The earliest Greek settlements on the Black Sea

1976 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 18-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Drews
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
The Subject

The date and circumstances of the first Greek settlements on the Black Sea are matters of considerable disagreement. This is the result both of the scattered nature of the literary evidence on the subject, and of the dearth of archaeological evidence for Pontic settlements other than those on the western and northern shores. A century ago it was commonly thought that although the great majority of colonies were sent out in the seventh and sixth centuries, Trapezus and Sinope, as our sources say or imply, were founded in the middle of the eighth. For a variety of reasons, among them an increased reliance on archaeologically secured dates, this view went out of favour, and opinion inclined toward the view that the Greeks did not enter the Black Sea at all until after 700. This view was both expressed in and supported by Rhys Carpenter's thesis that not until the penteconter was invented (an invention which he dated to the early seventh century) could the Greeks make head against the four-knot current which flows through the Bosporus from the Black Sea. Articles by B. W. Labaree and A. J. Graham, however, have undermined Carpenter's argument, and it is now once again not unusual to find references to Greek activity in the Black Sea before 700.

The Byzantine Fortifications of Amastris in Paphlagonia

1995 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 251-265
Author(s):  
James Crow ◽  
Stephen Hill
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
History Of ◽  
Northern Side ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Sea Area ◽  
The City ◽  
Adjacent Island

This article is chiefly concerned with the chronology of the Byzantine fortifications of Amastris, which are the subject of current research by the authors, but, in order to set the settlement at Amasra and its fortifications into their context in the Black Sea area, the present study must commence with a brief account of some aspects of the monuments and history of the city in the Hellenistic and Classical periods.The present Turkish town of Amasra on the south coast of the Black Sea (Fig. 1; Pl. XXXVII a) occupies the site of the ancient city of Amastris which has a long history extending as least as far back as the period of Milesian colonisation in the Black Sea zone from the seventh century B.C. Like the more famous city of Sinope to the east, the settlement at Amasra stood on the isthmus of a peninsula projecting into the Black Sea. At Amasra the isthmus leads to the upstanding promontory rock, Zindan Kalesi (Dungeon Castle) on which part of the Byzantine fortification stands, and which protects the east harbour. The whole site is further protected by the closely adjacent island of Boz Tepe which encloses the northern side of the west harbour. The site was doubtless chosen for settlement because of its good natural harbours which, as will be seen, have been of central importance throughout the history of Amasra.

The referendum as an institution in the Black Sea Region: Does it signal the rise or collapse of democracy?

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 161-185
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Podolak
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
Important State ◽  
Constitutional Changes

Views on the institution of direct democracy have changed during the period of democratic transition. The various advantages and positive effects of direct democracy have been confirmed by the practice of some democratic countries. Its educational and political activation value for society was also noted, without which civil society cannot form. The referendum is especially treated as the purest form of correlation between the views of society and the decisions of its representatives. In a situation where two representative bodies are present – the parliament and the president – a referendum is considered a means of resolving disputes between them in important state affairs. The referendum is nowadays becoming more than just a binding or consultative opinion on a legislative act, especially a constitution. First and foremost, it is important to see the extension of the type and scope of issues that are subject to direct voting. Apart from the traditional, i.e., constitutional changes, polarising issues that raise considerable emotion have become the subject of referenda. Problems of this type include, in particular, moral issues, membership in international organisations, and so-called ‘New Policy’. This article presents the role and importance of the referendum as an institution shaping the democratic systems of the Black Sea Region.

Synagogue as Infrastructure in Everyday Life of Batumi Jewish Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 323-338
Author(s):  
Nino Abakelia
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Sacred Place ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
And Function

Abstract The subject under scrutiny is Sephardic and Ashkenazi synagogues in Batumi (the Black Sea Region of Georgia) that reveal both universal and culturally specific forms. The paper is based on ethnographic data gathered during fieldwork in Batumi, in 2019, and on the theoretical postulates of anthropology of infrastructure. The article argues that the Batumi synagogues could be viewed and understood as ‘infrastructure’ in their own right, as they serve as objects through which other objects, people, and ideas operate and function as a system. The paper attempts to demonstrate how the sacred edifices change their trajectory according to modern conditions and how the sacred place is inserted and coexists inside a network of touristic infrastructure.

The northern Black Sea and North Caucasus

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valenina Mordvinceva ◽  
Sabine Reinhold
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
The North ◽  
Long Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
Northern Shore ◽  
Greek Colonization

This chapter surveys the Iron Age in the region extending from the western Black Sea to the North Caucasus. As in many parts of Europe, this was the first period in which written sources named peoples, places, and historical events. The Black Sea saw Greek colonization from the seventh century BC and its northern shore later became the homeland of the important Bosporan kingdom. For a long time, researchers sought to identify tribes named by authors such as Herodotus by archaeological means, but this ethno-deterministic perspective has come under critique. Publication of important new data from across the region now permits us to draw a more coherent picture of successive cultures and of interactions between different parts of this vast area, shedding new light both on local histories and on the role ‘The East’ played in the history of Iron Age Europe.

