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Abstract
A.A. Maslennikov (Moscow) – G.M. Nikolaenko, T.N. Smekalova, E.A. Terekhin, A.E. Pasumanskiy. Atlas of the Near Chora of Tauric Chersonesus. Vol. I (Series ‘‘Archaeological Atlases of the Nothern Black Sea, 3). Saint-Petersburg, 2020; G.M. Nikolaenko, T.N. Smekalova, E.A. Terekhin, E.N. Voskresenskaya, V.V. Lebedinskiy, A.E. Pasumanskiy. Atlas of the Near Chora of Tauric Chersonesus. Vol. II. (Series ‘‘Archaeological Atlases of the Nothern Black Sea, 4). Saint-Petersburg, 2022
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Abstract
The article publishes two terracotta statuettes of Demeter from the Egyptian collection of V.S. Golenishchev (inv. No. Pushkin Museum I, 1a 2867 and I, 1a 2899). Numerous analogies are known to them; the closest ones come from the poleis of Ionia and the Northern Black Sea region. In addition, Golenishchev’s terracottas have obvious similarities with the archaic terracotta statuettes of Demeter from Rhodes. Terracotta figurines of Demeter from the Pushkin Museum apparently date back to the first half of the 6th century. BC. They are not made from Egyptian clay and are clearly imported; hence the author believes that they were brought to Egypt, most likely through Naucratis. The possible localization of their production is Ionia or the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greek trading posts appeared in Archaic and Classical times, for example, in the town of Al-Mina in Syria.
Keywords
Collection of V.S. Golenishchev, Pushkin Museum, terracotta figurines, Demeter, Egypt, Greece, Ionia, Northern Black Sea region, Naucratis.
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Abstract
This is the third part of the survey of archaeological ceramics kept in the Department of Archaeological Monuments (sector of the Early Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages and sector of the Middle Ages) of the State Historical Museum (Moscow). It is devoted by the materials of the Middle Ages. The published material is divided into sections in accordance with the geographical, cultural and chronological principles: ceramics of the early Slavic and the Old Russian period, The Central Asia and the Lower Volga region, the Byzantine and Khazar period, the medieval Crimea, Bosporus, and the ceramics of the Late Middle Ages. The chronological framework covers the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. The early Slavic and the Old Russian period is presented by the materials of Gnezdovo, the Yaroslavl Volga region etc. The collections of the Central Asia are included the Afrasiab settlement, Dzhanbas-Kala, Zamakhshar, Narindzhan-Baba, etc. The Lower Volga collections consist the materials of Bolgar, Bilyar, Suvar, Madzhar, Selitrennoe, Vodyanskoe, Tsarevskoye settlements. The biggest block of the byzantine ceramics, is represented by the materials of Chersoneses. The collection of ceramics of the Khazar period is represented by etalon sites of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture. The ceramics collections of Crimea and Bosporus are illustrated by the materials of the “cave cities”, Feodosia, Kerch and Phanagoria. The materials of the period Moscow Rus are ceramics from the Moscow and all nearby provinces. Ceramic vessels come from various sites, many of which are benchmarks for their time. The funds were formed from the end of the 19th century and continue to be replenished at the present time. Many collections have not yet been published or have been published only partly and require study and introduction into scientifiс circulation at the modern scientific level.
