Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised. Imagine an
Speaker 1: ancient battlefield littered with the carnage of the aftermath of
Speaker 1: a great battle. One side has emerged as victorious, and
Speaker 1: now the slow, arduous task of inventoring the corpses has begun.
Speaker 1: Time for the victors to take stock of what has
Speaker 1: been lost and what has been gained. But there's something
Speaker 1: unusual in this scene. A woman walking among the bodies.
Speaker 1: Judging by the way the survivors defer to her, it's
Speaker 1: pretty obvious that she's their ruler, a warrior queen. In
Speaker 1: her hand, she clutches a bag, a simple wine skin
Speaker 1: made of leathered animal hide. At first glance, you might
Speaker 1: think she's brought libations to toast her army's victory, but
Speaker 1: you would be very wrong. In the bag is a
Speaker 1: severed head, and it's not the head of some random soldier.
Speaker 1: This head belonged to her sworn enemy, who also happened
Speaker 1: to be the most powerful man in that part of
Speaker 1: the world. That head which once devised brilliant strategies and
Speaker 1: conquered dynasties was now reduced to sloshing around in a
Speaker 1: bag filled with the blood of his fellow fallen soldiers.
Speaker 1: If you are a little tired of before he cheats
Speaker 1: as a female rage anthem, I will direct you toward
Speaker 1: another innovator in the field of revenge. This is the
Speaker 1: story of Tamyris, the warrior queen who brought down an
Speaker 1: empire builder, who avenged her son's death, and who made
Speaker 1: sure her enemy got exactly what she promised. It's also
Speaker 1: one of history's most spectacular examples of messing with the
Speaker 1: wrong woman. I'm Danish Schwartz, and this is noble blood.
Speaker 1: The majority of what we know about Tomyris comes from
Speaker 1: the writings of Herodotus, the Greek historian and geographer writing
Speaker 1: in fifth century b c. Herodotus is known as the
Speaker 1: father of history for an approach that combined rigorous documentation
Speaker 1: with cultural context and human observation. One important thing to
Speaker 1: note is that in terms of sources, Herodotus isn't exactly
Speaker 1: pure reviewed. We're dealing with bias and also the possibility
Speaker 1: of outright fabrication, given that we don't know where he
Speaker 1: got his information, and as with many ancient stories, this
Speaker 1: one would not pass the Bechdel test, but it's still
Speaker 1: a hell of a ride. Little is known about Tamyris's husband,
Speaker 1: only he was king of the Masengati, a nomadic warrior
Speaker 1: tribe who lived for centuries around the steps of Central Asia.
Speaker 1: The Masengati rode horses and worshiped the sun, and they
Speaker 1: were notable for their progressive views on women. It makes
Speaker 1: sense that when Tamyris's husband died, she would take over
Speaker 1: the throne and rule the confederation in his place. In
Speaker 1: their world, a warrior queen was just as good as
Speaker 1: a warrior king. But to outside forces, that progress looked
Speaker 1: a lot like opportunity. Cyrus the Second of Persia, or
Speaker 1: Cyrus the Great, as he's generally known, was an immensely
Speaker 1: powerful force in the region and the architect of what
Speaker 1: would become the Persian Empire. He was a clever military
Speaker 1: strategist who won many challenging campaigns, and a voracious conqueror.
Speaker 1: Expansion at all costs was his primary objective. We can
Speaker 1: also probably imagine that he was a man who didn't
Speaker 1: like being told no. After all, he overthrew his own
Speaker 1: grandfather to claim his throne. When Cyrus set his sights
Speaker 1: on the Masengetti, he saw opportunity. The tribe lived on
Speaker 1: the other side of the Eraxis River, and conquering their
Speaker 1: territory would set up the Persian Empire for even more expansion.
Speaker 1: The barbarian horsepeople with a female leader seemed like an
Speaker 1: easy target. Considering the campaigns he'd won in the past,
Speaker 1: Cyrus had no reason to doubt his success would only continue.
Speaker 1: He hadn't anticipated that the widowed warrior queen would turn
Speaker 1: out to be the most formidable opponent he had ever faced,
Speaker 1: the opponent who would lead to his ultimate death. But
Speaker 1: as I said to Cyrus, this whole thing seemed like
Speaker 1: a lay. Besides, he was single, Tomyris was single. They
Speaker 1: would get married, and Cyrus would get control of the Masingetti.
