Massagetai (English spelling)

Japanese: マッサゲタイ（英語表記）Massagetai

An ancient ethnic group in Central Asia. In Latin, they were called Massagetae. They appear in various ancient Greek historical documents, and Herodotus tells us that they defeated and killed Cyrus II (reigned 559-530 BC) of the Achaemenid Empire, and were then destroyed by Darius I (reigned 522-486 BC), and that they also spoke of their nomadic customs. However, their area of residence and ethnic affiliation have not yet been clarified. There are several theories that interpret the Massagetae as masya-ko (fish eaters) in the Avestan dialect of Old Persian, that they are the Great Moon people, based on the Old Persian word masso-getae, and that they are the Great Saka people, based on massaka-ta, but none of these have received conclusive support. In recent years, a theory has been proposed that they are a general term for various ancient ethnic groups that lived in the area east of the Caspian Sea and around the Aral Sea.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中央アジアの古代民族。ラテン語ではマッサゲタエMassagetae。古代ギリシアの諸史料に登場するもので，ヘロドトスは，この民族がアケメネス朝のキュロス2世(在位，前559‐前530)を敗死させ，逆にダレイオス1世(在位，前522‐前486)に滅ぼされたことや，遊牧民としての習俗について語っている。しかし，彼らの居住地域や人種的帰属については，いまだに明らかにされていない。マッサゲタイを古代ペルシア語の方言であるアベスター語によってmasya‐ko(魚を食べる人)と解釈する説，古代ペルシア語のmasso‐getaeにあてて〈大月氏〉とみる説，さらにはmassaka‐taとして〈大サカ族〉とする説などが出されているが，いずれも決定的な支持を得るにはいたらず，近年では，カスピ海の東からアラル海の周辺地域に住んでいた雑多な古代民族の総称とする説も提出されている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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