Keywords
State Historical Museum, ceramics, Middle Ages, early modern period, Old Russia, Byzantine Empire, Central Asia, Lower Volga, Crimea, Moscow
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Abstract
The building inscription of the topoteretes Tsulabege (IOSPE³ V 172) is located on the western wall of the A.XI fortification tower (Tabana-Dere ravine, Mangup, Crimea). This epigraphic document, previously dated to 1503, was recently transferred by A.Yu. Vinogradov on the basis of an updated reading to the date as ͵ϚΦΓʹ (6503 AM = AD 994/5). This dating, accepted by a number of researchers, raises a number of questions, which this article, based on the methods of epigraphic, paleographic, literary, linguistic and comparative historical analysis, is intended to resolve. Attribution of the inscription to the end of the 10th c. does not explain the following features of its text: 1) the absence of an indict along with the date from the creation of the world; 2) an indication of the reign of one topoteretes, without mentioning the emperor or theme’s strategos; 3) the dating formula ὑπὸ ἡμερῶν. Dated official and building inscriptions drawn up on the territory of the Byzantine Empire regularly contain an indict until the 12th c. The rank of topoteretes in the 10th–11th cc. was a secondary military position, but in the 12th–14th cc. this was a name for governors of diff erent levels of authority, including autonomous rulers. Barbarism ὑπὸ ἡμερῶν is rare, but recorded in the Crimean inscriptions of the 14th–15th cc. At the same time, there are no irrefutable paleographic grounds for dating the inscription with the 10th c.: almost all letters can be found in inscriptions of the 13th c. as well. The topoteretes’s name (Tsoulabege, son of Poletas) also does not provide a narrow chronological reference. Finally, the published results of archaeological studies of the A.XI fortification allow us to conclude that there are no significant complexes at the turn of the 10th–11th cc. in Tabana-Dere. A satisfactory solution is given by reading the year as ͵ϚѠΓʹ (6803 AM = AD 1294/5). This places the inscription in the chronological context of other Mangup archaeological sites.
Keywords
Byzantine Empire, Golden Horde, Crimea, Mangup (Doros, Theodoro), inscriptions, topoteretes, Tsulabege son of Poletas, indict.
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Abstract
This paper is devoted to the study of the epitaph on the white stone tombstone of 1529/30 with a quote from the penitential verse “I see you, coffin” (CIR1001) in the historical and cultural context of the epoch. This epigraphic document was found in the Novospassky Monastery, Moscow, and is published here for the first time. The expansion of the semantic field is unique for the epitaphs of Moscow Russia of the 16th century and refl ects the completion of the global process of individualization of the image of Death in European (including Ancient Russian) culture in the 14th and 15th centuries. The penitential verse “I see thee, coffin”, which spread in post-Byzantine manuscripts and epitaphs on Mount Athos from the second half of the 15th century, refl ected the individualization of the image of Death in the Orthodox East. In Russian iconography, it appears in the paintings of the northern doors of the iconostasis in the 1540s as a signature to the image of Death-skeleton lying in a coffin, symbolizing the fate of each person. The popularity of this penitential verse in Russia is also evidenced by its numerous handwritten lists, the earliest of which date back to the early 1470s. This work also turned out to be consonant with the grave epigraphy, as evidenced by the studied epitaph. Thus, the Death- skeleton, which appeared in the world thanks to the fall of the great-parents, in a single complex with the verse “I see you, coffin”, imprinted in iconography, book culture and epigraphy, confirmed in the Russian culture of the 16th century its omnipotence and the vanity of earthly life.
Keywords
Corpus inscriptionum Rossicarum, epigraphy of Moscow Russia, epitaphs, Russian culture of the 16th century, penitential verses, Russian iconography, the image of Death.
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Abstract
The paper deals with the genre peculiarities of the “Chronicle” by John of Nikiu, a Coptic bishop of Nikiu (Egypt), who lived in the second half of the seventh century. This work survived only in Ethiopic translation contains a lot of valuable and often even unique evidence on the history of Early Byzantine Empire (4th – 6th cc.). Meanwhile, the Byzantine scholars traditionally give little attention to John’s “Chronicle” in comparison to Greek-speaking early Byzantine historians and chronographers – Procopius of Caesarea, Agathias of Myrina or John Malalas. The author of the paper tries to settle a genre of John of Nikiu’s “Chronicle”, while comparing its evidence with the “Chronography” of John Malalas (the second half of the 6th c.), in order to show how genres of Byzantine history writing infl uenced on methods and mind of the Coptic bishop, how he accepted and imaginatively revised the genres of Byzantine historical thought. As subjects of study, the author chooses two topics told by both Malalas and John of Nicia: the Moorish raids on the Byzantine provinces of North Africa. (the second half of the 6th to early 7th centuries) and the Conversion of Lazica (522). After considering these subjects, the author concluded that John of Nikiu combined two genres – the Church history and the secular (pagan) history, made according to patterns of Classical Greek history writing. These patterns followed Procopius and Agathias, and these patterns followed John of Nikiu also, when he described events of a secular (military-political) history, while the events of Christian Church’s life and history (an activity of Church structures, theological discussions, a spread of Christian Faith) are narrated by John from the perspective of Church history writing.
