Little is known of the ancient Scythians. They left no written records, so what we have is pieced together from the accounts of contemporary Greek, assyrian and Persian and historians. Many rather fanciful theories surround them. Heroditus claims they were the progeny of Heracles and a serpent/human goddess, others claim they were one of the lost tribes of Israel, others that they were the forebears of the plains peoples of North America, and some even have them as the roots of the tales of King Arthur and his knights! OK, back to planet earth... They were a widespread nomadic culture who dominated the Eurasian steppes for several centuries, renowned warriors; cavalry and horse-archers in particular, with a fondness for horses, gold and tattoos. It seems they were also rather liberal in their consumption of drink, opium and cannabis... Both the women as well as men fought, which may have been the origin of the ancient Greek tales of the Amazons.