Editing Cimmerians (section)

===In West Asia===
Over the course of the second half of the 8th century BC and the 7th century BC, the equestrian steppe nomads from Ciscaucasia expanded to the south,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=114}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=60}} beginning with the Cimmerians, who migrated from the Caspian Steppe into West Asia,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=95-96}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=102}} following the same dynamic of the steppe nomads like the [[Scythians]], [[Alans]] and [[Huns]] who would later invade West Asia via Caucasia.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}} The Cimmerians entered West Asia by crossing the [[Caucasus Mountains]]{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=8}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=102}} through the [[Alagir]], [[Darial Gorge|Darial]], and {{ill|Klukhor Pass|lt=Klukhor|ru|Клухорский перевал}} Passes,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=129}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=51}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=93}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=211}}}}</ref> which was the same route that [[Sarmatians|Sarmatian]] detachments would later take to invade the [[Parthian Empire|Arsacid Parthian Empire]],{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}} after which Cimmerians eventually became active in the West Asian regions of Transcaucasia, the Iranian Plateau and Anatolia.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=114}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=106}}

====Reasons for southwards nomad expansion====
The involvement of the steppe nomads in [[West Asia]] happened in the context of the then growth of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], which under its kings [[Sargon II]] and [[Sennacherib]] had expanded from its core region of the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] valleys to rule and dominate a large territory ranging from [[Ḫiyawa|Que]] (Plain Cilicia) and the Central and Eastern Anatolian mountains in the north to the [[Syrian Desert]] in the south, and from the [[Taurus Mountains]] and North Syria and [[Levant|the coast of the Mediterranean Sea]] in the west to the [[Iranian plateau|Iranian Plateau]] in the east.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=65-66}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=107}}

Surrounding the Neo-Assyrian Empire were several smaller polities:{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=65}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=107}}
*in Anatolia to the northwest, were the kingdoms of:
**[[Phrygia]], with its capital at [[Gordion]], held hegemony over Central and Midwest Anatolia and parts of Cilicia;
**and [[Lydia]];
*[[Babylon]], conquered several times by the Assyrians, in the south;
*[[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] in the southwest;
*[[Elam]], whose capital was [[Susa]], in the southeast of West Asia and the southwest of the Iranian plateau, where they were the main power, with their ruling classes being divided into pro-Assyrian and pro-Babylonian factions;
*and to the immediate north laid the powerful kingdom of [[Urartu]] (centred around [[Tushpa|Ṭušpa]]), which had established several installations including a system of fortresses and provincial centres over regional communities in eastern Anatolia and the northwest Iranian Plateau, was contesting its southern borderlands with the Neo-Assyrian Empire;
*in the eastern mountains were several weaker polities:
**[[Ellipi]];
**[[Mannaea|Mannai]];
**the city-states of the [[Medes]], who were an Iranic people of West Asia to whom the Scythians and Cimmerians were distantly related.
Beyond the territories under the direct Assyrian rule, especially in its frontiers in [[Anatolia]] and the [[Iranian plateau|Iranian Plateau]], were local rulers who negotiated for their own interests by vacillating between the various rival great powers.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=65-66}}

This state of permanent [[social disruption]] caused by the rivalries of the great powers of West Asia thus proved to be a very attractive source of opportunities and wealth for the [[Eurasian nomads|steppe nomads]].{{sfn|Grayson|1991a|p=128}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=31}} And, as the populations of the nomads of the Ciscaucasian Steppe continued to grow, their aristocrats would lead their followers southwards across the Caucasus Mountains in search of adventure and plunder in the volatile status quo then prevailing in West Asia,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=114}} not unlike the later [[Ossetians|Ossetian]] tradition of the ritual plunder called the {{Transliteration|os|balc}} ({{lang|os|балц}}),{{sfn|Ivantchik|1999|p=503-504}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2006|p=150}} with the occasional raids eventually leading to longer expeditions, in turn leading to groups of nomads choosing to remain in West Asia in search of opportunities as mercenaries or freebooters.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=113-114}}

Thus, the Cimmerians and Scythians became active in West Asia in the 7th century BC,{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=99}} where they would vacillate between supporting either the Neo-Assyrian Empire or other local powers, and serve them as mercenaries, depending on what they considered to be in their interests.{{sfn|Grayson|1991a|p=128}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69}}{{sfn|Kõiv|2022|p=265}} Their activities would over the course of the late-8th to late-7th centuries BC disrupt the balance of power which had prevailed between the states of Elam, Mannai, the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Urartu on one side and the mountaineer and tribal peoples on the other, eventually leading to significant geopolitical changes in this region.{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=129}}{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=91}}

Nevertheless, a 9th or 8th century BC barrow grave, belonging from [[Paphlagonia]] to a warrior, and containing typical steppe nomad equipment, suggests that nomadic warriors had already been arriving in West Asia since the 9th century BC.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=61}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=107}} Such burials imply that some small groups of steppe nomads from Ciscaucasia might have acted as [[Mercenary|mercenaries]], adventurers and [[Settler|settler groups]] in West Asia, which laid the ground for the later large scale movement of the Cimmerians and Scythians into West Asia.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=61}}

There appears to have been very little direct connection between the Cimmerians' migration into West Asia and the Scythians' later expansion into this same region.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=113}} Thus, the arrival of the Scythians in West Asia about 40 years after the Cimmerians did so suggests that there is no available evidence to the later Graeco-Roman account that it was under pressure from the Scythians migrating into their territories that the Cimmerians crossed the Caucasus and moved south into West Asia.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=96}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=60}}

====In Transcaucasia====
During the early phase of their presence in West Asia until the early 660s BC, the Cimmerians moved into Transcaucasia, which acted as their initial centre of operations:{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} after having passed through [[Colchis]] and western Caucasia and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]],{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=8}}{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=355}} during the 8th century BC, the Cimmerians settled in a region located to the east of Colchis, in the areas of central Transcaucasia<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=26–28}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=86}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=62}}}}</ref> to the immediate south of the Darial and Klukhor passes{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=53}} and on the [[Kura (South Caucasus river)|Cyrus river]],{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}} which corresponds to territory of [[Gori, Georgia|Gori]] in modern-day central and southern Georgia.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=75}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}}}}</ref> Archaeologically, this Cimmerian presence is attested by remains associated to nomadic populations dating from between {{c.|750}} to {{c.|700 BC}}.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}}

The presence of the Cimmerians in this area led Mesopotamian sources to call it {{lit|the Land of the Cimmerians}} ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒆳𒂵𒂆}}}}, {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|māt Gamir}}).{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2001|p=310}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=62}}{{sfn|Kõiv|2022|p=262}}

The territory of the Cimmerians at this time was separated from the kingdom of Urartu by a Urartian vassal country named Quriani, itself located near the countries of [[Colchis|Kulḫa]] and [[Diauehi|Diaueḫi]], to the east and northeast of the [[Lake Çıldır]] and the north and northwest of [[Lake Sevan]].{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=26-28}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2001|p=310-311}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=211}}