Keywords
John of Nikiu, Egypt, the Church history, the secular (pagan) history writing, the Moors, Lazica.
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Abstract
Divine patrons of the Roman civitas included a group of personified goods closely associated with a person of princeps. Sacred character of those ‘small’ divinities was marked with the epithet of Augusti. In the 1st century AD, the official pantheon of the Roman state started to include a whole group of numina responsible for security and collective wellbeing: Salus who had been known earlier was joined by Securtitas, Tutela (as a guardian of imperial family) and Tranquillitas. In the 2nd century, the latter goddess personifying tranquility started to appear on coins. Her attributes suggest some relation to seas and food supply emphasizing a tendency to stability and prosperity. In the 3rd century, Tranquillitas, in spite of the crisis, remained a symbol of quirites’ security, at least in regard to supply with grain and clean water. The respective legend, which existed during the reign of Philippus and Tacitus, should be considered as a promise of pacification and return to the time of ‘good emperors’. The slogan of Beata Tranquillitas, which appeared in the 4th century, was not accompanied with the goddess’ profile. This change may be interpreted not only as the evidence of winning Christianity. The Blessed Tranquility, which appeared under the dynasty of Constantine the Great, should probably be considered as the good provided by the emperor as a military leader. This ideological message is radically diff erent from the meaning of dea Tranquillitas before the Dominate. The author of the article believes that the worship of personified Tranquillitas expressed in coins represented a branch of imperial propaganda that was developing within the framework of idea about the food supply of Roman citizens. Under the Antonines and later, Tranquillitas supplemented functions of other divine virtues. It served as a central link in the functional chain represented by Abundantia–Annona– Tranquillitas–Providentia–Securitas. The benefits arranged in such order symbolized a peculiar cycle of grain logistics from growing and cropping to timely delivery to consumers, which represents the essence of food security of any state.
Keywords
Roman religion, Roman Empire, Roman coins, Security, Tranquility, agricultural production, food supply.
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Abstract
The second part of a series of the author’s publications discusses the regional administration of Alexander the Great’s Empire at the satrapal level, as well as the relationships between him and the dependent territories in the East. This work focuses on the next group of Alexander’s satrapies in Asia (from Syria to Mesopotamia) and Egypt.
Keywords
Alexander the Great, Empire, Achaemenid Power, satrapy, satrap, administration, West Asia, Egypt.
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Abstract
In the Boiotian koinon of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, many traditions of federal statehood in Boiotia, dating back to the classical period, have been preserved, including parallel administration of justice by city and federal courts. Information from narrative and epigraphic sources makes it possible to assign to the sphere of federal jurisdiction the adjudication of disputes between the poleis, primarily territorial ones, criminal justice in cases of crimes against the federation (murder of federal officials, attempted coup d’état), and also, probably, civil proceedings in those cases, when property litigation aff ected the interests of diff erent communities and their citizens. A number of scholars, not without reason, believe that an example of this last category of cases is the lawsuit between Nikareta of Thespiai and the authorities of the city of Orchomenos, which may have been settled only after the intervention of federal authorities. It is not yet possible to determine which bodies exactly played the role of federal courts in Boiotia – a permanent judicial institution or temporary commissions created each time to judge one or several cases. The suggestion that the college of thesmophylakes acted as the federal court seems to be rather controversial. With a certain degree of certainty, however, it can be argued that the Boiotians, unlike, say, the Achaeans and Thessalians, refrained from inviting foreign arbitrators to judge disputes that arose within the koinon, which fact indirectly may indicate an established system for using Boiotian judges to carry out functions of federal justice. The story told by Polybius (XX 6. 1–3) about the long cessation of all justice in Boiotia at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries is rightfully attested in recent works as not very reliable, however, a certain crisis of legal proceedings, both on the municipal and federal level, during this period must have actually taken place, although the causes and manifestations of this crisis are not entirely clear.
