Amardi

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title: "Amardi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["iranian-nomads", "historical-iranian-peoples", "nomadic-groups-in-eurasia", "history-of-mazandaran-province", "iron-age-asia"] description: "Ancient Iranian tribe" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amardi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Ancient Iranian tribe ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Brue,_Adrien_Hubert,_Asie-Mineure,_Armenie,_Syrie,_Mesopotamie,_Caucase.1839.(CG).jpg" caption="A map that shows the area of the Amards between the [[Sefid-Rud]] and [[Do Hezar River]]."] ::

The Amardians, widely referred to as the Amardi (and sometimes Mardi), were an ancient Iranian tribe living along the mountainous region bordering the Caspian Sea to the north, to whom the Iron Age culture at Marlik is attributed. They are said to be related to, or the same tribe as, the Dahae and Sacae. That is to say, they were Scythian. Herodotus mentions a tribe with a similar name as one of the ten to fifteen Persian tribes in Persis.

They lived in the valleys in between the Susis and Persis, in what is now southwestern Iran. The southern Mardi are described by Nearchus as one of the four predatory mountain peoples of the southwest, along with the Susians, Uxii, and Elymaeans. Of these four nomadic groups, they were the only tribe linguistically Iranian.

Etymology

The term Mardi comes from the Old Iranian word for "man" ( peo; from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥tós, "mortal").

Richard N. Frye believe that the name of the city of Amol is rooted in the word Amard, which occurs as Amui in Middle Persian. According to historical literature, Amol was the capital of Tapuria (modern-day Mazanderan), at least in the period starting from the Sasanian Empire to the Ilkhanate of the Mongol Empire.

Historical accounts

Strabo mentions the name Mardi several times. He places their location to the south of the Caspian Sea in what is now Gilan and Mazanderan, in northern Iran. On his map, he mentions el (and the Amardos river), the name attributed to the region of Sefidrud at the time.

Herodotus mentions a tribe with a similar name as one of the ten to fifteen Persian tribes in Persis. They lived in the valleys in between the Susis and Persis, in what in now southwestern Iran. The southern Mardi are described by Nearchus as one of the four predatory mountain peoples of the southwest, along with the Susians, Uxii, and Elymaeans. Of these four nomadic groups, they were the only tribe linguistically Iranian.

Gallery

Median Empire.jpg|Map of the Median Empire (600 BC), showing the relative locations of the Amardian tribe. Cup with a frieze of gazelles MET an62.84.R.jpg|Iron Age gold cup from Marlik, kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Gold cup kalardasht.jpg|The Hyrcanian Golden cup. Dated first half of first millennium. Excavated at Kelardasht, Mazandaran. Hirschförmiges Rhyton aus Iran, Grabbeigaben, Marlik, 1200-800 v.C. (1).jpg|Deer stag Marlik Swastika iran.jpg|Golden necklace of three Swastikas from Marlik, kept at the National Museum, Tehran.

References

References

1. "IRAN".
2. Smith, William. (1979). "Compact Bible atlas with gazetteer". Baker Book House.
3. Negahban, Ezat O.. (1995). "Marlik: The Complete Excavation Report". UPenn Museum of Archaeology.
4. Norris, Edwin. (1853). "Memoir on the Scythic Version of the Behistun Inscription". Harrison and Sons.
5. (2004). "Encyclopaedia Iranica". [[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul.
6. Eadie, John. (1852). "Early Oriental History, Comprising the Histories of Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Phoenicia". Griffin.
7. "CASPIANS".
8. electricpulp.com. "IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (2) Pre-Islamic – Encyclopaedia Iranica".
9. Richard N. Frye. "Proceedings of the Second European Congress of Iranian Studies". ISMEO.
10. Wright, John Henry. (1905). "GĪLĀN". Lea Brothers.
11. Eadie, John. (1852). "Early Oriental History, Comprising the Histories of Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Phoenicia". Griffin.
12. electricpulp.com. "IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (2) Pre-Islamic – Encyclopaedia Iranica".

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