1In the present book its author, who in the last ten years had published about a dozens of papers on the Scythians and their language, put his findings together in monographic form. And the detailed index of the words and forms discussed therein (p. 186–210) makes the contents easily accessible to the reader, who by the substantial bibliography (p. 157–185) gets also much information esp. on the Russian literature about the Scythians. Ch. 1 on the Scythian prehistory (p. 15–27) de facto describes, what historical linguistics could establish about the prehistory of the speakers of the Indo-Iranian and Common Iranian languages. In ch. 2 on Scythian culture and language (p. 28–96) follows an analysis of the written and the material evidence, from which the author concludes that the Scythians spread from the Aral Sea region. The main part of this chapter is a glossary of the Scythian words attested with more or less certainty (p. 41–96), in which one finds discussed, apart from the Herodotean evidence, also the relevant glosses of Hesychius and a multitude of names (personal names, toponyms, hydronyms, etc.) attested in later authors and in inscriptions found in Scythian kurgans or on various objects. Ch. 3 on Scythian history as seen in the light of language (p. 97–145) is an attempt to make out the essentials of Scythian historical phonology and to identify Scythian linguistic contacts with other languages. The author in part works with new sound laws not yet ascertained and thus maintains, contrary to the common opinion, that the Scythian language differs markedly from Sarmatian (p. 145). In all, there remain many unsettled questions, and the discussion must go on.