The role of the Cimmerians in the Mannean conflict remains ambiguous, in spite of their statement, "we have separated from them" (i.e. the Manneans, ABL 1237:14), because of their well-attested association with the Manneans in other anti-Assyrian enterprises, notably that of Kaštaritu. According to no. 18 they were threatening, apparently in alliance with Urarṭu, Šubria, a country southwest of Lake Van, which according to the chronicles was conquered by Esarhaddon in Tebet 673.[[257]] An echo of the Cimmerian presence in Mannean territory may also be found in RMA 22, an astrological report of a certain Nabû-iqbi, which should be dated on account of its historical allusions to about 667 B.C.[[258]]
The Cimmerians also appear as far south as the territory of Ellipi. No. 80 refers to an expedition led by Ša-Nabû-šû, Esarhaddon's chief eunuch into the territory of Ellipi, where the armies of Ellipi, the Medes and the Cimmerians were encountered. Since this particular expedition was initiated by the crown prince, Assurbanipal, it should not be dated earlier than 672.
The Cimmerians were not the only cause for concern to the Assyrians in that region. According to no. 23, Scythians were threatening Hubuškia and other cities on the peripheries of Urarṭu from Mannean territory, and in no. 35 we find them as far south as Bit-Hamban. The inscriptions of Esarhaddon claim to have defeated a Mannean-Scythian alliance and to have killed the Scythian chieftain, Išpakaya in the encounter.[[259]] Winckler surmised long ago that the two accounts (i.e. the one in the royal inscriptions and the one in the queries) refer to the same event, and that Išpakaya lost his life in the passes of Hubuškia.[[260]] However, this would make these queries the earliest in the corpus (679), while the Assyrian script of nos. 23 and 35 rather points to a date after 672. Admittedly, the assumption that queries written in the Babylonian script are pre-672 and those written in the Assyrian script are post-672 (i.e. after Assurbanipal was named crown prince) can hardly be considered an accurate yard-stick for dating; however, it may serve as a rule of thumb.[[261]]
The view that Scythians and Cimmerians in the period under discussion were closely cooperating, "perhaps as elements in locally federated tribes," proposed by Diakonoff,[[262]] finds some support in nos. 35-40, which refer to an anticipated invasion of the two into Assyrian territory around Bit-Hamban. See also nos. 24 and 66. On the other hand, in many queries where either Cimmerians or Scythians are mentioned, they are not linked to each other; they do have common allies (e.g. Manneans, Medes), but usually independently of each other. It does seem that once the two were out of their old homeland, their paths largely diverged.
Such is the evidence of both the queries and royal inscriptions. In the former, the Scythians are conspicuous by their absence from the coalition led by Kaštaritu, and in nos. 64ff, grouped together because of their common concern for the safety of Assyrian expeditions sent into Median territory to collect tribute of horses, the Manneans and Cimmerians appear side by side as a potential threat in no. 65; the Scythians, separately, in nos. 66 and 67, as if the dangers en route to these expeditions came from different quarters and on different occasions. The inscriptions and other royal correspondence reveal a similar picture. Nowhere in the Assyrian encounters, belligerent or otherwise, with Scythians or Cimmerians do the two appear together. ABL 1237, which attests to a Cimmerian presence in Mannea, says nothing about Scythians, although the latter are known to have operated from Mannean territory in the reign of Esarhaddon.
257 Grayson Chronicles p. 84 and 127.
258 See Parpola, LAS 2 p. 420.
259 See Borger Esarh. p. 52:59ff.
260 AoF I (1897) 488f.
261 See Aro loc. cit. p. 114.
262 Istoriya Midii (1956), p. 258, cited in Wiseman, op. cit. p. 10.
Ivan Starr
Ivan Starr, 'The Cimmerians and the Scythians', Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria, SAA 4. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1990; online contents: SAAo/SAA04 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa04/chronologyandhistoricalbackground/cimmeriansandscythians/]