Origin of The Serbs - Early Historical Records of The Serb Name

Early Historical Records of The Serb Name

Various authors mentioned names of Serbs (Serbian: Srbi / Срби) and Sorbs (Upper Sorbian: Serbja; Lower Sorbian: Serby) in different variants: Surbii, Suurbi, Serbloi, Zeriuani, Sorabi, Surben, Sarbi, Serbii, Serboi, Zirbi, Surbi, Sorben, etc. These authors used these names to refer to Serbs and Sorbs in areas where their historical (or current) presence was/is not disputed (notably in the Balkans and Lusatia), but there are also sources that mention same or similar names in other parts of the World (most notably in the Asiatic Sarmatia in the Caucasus). Attempts of various researchers to connect these names with modern Serbs produced various theories about the origin of the Serb people.

Early historical mentions of a "Serb" ethnonym in the Caucasus

• Pliny the Younger in his work Plinii Caecilii Secundi Historia naturalis from the first century AD (69-75) mentioned people named Serbi, who lived near the Cimmerians, presumably on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
• In the 2nd century (around 175 AD), the Egyptian scientist Claudius Ptolemy mentioned in his Geography people named Serboi or Sirboi, who presumably lived behind the Caucasus, in the hinterland of the Caspian Sea.
• In the 10th century, Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (912-959) mentioned in his book De Ceremoniis, apart from the Slavic Croats and Serbs, there were two tribes named Krevatades (Krevatas) and Sarban (Sarbani), which some researches identified as Croats and Serbs. These tribes were located in the Caucasus near the river Terek, between Alania and Tsanaria. The Sarban tribe in the Caucasus in the 10th century was also recorded by an Arab geographer.

Early historical mentions of other Serb-sounding names that some researchers are trying to connect with the Serb people

• In the same book where he mentioned people named Serboi, Claudius Ptolemy also mentioned city named Serbinum in Pannonia.
• Ancient geographer Strabo mentioned that river Xanthos in Lycia was formerly named Sirbis.
• Herodotus mentions lake named Serbonis in Egypt. This lake was also mentioned as Sirbonis by Strabo.

• People with name Sirbi near the estuary of the river Volga, on Ptolemaic map from 1552.

• People with name Sirbi near the estuary of the river Volga, on Ptolemaic map from 1598.

• People with name Serbi (Серби) near the estuary of the river Volga, according to the map from the book of Jovan Rajić, printed in Vienna in 1794.