Debating the Issue of Herodotus’ Saspirs

Abstract

The authors discuss the arguments expounded in A.K. Salmin’s article on “The Mystery of Herodotus’ Saspirs” (Taina gherodotovskikh saspirov), which examined ancient evidence about Herodotus’ Saspirs against the backdrop of the Caucasian history of Sapirs/Saviri, who supposedly inhabited the area between the Medes and the Colchis that resided to the south and to the north of the Phasis river accordingly. This area extended to the south-east of the Chorokh (Coruh) river towards the lakes Sevan and Van. Drawing on various data related to the history, geography, ethnography, religion, and language of this group, A.K. Salmin argued that there must be a historical continuity among ethnonyms such as Σάσπειρες, Σάπειρες, Σάβιροι, Sapires, Savares, and Saviri. His line of argumentation is assessed in contributions by D. Madurov, A. Shahinyan, H. Khorikyan, and A. Saraev.