Re: Sarmatians spoke a language cognate with Scythian

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "alexandru_mg3" <alexandru_mg3@...>
wrote:

> "Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae (the second form is mostly used
> by the earlier Greek writers, the other by the later Greeks and the
> Romans) were a people whom Herodotus (4.21-117) in the 5th century
> BC put on the eastern boundary of Scythia beyond the Tanais (Don).
> They were a proto-Iranian people akin to the Scythians (Saka.)
> Many historians believe that they were not pure Scythians, but,
> being descended from young Scythian men and Amazons, spoke an impure
> dialect and allowed their women to take part in war and to enjoy
> much freedom. Later writers call some of them the "woman-ruled
> Sarmatae." Hippocrates (De Aere, etc., 24) classes them as Scythian.
> From this we may infer that they spoke a language cognate with
> Scythian".

> Full article at: url:
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/sarmatians

*******
I was curious who the historians are who "believe they were
descended from ....Amazons". The article cited doesn't say.
Sciencedaily home page says their articles are based on Wikipedia.
Their adaption does follow Wikipedia, but only if you accept "many
historians believe" as a legitimate paraphrase of "Herodotus reports".
I've found Wikipedia remarkably reliable. I've seen news reports
of a study in a recent issue of Nature I haven't read yet, that finds
the same.
All of no great import -- mostly an excuse to write "Happy New
Year to All!"
Dan Milton