=====Conflict with Urartu=====
[[File:Urartu 715 713-en.svg|thumb|right|Cimmerian invasions of Colchis, Urartu and Assyria in 715–713 BC.]]
The Cimmerians appeared to have first become active in the territories to the south of the Caucasus in the {{c.|720s BC}}, where they helped the inhabitants of Colchis and of the nearby regions defeat attacks by the kingdom of Urartu.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=90}}

The oldest known activities of the Cimmerians in West Asia date from the mid-710s BC,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=51}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=18}} when they launched a sudden attack on Urartu's province of Uišini (whose capital was [[Oshnavieh|Waysi]]) through the territory of the kingdom of Mannai,<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=47}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=66}}}}</ref> after the Mannaean king Ullusunu had invited them to attack Urartu through his kingdom's territory.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=746}} This attack therefore took the Urartians by surprise{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=50}} and forced the governor of Uišini to ask for support from the king of the neighbouring small state of [[Musasir|Muṣaṣir]] located on the Assyro-Urartian border region.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=47-48}}

The first recorded mentions of the Cimmerians date from spring or early summer{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=47}} of 714 BC<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=25–26}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2001|p=310}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2001|p=313}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=18}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|pp=90–91}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=38}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=32}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=211}}}}</ref> and are from the intelligence reports of the then superpower of West Asia, the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], sent by the crown prince [[Sennacherib]] to his father the Neo-Assyrian king [[Sargon II]], recording that the Urartian king [[Rusa I]] ({{reign|{{c.|735}}|714 BC}}) had launched a counter-attack against the Cimmerians:<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|pp=558–559}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=66}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=211}}}}</ref> Rusa I had gathered almost all of the Urartian armed forces to campaign against the Cimmerians, with Rusa I himself as well as his commander in chief and thirteen governors personally participating in this campaign.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=21-22}} Rusa I's counter-attack was heavily defeated, and the governor of the Urartian province of Uišini was killed while the commander in chief and two governors were captured by the Cimmerian forces, attesting of the significant military power of the Cimmerians.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Cook|1982|p=196}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|pp=558–559}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=21–22}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=53}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=66}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=262–263}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=211}}}}</ref>

After this defeat, the Urartian forces retreated to Quriani, while Rusa I left for the Urartian province of Wazaun.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=30}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=211}} Although Neo-Assyrian intelligence reports claimed that the Urartians were fearing an attack by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and that panic spread had among them following this defeat,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=22}} the situation within Urartu remained calm,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=47}} and the king Urzana of Muṣaṣir personally,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=22-23}} as well as a messenger from the kingdom of Ḫubuškia,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=43}} went to meet Rusa I to reaffirm his allegiance to Urartu.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=43}}

This defeat against the Cimmerians had nonetheless weakened Urartu significantly enough{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=53}} that, when Sargon II campaigned against Urartu in 714 BC itself,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=39-40}} in the month of Tamūzu,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=47}} he was able to defeat the Urartians{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=53}}{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=18-19}} in the region of mount Wauš, and annex Muṣaṣir,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=23}}{{sfn|Kõiv|2022|p=262-263}} while Rusa I consequently committed suicide{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=37}} and his son Melarṭua was crowned as the new king of Urartu.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=42}} Although Urartu's power was so shaken by these defeats{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=356}} that it stopped harassing Mannai and the Neo-Assyrian provinces on the Iranian Plateau,{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=746}} it nevertheless remained a major power in West Asia under Melarṭua's successor, [[Argishti II|Argišti II]] ({{reign|714|{{c.|685 BC}}}}).{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=66}}

According to Neo-Assyrian reports from the reign of Sargon II itself, the king of the Cimmerians, whose name was not mentioned in these reports, had set up his camp in a region named Uṣunali. At another point, this Cimmerian king had departed from Mannai to attack Urartu, where he plundered several regions, including the district of Arḫi, and reached the city of Ḫuʾdiadae near the core territory of Urartu, forcing the governor of Uišini to request military aid for the people of Pulia and Suriana from Urzana of Muṣaṣir.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}}

Urartu mobilised its armed forces to fight against this Cimmerian invasion, although the Urartians preferred to wait until it was snowing to attack the Cimmerians, due to how snow could block roads and hinder the mobility of the horses that the Cimmerians depended on to carry on their attacks.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=746}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}}

Thus, the Cimmerians were attacking Urartu by passing through the routes in Mannai, thanks to which they were able to establish areas of influence on the northeastern borders of Urartu, which also provided them with access to the Anatolian Plateau and allowed them to replace Urartu as the dominant power in some parts of the western Iranian Plateau and Transcaucasia.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}}

=====Death of Sargon II=====
Possibly out of fear from the danger of the Cimmerians, the Phrygian king [[Midas]], who had previously been a bitter opponent of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, ended hostilities with the Neo-Assyrians in 709 BC and sent a delegation to Sargon II to attempt to form an anti-Cimmerian alliance.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=356}}|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1982|pp=420–421}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=67}}}}</ref>

In 705 BC, Sargon II led a campaign against a rebellious Neo-Assyrian vassal, the Neo-Hittite kingdom of [[Tabal (state)|Tabal]] in Anatolia, during which he probably also fought the Cimmerians, and was killed in battle against the Tabalian ruler Gurdî of Kulummu.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=356}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=54}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=67}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=263}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=323}}|{{harvnb|Summers|2023|p=116}}}}</ref>
[[File:Sargon II and a crown prince, possibly Sennacherib, from Khorsabad, Iraq. The British Museum.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The Assyrian king [[Sargon II]] (left) and the crown prince [[Sennacherib]] (right).]]

After Sargon II's death, Gurdî's kingdom grew in power while the Neo-Assyrian Empire lost control of Tabal, which largely came under Gurdî's rule;{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}} although Sargon II's son and successor [[Sennacherib]] ({{reign|705|681 BC}}) attacked Gurdî at Til-Garimmu in 695 BC, he was able to evade capture by the Neo-Assyrian forces.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=67}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}}

Nonetheless, although the Neo-Assyrian Empire stopped intervening in Anatolia, Sennacherib was able to secure the new northwestern Neo-Assyrian borders running from Cilicia to [[Melid]] to [[Harran|Ḫarran]]{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=356}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}} due to which the Cimmerians ceased being mentioned in Neo-Assyrian records under his reign and would re-start being mentioned by the Assyrians only under the reign of Sennacherib's own son and successor Esarhaddon.{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=131}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=57}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}

The Cimmerians might however have possibly ended their hostilities with Urartu and acted as mercenaries in the Urartian army during this period,{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}} under the reign of Argišti II.{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=131}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=66}} Some of these Cimmerians serving in the Urartian army might have been responsible for the creation of several human funerary statues in the region of Muṣaṣir which resemble the funerary statues of steppe nomads.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=70}}

=====Cimmerians in the Assyrian army=====
By 680 and 679 BC, Cimmerian detachments composed of individual soldiers were serving in the Neo-Assyrian army. These might have been Cimmerian captives or Cimmerians recruited into the Neo-Assyrian military or merely Assyrian soldiers equipped in the "Cimmerian style," that is using Cimmerian bows and arrows.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=55}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=63}}}}</ref>