Speaker 1: It's an easy, non hostile takeover. But Tomiris saw through
Speaker 1: his plan and turned down his offer of marriage. And
Speaker 1: that's when things really started to head south. If you
Speaker 1: think men today don't like being rejected, imagine how well
Speaker 1: it went over with someone who collected empires like Pokemon cards.
Speaker 1: Cyrus would later be praised for a ruling style that
Speaker 1: actually employed a fair amount of autonomy among his subjects,
Speaker 1: but when it came to Tomyris, he wouldn't take no
Speaker 1: foreign answer. If he couldn't conquer the Masengetti by marriage
Speaker 1: the easy way, he would have to do it the
Speaker 1: old fashioned way. Sources differ on whether or not Cyrus
Speaker 1: actually declared war on the Massingetti, but whether or not
Speaker 1: he made it official. When his army began building a
Speaker 1: bridge that would carry his men across the Araxis into
Speaker 1: Massngati territory, there was no question of his intentions. Tomyris
Speaker 1: sent word to him advising him to call off his attack,
Speaker 1: basically employing the you do you and I'll do me approach.
Speaker 1: But of course Cyrus was not content to let her
Speaker 1: be the one that got away. Instead, he decided to
Speaker 1: enter the territory and enter what we might call today
Speaker 1: the f around and find out stage. After dismissing Tomyris's warning,
Speaker 1: Cyrus went to the root of many modern day toxic
Speaker 1: men who blame not getting what they want on women
Speaker 1: quote not liking nice guys. Although a brief note, Cyrus
Speaker 1: was never a nice guy. But if Tomyris wouldn't give
Speaker 1: him her kingdom as a wedding gift, he would just
Speaker 1: have to take it. By force. Cyrus was advised by
Speaker 1: others not to cross the Araxis and put his arm
Speaker 1: me in foreign territory. Instead, he was counseled to let
Speaker 1: the Messengetti come to him, giving him the home advantage.
Speaker 1: That was sound reasoning, but he quickly discarded it. At
Speaker 1: the time. Cyrus's most trusted advice came from an unusual source, Criesus,
Speaker 1: the former king of Lydia of richer than Creesus fame.
Speaker 1: Cresus actually became Cyrus's subject after the Persians conquered Lydia
Speaker 1: several years earlier. Despite defeating Creesus in battle, Cyrus leaned
Speaker 1: on him for advice and appreciated the man's aggressively old
Speaker 1: school stance on things like women in power. He wasn't
Speaker 1: a fan. Crisus urged Cyrus to bring the fight to
Speaker 1: to Myrius. Whether he was still stinging from the rejection
Speaker 1: of his marriage proposal or just itching for a good fight.
Speaker 1: Cyrus took Criesus's advice and decided to attack the Mesengeti
Speaker 1: on their own turf. Cyrus invaded, but after crossing the river,
Speaker 1: they were quickly defeated by Tomyris's army. The Persian army retreated,
Speaker 1: and Creesus helped Cyrus formulate a new plan, one that
Speaker 1: wouldn't rely on physical domination at all. Like other local
Speaker 1: tribes at the time, the Mesengeti were milk drinkers. Their
Speaker 1: intoxicants of choice were cannabis and fermented mare's milk. They
Speaker 1: had no experience with and therefore no tolerance for wine.
Speaker 1: That inspired a diabolically clever maneuver that would be the
Speaker 1: beginning of the end for Cyrus. According to Herodotus's account,
Speaker 1: Cyrus had a large banquet set up under Persian tents.
Speaker 1: It was a sumptuous feast with plenty of strong wine.
Speaker 1: Then Cyrus and his men withdrew, leaving the banquet intact,
Speaker 1: with theation that surely the Persian army had quickly retreated
Speaker 1: and left all of their goodies behind. With that the
Speaker 1: trap was set, The Masengeti army, led by Tomyris's son,
Speaker 1: came upon the tents and discovered what appeared to be
Speaker 1: an abandoned feast. Naturally, the warriors dug in and helped
Speaker 1: themselves to everything they found. The wine flowed freely, and
Speaker 1: the warriors soon discovered that they had no tolerance for
Speaker 1: this stuff. The entire contingent quickly fell into a drunken stupor.
