This book is dedicated to one of the most mysterious problems of the ancient history of Eastern Europe - the heyday and sudden dramatic fall of the great Scythian kingdom in the 7th-3rd centuries. BC e. Its content is based on the materials of archaeological research on the territory of Ukraine and Russia (including the author's own excavations on the Middle Don), as well as on the information of ancient and Eastern thinkers.The author tried to convey to the widest circles of readers all the charm of the original and the bright culture of the warlike Scythians - nomadic Iranian-speaking tribes who came to the Northern Black Sea region from the depths of Asia in the 7th century. BC e.