The Maeotian Swamp or Maeotian Marshes (Ancient Greek: ἡ Μαιῶτις λίμνη, hē Maiōtis límnē, literally Maeotian Lake; Latin: Palus Maeotis) was a name applied in antiquity variously to the swamps at the mouth of the Tanais River in Scythia (the modern Don in southern Russia) and to the entire Sea of Azov which it forms there. The sea was also known as the Maeotian Lake (Ancient Greek: ἡ Μαιῶτις λίμνη, hē Maiōtis límnē; Latin: Lacus Maeotis) among other names. The people who lived around the sea were known as the Maeotians, although it remains unclear which was named for which. The Kerch Strait joins the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
The Ixomates were a tribe of the Maeotes. To the south of the Maeotes, east of the Crimea were the Sindes, their lands known as Scythia Sindica.