuban, the Eastern Sea of ​​Azov, the Taman Peninsula and the Trans-Kuban region were occupied by sedentary agricultural tribes, united by the name "Meots". For the first time, Meots and Sinds, one of the Meotian tribes, are mentioned by ancient Greek authors of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. Hecatea of ​​Miletus, Hellanicus of Mytilene, Herodotus. Later, information about them is found in Pseudo-Skilak (IV century BC), Pseudo-Skimnus (II century BC), Diodorus Siculus (I century BC) and other authors . The ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo, who lived at the turn of the new era, reports in more detail about them in his work. Describing the eastern coast of Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov), Strabo notes many fishing points, as well as "the Small Rombit River (possibly the Kirpili River) and a cape with fishing, where the Meotians themselves work." On all this coast, according to Strabo, Meots live, “engaged in agriculture, but militantly not inferior to nomads. They are divided into quite a few tribes, of which those closest to the Tanais (Don I.A.) are more savage, and those adjacent to the Bosporus are of milder morals. The names of the Meotian tribes are also preserved in dedicatory inscriptions of the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. on stone slabs from the territory of the Bosporan kingdom. These are Sinds, Dandarias, Torets, Psesses, Fateis, Doskhs. They were subordinate or dependent on the rulers of the Bosporus. The Taman Peninsula and adjacent territories south of the Kuban were occupied by the Sinds. Along the Black Sea coast, ancient authors indicate Kerkets, Torets, Zikhs and other tribes, some of which are classified as Meots. The main array of the Meotian tribes is the indigenous population of the North-Western Caucasus, which belonged to the Caucasian language family. This is the opinion of the majority of Caucasian scholars. Based on the analysis of local languages ​​and according to toponymy, researchers (I. A. Javakhishvili, E. I. Krupnov, and others) proved that the Meots belonged to one of the distant ancestors of the Adygs. A number of proper names, preserved on the Bosporan stone stelae, can be found among modern Adygs (for example, Bago, Dzadzu, Bleps, etc.). Consequently, the science of names - onomastics - confirms the Caucasian origin of these tribes. Excavations of Meotian settlements on the left bank of the Kuban (Takhtamukaevskoe pervoi and Novochepshievskoe settlements) showed the continuity of life on them from the last centuries BC. e. until the 7th century n. e. Thus, on the basis of the late Meotian culture of the first centuries AD. e. the formation of the culture of the early Adyghe tribes takes place. A different point of view on the origin of the Sinds and Meots is held by the linguist O.N. Trubachev, who, ignoring the data of Caucasian archeology and linguistics, refers these tribes to the Proto-Indians, who have survived in the Northwestern Caucasus since the Bronze Age.

The Meotian culture was formed at the dawn of the Iron Age and continues to develop for more than ten centuries, undergoing significant changes and being influenced by the cultures of neighboring peoples and states. The oldest monuments of the Meotian culture (proto-Meotian period) date back to the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. and are represented mainly by ground burials (Nikolaevsky, Kuban, Yasenovaya Polyana, Psekupskie, etc.) on the left bank of the Kuban and in the basin of the Belaya and Fars rivers. At present, one settlement of the 9th-8th centuries has also been identified. BC e. near the village of Krasnogvardeisky. Burials in the Proto-Meotian burial grounds were shallow earth pits. The dead were buried crouched on their sides or stretched out on their backs. Grave goods were placed next to the deceased in the grave. Usually these are black-polished earthenware: a ladle with high handles, bowls, jugs, pots, various pots; bronze ornaments, and in the burials of warriors - bronze spear and arrowheads, bronze axe, stone war hammers, and later - iron swords and daggers with bronze handles, iron spearheads. Particularly diverse are the bronze details of horse bridles - bits and cheek-pieces, plaques - decorations for horse harness belts. The types of weapons and horse bridles from the Proto-Meotian burial grounds of the Kuban region are similar to the items of the so-called Cimmerian type, common in the vast territories of the North Caucasus, the Don region, Ukraine and the Volga region, which reflects the close ties between the population of the North-Western Caucasus at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. with the steppe world of Southeastern Europe. Meotians throughout their history were in close relationship with the nomadic Iranian-speaking tribes: first with the Cimmerians, then with the Scythians and Sarmatians.

