TheNeuri orNavari (Ancient Greek:Νευροὶ,romanized: Neuroi;Latin:Neuri) were an ancientSlavic orBaltic people whose existence was recorded by ancientGraeco-Roman authors.
The Neuri belonged to a group of northern European peoples of unknown origin, but most researches propose an ethnic group ancestral to the Slavic, Baltic or larger Balto-Slavic peoples.[1][2]
The Neuri lived in the region corresponding to present-dayBelarus,[3] in the territory including theDesna,Pripyat, and middleDnieper rivers. To the south, the territory of the Neuri reached the upper section of theSouthern Buh river.[4]
The neighbours of the Neuri to the east of the Dnieper river were theAndrophagi, theMelanchlaeni,[5] and theBudini as well asFinno-Ugric peoples.[6] Their neighbours were theAgathyrsi to the south-west,[4] and theScythian[3] tribe of the Aroteres to the south-east.[4][7]
The Neuri were independent of the Scythians.[5]
According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Neuri once had to leave their country because of an invasion of snakes.[8]
When thePersianAchaemenid kingDarius Iattacked the Scythians in 513 BC, the Scythian kingIdanthyrsus summoned the kings of the peoples surrounding his kingdom to a meeting to decide how to deal with the Persian invasion. The kings of theBudini,Gelonians andSarmatians accepted to help the Scythians against the Persian attack, while the kings of theAgathyrsi,Androphagi,Melanchlaeni, Neuri, andTauri refused to support the Scythians.[9]
During the campaign, the Scythians and the Persian army pursuing them passed through the territories of the Melanchlaeni, Androphagi, and Neuri, before they reached the borders of the Agathyrsi, who refused to let the Scythian divisions to pass into their territories and find refuge there, thus forcing the Scythians to return toScythia with the Persians pursuing them.[10][9]
The Neuri may have left traces of their presence in the region of theDesna,Pripyat, and middleDnieper rivers in the form ofBaltic-derived hydronyms and typonyms which pre-date the migration ofSlavic peoples into this area.[4] However, the presumed etymology of the tribal name, as well as other linguistic evidence, suggests that their legacy may be continued in the Slavic zone.[11]
According to the Greek authorHerodotus of Halicarnassus, the Neuri followed Scythian customs. This claim might have referred only to the southernmost sections of the Neuri, who were neighbours of the Scythian Aroteres tribe.[4]
Herodotus also claimed that the Neuri "seemed to be magicians," and that all members of their tribe would allegedly each yeartransform themselves into wolves for some days before being restored to their human form.[7] This might suggest that the Neuri performed cults in which they wore wolf skins and masks, and that the wolf might have been atotem animal of this tribe.[8]
The Neuri archaeologically correspond to theMilograd culture.[4][7]
The southernmost of part of the Milograd culture, which adjoined the territory of the Scythian Aroteres, included many Scythian elements.[4]
