- On the map compiled according to Ptolemy's "Geography" and printed in London in 1770, the Melanchlainaei are marked in its upper part, east of the Tanais River (modern Don), that is, in the territory of Asian Sarmatia.
Melanchlaeni — a people in 'black cloaks' on the Caucasian coast of the Pontus, between Dioscurias and Phasis (in the area of modern Abkhazia). A wild people, living in Asian Sarmatia, of non-Scythian origin; they ate human flesh (Hdt. 4, 107); they received their name from the dark color of their clothing. According to Herodotus (4, 20, 21), they lived north of the Royal Scythians along the upper course of the Don River and bordered to the north on great swamps. Later writers believe that this people also lived in Colchis and in European Sarmatia.
VARIANT NAMES: Latin. Melanchlaeni, Melanchlaenes, Greek. Μελαγχλαΐνοι, Μελαγγλαινοι, Μελαγχλαινοι.
Sources:
Ethnogenesis of the Abkhazians. D.A. Arshba, 2015