=====Division of the Cimmerians=====
During the period corresponding to the rule of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon ({{reign|681|669 BC}}), the Cimmerians split into two major divisions:<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=560}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=86}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=62}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=65}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=263}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=221}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=750}}}}</ref>
*the bulk of the Cimmerians migrated from Transcaucasia into [[Anatolia]] under the leadership of the king Teušpâ, becoming the western division of the Cimmerians;
*a smaller group of the Cimmerians, called the Indaraeans ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒇽𒅔𒁕𒊒𒀀𒀀}}}}, {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|Indaruāya}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Indaraya [1] (EN) |url=https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/qpn-x-ethnic/x000000260 |department=Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars |website=State Archives of Assyria Online |series=[[Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus]] |publisher=[[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]] }}</ref>) in Neo-Assyrian sources, remained on the [[Iranian plateau|Iranian Plateau]] in the area near Mannai, where they had been settled since the time of Sargon II, thus forming the eastern division of the Cimmerians.
The two groups of the Cimmerians might themselves have continued to remain part of the same steppe nomad polity, which was itself nevertheless organised along various divisions depending on political changes. Such a structure was also present among:{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=62-63}}
*the ancient [[Xiongnu]], whose princes and nobles were divided into Eastern and Western groups;{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=64}}
*the mediaeval [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[Oghuz Turks|Oguz people]], who were organised into a single kingdom ruled through two divisions, each of which was composed of several tribes and was ruled by a member of the same dynasty.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63-63}}

The Cimmerian and Scythians movements into Anatolia and the Iranian Plateau would act as catalysts for the adoption of Eurasian nomadic military and equestrian equipments by various West Asian states:{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69}} it was during the 7th and 6th centuries BC that "Scythian-type" socketed arrowheads and sigmoid bows ideal for use by mounted warriors, which were the most advanced shooting weapon of their time and were both technically and ballistically superior to native West Asian archery equipment, were adopted throughout West Asia.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=92}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}

Cimmerian and Scythian trading posts and settlements on the borders of the various West Asian states at this time also supplied them with goods such as animal husbandry products, not unlike the trade relations which existed the mediaeval period between the eastern steppe nomads and the Chinese Tang Empire.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69-70}}

====On the Iranian Plateau====
The eastern group of Cimmerians would remain on the northwestern Iranian plateau, where they were initially active in Mannai before later moving southwards into [[Media (region)|Media]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=86}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=82}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}}}</ref>

=====In Mannai=====
======Scythian expansion into West Asia======
After having settled into Ciscaucasia, the Scythians became the second wave of steppe nomads to expand southwards from there, following the western shore of the [[Caspian Sea]]{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=93}} and bypassing the Caucasus Mountains to the east through the [[Derbent#History|Caspian Gates]],<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=129}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=52}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=100}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=60}}}}</ref> with the Scythians first arriving in Transcaucasia around {{c.|700 BC}},{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=97}} after which they consequently became active in West Asia.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=96}}|{{harvnb|Melyukova|1990|p=99}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000b|p=114}}}}</ref> This Scythian expansion into West Asia, nonetheless, never lost contact with the core Scythian kingdom located in the Ciscaucasian Steppe and was merely an extension of it, as was the concurrently occurring westward Scythian expansion into the Pontic Steppe.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}

Once they had finally crossed into West Asia, the Scythians settled in eastern Transcaucasia and the northwest Iranian plateau,<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1985|p=169}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=23}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=62}}}}</ref> between the middle course of the [[Kura (South Caucasus river)|Cyrus]] and [[Aras (river)|Araxes]] rivers before expanding into the regions corresponding to present-day [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Gəncə]], [[Mingachevir|Mingəçevir]] and the [[Mughan plain|Muğan plain]]{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=100}} in the steppes of what is presently Azerbaijan, which became their centre operations until {{c.|600 BC}},{{sfn|Sulimirski|1954|p=282}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=169}} and this part of Transcaucasia settled by the Scythians consequently became known in the Akkadian sources from Mesopotamia as {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|māt Iškuzaya}} ({{lang|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒆳𒅖𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}}, {{lit|land of the Scythians}}) after them.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=62}}

The arrival of the Scythians in West Asia about 40 years after that of the Cimmerians suggests that there is no available evidence to the later Graeco-Roman account of the Cimmerians crossing the Caucasus and moving south into West Asia under pressure from the Scythians migrating into their territories.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=83}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=96}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=60}}

======Attacks against the Neo-Assyrian Empire======
[[File:Kimerian.jpg|thumb|300px|An Assyrian relief depicting Cimmerian mounted warriors]]
With the Cimmerian victory on Urartu and Sargon II's successful campaign there in 714 BC having eliminated it as a threat against the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Mannai had ceased being useful as a buffer zone for Neo-Assyrian power, while the Mannaeans themselves saw the Neo-Assyrian imperial demands as a now unneeded burden. Therefore, the Mannaean king [[Aḫšēri]] ({{reign|{{c.|675}}|{{c.|650 BC}}}}) welcomed the Cimmerians and the Scythians as useful allies who could offer both protection and favourable new opportunities to his kingdom, which in turn allowed him to become an opponent of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, with him subsequently remaining an enemy of Sennacherib and his successors Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=747}}

The first ever recorded mention of the Scythians is from the records of the Neo-Assyrian Empire{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=99}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000b|p=107}} of {{c.|680 BC}}, which detail the first Scythian activities in West Asia and refer to the first recorded Scythian king, [[Išpakāya]], as an ally of the [[Mannaea]]ns.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=97}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=101}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=358}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=128}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=79}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=68}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}}}</ref>

Around this time, Aḫšēri was hindering operations by the Neo-Assyrian Empire between its own territory and Mannai,{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=748}} while the Scythians were recorded by the Neo-Assyrians along with the eastern Cimmerians, Mannaeans and Urartians as possibly menacing communication between the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its vassal of [[Ḫubuškia]], with messengers travelling between the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Hubuskia being at risk of being captured by hostile Cimmerian, Mannaean, Scythian or Urartian forces.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=128}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=87}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=40}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=61}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|pp=747–748}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}}}</ref> Neo-Assyrian records also referred to these joint Cimmerian-Scythian forces, along with the Medes and Mannaeans, as a possible threat against the collection of tribute from Media.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=97}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=87}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=69}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=747}}}}</ref>

During these attacks, the Scythians, along with the eastern Cimmerians who were located on the border of Mannai,{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=358}}{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} were able to reach far beyond the core territories of the Iranian Plateau and attack the Neo-Assyrian provinces of [[Parsua|Parsuwaš]] and [[Bīt-Ḫambān]] and even until as far as Yašuḫ, Šamaš-naṣir and [[Zamua|Zamuā]] in the valley of the Diyala river.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=358}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=85–87}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|pp=747–748}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}}}</ref> One Scytho-Cimmerian attack which had invaded Ḫubuškia from Mannai was even able to threaten the core Neo-Assyrian territories by passing through [[Qaladiza|Anisus]] and [[Ranya|Ḫarrāniya]] on the [[Lower Zab]] river and sack the small city of Milqiya near [[Erbil|Arbaʾil]], close the capital cities of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, where they destroyed the {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|Bīt-Akītī}} (House of the New Year Festival) of this city, which later had to be rebuilt by Esarhaddon.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=87}}{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=748-749}} These attacks into their heartlands shocked the Assyrians, who sought to know if they were to face more such invasions through divination.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=748}}