Keywords
Boiotia, the Boiotian koinon, federal justice, court, territorial dispute, criminal cases, litigation between Nikareta and Orchomenos, Polybios.
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Abstract
In 403 BC, there was a civil war between supporters of oligarchy and democracy in Attica. After the death of Critias, the leader of the government of the Thirty, an overturn took place in Athens, during which the College of Ten seized the power. The new oligarchic government did not immediately made peace with the democrats. An attempt to reconstruct events rests on the contradiction between the texts of Xenophon and Aristotle, as well as other sources. One of the main questions remains the number of Tens boards: two or one? In the Aristotelean “Athenian Politeia” it is reported that in 403 BC another overturn took place in Athens, during which one government of the Ten was replaced by another. The new government made peace with supporters of democracy. The historicity of the second overturn is a matter of debate. The paper discusses the number of members of the Ten and presents a version of the reconstruction of the events that took place in Attica in 403 BC.
Keywords
Athens, Greece, Tyranny of Thirty, College of Ten, Athenian Constitution, Rhinonуn.
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Abstract
This study begins a series of articles dealing with antidemocratic coups d’état in Athens in the end of the 5th century BC and their historical significance (after them and as their result, the very character of the Athenian democracy changed). The period in question became in the history of the Athenian polis a time of major instability in internal political life, and the article considers escalation of that instability in the context of the Peloponnesian war. It is usually said that the oligarchic movement in Athens suddenly gained force only after the Sicilian expedition (415–413 BC), which proved to be a full disaster. However, the article demonstrates that, as a matter of fact, oligarchic feelings grew gradually and latently already from the period of the Archidamian war, when for the first time there took shape a trend to the degeneration of Athenian radical democracy to ochlokratia led by demagogues. Unreasoned policies of that regime gave rise to the opposition, which had, in particular, Antiphon as one of its typical representatives.
Keywords
Classical Greece, Athens, oligarchy, democracy, coups d’état, Peloponnesian War, demagogues, Cleon, Thucydides, Antiphon, phoros.
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Abstract
The paper comments on references to navigation, various types of ships and sea communications mentioned in Biblical texts. The authors analyze the original Hebrew and Ancient Greek terms and names and draw conclusions about the reflection in the Bible of the development of maritime aff airs in the Near East in Antiquity. Already in the Pentateuch of Moses (Torah), the fleet appears as a symbol of military power and trade. The texts describe both the religious component and mention completely utilitarian objects and actions. Analysis of the texts of the Old Testament allows us to expand our understanding of the features of shipbuilding, ancient navigation, the scale, organization and directions of international maritime trade. For example, a program for the construction of ships on the Red Sea for regular navigation to the “country of Ophir” is mentioned, which became the most important joint undertaking of two states – Tire and the Kingdom of Israel. The religious nature of biblical texts does not deprive them of historical value.
Keywords
Old Testament, the Bible, the history of navigation, shipbuilding, Near East, sea communications.
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Abstract
On the territory of the Anapa district of the Krasnodar Territory, no more than a dozen settlements of the 8th–10th centuries are known. These include the settlement of Usatova Balka-4, firstly dating back to the ancient period, located in the vicinity of Anapa on the southern bank of the Anapka River. In 2011, a team from the South Russian Center for Archaeological Research under the leadership of A.A. Krainev identified at the site catacomb burials of the Middle Bronze Age, layers and complexes (utility pits) of the 6th–5th centuries BC to the 3rd century AD, as well as objects from the latest period (8th–9th centuries): utility pits and a twotier pottery kiln without a central support column in the combustion block, in which gray-clay polished tableware was fired. At the moment, this is the only pottery complex of the Khazar period identified on the territory of the Anapa region. Unfortunately, the pottery workshop was not completely within the excavation area, so it has not yet been possible to establish where the vessels were made, the raw materials and the finished molding mass were stored. The main and auxiliary production facilities of the workshop were not found.