The Cimmerians are the first tribes of the Northern Black Sea region known to us by name. This warlike people, familiar to the Greeks since the time of Homer, repeatedly mentioned in Assyrian cuneiform texts, lived in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, until the beginning of the 7th century. BC e., when he was partly driven out, partly assimilated by the Scythians. The early history of the Scythians is associated with military campaigns in the countries of Western Asia through the Caucasus in the 7th-beginning. 6th century BC e., where they played an active role, successfully fighting on the side of one or another of the ancient Eastern states. The Scythians were first mentioned in Assyrian documents in the 70s. 7th century BC, when they, in alliance with Media and the state of Manna, opposed Assyria. Herodotus (V century BC), describing the stay of the Scythians in Asia Minor, noted that “the Scythians ruled over it for 28 years and devastated everything with their violence and excesses. They took tribute from everyone, but in addition to tribute, they raided and plundered. At the beginning of the VI century. BC, e., having been defeated by the Medes, the Scythians returned to the Northern Black Sea region. During this period (7th-6th centuries BC), numerous Scythian tribes inhabited the entire territory of Ciscaucasia. It was not only a springboard from where the Scythians went on campaigns through the passes of the Caucasus, but also a permanent zone of their habitation. At the end of XIX-beginning. In the 20th century, burials of the tribal nobility of the time of the completion of the Scythian Persian campaigns and their return to the Black Sea region were excavated in the Kuban. These are Kelermessky, Kostroma, Ulsky barrows, located on the left bank of the Kuban - in the basin of the river. Labs. Under huge earth mounds, the richest graves of leaders were found with numerous grave goods, jewelry and ceremonial gold utensils. Some of them were military trophies from Western Asia. Burials were usually accompanied by numerous horse sacrifices.

The culture of the Scythians, who dominated in that historical period in the North Caucasus, left a certain imprint on the culture of the local population, including the Meots of the Kuban region. First of all, this was reflected in the wide distribution in the North-Western Caucasus of objects characteristic of the early Scythian culture and which existed mainly among the military aristocracy. These are Scythian weapons (akinaki swords, bronze triangular arrowheads, helmets), horse equipment and works of arts and crafts in animal style. The plots of Scythian art are associated with stylized images of powerful animals (leopard, deer), birds of prey or their parts (claws, hooves, beak, eyes, etc.), which usually adorned ceremonial weapons, bronze ritual tops, mirrors, horse equipment, and also ritual utensils and a costume. The images of animals were not only decorative, but, according to the ideas of the ancients, possessed magical, supernatural properties; they could personify various gods. Objects of the Kuban version of the animal style were used in the life of the Meots until the end of the 4th century. BC e.

The main sources on the history, economy, social system and culture of the Meotians, as well as other ancient peoples of the North Caucasus, are archeological monuments: settlements, burial grounds and burial mounds. Settlements at an early stage were small tribal villages located along the banks of rivers. From the end of the 5th century to i. e. they expand, earthen fortifications appear - ramparts and ditches. Fortified settlements - settlements of the settled population are known in the Trans-Kuban region. Especially often they are found on the right bank of the Kuban from the village of Prochnookopskaya to the village of Maryanskaya. Groups of Meotian settlements were found on the river. Kirpili in the eastern Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov (III-I centuries BC) and in the lower reaches of the Don, where most of them arose at the turn of the new era. At present, more than ten groups of Meotian sites have been identified, primarily settlements and burial grounds adjacent to them, which, possibly, correspond to the territory of settlement of individual tribes. Further research will make it possible to more accurately present the history of the settlement of the Meotians and the developmental features of each local group.

The Meotian settlements were located, as a rule, along high terraces of rivers, often occupying natural spurs and capes, additionally fortified from the floor side. The settlement usually had a hilly central part surrounded by a moat. With an increase in population, the settlements expanded, external fortifications were built. Their area was usually 1.5-3.5 ha.

In the lower reaches of the Kuban, west of the village of Maryanskaya, there are unfortified settlements that have been preserved in the form of hills of the “cultural layer”, consisting of the remains of dwellings, ashes, and household waste. During the excavations of the settlements, the remains of turluch houses, cellars, and ceramic workshops were discovered; the layers are saturated with a huge number of fragments of pottery and bones of domestic animals, sometimes there are charred grains of cereals, tools, clay weights from looms and fishing nets, and other objects. Meotian dwellings, judging by the surviving construction residues, were subrectangular in plan, with a adobe floor. The walls were a frame of twigs or reeds, coated with a thick layer of clay. Pieces of such walls, burned in fires, with characteristic imprints of frames, are often found during excavations of settlements. Raw bricks - adobe - were also used for construction. Roofs were made of reeds or straw. There was a hearth in the center of the dwelling; special baking ovens are also known.

