Greek Religion in Tauric Chersonesos.

• Author: Shevchenko, Tetiana.
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford : : Archaeopress,, 2023.; ©2023.
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (226 pages)

Tauric Chersonesos was one of the prominent ancient Greek centres on the north coast of the Black Sea. This comprehensive study of the cults of the gods of the Chersonesan polis, firmly based on the available sources, sheds new light on the religious life of this ancient Greek centre at various stages in its development.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents Page -- List of Figures -- Map 1: Black Sea region in Ancient times. -- Map 2: City plan of Chersonesos (after A.I. Romanchuk). -- Figure 1: City street, Chersonesos. -- Figure 2: Obverses of Chersonesan coins, the reverses of which depict a bull with bowed head (after V.O. Anokhin): a) Seated Parthenos with an arrow in her hand and a deer (380-370 BC) -- b) Head of Parthenos with her hair not in tresses, or head of Apollo -- Figure 3: Image of a bull on coins, and the obverses of such coins from Chersonesos (after V.O. Anokhin): a) Bull with head bowed -- b) Herakles' labour on coins of Herakleia Pontica -- c) Parthenos with a bow hunting a deer (300-290 BC) -- d) Head of Herakles -- Figure 4: Silver cup with a scene of a bull offering at the funeral of Tiberius (Boscoreale, after P. Zanker). -- Figure 5: Plan of the north-eastern temenos of Chersonesos (after A.V. Buiskykh). -- Figure 6: Marble depiction of Parthenos, or an Amazon with bow, 2nd century BC. ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 7: Reconstruction of temples in the north-eastern temenos of Chersonesos (after A.V. Buiskykh). -- Figure 8: Images of Parthenos on Chersonesan coins (after V.O. Anokhin): a) 260-250 BC -- b-d) 250-230 BC. -- Figure 9: Central street, Chersonesos. -- Figure 10: Image of Herakles' feast, Moinaky, the Chersonesan chora ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 11: Relief image of Parthenos from Chersonesos chora (reconstruction by L.A. Kovalevska and A.V. Shevcenko). -- Figure 12: Images on coins from Chersonesos (after V.M. Zubar): a) Chersonas with lyre -- b) Parthenos with a bow and dart. -- Figure 13: Theatre, Tauric Chersonesos. -- Figure 14: Inscription fragment from a marble slab (after E.I. Solomonik).

Figure 15: Limestone relief depicting the Mother of the Gods, 2nd century AD ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 16: Altar with images of Hermes and Herakles, first centuries AD ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 17: 'Basilica 1935', Chersonesos. -- Figure 18: Relief with image of Parthenos (АСХ: no. 79). -- Figure 19: Terracotta thymiaterion in the shape of an altar with cultic scenes, 3rd century BC ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 20: Room 9, city-block I. General view after excavations in 1986 (after M.I. Zolotarev). -- Figure 21: Plan of a house with vines in the paved inner yard in city-block XVIII (after G.D. Belov). -- Figure 22: Fragments of sarcophagi walls with images of snakes, found in the paved floor of 'Basilica 1935' (after G.D. Belov). -- Figure 23: Plan of House 3 in 'Strabo's Chersonesos' (after N.M. Pechenkin). -- Figure 24: Offering scene on a limestone altar, first centuries AD ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 25: Terracottas with holes for hanging: a) Fragmented protomae, 5th or first half of 4th century BC (after A.V. Shevchenko) -- b) Protoma, 3rd century BC (after G.D. Belov) -- c) Eros Thanatos, 3rd century BC (after G.D. Belov). -- Figure 26: Iacchus facing Demeter, on a votive ceramic slab from the Eleusinian sanctuary (The National Archaeological Museum, Athens). -- Figure 27: Terracotta cast and mould of Eros Thanatos, from Messembria (The Nesebar Archaeological Museum). -- Figure 28: Terracotta image of Eros accompanying a bride, from Corinth (after N.N. Britova). -- Figure 29: Fragment of wall painting from a crypt discovered by M.I. Rostovtsev in 1894 in Chersonesos (after V.M. Zubar).

