The return of the Amazons

I'm reading/skimming this book as we speak. Adrienne Mayor's book “The Amazons” is extremely interesting, and finally lays to rest the old canard that the female warriors were purely mythical beings concocted by Greek males for whatever reason. While the one-breasted Amazons who hate men and kill little boys are, of course, the stuff of legend, the warrior women of Greek myth were based on real people. Nor is it a mystery who these womenfolk actually were – the evidence is clearly visible at countless of Greek vases and wall paintings.

The Amazons are habitually depicted as Scythians or Thracians, because…well, because they *were* Scythians, Scythian culture also influencing Thrace. Scythia was a fluid term, usually denoting the vast steppe regions to the north and east of the Black Sea. The area was inhabited by nomads and semi-nomads. Apart from Scythian, other ethnic designations include Saka, Alan or Sarmatian. The Scythians were Indo-Europeans and spoke languages related to Persian. Thrace was the area immediately north of Macedonia. That legend sometimes places Amazons in areas outside Scythia, such as Pontus in Asia Minor, isn't strange either. The Scythians roamed far and wide, the Caucasus and Anatolia being the southernmost fringes of their sphere of influence (in passing, the book mentions Scythians as far south as Syria, but it doesn't specifically mention Scythopolis in Galilee).

Archaeological evidence, including recent DNA testing of ancient bones, proves that Scythian women could become warriors, and often fought and died as men. Some burial mounds are so sumptuous that the female remains must be from warrior-queens. The word “Amazon” might be a Persian loan word. The idea that Amazons were an all-female tribe is probably based on Scythian female “boot camps” mentioned in some ancient stories. Besides, the Greek didn't always depict the Amazons as a separate tribe of murderous androphobic womyn. Just as often, they are depicted as fighting alongside Scythian men or their ethnic kin, the Persians. The Amazons encountered by Alexander the Great or fought by Pompey don't seem particularly mythological either…

The idea that Amazons were a specific figment of the Greek male imagination is further disproven by the fact that Amazon legends exist all over Asia, including the areas of ancient Scythia itself. Thus, many Caucasian folk tales mention brave women warriors and rulers. In China, the popular stories about Mulan are about a female warrior whose name might be Altaic rather than Chinese, meaning “Deer”, also a common Scythian symbol. China was under constant pressure from nomadic “barbarians” of different ethnic lineages, some of whom eventually allied themselves with the emperors. The real life model of Mulan could have been a female barbarian mercenary who switched sides and started to defend her adoptive homeland. In Iran, too, there are many stories about “Turanian” female warriors and rulers who fight or ally themselves with the Persian Great Kings. These would have been Scythians, or perhaps other nomadic tribes living at the outskirts of the Persian world.

More confusing, perhaps, are the Greek claims that Amazons also lived in North Africa, specifically Libya. Mayor believes that these “Amazons” were unrelated to the “real” Scythian Amazons, and that the term was used to denote women warriors in general, in this case presumably nomadic Berbers attacking Egypt.

The most sensational archaeological find mentioned in the book is the burial place of two Amazons in Britain, apparently Scythian mercenaries in the Roman army, previously assumed to be an all-male institution.

It wasn't so long ago that the evidence presented in “The Amazons” was explained away. About ten years ago I saw an article on a Scythian burial in a Scandinavian popular science magazine. The writer went out of his way arguing that although the person buried was indeed a female, her armor and sword must have been purely ritual implements. Perhaps she was a priestess pretending to be male during some magical ceremony? He seemed unaware of the large amount of burials were the deceased had clearly been killed, and just as clearly (at least after DNA tests) were female…

The implications of all this are staggering. First, we can finally lay sociobiology to rest, at least in the patriarchal-androcentric form it took during the 1970's. They weren't right about ants either. Good riddance! Second, if “the father of lies” a.k.a. Herodotus was right about Amazons, what else might he have been right about? Herodotus, notoriously, claimed that Egyptians were Black and had woolly hair! Third, I would love to see the wimps of the “new men's movement” try to pick up an Amazon…the ensuing mayhem as Xena goes in for the kill might be worth a few rounds of popcorn. Fourth, certain strands of feminism might also have to rethink their theories. The idea that pastoralists are always patriarchal is disproven by the Scythians. The idea that all Indo-Europeans were patriarchal is likewise disproven. According to a popular feminist theory, patriarchy was introduced to Europe and India by mounted, nomadic Indo-European invaders. While this could be true, it's nevertheless interesting to note that the next wave of Indo-Europeans to establish themselves at the steppes weren't patriarchal. Finally, the idea that “girl power” always means peace is problematic. At least in a nomadic setting, gender equality is a way of mobilizing all available resources for war, including wars of plunder and conquest.

It seems everybody's circles are disturbed by the silent kurgans of Scythia…

Once thing is for sure, though. The Amazons have returned, and they are definitely here to stay. I suppose we have to be men about it!