Behind the outer fortifications of the settlements there were cemeteries of ordinary community members - soil burial grounds that did not have visible external signs; small tomb mounds have long been razed to the ground. Excavations of burial grounds (Ust-Labinsk, Voronezh, Starokorsun, near the farm named after Lenin, Lebed, etc.) give an idea of ​​the funeral rite, which reflected certain religious ideas, ethnic changes in the composition of the population, property and social stratification of society. Together with the deceased, his personal belongings (decorations, weapons, tools), as well as sacrificial meat and a set of ceramic dishes with food and drink, were usually placed in the grave. Graves were usually dug in the form of simple pits less than two meters deep. Representatives of the tribal aristocracy were buried in barrows, which were large earthen mounds of a rounded shape, sometimes with a complex burial structure; these burials were accompanied by rich inventory, sacrifices of animals and, sometimes, people (for example, the Elizabethan burial mounds of the 4th century BC).

Natural resources and the resources of the region contributed to the development and prosperity of arable farming and cattle breeding, fishing and various crafts among the Meots. The arable implement was a wooden plow (ralo). They cultivated wheat, barley, millet, rye, lentils; from industrial crops - flax. The development of agriculture is evidenced by the finds of small iron sickles in graves and in settlements, square grain grinders and round millstones, as well as the remains of conical grain pits. Cattle breeding, along with agriculture, had great importance in the economy. It provided draft power, fertilizers, and, in addition, skins, wool, milk, and meat. They ate the meat of cows, pigs, sheep, horses, goats. Horse breeding supplied war horses. The horses were mostly short, thin-legged. The presence of bridled riding horses in the graves throughout the history of the Meotians indicates that they served to a certain extent as a measure of wealth.

The Sea of ​​Azov with its richest stocks of fish, as well as the Kuban and Don rivers, created favorable conditions for fishing, especially in the eastern Azov region, which was due to the abundance of commercial fish. They caught zander, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, sterlet, carp and catfish. Net tackle served as the main fishing tool. At the Meotian sites in in large numbers there are net sinkers made of baked clay. On the Don settlements, sinkers from seines are found, made from the handles of Greek amphorae. Occasionally come across large fishing hooks made of iron and bronze.

Fish was not only eaten fresh, but salted for future use. Quite thick layers of fish bones in the cultural layer of the settlements testify to the scale of fishing. Hunting was of secondary importance, they hunted deer, roe deer, wild boars, hares, fur-bearing animals.

The settled tribes developed various crafts, among which the most important place was occupied by metallurgy and the manufacture of pottery. It was these crafts that stood out as specialized industries earlier than others. Almost all the main tools of labor were forged from iron - axes, adzes, sickles, knives, as well as weapons - swords and daggers, spear and arrowheads, parts of protective armor. "Iron, along with bronze, went to the manufacture of parts for horse harness, household items , some types of jewelry. Bronze was used to make mirrors, jewelry, armor. Among the artisans, the Torevts stood out - masters in the artistic processing of metal - gold, silver, bronze. Most of all, we know ceramic production among the Meots. potter's wheel began to be used to form vessels, which led to the widespread use of circular, mostly gray-glazed, Meotian ceramics. northern outskirts of the settlement, 20 furnaces were found that functioned in the first centuries AD, the size of which ranged from 1 to 2.6 m in diameter. The Meotian kilns, built of raw brick, were two-tiered: at the bottom of the furnace, there were heat-conducting channels, from where hot gases entered the vaulted firing chamber filled with products. The firing was carried out in a reducing mode: after the required temperature was reached in the hearth, the furnace hole was closed with a clay slab, all the cracks were carefully covered: without air, iron oxides in the clay turned into iron oxide, which gave the finished products a characteristic gray color. High-quality Meotian pottery was also in demand among the neighboring steppe tribes, as evidenced by finds in the burials of nomads. In addition to dishes, pottery workshops also produced other products, for example, fishing weights. Thus, the firing chamber of one of the Starokorsun kilns was filled with sinkers from the nets (for some reason, the kiln was not unloaded and was no longer used). The finds of ceramic slag, dishes deformed and burnt during firing, and special tools for polishing the walls of the Vessels before firing indicate that ceramic production was widespread in almost all Meotian settlements.

Along with handicraft, trade was of great importance in the economy of the Meotians. For centuries, the most important trading partner of the Meotians and other tribes of the Kuban region was the Bosporan kingdom - a large slave-owning state in the eastern part of the Northern Black Sea region. The structure of the Bosporus included the Greek cities-colonies, as well as the regions of the Eastern Crimea, the lower reaches of the Kuban and the Don, the Eastern Azov region inhabited by local tribes. During the heyday of the Bosporus kingdom in the 4th century. BC e. a number of Meotian tribes in the lower reaches of the Kuban were dependent on the Bosporan rulers from the Spartokid dynasty. Earlier than others, Sinds came into close contact with the Greeks, who created in the 5th century BC. BC e. own state, annexed in the middle of the 4th century. BC e. to the Bosporus (the territory of the modern Anapa region - Eastern Sindika). Through the cities of the Bosporus, the Meots were drawn into trade and cultural contacts with the ancient world. Already in the VI century. BC e. antique imports began to penetrate the Kuban, but mutually beneficial trade between the Bosporan Greeks and neighboring tribes reached its peak by the 4th century BC. BC e. In exchange for bread, livestock, fish, furs, and slaves, the Meotians received wine and olive oil in amphoras, expensive fabrics and jewelry, ceremonial weapons, expensive black-glazed and bronze dishes, glass (beads, bottles, bowls, etc.). At this time grain bread in large quantities through the Bosporus came to Athens. The ancient Greek orator Demosthenes noted in one of his speeches that the kings of the Bosporus annually delivered 400,000 medimns of grain to Athens (i.e., more than 16,000 tons), which accounted for half of the bread imported there.

