A people of the Eurasian steppe probably Iranian speaking. Their name could derive from Hittite kummeru "country".

In Assyrian records they seem to correspond to the Ga-mir or Gi-mir-a-a. In the eighth century, many Cimmerians moved to the southwest, to the region north of the Caucasus. Here, they threatened the kingdom of Urartu. The Urartean king Rusa launched a preventive attack, but was defeated in c.720 BCE. Almost immediately, the Cimmerians invaded Urartu and looted the country as far south as Lake Urmia.

In Phrygia, in 710-709 BCE, Midas (Mit-ta-a in Assyrian sources) asked the Assyrian king Sargon II for help. This did not prevent a Cimmerian invasion. In 696-695 BCE, Midas committed suicide having lost a battle against the Cimmerians.

Lydia was attacked in 665 BCE but the Lydian king Gyges repelled them although he was killed in action. Twenty years later, a new invasion in 644 BCE defeated the Lydians and the capital Sardis was looted.

The Cimmerians then raided the Greek towns in Aeolia, Ionia, and Paphlagonia, capturing Sinope. After 640 BCE, the Cimmerian leader Lygdamis (Dugdammê) attacked Assyria, but was defeated. A defeat inflicted upon them by the Lydian king Alyattes around 610 BCE, ended the Cimmerians menace and they were no longer mentioned in the record.

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