Scythologist Askold Ivantchik notes with dismay that the term "Scythian" has been used within both a
broad and a narrow context, leading to a good deal of confusion. He reserves the term "Scythian" for
the Iranic people dominating the Pontic Steppe from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century BC.[19] Nicola
Di Cosmo writes that the broad concept of "Scythian" to describe the early nomadic populations of the
Eurasian Steppe is "too broad to be viable," and that the term "early nomadic" is preferable.[27]
Location
Early phase in the western steppes
After migrating out of Central Asia and into the western steppes, the Scythians first settled and
established their kingdom in the area between the Araxes, the Caucasus Mountains and the Lake
Maeotis.[39][40][41][42][43]
In West Asia
In West Asia, the Scythians initially settled in the area between the Araxes and Kura rivers before further
expanding into the region to the south of the Kuros river in what is present-day Azerbaijan, where they
settled around what is today Mingəçevir, Gəncə and the Muğan plain, and Transcaucasia remained their
centre of operations in West Asia until the early 6th century BC,[44][45][46][43][47][48][49] although this
presence in West Asia remained an extension of the Scythian kingdom of the steppes,[19] and the
Scythian kings' headquarters were instead located in the Ciscaucasian steppes.[41][42]
During the peak of the Scythians' power in West Asia after they had conquered Media, Mannai and
Urartu and defeated the Cimmerians, the Scythian kingdom's possessions in the region consisted of a
large area extending from the 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.[48][50][51]
In the Pontic steppe [
Main article: Scythia
The territory of the Scythian kingdom of the Pontic steppe extended from the Don river in the east to
the Danube river in the west, and covered the territory of the treeless steppe immediately north of
the Black Sea's coastline, which was inhabited by nomadic pastoralists, as well as the fertile black-earth
forest-steppe area to the north of the treeless steppe, which was inhabited by an agricultural
population,[52][43][53][54] and the northern border of this Scythian kingdom were the dedicuous
woodlands.[55]
Several rivers flowed southwards across this region and emptied themselves into the Black Sea, of which
the largest one was the Borysthenes (Dnipro), which was the richest river in Scythia, with most of the
fish living in it, and the best pastures and most fertile lands being located on its banks, while its water
was the cleanest; due to this, Graeco-Roman authors compared it to the Nile in Egypt. Other important
rivers of Scythia were the:[55][56]
Istros (Danube),
Tyras (Dnister), Hypanis (Southern Buh),