Cimmerians were nomads who lived in what is now southern Ukraine from about 1200 B.C. to 700 B.C. They inhabited an area north of the Caucasus Mountains, near the Black Sea. They used horses and the bow and arrow and were known as fierce warriors. They were one of the first nomadic groups to invade Asia Minor (now part of Turkey) from the north.
Scholars have not found written records left by the Cimmerians and know little about the group. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that they were driven from their homeland into Asia Minor by nomads called the Scythians. About 700 B.C., the Cimmerians fought the Assyrians in what is now eastern Turkey. About 690 B.C., they began to raid Lydia, in what is now western Turkey. The Cimmerians were defeated in conflicts with the Assyrians and the Lydians during the mid-600’s B.C.
