The Caspians or Caspi were ancient people dwelling along the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea.[1] The Caspians have generally been regarded as a pre-Indo-European, that is, a pre-Iranian, people and have even been identified by some scholars with the Kassites.[1] However onomastic evidence bearing on this point has been newly discovered. The Aramaic papyri from Egypt, in which several Caspian names are mentioned, are in part, etymologically Iranian. The Caspians must therefore be considered either an Iranian people or strongly under Iranian cultural influence.[1]
