The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

those people Phoenicians and the province Phoenicia
after his own name. 56. Moreover,theSidonitesare
thought to have drawn their name from the city called
Sidon. 57.TheSaracensaresocalled either because they
claim to be descendants of Sarah or, as the pagans say,
because they are of Syrian origin, as if the word were
Syriginae.They live in a very large deserted region. They
are also Ishmaelites, as the Book of Genesis teaches us,
because they sprang from Ishmael. They are also named
Kedar, from the son of Ishmael, and Agarines, from the
name Agar (i.e. Hagar). As we have said, they are called
Saracens from an alteration of their name, because they
are proud to be descendants of Sarah.
58.Philistines are the same as Palestinians, because the
Hebrew language lacks the letter p and uses the Greek
phi in its place. Hence they say Philistine for Palestinians,
expressly from the name of their city. They are also
called Allophyli, that is, “of foreign descent,” because
they were always enemies of Israel and were set far apart
from their race and society. 59. Canaanites were named
after Canaan the son of Ham, and the Jews occupied their
land. From this origin came Emor, the father of Sichem,
for whom the Amorites were named. 60.TheEgyptians
were named after a certain King Aegyptus, whereas earlier
they were called Aerians. In the Hebrew language
‘Egyptians’ means “afflicters,” because they afflicted the
people of God before they were liberated with divine
assistance. 61. Armenius of Thessaly was one of Jason’s
generals who set out for Colchis with a gathered multitude
that wandered here and there upon the loss of their
king Jason. He founded Armenia, and gave that nation
its name after his own name.
62. ThePersianboundary, which divides the Scythians
from them, is named Scytha, and the Scythians are
regarded by some people as having been named from
that boundary–anationalwaysheldtobeveryancient.
They were ancestors of the Parthians and Bactrians; further,
Scythian women founded the kingdom of the Amazons.
63.TheMassagetes are of Scythian origin, and they
are called Massagetes because they are ‘weighty,’ that is,
‘strong’ Getae – for Livy speaks of silver as weighty, that
is, as ‘masses’ (cf. massa, “mass”). They live in north-
7 The writings of Julius Titianus, second century ce, are
lost; Isidore cites him at second hand from Servius on Aeneid
11.651.
The Etymologies IX.ii.55–ii.71 195
ern regions between the Scythians and the Albanians.
64. The Amazons are so called either because they live
together without men, as if the word were (“living
together”), or because they had their right breasts
burnt off so that their shooting of arrows would not be
hindered, as ifitwere (“without breasts”).
Indeed, they would expose the breast that they had
burned off. Titianus calls them ‘One-Breasted’ (Unimammae),
for that is ‘Amazon,’ as if the term were
, that is, “without a breast.” 7 Amazons no longer
exist, because they were wiped out partly by Hercules
and partly by Achilles or Alexander.
65.The Scythian peoples in regions of Asia Minor, who
believe that they are descendants of Jason, are born with
white (albus)hair because of the incessant snow, and the
color of their hair gave the nation its name – hence they
are called Albanians. A blue-gray, that is, colored pupil
is present in their eyes, so that they see better by night
than by day. Also, the Albanians were neighbors of the
Amazons. 66.The Hugnians were formerly called Huns,
and afterwards – after the name of their king – Avars, and
they first lived in farthest Maeotis, between the icy Tanais
(i.e. the Don) and the savage peoples of the Massagetes.
Then, with their nimble horses, they burst forth from
the crags of the Caucasus, where Alexander’s Gates had
been keeping the fierce nations back. They held the East
captive for twenty years, and exacted an annual tribute
from the Egyptians and the Ethiopians.
67.The Trojan nation was formerly named the Dardanian,
from Dardanus. The brothers Dardanus and Jasius
emigrated from Greece, and Jasius came to Thrace, Dardanus
to Phrygia, where he was the first ruler. After him
succeeded his son Ericthonius, and then his grandson
Tros, from whomtheTrojans were named. 68.The Galatians
are also known as the Gauls, and when they were
called to the aid of the king of Bithynia they divided
the kingdom with him when victory was attained. Then,
mixed with the Greeks in this way, they were first called
Gallogreeks, but now they are named Galatians after
their ancient name of Galli (i.e. Gauls).
69. The Greeks were formerly named Thessalians,
from Thessalus, and afterwards called Greeks, from King
Graecus – for Greeks are properly Thessalians. 70. Further,
people say that the Lapiths were a nation of Thessaly
who once lived by the river Penios and were named after
Lapitha, the daughter of Apollo. 71. TheGreeknation
of Sicyonians was named after King Sicyon. These were