Eskam

Eskam (fl. 448-449 AD) was Hun living in 5th-century Pannonia, then under the Hunnic Empire. He was possibly a shaman. His daughter was one of the numerous wives of Attila the Hun.

Etymology

Otto Maenchen-Helfen derived his name from Turkic as, meaning "friend, companion", and qam, meaning "shaman."[1][2] Omeljan Pritsak instead derived the first element from Hunnic es/äs "great, old", while also deriving the second element from Altaic qām "sorcerer, pagan priest".[3]

Biography

Given Maenchen-Helfen's etymology, it is possible that Eskam was a Hunnic shaman.[4][5] He and his daughter are mentioned by Priscus in his account of his visit to the court of Attila], around 448 AD. During their voyage with the Hun king towards his favorite town, the paths of Priscus' envoy and the Hunnic king's temporarily separated as the king was to pay a visit to Eskam and marry his daughter.[6] During their trip to Attila's favorite town, his envoy joined the king himself and a company of Huns, who were heading in the same direction after hunting in Roman territory. They spent one day at Attila's encampment and then departed with him. However, at a certain point they were forced to continue along a different route, as Attila was proceeding to a village where he would marry the daughter of a certain Eskam.[6]

The account of Priscus has survived only in fragments, and it is possible that this Eskam had already been mentioned in the now lost text.[7] Priscus specifies that Attila would marry Eskam's daughter even though he had many other wives, since "the Scythians (i.e. Huns) practice polygamy".[6]

References
  1. Maenchen-Helfen, Otto. "Eskam". Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  2. Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aeivi Volumes 2-4. Otto Harrassowitz. 1983. p. 90. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  3. Pritsak, Omeljan (1982). "The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan" (PDF). Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. IV (4): 442–443. ISSN 0363-5570. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  4. Ripinsky-Naxon, Michael (1993). The Nature of Shamanism Substance and Function of a Religious Metaphor. State University of New York Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780791413869.
  5. Wolfram, Herwig (2005). Dunlap, Thomas (ed.). The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples. University of California Press. pp. 131, 351. ISBN 9780520244900.
  6. Hughes, Ian (2019). Attila the Hun Arch-Enemy of Rome. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 9781473890329. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  7. Herbert, William (1838). Attila King of the Huns. H.G. Bohn. p. 382. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
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