Meanwhile, Mannai, which had been able to grow in power under Aḫšēri, possibly thanks to its adaptation and incorporation of steppe nomad fighting technologies borrowed from its Cimmerian and Scythian allies,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}} was able to capture the territories including the fortresses of Šarru-iqbi and Dūr-Illil from the Neo-Assyrian Empire and retain them until the {{c.|650s BC}}.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=102-103}}{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=747}}

Under Argišti II, Urartu attempted to restore its power by expanding to the east towards the region of [[Sabalan|Mount Sabalan]], possibly to relieve the pressure on the trade routes across the Iranian Plateau and the steppes from the Scythians, Cimmerians, and Medes.{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=357}} Urartu remained a major power under Argišti II's successor [[Rusa II]] ({{reign|{{c.|685}}|{{c.|645 BC}}}}), the latter of whom carried out major fortification construction projects around [[Lake Van]], such as at [[Bastam Citadel|Rusāipatari]], and at [[Teishebaini|Teišebaini]] near what is presently [[Yerevan]];{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=67}} other fortifications built by Rusa II were Qale Bordjy and Qale Sangar north of [[Lake Urmia]], as well as the fortresses of Pir Chavush, Qale Gavur and Qiz Qale around the administrative centre of [[Haftevan|Haftavan Tepe]] to the northwest of the Lake, all intended to monitor the activities of the allied forces of the Scythians, Mannaeans and Medes.{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=360-361}}

These allied forces of the Cimmerians, Mannaeans and Scythians were defeated some time between {{c.|680}} and {{c.|677 BC}} by Sennacherib's son [[Esarhaddon]] ({{reign|681|669 BC}}), who had succeeded him as the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=78-79}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=68}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} and carried out a retaliatory campaign which reached deep into Median territory until [[Mount Damavand|Mount Bikni]] and the country of Patušarra (Patischoria) on the limits of the [[Dasht-e Kavir|Great Salt Desert]].{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=103-104}}{{sfn|Dandamayev|Medvedskaya|2006}} Išpakāya was killed in battle against Esarhaddon's forces during this campaign, and he was succeeded as king of the Scythians by [[Bartatua]],<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=97}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=517}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993b|pp=326–327}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=749}}}}</ref> with whom Esarhaddon might have immediately initiated negotiations.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}

Since the Cimmerians had left their Ciscausian homelands and moved into West Asia to seek booty, they had no interest in the local affairs of the West Asian states and therefore fought for whoever was capable of paying them the most: therefore Esarhaddon took advantage of this and, at some point before {{c.|675 BC}}, he started secret negotiations with the eastern Cimmerians, who confirmed to the Assyrians that they would remain neutral and promised not to interfere when Esarhaddon invaded Mannai again in {{c.|675 BC}}. Nonetheless, since the Cimmerians were distant foreigners with a very different culture, and therefore did not fear the Mesopotamian gods, Esarhaddon's diviner and advisor Bēl-ušēzib referred to these eastern Cimmerians instead of the Scythians as possible allies of the Mannaeans and advised Esarhaddon to spy on both them and the Mannaeans.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=91}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=76–77}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=751}}}}</ref>

This second Assyrian invasion of Mannai however met little success because the Cimmerians with whom Esarhaddon had negotiated had deceived him by accepting his offer only to attack his invasion force,{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=751}} and the relations between Mannai and the Neo-Assyrian Empire remained hostile while the Cimmerians remained allied to Mannai{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=80}} until the period lasting from 671 to 657 BC.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=88-89}} As a result of this failure, the Neo-Assyrian Empire resigned itself to waiting until the Cimmerians were no longer a threat before mounting any further expedition in Mannai.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=751}}

Around this same time, the Indaraeans were also active around the northern boundary of Elam,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=193}} and some of them might have moved to the southern Iranian Plateau, where they possibly introduced Bronze articles from the [[Koban culture]] into the [[Luristan bronze]] culture.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=560}}

=====Alliance with the Medes=====
The Neo-Assyrian Empire did not remain on a defensive footing in response to the activities of the allied Cimmerian, Mannaean and Scythian forces, and it soon undertook diplomatic initiatives to separate Aḫšēri from his allies: by 672 BC, the Scythians had become the allies of the Neo-Assyrian Empire after Išpakāya's successor, [[Bartatua]], had asked for the hand of the eldest daughter of Esarhaddon, the Neo-Assyrian princess [[Šērūʾa-ēṭirat]], and promised to form an alliance treaty with the Neo-Assyrian Empire in an act of careful diplomacy.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=359}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991a|p=129}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=509}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|pp=19–21}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=92–93}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=114}}|{{harvnb|Dugaw|Lipschits|Stiebel|2020|p=66}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|pp=749–750}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}}}</ref>

The marriage between Bartatua and the Šērūʾa-ēṭirat likely took place,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|1954|p=294}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Jacobson|1995|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=509}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|pp=19–21}}}}</ref> in consequence of which{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} the Scythians ceased to be referred to as an enemy force in the Neo-Assyrian records{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=92-93}} and the alliance between the Scythian kingdom and the Neo-Assyrian Empire was concluded,{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=8-9}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} following which the Scythian kingdom therefore remained on friendly terms with the Neo-Assyrian Empire and maintained peaceful relations with it.{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}

The eastern Cimmerians meanwhile remained hostile to Assyria,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=94}} and, along with the Medes, were the allies of Ellipi against an invasion by the Neo-Assyrian Empire between {{c.|672}} and {{c.|669 BC}}.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=90-91}} The eastern Cimmerians also attacked the Assyrian province of [[Shupria|Šubria]] during this time.{{sfn|Barnett|1982|p=358}}{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}

It consequently became more difficult for the Neo-Assyrian Empire to control the Median city-states and the various polities in the [[Zagros Mountains]] at this point.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=68}} Soon, the Median chieftains [[Kaštaritu]] of [[Kār-Kaššî]] and Dusanni of Šaparda became powerful enough that their respective polities were seen by the Neo-Assyrian Empire as major forces in Media.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=214}} And when Kaštaritu rebelled against the Neo-Assyrian Empire and founded the first independent kingdom of the Medes after successfully liberating them from Neo-Assyrian overlordship in {{c.|671}} to {{c.|669 BC}},{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=83-84}} the eastern Cimmerians were allied to him.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=358}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=105}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=85}}}}</ref>

Around {{c.|669 BC}}, the eastern Cimmerians experienced a defeat by the Neo-Assyrian army and were forced to retreat into their own territory,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=85}} and they were still on the territory of Mannai by {{c.|667 BC}}.{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}

However, some time in the late 660s or early 650s BC, the eastern Cimmerians left the Iranian Plateau and retreated to the west into Anatolia to join the western Cimmerians operating there: since Aḫšēri had depended on his alliance with the Cimmerians and Scythians to protect his kingdom from attacks by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, their departure provided Esarhaddon's successor to the Neo-Assyrian kingship, [[Ashurbanipal]] ({{reign|669|631 BC}}), with the opportunity to attack Mannai and recover some of the settlements which the Mannaeans had previously captured. And although Aḫšēri himself was able to withstand the Neo-Assyrian invasion, he had depended on the Cimmerians to suppress internal opposition to his rule, and their absence weakened him enough that he was soon deposed and killed by a popular rebellion which his son Uallî repressed before ascending to the throne of Mannai and submitting to the Neo-Assyrian Empire.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=752-754}}

