Histories

Herodotus

Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).

The Scythians howl in their joy at the vapor-bath. This serves them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.

But their women pound cypress and cedar and frankincense wood on a rough stone, adding water also, and with the thick stuff thus pounded they anoint their bodies and faces, as a result of which not only does a fragrant scent come from them, but when on the second day they take off the ointment, their skin becomes clear and shining.

But as regards foreign customs, the Scythians (like others) very much shun practising those of any other country, and particularly of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, as was proved in the case of Anacharsis and also of Scyles.