The tenth and ninth centuries BC in the Eurasian steppe witnessed the transition of various communities from agricultue to forms of agropastoralism and nomadism, and the emergence of a military-political elite reliant on horsepower. The Scythians, as they were known to the ancient Greeks, Assyrians, and their neighbours, were one of these earlier known nomadic pastoralists.
The earliest undisputable mention of the Scythians comes from the inscriptions and divination reports of the Assyrian Empire during King Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC). Around the second quarter of the seventh century BC, a Scythian king named Išpakāya fought Assyrian forces for control and influence over Mannea – a region around Lake Urmiya in northwestern Iran. Here, the Scythians also competed with several other polities. One example is the Cimmerians, another pastoralist people, who during the late-eighth century BC defeated Urartu – a kingdom based around lake Van in eastern Anatolia – and established themselves in northwestern Iran. Additionally, Mede warlords were spread across the Assyria Empire's Zagros frontier and in western Iran. Towards the end of the 660s BC, another Scythian king by the name Bartatua (ancient Greek: Protothyes), perhaps Išpakāya's successor, sought an alliance with Assyria. The outcome of his queries is unknown, but Herodotus (ca. 484–425 BC) writes of a tradition whereby Protothyes's son Madyes supported Assyria against the
