Melanchlaeni

The Melanchlaeni, also known as the Saudaratae, were an ancient Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Graeco-Roman authors.

The Melanchlaeni were closely related to the Androphagi and the Budini.

Name

The name Melanchlaeni is a Latinisation of the ancient Greek name Melankhlainoi (Ancient Greek: Μελάγχλαινοι), which meant "Black-Cloaks."

The Greek name might have been a translation of an ancient Iranic name meaning "those who wear black garments," whose later form, Sawdarata, was recorded in Ancient Greek as Saudaratai (Ancient Greek: Σαυδαραται; Latin: Saudaratae).

Location

The Melanchlaeni lived in the region to the east of the middle Dnipro river, especially in the basin of the Donets river.

The neighbours of the Melanchlaeni were the Neuri and the Scythian tribe of the Aroteres to the west, and the Scythian tribe of the Paralatae to the south.

History

Origin

The Scythians originated in the region of the Volga-Ural steppes of Central Asia, possibly around the 9th century BC, as a section of the population of the Srubnaya culture containing a significant element originating from the Siberian Andronovo culture. The population of the Srubnaya culture was among the first truly nomadic pastoralist groups, who themselves emerged in the Central Asian and Siberian steppes during the 9th century BC as a result of the cold and dry climate then prevailing in these regions.

During the 9th to 8th centuries BC, a significant movement of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe started when another nomadic Iranic tribe closely related to the Scythians from eastern Central Asia, either the Massagetae or the Issedones, migrated westwards, forcing the early Scythians to the west across the Araxes river.

Over the course of the 8th and 7th centuries BC, the Scythians migrated into the Caucasian and Caspian Steppes in several waves, becoming the dominant population of the region, where they assimilated most of the Cimmerians and conquered their territory, with this absorption of the Cimmerians by the Scythians being facilitated by their similar ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles, after which the Scythians settled in the area between the Araxes, the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis. The section of the Scythians from whom the Melanchlaeni originated participated in this migration, and had established itself in Ciscaucasia around c. 800 BC.

From their base in the Caucasian Steppe, during the period of the 8th to 7th centuries BC itself, the Scythians conquered the Pontic and Crimean Steppes to the north of the Black Sea up to the Danube river, which formed the western boundary of Scythian territory onwards, with this process of Scythian takeover of the Pontic Steppe becoming fully complete by the 7th century BC.

Archaeologically, the westwards migration of the Early Scythians from Central Asia into the Caspian Steppe constituted the latest of the two to three waves of expansion of the Srubnaya culture to the west of the Volga.