Thus, Ashurbanipal's situation improved once he was finally re-establish Neo-Assyrian overlordship over Mannai thanks to the retreat of the Cimmerians from the Iranian Plateau.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=757}}

====In Anatolia====
At an unknown time,{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=210}} the western Cimmerian group moved into Anatolia,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}} where it would be particularly active in the regions of Tabal, Phrygia and Lydia{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=82}}{{sfn|Summers|2023|p=116}} and would be involved in wars against these latter two states as well as against the Neo-Assyrian Empire,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}} which itself avoided confrontations with the Cimmerians unless doing so was necessary.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=213}}

This Cimmerian movement into Anatolia consisted of a large scale migration, with Cimmerian families taking their mobile possessions, animals, as well as conquered booty, along with them.{{sfn|Summers|2023|p=116}} This migration is archaeologically attested in the form of the expansion of the Scythian culture into this region,{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} although the further details of the exact time and trajectory through which the Cimmerians moved into Anatolia, and whether these movements consisted of a single group or of disparate divisions, are however unknown.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=210}}

=====Defeat by Esarhaddon=====
Around the same time, the rulers of the Neo-Hittite kingdom of [[Cybistra#Iron Age|Ḫubišna]], which occupied a strategic position containing many settlements and routes linking the [[Konya Plain]] with Cilicia, might have demanded help from the Cimmerians against possible Neo-Assyrian attempts to take control of their region following the death of [[Warpalawas II]] of [[Tuwana]], or the Cimmerians might have attempted to invade this region on their own.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=68}} The Neo-Assyrian Empire reacted to maintain its control of Cilicia by conducting a campaign in 679 BC during which Esarhaddon killed the Cimmerian king Teušpâ and annexed a part of the territory of the kingdom of [[Ḫilakku]] and of the kingdom of Kundi and Sissû in the region of Que.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=131}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Barnett|1982|p=358}}|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1982|p=427}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991b|p=127}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991c|p=145}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=57–58}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=60–61}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=38}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2006|p=44}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}}}</ref>

Despite this victory, and although Esarhaddon had managed to stop the advance of Cimmerians in the Neo-Assyrian province of Que so that this latter region remained under Neo-Assyrian control,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=68}} the military operations were not successful enough for the Assyrians to firmly occupy the areas around of Ḫubišna, nor were they able to secure the borders of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, leaving Que vulnerable to incursions from Tabal, Kuzzurak and Ḫilakku,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=65}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=213-214}} who were allied to the western Cimmerians who were establishing themselves in Anatolia at this time{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=123}} and might still have maintained connections with them even after Esarhaddon's victory at Ḫubišna.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=214}}

=====Invasion of Phrygia=====
With Urartu incapable of stopping the Cimmerian advance,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=67}} some time around {{c.|675 BC}},{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=73-74}} under their king Dugdammî{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=132}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}} (the Lygdamis of the Greek authors{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=214}}), the western [[Cimmerian invasion of Phrygia|Cimmerians invaded and destroyed]] the empire of [[Phrygia]], whose king [[Midas]] committed suicide, and sacked its capital of [[Gordion]],<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Vaggione|1973|p=526}}|{{harvnb|Cook|1982|p=196}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Young|1988|p=20}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=624}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=38}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2006|p=44}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=67}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=106}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=273–274}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=288–289}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=213}}}}</ref> although they appear to have neither settled within the city nor destroyed its fortifications.{{sfn|Mellink|1991|p=634}}

The western Cimmerians consequently settled in Phrygia{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}} and subdued part of the [[Phrygians]]{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=74}}{{sfn|Kõiv|2022|p=263}} so that they controlled a large area consisting of Phrygia from its western limits which bordered on [[Lydia]] to its eastern boundaries neighbouring the Neo-Assyrian Empire,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=69}} after which they made [[Cappadocia]] into their centre of operations.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=136}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=213}}}}</ref>

These western Cimmerians soon became sedentary, and by {{c.|670 BC}}, they had established their rule over native Anatolian settlements as well as formed their own settlements in Central Anatolia, with the city of Ḫarzallē or Ḫarṣallē being the capital city of the Cimmerian king Dugdammî. Each of these settlements had rulers referred to by Neo-Assyrian sources as {{lit|city-lords}} ({{langx|akk-x-neoassyr|{{cuneiform|11|𒇽𒂗𒌷𒈨𒌍}}|translit=bēl ālāni}}): these administrators consisted of both Cimmerians and members of other ethnic groups who lived within Dugdammî's kingdom.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=103–104}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=64}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=216}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|pp=218–219}}}}</ref>

According to a tradition later recorded by [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], the Cimmerians found several tens of thousands of [[Medimnos|{{Transliteration|grc|medimnoi}}]] of wheat in the underground granaries of the Phrygian village of Syassos that they used as food for a long time.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=69}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=213}}

=====Activities in Anatolia=====
When Esarhaddon conquered the nearby state of Šubria in 673 BC, Rusa II supported him, attesting of a period of non-aggression between Urartu and Assyria under the reigns of Rusa II and Esarhaddon.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=67}}

Assyrian sources from around this same time also recorded a Cimmerian presence in the area of the Neo-Hittite state of [[Tabal (state)|Tabal]].{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=73}}

And between {{c.|672}} and {{c.|669 BC}}, an Assyrian oracular text recorded that the Cimmerians, together with the Phrygians and the Cilicians, were threatening the Neo-Assyrian Empire's newly conquered territory of [[Melid]].<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=68}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=74}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}}}</ref>

The western Cimmerians were thus active in Tabal, Ḫilakku and Phrygia in the 670s BC,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=74}} and, in alliance with these former two states, were attacking the western Neo-Assyrian provinces.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=123}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}} At unknown dates, the western Cimmerians also invaded [[Bithynia]] and [[Paphlagonia]].<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=69}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=217}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=221}}}}</ref>

In the early 660s BC, the power of the Cimmerians grew drastically and they became the masters of Anatolia,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}} where they controlled a large territory{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=23}} bordering Lydia in the west, covering Phrygia around Gordion and the Sangarios river, and reaching the Taurus Mountains in [[Cilicia]] and the borders of Urartu in the east, and encompassing the area bounded by the Black Sea in the north and the Mediterranean Sea in the south.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=70}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=757}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=217}}}}</ref>

The core territories of the western Cimmerians were in Central Anatolia between the Konya Plain and the Neo-Assyrian province of Que, but also extended to parts of the Konya Plain itself, including its western parts, and to Cappadocia, as well as to the west of Tabal,{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=213}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=216}} implying that some of the Neo-Hittite states in and near the Konya Plain had become subjected to the Cimmerians.{{sfn|Summers|2023|p=116}}

