The Alans are numerous Iranian—speaking tribes that emerged in the 1st century BC from the semi-nomadic Sarmatian population of the Northern Caspian Sea, the Don and the Ciscaucasia. The Alans were nomads. Their lifestyle and appearance were described in detail by the Roman historian of the IV century A.D. Ammianus Marcellinus: "They have no huts, none of them plow; they live on meat and milk, live in caravans covered with pieces of tree bark bent in the form of an arch, and transport them across endless steppes." The Alans were renowned as excellent warriors. Boys were taught to ride horses from childhood, and the Alan warriors considered it humiliating for them to walk. Being nomads, they were mainly engaged in cattle breeding. The Alans did not know slavery. Some sources report the existence of polygamy among them. Having no temples, they worshipped only one god, the god of war, and worshipped a naked sword thrust into the bare earth. Later evidence suggests that the Alans also worshiped the spirits of their ancestors.
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