Below is the twelfth in a series of articles from Mark McLaughlin showcasing the 16 civilizations in Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East. You can find the first eleven articles in the series here.
The troops of the Urartian king have been utterly defeated on his expedition against the Cimmerians; eleven of his governors have been eliminated with their troops; his commander-in-chief and two governors have been taken prisoner.
Letter from Crown Prince Sennacherib to his father Sargon II, King of Assyria (722-705 BC)
The Cimmerians are an Iranian people originally from around the Ukrainian Steppe’s Dneister River. A prolific people, they soon dominated the Caspian Sea and its surrounding region. As they continued their move south; they repeatedly raided even the strongest of the empires and kingdoms of Mesopotamia. Early Babylonian and Assyria texts refer to them as the Gamir, and they even show up in the Bible books of Genesis, Ezekial and Jeremiah as the Gmr, Gomer, Gamer and Gmry (plural?). They also show up in the Odyssey, where Homer has them guarding the gates of hell (Hades). Pulp author Robert E. Howard chose to pay homage to these people in his classic Conan the Barbarian novels, as his hero hails from Cimmeria.
In the game, the Cimmerians proliferate in and around the Caspian, thus making it easier for them to gain their bonus of either a Victory Point or a Mina for having a disk in each of the six Caspian and one Caucasus Sea areas. They have no special bonus in Competition, however, as they were raiders rather than conquerors. In most games they are unlikely to face an immediate challenge, as there are only three civilizations nearby, each of which has other, more attractive options for expansion along with the potential threat of nearby civilizations. Therefore, playing the Cimmerians will usually provide a lot of flexibility in how to gain VP and influence the game.
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Sumerians
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Egyptians
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Elamites
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Assyrians
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Akkadians
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Babylonians
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Hittites
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Mittani
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Sea Peoples
Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Israelites
Author: Mark McLaughlin
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