The disturbances experienced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire as result of the activities of the Cimmerians in Anatolia led to many of the rulers of this region to try to break away from Neo-Assyrian overlordship,{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=132}} with Ḫilakku having become an independent polity again under the king Sandašarme{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=68}} by the time that Esarhaddon had been succeeded as king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by Ashurbanipal, so that by then the Cimmerians had effectively ended Neo-Assyrian control in Anatolia.{{sfn|Grayson|1991c|p=145}}

=====Reunification of the Cimmerians=====
Soon, in the late 660s or early 650s BC, the western Cimmerians were reinforced by the eastern Cimmerians who had left the western Iranian plateau to move to the west into Anatolia.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=757}}

======First contacts with the Greeks======
[[File:Kimmerer1.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Reproduction of a depiction of Cimmerian mounted archers from a Greek vase.]]
Beginning in the 8th century BC, the [[Ancient Greece|ancient]] [[Greeks]] were first starting to make expeditions in the Black Sea, and encounters with friendly native populations quickly stimulated trade relations and the development of more regular commercial transits, which in turn led to the formation of [[Emporium (antiquity)|trading settlements]].{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=29-30}} The first Greek colony in the Black Sea, founded by settlers from [[Miletus]] around {{c.|750 BC}}, was that of [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]],{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=30}} in whose region the Cimmerians were active at this time.{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=79}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=82}}

The Cimmerians destroyed Sinope during the 7th century BC and killed its founder, Habrōn, after they had invaded Paphlagonia.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2010|p=68}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=121}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=37}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|p=22}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=217}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}}}</ref> The Greek colony of [[Cyzicus]] might also have been destroyed by the Cimmerians so that it had to be re-founded at a later date.{{sfn|Graham|1982|p=119}} Thus, it was at this time that the Cimmerians first came into contact with the Greeks in Anatolia,{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=86}} constituting the first encounter between the ancient Greeks and steppe nomads.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=91}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=35}}

In 671 to 670 BC, Cimmerian contingents were serving in the Assyrian army,{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=214}} and Neo-Assyrian sources were referring to the spread of military technology and animal husbandry products referred to in Assyrian sources as "Cimmerian leather straps" and "Cimmerian bows" into the Neo-Assyrian Empire from {{c.|700}} to {{c.|650 BC}}.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=69}}

=====First attack on Lydia=====
With their eastern and southeastern borders abutting the Neo-Assyrian, which had been powerful enough to defeat their king Teuspa some years earlier,{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=215}} in the late {{c.|670s}} and early {{c.|660s BC}}, the Cimmerians under Dugdammî instead redirected their activities towards western Anatolia, where they attacked the kingdom of [[Lydia]],<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=643}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|pp=214–215}}}}</ref> which under its king [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]] had been filling the power vacuum in Anatolia created by the destruction of the Phrygian Empire and was establishing itself as a new rising regional power.{{sfn|Cook|1982|p=197}}{{sfn|Hawkins|1982|p=431}}{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=44}}

However, the Lydian forces were initially not able to resist this invasion,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=96-97}} and Gyges sought to find help to face the Cimmerian invasions by initiating diplomatic relations with the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 666 BC:{{sfn|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}} without accepting Assyrian overlordship, Gyges started to send regular embassies and diplomatic gifts to Ashurbanipal, with another Lydian embassy to the Neo-Assyrian Empire being attested from {{c.|665 BC}}.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|pp=401–402}}|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=404}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|pp=644–645}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=96–97}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=39}}|{{harvnb|Dale|2015|p=160}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=71}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=215}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=758}}}}</ref>

Since it was due to the threat of the Cimmerians that Gyges had made friendly overtures to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Ashurbanipal considered the Cimmerian presence in Anatolia more useful than fighting them. Therefore, he adopted a policy of accepting whatever gifts and praise that Gyges would offer him, in exchange of which Ashurbanipa promised him support from the gods [[Ashur (god)|Aššur]] and [[Marduk]] while keeping him waiting and abstaining from providing any military support to Lydia.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=757}}

These Cimmerian attacks also destroyed the relations between Lydia and Phrygia, and archaeological evidence from the Lydian site of Daskyleion shows that the Cimmerian invasion ended the development of trade and economic production in the early 7th century BC which had contributed to integrating both Lydia and Ionia into the Mediterranean economy.{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=45-46}} Lower class Ionian Greeks and Carians affected by this Cimmerian invasion appear to have formed a significant part of the colonists who went to set up new settlements throughout the shore of the Black Sea in the 7th century BC, such as the colonies of [[Berezan Island|Borysthenēs]], [[Histria (ancient city)|Histria]], [[Sozopol|Apollonia Pontica]], [[Mangalia|Kallatis]], and [[Shabla|Karōn Limēn]].{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=46-49}}

Gyges's struggle against the Cimmerians soon turned in his favour without Neo-Assyrian support, so that he was able to defeat them between {{c.|665}} and {{c.|660 BC}},<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=402}}|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=404}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=97–98}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=102}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Dale|2015|p=160}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=264–265}}}}</ref> possibly through campaigns in western Central Anatolia to the east of Sardis and the south of the core Phrygian territory,{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=216-217}} after which he sent captured Cimmerian city-lords as diplomatic gifts to Ashurbanipal.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=645}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=98}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=215}}}}</ref>

Gyges then stationed Carian and Ionian mercenaries at [[Abydos (Hellespont)|Abydos]],{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=45}} which provided an impetus for the formation of new Greek colonies in the Propontis and therefore made the Black Sea accessible to Greeks from Ionia.{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=46}}

The defeat of the Cimmerians by Gyges in turn weakened their allies, Mugallu of Tabal and Sandašarme of Ḫilakku, enough that they were left with no choice but to submit to the authority of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in {{c.|662 BC}}.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=124}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=71}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=757}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=219}}}}</ref>

=====Hegemony in the Levant=====
Facing resistance from the Lydians in the west, the Cimmerians moved eastwards, against the Neo-Assyrian Empire:{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=101}} despite their defeat by Gyges in the {{c.|660s BC}}, the Cimmerians' power soon grew much so that by {{c.|657 BC}} they were not only in control of a large territory in Anatolia and were one of the main political forces operating in this region, but were also able conquer part of what had previously been secure western possessions of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, such as the province of Que or even part of the [[Levant]].<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Brinkman|1991|p=53}}|{{harvnb|Brinkman|1991|p=53}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=645}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=99–100}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=216}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=219}}}}</ref>

These Cimmerian aggressions worried Ashurbanipal about the security of the northwest border of the Neo-Assyrian Empire enough that he sought answers concerning this situation through [[divination]].{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=403}} And, as a result of these Cimmerian conquests, by 657 BC, the Assyrian astrologer Akkullanu was calling the Cimmerian king Dugdammî by the title of {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|šar-kiššati}} ({{lit|King of the Universe}}),{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}} which in the Mesopotamian worldview was a title that could belong only a single ruler in the world at any given time, and was normally held by the King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. This attribution of the title of {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|šar-kiššati}} to a foreign ruler was an unprecedented situation of which there is no other known occurrence throughout the duration of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=100}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=216}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=219}}

