Ishpaka

Ishpaka, Ishkapai, or Ishpakai (Old Persian: Išpakaia, Ancient Greek: Ασπακος Aspakos^[1]) was a Scythian king.^[2]

Kashtariti, a Median chieftain, planned an incursion into Assyrian territory in the early 670s BCE. His allies included the Cimmerians and the Mannaeans. Scythian king Ishpaka allied himself with the Medians in ca. 678 BCE.^[3] In the meantime, Ishpaka died in battle against Assyrian king Esarhaddon in ca. 675 BCE,^[1] and was succeeded by Bartatua.

References

1. Delaunay 1987: "About 675 the Scythian chief Išpakaia (cf. Greek Aspakos) was defeated and killed and his followers confined to the land south of Lake Van.
2. Grousset, Rene (1970). The Empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.
3. Hinds 2010, p. 15: "Assyrian records referred to the Scythians as the Ishkuza or Ashkuzai, mentioning them for the first time in the late seventh-century BCE. Led by a chief named Ishpakai, around 678 they allied with the Medes (from Media, a kingdom in what is now northern Iran) and waged war against the Assyrians"

Sources

• Delaunay, J. A. (15 December 1987), Assarhaddon, Encyclopædia Iranica, retrieved 9 June 2015
• Hinds, Kathryn (2010), Barbarians!: Scythians and Sarmatians, Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, ISBN 978-0-7614-4072-7, retrieved 9 June 2015