Ariantes

Ariantas (Scythian: ; ; ) was a king of the Scythians, who, in order to learn the population of his people, commanded every Scythian to bring him one arrow-head. With these arrow-heads he made an enormous brazen or copper vessel, which was set up in a place called "Exampaeus", between the rivers Borysthenes and Hypanis. This was important because the total number of Scythians had always been difficult to determine, because of their nomadic behaviors.

We know of Ariantas only from one single passage in Herodotus.

Other sources

Ancient Armenian historygraphy Some researchers hold the view that Artaxias the First (Artashes), mentioned in the «History of Armenia» by M. Chorene, is identified with Ariantes, mentioned by Herodotus, who, during a campaign in Asia Minor, ordered each of his soldiers to present a single arrowhead to determine the size of his army.

Thus, M. Chorene writes: "He orders the army to be brought from the east and the north in such great numbers that he did not even know their count. He ordered a stone the size of a human head to be placed on the roads and in military camps as a sign of their multitude. Then he goes to the west and, having defeated the Lydian army, arrests their king, Croesus." After this, M. Chorene, citing the words of Evagoras and Scamandrus, says: "Artaxias the First /Ariantes/, having captured the king of the Lydians, orders him to be put to death by being placed on an iron frying pan; Croesus, recalling the words of Solon of Athens, exclaims in his own language: 'O Solon, Solon, you said well that one cannot bless a man's happiness until his death.' Hearing this, Artaxias the First Ariantes/orders him to be forgiven and not tortured" (later, Croesus offered stubborn resistance to the raids of Cyrus the Great).A quote from the account of Phlegon, written by M. Chorene, states: "The great commander was stronger than all kings: he not only expelled the Lydians and bound their king, but also at the Hellespont and in Thrace he traversed the sea like an infantryman; his reputation enchanted the Hellenic world, and all of Hellas feared him."

The climax of the myth focuses on the strategic failure of Ariantas upon reaching the hydrographic hub of the Styr, Horyn, and Western Bug rivers. Deceived by the apparent desolation and the daunting "emerald thickets" of Neurida, the tyrant committed a fatal tactical error by dividing his army into three separate contingents to scout the riverine trails. This fragmentation neutralized the Scythians' primary advantage of mobility and concentrated force, leading to their total encirclement and subsequent annihilation within the dense woodlands. According to this legend, Ariantas was killed by Neurian .

Ariant's Cauldron

Herodotus himself located Arianth and his kingdom somewhere in the vast expanses of present-day Ukraine, calling Arianth's entire country Exampeia. Other historians pushed Arianth and his people to the Balkans or to the upper reaches of the Tanais — that is, the Don. The Zoroastrian interpreter of the Avesta, Ul d'Asan, describing his journey along the Ra (Volga) and its basin for the Shah of Persia, recounts hearing of the steppe "Cythean" city of Exampeia, where once a year all of King Arianth's warriors flock to a victory feast to drink a certain "suritsa" from a giant cauldron.

Exampeia translates as "Sacred Paths," explains Alexander Bosy, a candidate of historical sciences. "The Scythians called this the Sinyukha River, along with its tributary, the Bolshaya Vysya, and the area between three rivers—the Exampeus, the Borysthenes, and the Hypanis. It was from here, from the center of Scythia, that sacred paths to all corners of the Scythian empire began, sacred paths to the majestic royal burial mounds, sacred river routes along which the Scythians transported grain to Greece and Rome."

Such objects were used for magical purposes. It was believed that a spherical mirror could best gather "astral light," facilitating clairvoyance and the ability to see the future. This suggests why Hitler was so fixated on the search: perhaps he sought not only world domination but also the power of foresight. It remains unknown whether the Germans actually found the Scythian cauldron, and researchers still debate the outcome .