Iyrcae

The Iyrcae were an ancient nation on the north-east trade route described by Herodotus (iv. 22) beyond the Thyssagetae, somewhere about the upper basins of the Tobol and the Irtysh.

They were distinguished by their mode of hunting, climbing a tree to survey their game, and then pursuing it with trained horses and dogs. They may be the ancestors of the modern Magyars, also called Yugra. The reading TvpKar. is an anachronism, and when Pliny the Elder (N.H. vi. 19) and Pomponius Mela (i. 116) speak of "Tyrcae" it is also probably due to a false correction.

References

*1911