Trapezus in the Crimea: A Re-examination of the Sources*

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-133
Author(s):  
Pantelis Charalampakis
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Taman Peninsula ◽  
Satisfactory Solution ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
The Crimea ◽  
Written Sources

Abstract The author examines the question of the place name Trapezus recorded by ancient sources as being located north of the Black Sea. This toponym indicates a mountain which bears no relation to the Pontic city of Trapezus. According to the written sources only, this place name cannot be identified. On the contrary, as suggested by archaeological evidence and the testimony of Procopius about the Goths Trapezitae, the predominant opinion of Chatÿr Dag appears to provide the most satisfactory solution for the identification of Mount Trapezus. This mountain was never known as Hermonassa and is not related to the Taman peninsula.

The Overland Route across Anatolia in the Eighth and Seventh Centuries B.C.

1961 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 185-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Birmingham
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
The West ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Syrian Coast

An overland route by which oriental merchandise and ideas were transmitted to the Ionian Greeks via the Anatolian plateau and the river valley routes of the west was long ago posited by Hogarth, and supported by Karo, Barnett and others, although there was little evidence from central Anatolia to confirm it. More recently this route was virtually discounted in favour of a sea route from N. Syria, especially Carchemish, through the port of Al Mina, to Greece and Etruria, via Cyprus, Rhodes and Crete, discussed by Sidney Smith, Humphrey Payne, Mrs. Maxwell-Hyslop and others, which is assumed to have been at its height in the earlier eighth century; and Barnett has also shown the importance of a third route, from Azerbaijan to Trebizond and west via the Black Sea, for which the main evidence, a tomb group from the Caucasus, is probably later seventh century.It is clear that the second of these three routes carried the bulk of Oriental trade to Greece and the west. Undoubtedly the most important Orientalizing influences on Greece, as shown by Payne, were those from the Cypro-Levantine cultural province, and there is ample evidence of the exchange of pottery, terracottas and ornamental bronzes of Cypriot and Phoenician production between the Syrian coast, Cyprus, Rhodes, Samos, Miletus, Chios, Delos and the west.

Regulating Navigation through the Turkish Straits: A Challenge for Modern International Environmental Law

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-559
Author(s):  
Jeanene M. Mitchell ◽  
Christopher C. Joyner
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Local Population ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Treaty Rights ◽  
International Commerce ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Strategic Position ◽  
Ocean Law

AbstractThe Turkish Straits occupy a strategic position in international commerce, as they form a vital link between the states of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the world beyond. This important waterway is the subject of considerable international disagreement over whether Turkey possesses the lawful right to regulate vessels carrying goods and petroleum through the straits. Turkey, whose heavily populated coastline borders both shores of the entire strait, asserts the authority to govern vessel navigation through the passageway on grounds of national sovereignty and international treaty rights. It adopted in 1994 and 1998 two special sets of shipping regulations aimed at minimising shipping accidents, avoiding collisions, and protecting the local marine environment. Russia and the other Black Sea states contend that Turkey's action contravenes the 1936 Montreux Convention, which guarantees free passage through the straits. Turkey is concerned for the safety of the local population, who might be injured by a huge maritime disaster in the strait. Russia's perspectives turn on its need to export oil by tankers through the straits. This article discusses recent relevant instruments of environmental and ocean law as they relate to straits.

scholarly journals Pia Guldager and Jane Hjar Petersen (eds.), Meetings of cultures in the Black Sea region. Between conflict and coexistence, (Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 2008)

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Cantaluppi
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
International Conference ◽  
The Subject

The meetings of cultures in the Black Sea region was the subject of the seventh international conference in Black Sea Studies, held in January 2006 by the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre.

“Across the Main Caucasus Ridge”. The Caucasus Writings of George Kennan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irakli Tskhvediani
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Caspian Sea ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
The Caspian Sea ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The Subject

In 1870, George Kennan, a pioneering explorer, writer, and lecturer on Russia in the nineteenth century, became the first American to cross the Caucasus from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and explore the highlands of Dagestan, a remote Muslim region west of Chechnya, only a decade after Russia violently absorbed the region into its empire. He kept detailed journals of his adventures, creating a vivid narrative of his six-month odyssey. This trip in 1870 is the subject of this paper, focusing on the account of Kennan’s Caucasus journey that chronicles his expedition from Dagestan to Georgia over the Main Caucasus Ridge.

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