Akkullanu nevertheless also assured to Ashurbanipal that he would eventually regain the {{Transliteration|akk-x-neoassyr|kiššūtu}}, that is the world hegemony which rightfully belonged to him, from the Cimmerians who had usurped it.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=100}}

This extraordinary situation meant that, under Dugdammî, who was their most powerful king,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=63}} the Cimmerians had become a force feared by Ashurbanipal, and the Cimmerians' successes against the Neo-Assyrian Empire meant that they had become recognised in ancient West Asia as equally powerful as Ashurbanipal himself.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=100}}

This situation remained unchanged throughout the rest of the 650s and the early 640s BC,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=105}} with the Cimmerian aggressions worrying Ashurbanipal regarding the security of his northwestern border so much that he often sought answers regarding this situation through divination.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=101-103}}

These setbacks, along with Ashurbanipal's refusal to provide military support to Lydia, discredited Neo-Assyrian power enough that Gyges understood that he could not rely on Assyrian support against the Cimmerians, and, once the Cimmerians had moved to the east and their attacks on his kingdom decreased, he therefore ended diplomacy with the Neo-Assyrian Empire and instead sent troops to help the Egyptian kinglet [[Psamtik I]] of [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]],<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Braun|1982|p=36}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=645}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=101}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=103}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|pp=757–758}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=214}}}}</ref> who had himself been a Neo-Assyrian vassal who was then eliminating the other Neo-Assyrian vassal kinglets in Lower Egypt to unite the whole of Egypt under his own rule.{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=402-403}}{{sfn|Mellink|1991|p=645}} Ashurbanipal responded to Gyges's disengagement with the Neo-Assyrian Empire by cursing him.{{sfn|Braun|1982|p=36}}{{sfn|Mellink|1991|p=645}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=215}}

=====Exhaustion of Assyria=====
Neo-Assyrian power experienced another significant blow in 652 BC, when Esarhaddon's eldest son, [[Šamaš-šuma-ukin]], who had succeeded him as king of Babylon, rebelled against his younger brother Ashurbanipal: it took Ashurbanipal four years to fully suppress the Babylonian rebellion by 648 BC, and another year to destroy the power of [[Elam]], who had supported Šamaš-šuma-ukin,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}} and, although Ashurbanipal would nevertheless be able to maintain control over Babylonia for the rest of his reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire finally emerged from this crisis severely worn out.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=72}}

One of the oracular responses received by Ashurbanipal in 652 BC itself claimed that the goddess [[Inanna|Ishtar]] had promised to him that the Cimmerians would be defeated similarly to how Ashurbanipal himself had defeated the Elamites and killed their king [[Teumman]] in 653 BC.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=101-102}}

Meanwhile, Dugdammî might have taken advantage of the civil war within the Neo-Assyrian Empire caused by Samas-suma-ukin's rebellion to attack northwestern Neo-Assyrian provinces.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=218}}

=====Attack on Šubria=====
In the 650s BC, the Cimmerians were allied to Urartu{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=70}} and were serving as auxiliaries in the service of its king Rusa II, who was then attempting to attack the newly conquered Assyrian province of Šubria near the Urartian border.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=74–76}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=213}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=750}}}}</ref> Urartu was thus integrating steppe nomad mercenaries into its armed forces, and was also trying to borrow the military technology of these peoples.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=212}}

======Alliance with the Treres======
[[File:Sozopol Archaeological Museum IMG 4219.JPG|thumb|right|350px|A Thracian mounted warrior followed by a warrior on foot.]]
Around the {{c.|660s BCE}}, the [[Thracians|Thracian]] tribe of the [[Treres]] migrated across the [[Bosporus|Thracian Bosporus]] and invaded Anatolia from the north-west,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=44-45}}{{sfn|Kõiv|2022|p=268}} after which they allied with the Cimmerians,{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} and, from around the {{c.|650s BC}}, the Cimmerians were nomadising in Anatolia along with the Treres.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}{{sfn|de Boer|2021|p=20}}

=====Second attack on Lydia=====
The Cimmerians and Treres under Lygdamis and the Treran king Kōbos,{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=407}} and in alliance with the [[Lycians]] or [[Lycaonia]]ns, attacked Lydia for a second time in 644 BC:{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=405-406}} this time they defeated the [[Lydians]] and captured their capital city of [[Sardis]] except for its citadel, and Gyges was killed during this attack.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=406}}|{{harvnb|Braun|1982|p=36}}|{{harvnb|Cook|1982|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1982|p=452}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=643}}|{{harvnb|Mellink|1991|p=645}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=104–105}}|{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=181}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=39}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2006|pp=44–45}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Dale|2015|p=160}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=71}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=106}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|p=20}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=264–265}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=269}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=272–273}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=758}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=215}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=217}}}}</ref> The Neo-Assyrian sources blamed Gyges's death on his own [[hubris|{{Transliteration|grc|hubris}}]], that is on his own independent actions, by claiming that the Cimmerians invaded Lydia and killed him as punishment for him providing Psamtik I with the troops he used to eliminate the other pro-Assyrian Egyptian kinglets and unify Egypt under his sole rule.{{sfn|Spalinger|1976|p=135-136}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=215}}

After this attack, Gyges's son [[Ardys of Lydia|Ardys]] succeeded him as king of Lydia and resumed diplomatic activity with the Neo-Assyrian Empire with the hope of military support which Ashurbanipal again did not provide.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=405}}|{{harvnb|Braun|1982|p=36}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=104}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=273}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=289}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=758}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=215}}}}</ref> As a result, Ardys might possibly have been forced to submit to the Cimmerians,{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=215}} although the Cimmerians themselves never ruled Lydia.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=217}}

=====Attack on Ionia and Aeolia=====
After sacking Sardis, Lydgamis and Kobos led the Cimmerians and the Treres into invading the Greek city-states of the [[Troad]],{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}{{sfn|Tokhtas’ev|1991}} [[Aeolis|Aeolia]] and [[Ionia]] on the western coast of Anatolia,<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=129}}|{{harvnb|Cook|1982|p=197}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|pp=91–92}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=70}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|pp=20–21}}}}</ref> where they destroyed the city of [[Magnesia on the Maeander|Magnesia on the Meander]] as well as the [[Temple of Artemis|Artemision]] of [[Ephesus]].<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Graham|1982|p=116}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=113}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993b|pp=308–309}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=82}}|{{harvnb|Parzinger|2004|p=19}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2006|p=45}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=35}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|pp=20–21}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=217}}}}</ref> The city of [[Colophon (city)|Colophon]] joined Ephesus and Magnesia in resisting the Cimmerian invasion.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993b|p=311}}
[[File:History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria (1903) (14783417153).jpg|thumb|250px|left|Painting depicting Cimmerian mounted warriors from a [[Klazomenian sarcophagi|Klazomenian sarcophagus]].]]
[[File:Cimmerian.jpg|thumb|150px|Reproduction of a depiction of a Cimmerian archer from a Greek vase.]]

