Spargapeithes (Agathyrsian king)

This article is about the king of the Agathyrsi. For other Scythic royalty, see Spargapeithes.

Spargapeithes (Scythian: Spargapaiϑah;[1][2][3] Ancient Greek: Σπαργαπειθης, romanized: Spargapeíthēs; Latin: Spargapeithes) was the name of a king of the Scythic tribe of the Agathyrsoi.

Name

Spargapeithes's name originates from the Scythian name *Spargapaiϑah, and is composed of the terms *sparga-, meaning “scion” and “descendant,” and *paiϑah-, meaning “decoration” and “adornment.”[4][5][2][6]

The name of Spargapeithes and that of the Massagetaean prince Spargapises (Scythian: *Spargapis) are variants of the same name,[1][4][5] and both forms, Spargapis and Spargapaiϑah, are cognates of the Avestan name Sparəγa-paēsa (𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬖𐬀⸱𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀).[1][4][6]

Reign

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Spargapeithes treacherously killed the Scythian king Ariapeithes.[7]

See also

• List of kings of Thrace and Dacia

References

1. Hinz 1975, p. 226.
2. Schmitt, Rüdiger (2018). "SCYTHIAN LANGUAGE". Encyclopædia Iranica.
3. Kullanda 2014, p. 81.
4. Schmitt 2003.
5. Schmitt, Rüdiger (2018). "MASSAGETAE". Encyclopædia Iranica.
6. Schmitt 2011.
7. Sherwin-White & Kuhrt 1993, p. 145.

Sources

• Hinz, Walther [in German] (1975). Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberleiferung [Old Iranian Language from Collateral Sources] (in German). Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-01703-1.
• Kullanda, Sergei [in Russian] (2014). "External relations of Scythian". Journal of Language Relationship. 11 (1). Piscataway, United States: Gorgias Press: 81–90. doi:10.31826/jlr-2014-110110. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
• Schmitt, Rüdiger (2003). "Die skythischen Personennamen bei Herodot" [Scythian Personal Names in Herodotus] (PDF). Annali dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli l'Orientale (in German). 63: 1–31. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
• Schmitt, Rüdiger (2011). Iranisches Personennamenbuch [Book of Iranian Personal Names] (in German). Vol. 5.5a. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 341–342. ISBN 978-3-700-17142-3.
• Sherwin-White, Susan M.; Kuhrt, Amélie (1993). From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. Berkeley, United States: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-08183-3.

See also

• List of rulers of Thrace and Dacia