Speaker 1: Little did they know that they had walked right into
Speaker 1: Cyrus's trap. As soon as the Masengeti were incapacitated, the
Speaker 1: Persian army descended. The previously fearsome warriors became sitting ducks,
Speaker 1: and they were quickly slaughtered by the invading army. It
Speaker 1: was a brilliant plan that exploited the differences in their
Speaker 1: cultures and allowed for an easy victory for Cyrus. Tomyris's
Speaker 1: son was taken alive, but he wouldn't remain that way
Speaker 1: for long. Once the young prince was able to sober
Speaker 1: up and realize what had happened to his fellow soldiers,
Speaker 1: the magnitude of the situation was clear. As it set
Speaker 1: in that he had led his men directly to their
Speaker 1: own slaughter, the shame became unbearable. Unable to picture a
Speaker 1: world where he could go back and face his mother,
Speaker 1: he took his own life. Other sources have Cyrus killing
Speaker 1: Tomyris's son himself, but anyway you look at it, the
Speaker 1: blame for the young man's death rested squarely on Cyrus. Naturally,
Speaker 1: when Tomyris found out what happened, her rage was all consuming.
Speaker 1: She sent Cyrus a barn burner of a message that
Speaker 1: was the tonal opposite of her polite first morning. This
Speaker 1: one was glutton for blood. Your weapon was red wine,
Speaker 1: which you Persians drinks until you are so crazy that
Speaker 1: shameful words float on the liquor's fumes. This was the
Speaker 1: poison you used to destroy my army and my son.
Speaker 1: Leave my land now, or I swear by the sun,
Speaker 1: I will give you more blood than you can drink.
Speaker 1: Of course, Cyrus did not retreat, and the warrior queen
Speaker 1: made good on her threat. What followed was an epically
Speaker 1: destructive fight between the Persians and the Masengeti, so brutal
Speaker 1: that it was described by Herodotus as the fiercest battle
Speaker 1: among barbarians in the ancient world. Fighting began at long
Speaker 1: range with bows and arrows. Then things got up close
Speaker 1: and personal with spear and dagger work that put on
Speaker 1: vivid display the full force of the Masengeti fighting prowess.
Speaker 1: The Masengeti didn't just defeat Cyrus's forces, they destroyed them.
Speaker 1: When the battle and end, and did Cyrus the Great
Speaker 1: himself lay dead on the battlefield, but Tomyrius wasn't finished.
Speaker 1: The warrior queen had one final move to make, and
Speaker 1: this one was grotesquely literal. She searched among the fallen
Speaker 1: Persian soldiers until she found Cyrus's corpse. She ordered his
Speaker 1: head to be chopped off. Then she dropped Cyrus's head
Speaker 1: into a wine skin full of blood that had been
Speaker 1: collected from his men. As she did this, she cried,
Speaker 1: drink your fill of blood. Was dunking the dead king's
Speaker 1: head in his own soldier's blood overkill? Some might say, yes,
Speaker 1: but the wrath of a grieving mother is not a
Speaker 1: thing to underestimate. Cyrus the Great, who had built an
Speaker 1: empire through conquest and clever strategy, met his end at
Speaker 1: the hands of a woman he had underestimated. Tomyris proved
Speaker 1: that to defying her warnings carried severe consequences, and that
Speaker 1: men didn't have a monopoly on rage. I think we
Speaker 1: can all agree that, in modern terms, carrying your enemy's
Speaker 1: decapitated head around in a wine bag full of his
Speaker 1: own soldier's blood is about as f around and find
Speaker 1: out as you can get. Little is known about Tomyris's
Speaker 1: life following her victory over Cyrus, but her actions in
Speaker 1: that battle were enough to gain her a good amount
Speaker 1: of notoriety. Throughout the centuries, Tomyris became part of a
Speaker 1: popular artistic theme of celebrating powerful female figures who triumphed
Speaker 1: over men. Women like Tomyris, or like Judith over Holophernes.