The development of trade and political contacts with the Greeks contributed to the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the tribal aristocracy, tribal leaders, and led to the rapid disintegration of tribal relations. The social system of the Meots was a military democracy - the final stage in the development of the primitive communal system and the transition to a class society. This process was accompanied by a change and complication social structures. In particular, the tribal community was replaced by a territorial one, although tribal ties continued to play a certain role in society.

The northern neighbors of the Meotians in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e, there were nomads - Savromats. At the end of IV-I centuries. BC e. the political and ethnic situation in the Kuban changed due to the activation and movements of the Sarmatian tribes. At that time, the Siraks, one of the Sarmatian tribal associations, occupied the North Caucasian steppes, wedged into the territories inhabited by the Meots. Probably, some Meotian tribes of the Kuban steppe entered into a powerful tribal union, headed by the Siraks. At the turn of the new era, part of the nomads switched to a settled way of life, while the population of the Meotian settlements on the right bank of the Kuban became mixed (Meotian-Sarmatian), and the area of ​​the settlements themselves increased.

With the settlement of the Sarmatians in the Ciscaucasian steppes at the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. - I century. n. e. and their growth political influence in the region, common Sarmatian elements of culture appear among the Meotians: weapons, toilet items and jewelry, art style, some details of the funeral rite. In the first centuries of the new era, a new Sarmatian tribe that came from the east, the Alans, began to dominate the Kuban steppes. At the turn of II-III centuries. n. e., probably under the pressure of the Alans, part of the settled Meoto-Sarmatian population of the right bank moved to the Trans-Kuban region. Life in small settlements fades and the population concentrates on large settlements with a powerful defensive system, but they also fall into disrepair after a few decades, by the middle of the 3rd century. n. e.

The Meots, who migrated to the Trans-Kuban region with the Sikars partially assimilated and mixed with them, together with the kindred tribes and tribes of the Zikh Union of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus who previously lived here, laid the foundations for the formation of the Adyghe-Kabardian peoples of the North Caucasus in the Middle Ages.

In the era of the early Iron Age, the Meots lived in the Kuban region and in the Eastern Black Sea region. Meotian culture began to take shape in the VIII-VII centuries. BC e. The Meots got their name from the ancient name of the Sea of ​​​​Azov - Meotida, translated from Greek - "salt marsh". The coastal area was then swampy. At the same time, ancient authors call Meotida the "mother of Pontus" (that is, the Black Sea). This name was explained by the fact that from the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov a huge mass of water through the Cimmerian Bosporus fell directly into the Black Sea.
The Meotian tribes - Sinds, Dandarias, Fateis, Psesses and others - occupied the basin of the middle and lower reaches of the Kuban River from the village of Prochnookopskaya to the mouth, in the north - to the Kirpili River, in the west - the Eastern Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, and the southern border ran along the northern slope of the Caucasus Range.
More precisely, it is possible to determine the place of residence of only one of the Meotian tribes: the Sinds. They lived in the lower reaches of the Kuban River (on its left bank), on the Taman Peninsula and the Black Sea coast to Anapa. Along the high bank of the main river of the region, the Meotian settlements stretch in an almost continuous chain: from the village of Maryanskaya and further east - to the village of Temizhbekskaya.

In ancient times, settlements were trade and craft, administrative centers. Behind the fortifications of the settlements-shelters, people hid during the period of danger. The most interesting monuments of the Meotian culture (settlements and burial grounds) were found along the banks of the Kuban River and its tributaries - from the city of Armavir to the village of Maryanskaya, as well as along the Kirpili River.
The scientific description of the Meotian culture was first given by the famous archaeologist N. V. Anfimov. To date, about 200 Meotian settlements have been identified, several thousand burials have been excavated.

The main occupation of the settled Meotian tribes was arable farming. They used a wooden plow (ralo) to plow the fields. They cultivated millet, barley, wheat, rye, lentils. They also grew flax, the stems of which contain many fibers. They were used to weave fabrics and sew clothes.