Editing Saka (section)

===Identification===
The name {{transliteration|peo|Sakā}} was used by the ancient [[Persians|Persian]] to refer to all the Iranian nomadic tribes living to the north of their [[Achaemenid Empire|empire]], including both those who lived between the [[Caspian Sea]] and the [[Mirzachoʻl|Hungry steppe]], and those who lived to the north of the [[Danube]] and the [[Black Sea]]. The [[Assyria]]ns meanwhile called these nomads the '''Ishkuzai''' ([[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: {{lang|akk|{{cuneiform|11|𒅖𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}} {{transliteration|akk|Iškuzaya}}<ref name="Parpola">{{cite book |last=Parpola |first=Simo |date=1970 |title=Neo-Assyrian Toponyms |url=https://archive.org/details/neoassyriantopon0000parp |location=Kevaeler |publisher=Butzon & Bercker |page=[https://archive.org/details/neoassyriantopon0000parp/page/178/mode/2up 178] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iškuzaya [SCYTHIAN] (EN) |website=oracc.museum.upenn.edu |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa04/cbd/qpn/x00000280.html |access-date=14 July 2022 |archive-date=21 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921140721/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa04/cbd/qpn/x00000280.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>) or '''Askuzai''' ([[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: {{lang|akk|{{cuneiform|11|𒊍𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}} {{transliteration|akk|Asguzaya}}, {{lang|akk|{{cuneiform|11|𒆳𒊍𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀}}}} {{transliteration|akk|mat Askuzaya}}, {{lang|akk|{{cuneiform|11|𒆳𒀾𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀}} {{transliteration|akk|mat Ášguzaya}}}}<ref name="Parpola"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Asguzayu [SCYTHIAN] (EN) |website=oracc.museum.upenn.edu |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/cbd/qpn-x-ethnic/x00000690.html |access-date=14 July 2022 |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925135705/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/cbd/qpn-x-ethnic/x00000690.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>), and the [[Ancient Greeks]] called them '''Skuthai''' ([[Ancient Greek]]: {{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|[[wiktionary:Σκύθης|Σκύθης]]}}}} {{transliteration|grc|Skúthēs}}, {{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Σκύθοι}}}} {{transliteration|grc|Skúthoi}}, {{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Σκύθαι}}}} {{transliteration|grc|Skúthai}}).{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=252-255}}

[[File:Xerxes detail three types of Sakas cleaned up.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|For the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]], there were three types of Sakas: the ''[[Scythians|Sakā tayai paradraya]]'' ("beyond the sea", presumably between the Greeks and the [[Thracians]] on the Western side of the [[Black Sea]]), the ''[[Sakā Tigraxaudā]]'' (the [[Massagetae]], "with [[Phrygian cap|pointed caps]]"), the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} ("[[Haoma|Hauma]] drinkers", furthest East). Soldiers of the [[Achaemenid army]], [[Xerxes I]] tomb detail, circa 480 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/haumavarga |title=HAUMAVARGĀ |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |date=2003 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] }}</ref>]]

The Achaemenid inscriptions initially listed a single group of {{transliteration|peo|Sakā}}. However, following [[Darius I]]'s campaign of 520 to 518 BC against the Asian nomads, they were differentiated into two groups, both living in Central Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea:{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=252-255}}{{sfn|Dandamayev|1994|p=44-46}}
* the [[Massagetae|{{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}}]] ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠}}}}}}) – "{{transliteration|peo|Sakā}} who wear [[Phrygian cap|pointed caps]]," who were also known as the {{transliteration|la|Massagetae}}.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}<ref>{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2021}}: "Apparently the Dahai represented an entity not identical with the other better known groups of the Sakai, i.e. the Sakai (Sakā) tigrakhaudā (Massagetai, roaming in Turkmenistan), and Sakai (Sakā) Haumavargā (in Transoxania and beyond the Syr Daryā)."</ref>
* the [[Amyrgians|{{transliteration|peo|Sakā haumavargā}}]] ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠}}}}}}) – interpreted as "{{transliteration|peo|Sakā}} who lay [[haoma|hauma]] (around the fire)",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/haumavarga |title=HAUMAVARGĀ |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |date=2003 |website=Encyclopædia Iranica |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref> which can be interpreted as "Saka who revere [[haoma|hauma]]."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dandamaev |first1=Muhammad A. |author-link1=Muhammad Dandamayev |last2=Lukonin |first2=Vladimir G. |date=1989 |title=The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran |url= |location= |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g7N74BFaC90C&pg=PA334 334] |isbn=978-0-521-61191-6 }}</ref>

