Nyrax

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Nyrax is the name of a Celtic city ​​(πόλις Κελτιχή, polis Keltiké ) mentioned by Stephanos of Byzantium in his work Ethnika ( Greek  Ἐθνικά ; ). Stephanos refers to an older statement in the travel description of Hecataeus of Miletus ( Periegesis , Greek Περιήγησις; German "outline"). Except for Hekataios and Stephanos, the name is not mentioned by any other ancient historian. Nyrax is said to be in the early 5th century BC. BC and would have been one of the oldest "known" Celtic settlements.

Localization attempts

In contrast to the cities of Massilia (Marseille) and Narbo (Narbonne) also mentioned in Hekataios, Nyrax cannot be located, although it also settles in the hinterland of Massilia. An equation sometimes made with Nyons is a blank speculation because of the similar name.

Historians of the 19th and early 20th centuries suggested that Nyrax could be identical to Noreia , the capital of the Kingdom of Noricum , which cannot be precisely located either . The location of Noreia on the Carinthian Magdalensberg near Klagenfurt is not without controversy, although according to recent research it is very likely. However, since the earliest historical mention of Noreia took place during the invasion of the Cimbri (113 BC), there are around four centuries between Hekataios' report and this point in time. Archaeological finds also suggest that the Magdalensberg was settled before the late 2nd or 1st century BC. BC unoccupied. There is also no etymological connection between the two names Nyrax and Noreia.

Additional recent research controversial localizations were the land of the Ligurians ( Ukert , 1832), Niort in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Bischoff, 1829; Reinganum, 1839), Spain ( Meyer , 1884-1902) and the Heuneburg in Sigmaringen County ( Schneider, 1975).

The argument of d'Arbois de Jubainville that the Celts had their origins in Central Europe was based on the above-mentioned assumptions about the determination of the location of Nyrax - especially its equality with Noreia . The refutation of the localization theses also removed the basis for this theory.

literature

  • Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 38.
  • Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville: Principaux Auteurs de la Antiquité à consulter sur L'Histoire des Celtes depuis les Temps plus anciens jusqu'au Règne de Théodose Ier. Cours de littérature celtique 12, Albert Fontemoing, Paris 1902.
  • Alexander Demandt : Die Kelten , CH Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-43301-4 .
  • Joachim Herrmann (Ed.): Greek and Latin sources on the early history of Central Europe up to the middle of the 1st millennium a. Z. 4 vol., Berlin 1988-1992, volume I, p. 44 f.
  • Bernhard Maier : History and Culture of the Celts. CH Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich, 2012, ISBN 978-3-4066-4143-5 .
  • Susanne Sievers , Otto Helmut Urban , Peter C. Ramsl: Lexicon for Celtic Archeology. A-K; LZ . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-7001-6765-5 , p. 1397.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernhard Maier: History and culture of the Celts. P. 4.
  2. ↑ a b Alexander Demandt: Die Kelten , p. 12.
  3. ↑ Friedrich August Ukert: Geography of the Greeks and Romans from the earliest times up to Ptolemy, Volume 2. Geographisches Institut, 1832, p. 15.
  4. ^ Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Bischoff: Comparative dictionary of the old, middle and new geography. Becker, 1829, p. 1082.
  5. ↑ Hermann Reinganum: History of the earth and country images of the ancients, especially the Greeks and Romans. Friedrich Mauke, 1839, p. 15.
  6. ↑ Eduard Meyer: Geschichte des Altertums, Volume 3. Jazzybee Verlag, ISBN 978-3-8496-2518-4 , footnote 927.
  7. ^ Wilhelm Schneider: Work on the Alemannic early history: Contributions to the early medieval history of the Swabian Alb. W. Schneider Selbstverlag, 1975, p. 28.