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Phryni

 

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Phryni



 
 
The Phryni were an ancient people of eastern Central Asia, probably located in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of more than 400,000 km2. It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in PRC's far west....
, in an area connected to that of the Seres
Seres

Seres was the ancient Greek language and Latin name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China, . It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
 and the Tocharians
Tocharians

The Tocharians were the Tocharian language-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity....
.

They are mentioned several times in Classical sources.

Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, speaking of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BCE....
 explains that:

"they extended their empire even as far as the Seres
Seres

Seres was the ancient Greek language and Latin name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China, . It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
 (Chinese) and the Phryni"
(Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, ).


Later, Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 includes the Phryni (which he names "Phruri") in his description of the people of the Far East:

"...After leaving these, we again come to a nation of the Scythians, and then again to desert tracts tenanted by wild beasts, until we reach a chain of mountains which runs up to the sea, and bears the name of Tabis (ie.






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The Phryni were an ancient people of eastern Central Asia, probably located in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin
Tarim Basin

The Tarim Basin is a large endorheic basin occupying an area of more than 400,000 km2. It is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in PRC's far west....
, in an area connected to that of the Seres
Seres

Seres was the ancient Greek language and Latin name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China, . It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
 and the Tocharians
Tocharians

The Tocharians were the Tocharian language-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity....
.

They are mentioned several times in Classical sources.

Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, speaking of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world, covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 to 125 BCE....
 explains that:

"they extended their empire even as far as the Seres
Seres

Seres was the ancient Greek language and Latin name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China, . It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
 (Chinese) and the Phryni"
(Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, ).


Later, Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 includes the Phryni (which he names "Phruri") in his description of the people of the Far East:

"...After leaving these, we again come to a nation of the Scythians, and then again to desert tracts tenanted by wild beasts, until we reach a chain of mountains which runs up to the sea, and bears the name of Tabis (ie. Tibet
Tibet

Tibet is a Tibetan Plateau in Asia, north of the Himalayas, and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people and its related ethnic groups. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres , it is the highest region on Earth and has in recent decades increasingly been referred to as the "Roof of the World"....
). It is not, however, before we have traversed very nearly one half of the coast that looks towards the north-east, that we find it occupied by inhabitants. The first people that are known of here are the Seres
Seres

Seres was the ancient Greek language and Latin name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China, . It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
, so famous for the wool that is found in their forests (...) and the nation of the Attacori on the gulf of that name, a people protected by their sunny hills from all noxious blasts (...)After the Attacori, we find the nations of the Phruri and the Tochari
Tocharians

The Tocharians were the Tocharian language-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity....
, and, in the interior, the Casiri, a people of India, who look toward the Scythians, and feed on human flesh."
(Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
, Natural History, )