TheCaspians (Persian:کاسپیها,Kaspyn;Greek:Κάσπιοι,Káspioi;Aramaic: ܟܣܦܝ,kspy;Old Armenian:Կասպք,Kaspk’;[1]Latin:Caspi,Caspiani) were an people ofantiquity who dwelt along the southwestern shores of theCaspian Sea, in the region known asCaspiane.[2]Caspian is the English version of the GreekethnonymKaspioi, mentioned twice byHerodotus among theAchaemenidsatrapies ofDarius the Great[3] and applied byStrabo.[4] The name is not attested inOld Iranian.[5]
The Caspians have generally been regarded as a pre-Indo-European people. They have been identified byErnst Herzfeld with theKassites,[6] who spoke a language not identified with any other known language group and whose origins have long been the subject of debate.Onomastic evidence bearing on this point has been discovered inAramaic papyri fromEgypt published by P. Grelot,[7] in which several of the Caspian names that are mentioned—and identified under the gentilic כספיkaspai—are, in part, etymologically Iranian. The Caspians of theEgyptian papyri are therefore generally considered as either anIranian people or strongly underIranian cultural influence.[5]
In the 5th century BC, during thePersian rule in Egypt, a regiment (Aramaicdegel) of Caspians was stationed inElephantine, as attested in theElephantine papyri. They are calledkspy in Aramaic and shared their regiment withKhwarezmians,Bactrians and otherIranian peoples. They were not the only garrison on Elephantine. There was also a regiment ofJews.[8]
The Caspians are calledCaspiani inMela'sDe situ orbis,Caspi inPliny'sNatural History, andCaspiadae inValerius Flaccus'Argonautica. In the last work, the Caspians are allies of KingPerses of Colchis and appear amongst theScythian peoples.[9] They are said to havefighting dogs that they take to their graves. This might reflect a variant of theZoroastrian custom ofsky burial, one in which the deceased is left for the dogs to devour.[10]
The Caspiadeans reappear in themedievalHistoria de via Hierosolymitana among the people arrayed against the forces of theFirst Crusade (1096–1099). The anonymous poet, drawing on Flaccus, probably sought to connect theSeljuk Turks, the Crusaders' actual enemy, with the ancient Scythians.[11]