Argimpasa

Argimpasa is a goddess in ancient Scythian religion. Of all deities of the Scythian pantheon, she is the most widely speculated upon in literature, and the most clear to have been a uniquely Scythian invention.^[1]

Direct attestations

Herodotus refers to the Scythians deities (in particular the royal pantheon) through a lenses of interpretatio graeca, with Tabiti (the "queen of the gods") being equated with Hestia, Papaios with Zeus, Api with Gaia and the Scythian analogues of Herakles and Ares being unnamed. Argimpasa is equated with Aphrodite Urania, and is considered to be the patroness of a priestly class known as the Enarei. According to Herodotus, Argimpasa gifts the Enarei with visions of the future, which are granted by cutting strips from the bark of linden trees (as opposed to the use of willow rods utilised by other Scythian priests). The Enarei are claimed to be possessed by a "female illness" and dress in women's garments accordingly; this is the proposed etymology of their name. Burial finds on kurgans do confirm that Scythians utilised this type of divination.^[2][3]

Another theonym this goddess is possibly recorded as is Apatouros, recorded by a variety of ancient authors such as Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Claudius Ptolemy and Stephanus of Byzantium. This title is possibly connected to Api as well (see etymology below), but is more likely considered to be connected to Argimpasa as this deity is also claimed to be the Scythian analogue of Aphrodite Urania.

Etymology

"Argimpasa" is almost certainly a loan word from Turkic languages and Cimmerian: "ar" is a prefix usually associated with magic and shamanism in these languages (though in turn this particle, also reflected in Indo-European languages thought to be descended from Scythian like Ossetic, maybe of Proto-Indo-Iranian origin and cognate with Asha/Rta^[4]), "gim" is borrowed from the Cimmerian root kim-/gim- ("whip", "rainbow", "fire", et cetera) and "pasa" is rather similar to Turkic bas-/pas- ("head"). In essence, "Argimpasa" means "the head of shamans" or "the head of whip users". It is most likely a polysemous word connected to all activities of shamanism ("charm", "purification", "the head of diviners", "shaman's rainbow head", an analogy for the psychedelic effects of endogenous, like Dimethyltryptamine and ritually used exogenous psychoactives, comparable to the rainbow snake in Voodoo, or the Kundalini in Yoga, et cetera).

"Apatouros" most likely an uniquely Scythian word derived from Turkic language loans as well, which in particular has been deemed as rather incomprehensible to ancient greeks. Aba-/apa- means "mother" in these languages, which is consistent with the characterisation of the earth goddess Api as Papaios' consort in Herodotus' recalling (see also: Prithvi, Dyaus Pita). "Touros" is harder to pin down, but likely associated with the root tur-, which also produced a large variety of terms associated with shamanism. In essence, it is similar in meaning to Argimpasa, rendering it as "mother shaman" or more likely the same associated polysemous meanings.

Depictions

Contrary to Herodotus' accounting of Scythian religion being mostly aniconic aside from the worship of "Ares", various goddess illustrations are present in Scythian kurgans. However, it is difficult to associate these with any specific of the three known goddesses in the absence of any writing. Classical consensus is that they're all depictions of Argimpasa, rendering Api's and Tabiti's worship truly devoid of any iconography, but this isn't universally agreed upon as some depictions might be associated with the latter.

These depictions including standing or sitting female figures with zoomorphic or phytomorphic characteristics such as serpents for feet, root-like feet or feathered wings. They often hold decapitated male heads, and are sometimes flanked by two other female figures - possibly other goddesses - or by animals, recalling "Mistress of the Animals" goddess depictions. Some of these depictions, particularly of sitting figures associated with flames or the sun, are most likely representations of Tabiti, which as both a supposed Hestia analogue and ruler of the gods is more logically linked with these portraits. The most likely depictions of Argimpasa are figures with avian features such as wings and taloned feet and/or flanked by panthers, owls and griffins.^[5]

Interpretations of her character

Several authors have suggested that Argimpasa is derived from the Near Eastern goddess Ishtar/Astarte, which does share a few characteristics such as winged and "Mistress of the Animals" iconography (see for instance the Burney Relief), a class of feminine male priests and a shared status as "Queen of Heaven" (assuming Argimpasa's syncretism with Aphrodite Urania is indicative of her being associated with the sky or heavens).^[6] This view is particularly strengthened by the fact that another Iranian deity, Anahita, was also strongly influenced by Ishtar,^[7] and that Aphrodite herself also is most likely derived from this goddess. More recently, however, this view has been challenged due to the uniquely Scythian name of this deity, suggesting that it is an unique invention rather than a borrowed cult. Artistic influences from near eastern art are possible, but the depictions of Argimpasa also reflect central asian shamanic themes, so a specific connection between Ishtar and Argimpasa/Apatouros is not confirmed.

It is exceptionally obvious from both her name and her attestations by greek authors that Argimpasa/Apatouros was an oracular deity associated with the practise of shamanism, possibly a deification or representation of an "ancestral shaman". Altaic mythology features "Mountain Women" who milk animals and seduce hunters, which could infer an erotic component to this character, and both the Huns and Komans bear similar shamanic practises to the Enarei, suggesting that they too worshipped a similar deity.^[8] It is also possible that she may be derived to some extent from the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess, which is similarly associated with the sky and sexuality.^[9]

Naming

The Argimpasa Fluctus on Venus is named after this goddess.

References