 Historical Map of theByzantine Empire byGustav Droysen, showing the Zygii on the northeastern coast of theBlack Sea | |
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TheZygii (Ancient Greek:Ζυγοί,Zygoí) orZygians were described byStrabo as a nation to the north ofColchis. He wrote:
And on the sea lies the Asiatic side of theBosporus, or theSyndic territory. After this latter, one comes to theAchaei and theZygii and the Heniochi, and also theCercetae and the Macropogones. And above these are situated the narrow passes of the Phtheirophagi (Phthirophagi); and after the Heniochi the Colchian country, which lies at the foot of theCaucasian, orMoschian, Mountains. (Strabo,Geographica 11.2)
William Smith observes that "they were partly nomad shepherds, partly brigands and pirates, for which latter vocation they had ships specially adapted".[1] They inhabited the region known asZyx, which is on the northern slopes of theWestern Caucasus. To the east were theAvars. To the north wasSarmatian territory, and to the south lay the part of Colchis inhabited by theSvans (Soanes ofStrabo andPliny the Elder).
Initially,Zyx (Italian:Sychia,Georgian: ჯიქეთი,Jiqeti) in Greek literature referred to a people inhabiting the area between Gagra and Tuapse, who later expanded up to the estuary of theKuban and the neighbouring region of historicalTmutarakan.[2] This tribe also features in several ancient and medieval works, notably in Pliny (Zichoi),Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos, medievalGeorgian chroniclers (Georgian: ჯიქები,Jikebi),Marco Polo, andJohannes de Galonifontibus, who, in hisLibellus de notitia orbis, speaks of "Zikia orCircassia" and their language, perhaps the earliest reference to theNorthwest Caucasian languages.[3]
Researchers assume that the Zygii spoke aNorthwest Caucasian language. Northwest Caucasianhydro- andtoponyms, traditional names of rulers and also the seamless transition from the Zygii and theCercetae, whose designations were subsequently replaced with the names of severalCircassian tribes, confirm this.
