Re: Oltak

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:

>
> --- tgpedersen <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
> > Finally got hands of a copy of Heyerdahl's "Jakten
> > på Odin". Seems he
> > has rounded up most of the classical references I
> > found, and then
> > some. He points to Plutarch's reference, in 'Bioi
> > paralleloi', to one
> > Oltak, ruler of the 'Dandars' (sic, Dardans? "one of
> > the tribes
> > living in the coastal ares of the Maeotic Sea"), in
> > Mithridates'
> > army. He had unusual strength and courage in battle,
> > could counsel in
> > the most important treaties, and was besides
> > remarkable for his
> > courtesy. He plotted to kill Lucullus and failed.
> > There is a similar
> > story in Appian's Mithridatica, where the
> > protagonist's name is
> > Olkaba. Appian calls this man the ruler of the
> > Colchians. Heyerdahl
> > surmises, since neither was heard of after
> > Mithridates' suicide 63
> > BCE, that Oltak and Olkaba might be the historical
> > Odin who fled the
> > Romans. Myself, I think they end up on the variously
> > related heap og
> > V&r&Tragna - Vahagn - Vahagn - Valtam - Vegtam etc.
> >
> >
> > Torsten
>
> ******GK: The Dandarii were one of the historical
> non-Greek components of the Bosporan Kingdom. A
> Sindo-Maeotian tribe. According to Hecataeus of
> Miletus (c. 5th c. BC) they lived at the mouth of the
> Kuban' r. (contemporary Russia), known as the Hypanis
> at that time. Abayev interprets the name as Iranic
> ("holders of the river"). Trubachov thinks it more
> likely to be Pontic Aryan, related to "dand" (rush,
> reed) where the Kuban' flows into the Azov Sea.
> Olthacus (Oltak) was a Sindo-Maeotic regulus subject
> to Mithradates.******
> >
> >

I've seen 'dandani' in some sources. Of course the 'Dan-' part made
me curious.
Heyerdahl wants to identify Ásgard with the city of Azov. According
to him, the Dandari were sometimes at war, sometimes allies of the
Siraci to the South.
On the language question: I assume the languages that are known at the
time in the area are Iranian or Indic, plus Greek used as a trade
language. Were there others (eg. later extinct Caucasian languages)?

Torsten