Figure 30: Terracotta figurines with moveable limbs: a) Figurines of the 2nd/3rd centuries AD, with votives in their hands, from Bosporus (after I.D. Marchenko) -- b) Cast with mould, 4th century BC (The Archaeological Museum, Corinth) -- c) Figurines, 950-9 -- Figure 31: Plan of city-block I, showing findspots of cult objects (after K.E. Grinevich). -- Figure 32: Plan of city-block II, showing findspots of cult objects (after K.E. Grinevich and A.V. Buiskykh). -- Figure 33: Plan of city-block III, showing findspots of cult objects (after K.E. Grinevich and A.V. Buiskykh). -- Figure 34: Plan of city-block XCVII, showing findspots of cult objects (after M.I. Zolotarev). -- Figure 35: Pebble mosaics of the 4th century BC from the northern region of Chersonesos. -- Figure 36: Architectural details found in the wall of Zeno's Tower (after V.M. Danylenko): a) Acroterion from a stele -- b) Fragment of the covering. -- Figure 37: Hellenistic terracotta protomae: a) A goddess with fertility symbols, Chersonesos (after G. D. Belov) -- b) Aphrodite, Chersonesos (after G. D. Belov) -- c) Mother of the Gods, Messembria (The Nesebar Archaeological Museum). -- Figure 38: Terracotta figurines from Chersonesos: a) Goddess on a throne (after V.M. Zubar) -- b) Fully draped woman (after V.M. Zubar) -- c) Boar's head (after G.D. Belov). -- Figure 39: Red-figured krater found in a grave, turn of the 5th/4th centuries BC (after G.D. Belov). -- Figure 40: Masks depicted in various forms: a) Terracotta masks, Chersonesos, 3rd century BC (after G.D. Belov) -- b) Gold plates with ithyphallic figure and masks, c. AD 50 (The Kerameikos Archaeological Museum) -- c) Marble sarcophagus detail, Chersonesos, -- Figure 41: Terracotta 'rattle' depicting Eros, turn of the 1st/2nd centuries AD (after D.V. Zhuravlev).

Figure 42: Sculpture images of snakes: a) Polychromous, Panske I (The Yevpatoria Local Lore Museum) -- b) Fragment of marble sculpture from a house in city-block XXII, Chersonesos (after G.D. Belov). -- Figure 43: Bone pommel in the shape of a hand (after G.D. Belov and S.F. Strzheletskyi). -- Figure 44: Bone pins from Chersonesos: a) From Burial 2582, near Zeno's Tower (after I. Repnikov) -- b) From the area of the necropolis near the southern defensive wall (after K.K. Kostsiushko-Valiuzhynych). -- Figure 45: Lead trefoils from burials of the 3rd/2nd centuries BC (after R.V. Stoianov). -- Figure 46: Graphic images of a boar and a lion on a fragment of black-glazed pottery, late 5th/early 4th century BC (after E.I. Solomonik). -- Figure 47: Bronze statuette of Isis, mid 2nd century AD ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 48: Fragment of a marble relief depicting Mithras Taurocones, 2nd/3rd centuries AD (АСХ 94). -- Figure 49: Gravestones fragments with images of a feast: a) АСХ 344 -- b) Of Aurelius Demas (after V.M. Zubar and I.A. Antonova) -- c) АСХ 329. -- Figure 50: Images of the 'afterlife feast' on gravestones: a) Of the first centuries AD from Chersonesos (АСХ 336) -- b) From Tomis, 2nd century AD (Monuments Archéologiques de Roumanie). -- Figure 51: Relief depictions of Demeter receiving gifts from her adorants, 4th century BC (The Archaeological Museum of Eleusis). -- Figure 52: Marble votive slab with a hero at a feast, 4th century BC ('Tauric Chersonesos' National Preserve). -- Figure 53: Votive slabs: a) Pluto and Kore receiving gifts from their adorants, early 4th century BC (The Archaeological Museum of Eleusis) -- b) Bringing offerings to a hero, 4th/3rd centuries BC (The Archaeological Museum, Corinth). -- Figure 54: Hellenistic gravestones, Chersonesos (after V.M. Danylenko).

Figure 55: Gravestone of Aristophontes, Panticapaeum, 3rd century BC. (Корпус боспорских надписей, no. 241). -- Introduction -- History of Study, Sources and Methods -- The Supreme Gods -- The Pantheon of Chersonesos -- Family Cults -- Mystery Cults -- Burial Cults -- Conclusions -- References -- Abbreviations.