>>365610Wow, that's a whole lotta dogshit you typed up.
The Gimirrāya originated from northern Caucasus as early Scythians that were expelled from Scythia due to dishonor, NOT religious differences. The first mention of them is an attack on Urartu (the modern Armenian Highlands), eventually reaching Uishdish, then across most of unclaimed southern Anatolia. Recorded by contemporaries of Sargon II along with several attributed and unknown stone-carvers of the time. No kikery there pal.
They made their way to the Greek-held Black Sea later but were repulsed by the Scythians as their navy was shit. The Greeks recorded that event but didn't know much about the Gimirrāyans then.
Once the Gimirrāya took a decent chunk of the southern Caucasus region, they skirmished against Assyrians multiple times in the Mannea region. At some point the Gimirrāyans TENTATIVELY allied with the Medes, led by Kashtariti, and effectively took control of Mannea. Raids from Subria to Parsua across to Ellipi were recorded, though the Medes and Gimirrāya were NOT friends.
To counter the Gimirrāya as a threat, the Assyrians then began hiring the 'Cimmerians' and learning their tactics. Esarhaddon, an Assyrian general, was recorded as leading an attack on Hubušsnu in 679BCE, defending against, then killing king Teušpa and a large amount of his army. For their integral roles, the Gimirrāyans were greatly honored for that victory. Still no kikery.
Returning to Anatolia proper, the Gimirrāya launched a surprise assault on Sinope, virtually destroying it, then went on to slaughter enough Phrygians (pronounced 'Frig-ee-uns') to enslave and vassalize some, then started harrying the western Greek colonies. In response the Greeks and Lydians would scramble as the 'Cimmerian Empire' appeared, at least to them, overnight.
The capital of Phrygia, Gordion, was taken in 675BCE. King Midas allegedly committed suicide, though his council did surrender. Gordion became a vassal-state and quickly ruined, becoming known in Assyrian records as the 'Mushki' (a hard to translate slur). Several mentions are made of the 'Mushki' when the Gimirrāyans took everything from Tabal to Hilakku in southeastern Anatolia.
None too happy, the Assyrians would cease hiring Gimirrāyans, and, rather dubiously, began to secretly aid the Lydians, their long standing enemy. Stiiiiiiilll don't see any kikery here..
When Gordion fell the Gimirrāyan king, Dugdamme, began to target Lydia for the vast riches of the rising Mermnad Dynasty. The capital of Sardis was attacked in 665BCE when the Lydian king, Gyges, sought aid from the Assyrian Empire, whom sent warrior-general Ashurbanipal with an excellent army to aid him. After the HIGHLY successful defense, Gyges declared Lydia an independent kingdom and forgave much of his peoples' historical animosity towards the Assyrians.
As the Gimirrāyan army had been severely decimated due to Assyrian skirmishers and raiders, Dugdamme turned his sights on the Syrian Kingdom. Syria was a landmine due to having an excellent army backed up by vast numbers of independent tribes and clans. Though the Syrians weren't necessarily loyal to each other, and honor battles/skirmishes were common, they hated invaders most of all.
King Dugdamme's detractors recorded a number of hilariously impotent rages over losing thousands of infantry to mounted archers. Getting the fuck outta Syria in either 653BCE or 652BCE, Dugdamme ordered a return to Anatolia to rebuild his army and plan revenge.
In 643BCE, Dugdamme led his army towards Sardis and sacked it, destroying much of the city, then killed king Gyges was killed. With Sardis little more than a smear, Dugdamme's army marched to Antandros, taking it rather easily.
Rather cleverly, he also sent a second army to Ionia where the temple of Artemis was ruined, then Magnesia on the Meander was sieged until it fell. The army then marched to take Ephesus, slaughtering everyone they come across. A sixth of the Greek coast was abandoned and those few refugees would find shelter on various colony islands. Few returned their home towns or cities.
Now for the irony: king Dugdamme attempted to take Melid and use that as his next capital, but his entire army was outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and out-arrow'd, losing over 80% of his forces. He then tried to surrender as a vassal to the Assyrian Empire.. and Ashurbanipal convinced many to 'accept' it. During that time, Gyges' son, Aridus (possibly Arydus, though his name was written as 'Ardys' in Greek) had been working tirelessly to create an Assyrian-Lydian alliance. What happens when two former enemies turn to their REAL enemy? Dugdamme got shamed, disgraced, then kicked out.
In 640BCE Dugdamme was old, ill, and infirm, living in Tabal, his 'army' little more than write-off mercenaries. Both Lydians and Assyrians absolutely delighted in his slow withering death. After he died, his two eldest sons, Sandakuru and Sandaksatru, fought over who would rule the Gimirrāyans, but it would take them three years to co-rule.
During that time the original Scythians had grown tremendously, surpassing the Medes (but mostly leaving them alone) and becoming a respected enemy to the Late Egyptian Empire. Their king, Madyes
lul led an army to defeat a vast Gimirrāyan force in 631BCE, sacking much of their Anatolia holdings. He did this partly to absolve the dishonor of their aberrant kin, partly to make peace with the Assyrian Empire, and to finally destroy those responsible for 'local uprisings' that Sandakuru had secretly initiated in 634BCE.
For an even better ending, Alyattes, the GREAT-GRANDSON of Gyges, had become a phenomenally trusted Lydian envoy to the Assyrian Empire. Lydians and Assyrians marched side by side, destroying the last Gimirrāyan army in either late 630BCE or early 629BCE (Herodatus and his scribes would SOMEHOW get the date wrong).
Huh, would ya look at that? Isn't any kikery to be seen. Also this:
https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cimmerians-nomads