Speaker 1: Tomiris was especially popular during the Renaissance, when European artists
Speaker 1: and writers couldn't get enough of her story. They were,
Speaker 1: of course, especially fond of depicting the final gruesome moment
Speaker 1: with Cyrus's head and the blood filled wine skin. One
Speaker 1: particularly notable work was a fresco by the Renaissance painter
Speaker 1: Andrea del Castagno, which was discovered in Florence in eighteen
Speaker 1: forty seven. Among the nine larger than life figures portrayed,
Speaker 1: Tomyris stands proudly alongside literary giants like Dante and Petrart.
Speaker 1: The partially worn inscription beneath her feet celebrated two of
Speaker 1: her key achievements, avenging her son and deliberating her people.
Speaker 1: We can assume that showboding with her enemy's decapitated head
Speaker 1: was a third unspoken highlight. But Tomyris was not just
Speaker 1: a Renaissance fascination. Ancient writers couldn't get enough of her
Speaker 1: story either. She represented something unique, a woman who defeated
Speaker 1: the most powerful man of her time in battle. She
Speaker 1: was both a grieving mother seeking vengeance and a fierce
Speaker 1: warrior queen protecting her people. That duality made for an
Speaker 1: iconic figure whose legacy would stand the test of time. Today,
Speaker 1: Tamyris lives on across Central Asia. She's claimed as a
Speaker 1: national heroine by multiple countries, including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and
Speaker 1: regions of Western Turkey. In those areas, the name Tomyris
Speaker 1: remained popular among young girls, a badass namesake and testament
Speaker 1: to her influence. Kazakhstan even issued coins bearing her image,
Speaker 1: cementing her place in modern cultural memory. As with many
Speaker 1: ancient historical figures, separating fact from legend in Tamyris's story
Speaker 1: can be challenging, but perhaps the exact details matter less
Speaker 1: in this case than what her story represents. She was
Speaker 1: a powerful woman who refused to be conquered either by
Speaker 1: marriage or by force, who protected her people's sovereignty at
Speaker 1: all costs, and who proved that when push comes to shove,
Speaker 1: women can act just as unhinged and violent as men can.
Speaker 1: That's the legend of Tomyris. But keep listening after a
Speaker 1: brief sponsor break, to hear a little bit about how
Speaker 1: a new discovery shed light on her story. In twenty ten,
Speaker 1: an archaeological discovery in northern Kazakhstan sparked new interest in
Speaker 1: Tomyris's story. Researchers uncovered what they called the Golden Warrior Tomb,
Speaker 1: dating back to somewhere between the seventh and fourth centuries BC.
Speaker 1: The burial site was a treasure trove containing a body
Speaker 1: adorned in gold and surrounded by more than one hundred
Speaker 1: precious objects, including one ornate tiger griffin figure, bronze arrowheads,
Speaker 1: and decorated sword belts. Initially, experts identified the skeleton as
Speaker 1: belonging to a middle aged man, but subsequent analysis has
Speaker 1: left the question of gender open. Some have speculated that
Speaker 1: this could be the tomb of Tomyris herself, although that
Speaker 1: remains purely conjecture. What's particularly interesting is that this discovery
Speaker 1: isn't isolated. A similar Saca grave found in twenty thirteen
Speaker 1: contained the remains of a tall woman wearing a golden
Speaker 1: pointed hat and elaborate jewelry, proving that powerful women were
Speaker 1: indeed honored with magnificent burials in this region and era.
Speaker 1: Whether or not one of those tombs belonged to Tomyris,
Speaker 1: it's undeniable that the power of her story lives on.
Speaker 1: The warrior Queen of the Masngeti exists in a space
Speaker 1: between history and legend, fact and interpretation. But what remains
Speaker 1: across centuries and culture is how irresistible that story is.
Speaker 1: What's not to love about a story of resistance, revenge, and,
Speaker 1: let's face it, the ultimate accessory. Here's a free idea
Speaker 1: for any fashion designers out there. A Tomiras handbag head
Speaker 1: not included. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and
Speaker 1: Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted
Speaker 1: by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by
Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and Julia Melaney.
Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with
Speaker 1: supervising producer rima il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Mankey,
Speaker 1: Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.