The 'Sindi' (
Greek: , Herod. iv. 28) were an ancient people in the
Taman Peninsula and the adjacent coast of the
Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea), in the district called
Sindica, which spread between the modern towns of
Temryuk and
Novorossiysk (Herod.'' l. c.''; Hipponax. p. 71, ed. Welck.; Hellanic. p. 78; Dionys. Per. 681;
Steph. B. p. 602; Amm. Marc. xxii. 8. § 41, &c.). Their name is variously written, and Mela calls them 'Sindones' (ii. 19), Lucian (Tox. 55), 'Sindianoi'.
Strabo describes them as living along the
Palus Maeotis, and among the
Maeotae,
Dandarii,
Toreatae,
Agri,
Arrechi,
Tarpetes,
Obidiaceni,
Sittaceni,
Dosci, and
Aspurgiani, among others. (Strab. xi. 2. 11). The
Great Soviet Encyclopedia classes them as a tribe of the
Maeotae. In the 5th century BC, the Sindi were subjugated by the
Bosporan Kingdom. They left multiple tumuli which, when excavated by Soviet archaeologists, revealed that their culture was heavily Hellenized. The Sindi were assimilated by the
Sarmatians in the first centuries AD.
Besides the sea-port of
Sinda, other towns belonging to the same people were
Hermonassa,
Gorgippia, and
Aborace. (Strab. xi. 2, ''et. seq.'') They had a monarchical form of government (Polyaen, viii. 55), and Gorgippia was the residence of their kings. (Strab. ''l. c.'') Nicolaus Damascenus (p. 160, ed. Orell.) mentions a peculiar custom which they had of throwing upon the grave of a deceased person as many fish as the number of enemies whom he had overcome.
References
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Strabo's book 11 on-line
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ENCYCLOPÉDIE OU DICTIONNAIRE RAISONNÉ DES SCIENCES, DES ARTS ET DES MÉTIERS
★ Trubachov, Oleg N., 1999: Indoarica, Nauka, Moscow.
External links
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Coins of the Sindes