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Anapa region, settlement of Usatova Balka-4, pottery kiln, polished gray-clay ceramics, Saltovo-Mayaki pottery.
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Abstract
The note discusses new types and varieties of ancient coins of Chersonesus retrieved during large-scale excavations at the southern suburb of the city-site in 2021.
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Ancient numismatics, Taurian Chersonesus, coinage, coin type.
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Abstract
The paper publishes an ostracon with a two-line graffito found during the excavations ar the Myrmecium, dating from the 2nd–1st centuries BC. The inscription on the shard Φιλίσκος ὁ μάχι|μος, which is most likely a private one (marking?), can be interpreted in two ways. In the first case, ὁ μάχιμος is interpreted in the broad meaning of “warrior, fighter”, representing a playful nickname of Philiskos, in the second – in a highly specialized one, used as a designation for foreign mercenaries in the Egyptian army of the Ptolemaic era. The involvement of documents fixing the presence of immigrants from the Bosporus in the Ptolemaic army allows us to consider the second reading option as quite possible. The graffito in question gives an occasion to turn once again to the interpretation of the lines 1–2 of CIRB 450 proposed by the author: Δολης ὁ [[Ἡ]]γοῦμεν|oς, which was seriously criticized by V.P. Yailenko. The analysis of the argument of an opponent reveals its inconsistency, and allows you to draw an interesting parallel between Δολης ὁ [[Ἡ]]γοῦμενος and Φιλίσκος ὁ μάχιμος in the first understanding of the graffito.
Keywords
Greek epigraphy, Myrmecium, graffi to, ostracon, Bosporan mercenaries in the Egyptian army, Bosporus and Egypt, CIRB 450, Δολης.
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The article discusses the results of X-ray analysis of the metal of 30 finger rings found during the 2013–2021 excavations at the first-centuries AD Luchistoe-2 necropolis (Southern Crimea). Apart from three silver and one pure copper ring, all the rest (87%) were made of zinccontaining alloys. Such a high percentage of the use of brass is also typical for brooches among decorations and clothing accessories of the first centuries AD in the barbaric burial grounds of Crimea. Lead-tin solder was used to attach inserts in some types of brass rings. In Roman times, brass, or orichalcum, due to its golden color and resistance to corrosion, was perceived as a material of relatively high value, which may have been attributed sacred significance. In Rome and in the provinces, there was a certain kind of monopoly on the production and use of brass mainly for state needs – minting coins and making military ammunition. Brass could have come to Crimea from the Roman provinces.
Keywords
Mountain Crimea, Luchistoye-2 Necropolis, finger rings of the first centuries AD, brass, natural science methods in archaeology, XRF.
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Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of bronze rings of the so-called Ptolemaic type, on the bezels of which there are mainly female portraits. The finger rings in question come mainly from the Northern Pontic region, primarily from the territory of the Bosporan Kingdom. Basing on the analysis and comparison of portraits on coins and rings, attributions of images on the finger rings as portraits of Arsinoe II, Berenice II and Arsinoe III, as well as male portraits, which some researchers identified as images of Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III, are proposed. The peculiarities of the geographical distribution of the finds, the features and chronology of the burial contexts in which the finger rings were found, are analyzed. In conclusion, the problems of interpretation of rings are considered, which could explain the high concentration of their finds in the North Pontic area and especially in the territory of the Bosporan Kingdom.
Keywords
Ptolemaic dynasty, rulers‘ portraits, fi nger rings, North Pontic area, Bosporan Kingdom.
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