Visitors to Leuke Island

This article is the publication of the plates compiled by N.N. Murzakevich, secretary of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities. It contains tracings of 241 Classical coins and lists of coin finds from the island of Fidonisi (known as Leuke in antiquity), which had been excavated in the 1840s and early 1850s. Recent data have led to a doubling of the list of Greek centres (up to 202) and the rulers of a number of states and peoples, whose coins made their way to the island. Details of these finds and the dates of the emissions illustrate clearly the development and chronological framework of the religious and economic ties between the northern coast of Pontus with the various regions of the Classical oikumene. The geographical range of the coin finds (from Magna Graecia, Sicily and the Levant to the Aegean, the Balkans, the Pontic region and Asia and as far away as Mesopotamia) demonstrates that the sanctuary of Achilles on the island of Leuke situated at a meeting point of Black Sea trade routes, enjoyed enormous popularity in the Classical world. The publication of these plates compiled by N.N. Murzakevich makes available new information on the maritime trade in the Pontus area between the 5th century BC and the 5th century AD.

Preliminary Report on Archaeological Excavations in Sophtades, Cyprus: Pre-Byzantine Pottery

The article is devoted to the materials found during the excavations of St. George Church located in the southern part of Cyprus, near the village of Softades. In the cultural layers inside of this church, pottery belonging to the Roman period, Iron Age and Late Bronze Age has been discovered. It is discussed in this article.

Back to the Iron Age Chronology in Southern Central Asia

The article reconsiders two major sites of the 1st millennium BC in southern Uzbekistan, Kyzyltepa and Kurganzol. It contests their recent dating – exclusively the Achaemenid and transitional Hellenistic period for the first one, and the end of the 4th c. BC for the second one – mainly based upon dendrochronological analyses relating the samples to the time of Alexander the Great’s conquest or slightly before, and ruling out the other dates given to these sites in previous publications. Our argumentation is based upon (1) various archaeological arguments and (2) scientific criteria that question the dendrochronological data and the supposed aging of the 14C results due to “old waters” from glaciers.

Metal Quivers from Western Asia

This paper presents a review of metal quivers, which belong to a category of metal objects found in Iron Age archaeological contexts in the Ancient Near East, especially in the variegate cultures living in the mountainous highlands bordering Mesopotamia. Each cultural sphere is considered separately, focusing on material brought to light during archaeological excavations. An analysis of different traditions allows comparison of these artifacts in order to detect evidence of contacts and reciprocal influences between different cultural regions, which strongly interacted during the first half of the Iron Age.

Once More on the Dating of the “Royal” Five Brothers’ Burial Mound No. 8

Burial-mound No. 8 in the necropolis of the Elizavetovskoye fortified settlement. The dates assigned to 14 amphorae found in the dromos are constantly argued over by scholars. When traditional methods of chronology are used, it emerges that some of the amphorae should be assigned to the 350s BC, and others to the 330s–320s BC. Recently N.F. Fedoseev attempted to explain this difference in dating of various stamps by stating that the two burials had been laid out in the burial-mound at different times and that, as a result, the amphorae had also been placed in the dromos at different times. Analysis of the assemblage of amphorae against a background of new sources has made it possible to assume with confidence that both burials in the burial-chamber of the Five Brothers’ Burial-mound No. 8 had been of the same date and that this spectacular monument should be dated to the second half of the 350s BC or to the 350/340s BC.

The Image of the Zoroastrian God Srōsh

This paper presents new and decisive evidence relative to the identification of one of the colossal depictions of deities discovered by the Karakalpak-Australian Expedition (KAE) at Akchakhan-kala with the Avestan yazata Sraosha. Besides the therianthropic Sraošāvarez, the explicit Zoroastrian symbol that decorates the tunic of this god, new iconographic details are seen. One is the sraošō.caranā, which is a whip, “the instrument of Srōsh”, held in the hands of one of these “bird-priests” instead of the customary barsom. The symbols are presented and discussed in their historical context.

Seleukid Coins from the Collection of the State Historical Museum

The present paper publishes the collection of Seleukid coins from the Numismatic Department of the State Historical Museum (Moscow). It contains 118 items of several Seleukid rulers ranging from Seleukos I to posthumous issues of Phillip I.