E7 We Were All Scythians

The Scythians walk among us! They are not dormant in their kurgans and tucked into piles of bones and gold! They are here, they are you and me!Thousands of self-proclaimed Scythians ride on in Hungary today, proudly celebrating their szkíta identity, even claiming that they speak Scythian at home. These Scythians have consolidated a clear political identity too, inspiring votes for national sovereignty and even one of the most serious coup attempts in the country's modern history.Uh... That's not saying too much though. Our modern Scythians are mostly internet hobbyists and the most nationalist Hungarian pensioners. The blood of this civilization, once among the most noble barbarians known to the Hellenistic world, mostly pumps through the veins of not-so-serious people. Many modern political movements have claimed lineage from the Scythians, but few have done so quite as much as some Hungarians, whose legacy of Scythian descent helped consolidate early modern class power in the country and was set into motion by the nation's very first chronicles.I wanted to cover the legacy of the Scythians in Hungary, but a year ago I realized I couldn't seriously do that without diving into the legacy of the Scythians as a people in and of themselves. It's hard to escape the iconography of and references to the Scythians when in the world of Hungarian Turanists or adjacent nationalist and ethno-enthusiasts for even a few moments. But I soon realized this was a real people and a really interesting civilization that informed everything about the Eurasian steppe world that incubated the ancient Magyars.This is why I’m diving deep into what we know about this massive ancient culture, which left such lasting technological and cultural prints on not just the Hungarian culture but some of the oldest and biggest of Europe and Asia. In this episode, we’re looking at what written historical references we have to the Scythians. Whether in the bible, royal Assyrian records, the literature of the Greeks, or the tombs of the Persians, the Scythians were an extraordinary player on the global stage nearly 3,000 years ago. They innovated a predatory nomadic culture that left no written records of its own — so for thousands of years we only knew them through the legends of their enemies.But oh, what stories those are. Through the Scythians, we see a noble savage that the more widely appreciated ancient cultures both slandered and prided themselves through comparison. In order to understand what these people mean today we must grasp what they meant back then to those with whom they came face to face and sword to sword.Thanks again for the wait and for believing in this work. I hope you enjoy. Also a bit has changed in the Hungarian political dynamic in recent months but the main point of that section still stands. Do your selves a favor and check this out: https://archive.org/details/ScythianArt/page/n61/mode/1up Written by Turán Explorer and produced by Boss Moss. Follow on TikTok and Twitter @Turan_Explorer and support us on www.patreon.com/turan_explorerBoss Moss Records on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-613649429