A third name was added after the [[Scythian campaign of Darius I|Darius's campaign]] north of the [[Danube]]:{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=252-255}}
* the [[Scythians|{{transliteration|peo|Sakā tayaiy paradraya}}]] ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎼𐎹}}}}}}) – "the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā}} who live beyond the [[Black Sea|(Black) Sea]]," who were the Pontic Scythians of the East European steppes

An additional term is found in two inscriptions elsewhere:{{sfn|Francfort|1988|p=173}}{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=252-255}}
* the {{transliteration|peo|Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam}} ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|𐎿𐎣𐎡𐎲𐎡𐏁 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼 𐏐 𐎿𐎢𐎥𐎭𐎶}}}}}}) – "Saka who are beyond [[Sogdia]]", a term was used by Darius for the people who formed the north-eastern limits of his empire at the opposite end to the [[Kush (satrapy)|satrapy of Kush]] (the Ethiopians).{{sfn|Bailey|1983|p=1230}}<ref>{{cite book |first= Pierre |last=Briant |author-link=Pierre Briant |title=From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lxQ9W6F1oSYC&pg=PA178 178] |publisher=[[Eisenbrauns]] |date=29 July 2006 |isbn=978-1-57506-120-7 |quote= This is Kingdom which I hold, from the Scythians [Saka] who are beyond Sogdiana, thence unto Ethiopia [Cush]; from Sind, thence unto Sardis.}}</ref> These {{transliteration|peo|Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam}} have been suggested to have been the same people as the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā haumavargā}}{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=254-255}}

Moreover, [[Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions]] mention two groups of Saka:{{sfn|Young|1988|p=89}}{{sfn|Francfort|1988|p=177}}
* the {{transliteration|egy|Sꜣg pḥ}} ({{lang|egy|{{huge|{{script|Egyp|𓐠𓎼𓄖𓈉}}}}}}) – "{{transliteration|peo|Sakā}} of the Marshes"
* the {{transliteration|egy|Sk tꜣ}} ({{lang|egy|{{huge|{{script|Egyp|𓋴𓎝𓎡𓇿𓈉}}}}}}) – "{{transliteration|peo|Sakā}} of the Land"

The scholar [[David Bivar]] had tentatively identified the {{transliteration|egy|Sk tꜣ}} with the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā haumavargā}},<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Yarshater |editor-first=Ehsan| editor-link=Ehsan Yarshater |last=Bivar |first=A. D. H. |author-link=David Bivar |date=1983 |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=3 |chapter=The History of Eastern Iran |issue=1 |url= |location=[[Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=181–231 |isbn=978-0-521-20092-9 }}</ref> and [[John Manuel Cook]] had tentatively identified the {{transliteration|egy|Sꜣg pḥ}} with the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}}.{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=254-255}} More recently, the scholar [[Rüdiger Schmitt]] has suggested that the {{transliteration|egy|Sꜣg pḥ}} and the {{transliteration|egy|Sk tꜣ}} might have collectively designated the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}}/Massagetae.{{sfn|Schmitt|2018}}

The Achaemenid king [[Xerxes I]] listed the Saka coupled with the [[Dahae|{{transliteration|peo|Dahā}}]] ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|𐎭𐏃𐎠}}}}}}) people of Central Asia,{{sfn|Bailey|1983|p=1230}}{{sfn|Cook|1985|p=254-255}}{{sfn|Francfort|1988|p=173}} who might possibly have been identical with the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}}.{{sfn|Harmatta|1999}}<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta | editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last1=Abetekov |first1=A. |last2=Yusupov |first2=H. |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=Ancient Iranian Nomads in Western Central Asia |url= |location=[[Paris]], [[France]] |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=24–34 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta | editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last=Zadneprovskiy |first=Y. A. |author-link= |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After the Invansion of Alexander |url= |location=[[Paris]], [[France]] |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=448–463 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 |quote=The middle of the third century b.c. saw the rise to power of a group of tribes consisting of the Parni (Aparni) and the Dahae, descendants of the Massagetae of the Aral Sea region. }}</ref>