The Cimmerians and Treres remained on the western coast of Anatolia inhabited by the Greeks for three years, from {{c.|644}} to {{c.|641 BC}}, where later Greek tradition claimed that Lygdamis had occupied [[Antandrus|Antandros]] and [[Priene]], which forced a large number of the inhabitants of the coastal region called [[Batinētis]] to flee to the islands of the Aegean Sea.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=114}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=148}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=35}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=218}}}}</ref>

=====Activities in Cilicia=====
Sensing the exhaustion of Neo-Assyrian power following the suppression of the revolt of Šamaš-šuma-ukin, the Cimmerians and Treres moved to Cilicia on the north-west border of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in {{c.|640 BC}} itself, immediately after their third invasion of Lydia and the attack on the Asian Greek cities. There, Dugdammî allied with Mugallu's son and successor as king of the then rebellious Assyrian vassal state of Tabal, Mussi, to attack the Neo-Assyrian Empire.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=8}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=124}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=71}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=106}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=758}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=219}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=219}}}}</ref>

Although the Urartians had sent tribute to the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 643 BC, the Urartian king Sarduri III ({{reign|{{c.|645}}|{{c.|625 BC}}}}), who had been a Neo-Assyrian vassal, was at this time also forced to accept the suzerainty of the Cimmerians.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=118}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=71}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=218}}

However, Mussi died before the planned attack on Neo-Assyrian Empire and his kingdom collapsed when its elite fled or was deported to Assyria, while Dugdammî carried it out but failed because, according to Neo-Assyrian sources, he became ill and fire broke out in his camp.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1982|p=432}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991c|p=145}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=124}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=758}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=219}}}}</ref> Following this, Dugdammî was faced with a revolt against himself, after which ended his hostilities against the Neo-Assyrian Empire and sent tribute to Ashurbanipal to form an alliance with him, while Ashurbanipal forced Dugdammi to swear an oath to not attack the Neo-Assyrian Empire.{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=407}}{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=758-759}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=219-220}}

======Death of Dugdammî======
Dugdammî soon broke his oath and attacked the Neo-Assyrian Empire again, but during his military campaign he contracted a grave illness whose symptoms included paralysis of half of his body and vomiting of blood as well as gangrene of the genitals, and he consequently committed suicide in 640 BC<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Phillips|1972|p=132}}|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=407}}|{{harvnb|Hawkins|1982|p=432}}|{{harvnb|Grayson|1991c|p=145}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=107}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=124}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2019|p=33}}}}</ref> in Cilicia itself.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|p=114}}|{{harvnb|Bouzek|2001|p=39}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=72}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=271}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=215}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=218}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=220}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=759}}}}</ref>

Dugdammî was succeeded as king of the Cimmerians in Cilicia by his son [[Sandakšatru]],<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=407}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|p=63}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|p=264}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=220}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=759}}}}</ref> who continued Dugdammî's attacks against the Neo-Assyrian Empire{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=115}} but failed just like his father.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=124}}

The power of the Cimmerians dwindled quickly after the death of Dugdammî,{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993a|p=107}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=221}} although the Lydian kings Ardys and Sadyattes might however have either died fighting the Cimmerians or were deposed for being incapable of efficiently fighting them, respectively in {{c.|637}} and {{c.|635 BC}}.{{sfn|Dale|2015|p=160-161}}

=====Final defeat=====
[[File:Britishmuseumbintepehorserelief.jpg|thumb|left|300px|A relief depicting mounted Lydian warriors on slab of marble from a tomb.]]
Despite these setbacks, the Lydian kingdom was able to grow in power, and the [[Lydians]] themselves appear to have adopted Cimmerian military practices such as the use of mounted cavalry, with the Lydians fighting using long spears and archers, both on horseback.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=74}}

Around {{c.|635 BC}},{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=408}} and with Neo-Assyrian approval,{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=9}} the Scythians under their king [[Madyes]] conquered Urartu,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=564}}{{sfn|Bouzek|2001|p=39}} entered Central Anatolia,{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=129}} and defeated the Cimmerians and Treres.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Spalinger|1978a|p=406}}|{{harvnb|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=567}}|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=508}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1999|p=517}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2006|p=45}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2006|p=151}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|Fuchs|2023|p=759}}}}</ref> This final defeat of the Cimmerians was carried out by the joint forces of Madyes's Scythians, whom [[Strabo|Strabo of Amasia]] credits with expelling the Treres from Asia Minor, and of the Lydians led by their king [[Alyattes]],{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=23-24}} who was himself the son of Sadyattes as well as the grandson of Ardys and the great-grandson of Gyges, whom Herodotus of Halicarnassus and [[Polyaenus|Polyaenus of Bithynia]] claim permanently defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Tokhtas’ev|1991}}|{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|1993a|pp=124–125}}|{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}}|{{harvnb|Xydopoulos|2015|p=120}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2017|pp=74–75}}|{{harvnb|Ivantchik|2018}}|{{harvnb|de Boer|2021|p=25}}|{{harvnb|Kõiv|2022|pp=267–269}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=220}}}}</ref>

In an inscription from after {{c.|638 BC}}, Ashurbanipal thanked the god Marduk for the fate which had struck Sandakšatru, suggesting that he had experienced a horrifying death not unlike his father's.{{sfn|Fuchs|2023|p=759}}

The Cimmerians completely disappeared from history following this final defeat,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=559}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}} and they were soon assimilated by the various populations and polities of Anatolia, such as Lydia, Media, and Pteria.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000a|p=92}} It was also around this time that the last still-existing Syro-Hittite and Aramaean states in Anatolia, which had been either independent or vassals of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Phrygia, Urartu, or of the Cimmerians, also disappeared, although the exact circumstances of their end are still very uncertain.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=72}}

Scythian power in West Asia thus reached its peak under Madyes, with the West Asian territories ruled by the Scythian kingdom extending from the [[Kızılırmak River|Halys river]] in Anatolia in the west to the Caspian Sea and the eastern borders of Media in the east, and from Transcaucasia in the north to the northern borders of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the south.{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=134}}{{sfn|Spalinger|1978a|p=408}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2001|p=327}} And, following the defeat of the Cimmerians and the disappearance of these states, it was the new Lydian Empire of Alyattes which became the dominant power of Anatolia,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=95}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=220}} while the city of Sinope was re-founded{{sfn|Bouzek|2001|p=39}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=37}} by the Milesian Greek colonists Kōos and Krētinēs.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2010|p=69}}{{sfn|Xydopoulos|2015|p=121}}

====Impact in West Asia====
The inroads of the Cimmerians and the Scythians into West Asia over the course of the 8th to 7th centuries BC had destabilised the political balance which had prevailed in the region between the dominant great powers of Assyria, Urartu, and Phrygia,{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=75}} and also caused the decline and destruction of several of these states' power, consequently led to the rise of multiple new powers such as the empires of the [[Medes]] and [[Lydians]],{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=73}} thus irreversibly changing the geopolitical situation of West Asia.{{sfn|Phillips|1972|p=129}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=75-77}}

The Cimmerian and Scythian activities in West Asia also hampered the development of trade, and overland trade routes in the region such as the [[Great Khorasan Road]] likely became dangerous to use, while also preventing the formation of new trade routes.{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=45}}

These Cimmerian and Scythian activities also influenced the developments in West Asia through the spread of the steppe nomad military technology brought by them into this region, and which were disseminated during the periods of their respective hegemonies in West Asia.{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=75}}