June 18, 2001

Ancient Warrior Women


Ancient Warrior Women

Back in the ancient times, in a part of the world that is now part of Russia, there is believed to have lived a powerful race of women warriors. Popularly known as Amazons, these women have long been a part of Greek mythology. Xena, the popular television show, is a representation of these mythological women; this is not to say that the show is necessarily historically accurate.

The region along the east coast of the Black Sea (Pontus Euxidus), near the Sea of Azov and south of the Causasus, was known to the ancients as Colchis. This is the place where the mythological Jason and the Argonauts conquered the Golden Fleece. It is, also, the alleged birthplace of Medea, warrior and daughter of the king, Aeetes. Medea became Jason's wife. The Greek historian, Herodotus, believed that the region of Colchis had been inhabited by Egyptians in roughly the 19th century BC. Many of the people of Colchis were, thus, descendants of these Egyptians. While history does not support this notion, the fact remains that many African communities did exist in this region.

Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, Center for the Study of the Eurasian Nomads, in Berkeley, California, is certain that the warrior women, or Amazons, did exist. In 1995, she led excavations which unearthed fifty kurgans (burial mounds) near Pokrovka, Russia; in the Eurasian Steppe, near the border of Kazakstan. The dig exposed the remains of women who had been buried with weapons and other artifacts and dated to ca. 600 BC. Furthermore, the skeleton of a teenaged female featured dramatic bowed legs bones which indicated that this individual had spend a good bit of time, and from an early age, astride a horse. There was evidence that this young woman had been killed by an arrow to the chest. It is believed that these skeletons belong to the Scythians.

No one really knows the origin of the, so called, Amazons. Legend has it that a group of them escaped from their Greek captors aboard a ship in the Black Sea. They came ashore by the Sea of Azov, warred with and eventually mated with the local Scythians from Colchis (south of the Caucasus). Their children are known as Sauromations; the earliest ancestors of the Sarmatian tribes. Their history is dramatic and involves most of the major events of ancient Greek mythology. The region of Scythia spanned along the forest steppes, bordered by the Carpathian Mountains and the Don River. It was believed that the Scythians died out in the early 300's BC. New evidence suggests that then evolved from a warring tribe to an agricultural one.

Herodotus claimed that the Sarmatian women carried forth the ancient Amazon traditions: hunting and fighting on horseback along side their men and dressing like the men. In fact, legend states that a Sarmatian girl could not marry until she had her first kill in battle. Excavations have revealed that these women were buried with the implements of war. A wealth of artifacts, from the Middle Sarmatian period (ca. 100 BC to AD 150) have been found in the burial sites at Kobyakovo, Kosika, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnogorovka.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955