Phanagoria
PHANAGO´RIA (Φαναγορία, Strab. 11. p. 494; Ptol. 5.9.6; (ἡ Φαναγόρεια, τὰ Φαναγόρεια, Hecat. ap. Steph. B. s. v.; Strab. 11. p. 495; Scymn. Ch. 891; Arrian, ap. Eustath. ad Dionys. Per. 306, 549; Φαιναγόρη, Dionys. Per. 552; comp. Priscian, 565; Avien. 753; Φαναγόρα, Steph. B. s. v. Ταυρική; Φαναγόρου πόλις, Scylax, p. 31; Anonym. Peripl. P. Eux. p. 2 ; Phanagorus, Ammian. 22.8; Φαναγουρίς, Procop. B. Goth. 4.5: Eth. Φαναγορεύς, less correctly Φαναγορείτης, Steph. B. s. v.), a Greek city on the Asiatic side of the Cimmerian Bosporus, founded by the Teians under Phanagorus or Phanagoras, who fled thither from the Persians. (Eustath. ad Dionys. Per.; Scymn. Ch., Steph. B., Peripl. P. Eux. ll. cc. ) It was situated upon an island, now called Taman, formed by the main branch of the Anticites (Kuban), which flows into the Black Sea, and a smaller branch, which falls into the sea of Azof. The main branch of the Kuban forms a lake before it enters the sea, called in ancient times Corocondamitis (Strab. 11. p. 494), now the Kubanskoi Liman, on the left of which, entering from the sea, stood Phanagoria. (Strab. 11. p. 495; respecting Phanagoria being upon an island, see Steph. B., Eustath., Amm. Marc., l. c.) The city became the great emporium for all the traffic between the coast of the Palus Maeotis and the countries on the southern side of the Caucasus, and was chosen by the kings of Bosporus as their capital in Asia, Panticapaeum being their capital in Europe. (Strab., Steph. B., l. c.) It was at Phanagoria that the insurrection broke out against Mithridates the Great, shortly before his death ; and his sons, who held the citadel, were obliged to surrender to the insurgents. (Appian, Mithr. 108; Dict. of Biogr. Vol. 2. 1102b.) In the sixth century of our era, Phanagoria was taken by the neighbouring barbarians and destroyed. (Procop. B. Goth. 4.5.) The most remarkable building in Phanagoria seems to have been a temple of Aphrodite, surnamed Apaturus (Ἀπάτουρος), because the goddess, when attacked by the giants in this place, is said to have summoned Hercules to her aid, and then to have concealed him and to have handed over the giants separately to him to be slain (δολοφονεῖν ἐξ ἀπάτης, Strab. 11. p. 495; Steph. B. s. v. Ἀπάτουρον; Böckh, Inscr. No. 2120.) We learn from an inscription that this temple was repaired by Sauromates, one of the kings of Bosporus. The site of Phanagoria is now only a mass of bricks and pottery; and there is no building above ground. One cause of the disappearance of all the ancient monuments at Phanagoria was the foundation in its neighbourhood at an early period of the Russian colony of Tmutarakán. Dutour noticed traces of towers towards the eastern extremity of the town, where the citadel probably stood. The town of Taman contains several ancient remains, inscriptions, fragments of columns, &c., which have been brought from Phanagoria. There are numerous tombs above the site of Phanagoria, but they have not been explored like those at Panticapaeum. In one of them, however, which was opened towards the end of last century there was found a bracelet of the purest massive gold, representing the body of a serpent, having two heads, which were studded with rubies so as to imitate eyes and also ornamented with rows of gems. It weighed three-quarters of a pound. (Clarke, Travels, vol. 1. p. 394, seq.; Pallas, Reisen, vol. 2. p. 286, &c.; Dubois, Voyage autour du Caucase, vol. 5. p. 64, seq.; Ukert, vol. iii. pt. 2. p. 491.)
(Φαναγόρεια). A Greek city on the Asiatic coast of the Cimmerian Bosporus, was chosen by the kings of Bosporus as their capital in Asia.
A city on the S coast of the Gulf of Taman colonized from Teos ca. 540 B.C. (Strab. 11.2.10) on a site of which the earliest traces of habitation go back to the 2d millennium. From 480 B.C. on, the city belonged to the monarchy of the Archeactides but remained an independent polis, as is proved by the titles of its archontes contained in inscriptions.
The Greek city spread out on two terraces 37 ha in area of which nearly half (15 ha) was destroyed by the sea. The walls, which were of unhewn blocks, are partially preserved. The lower quarter was the city center and was dominated by the fortified acropolis. The city reached the height of its prosperity in the 4th c. B.C.; traces of paved streets, wells, water pipes, basements of rectangular houses with tiled roofs date from this period. Marble architectural fragments and Ionic capitals come from a temple of Aphrodite Urania. Demeter, Kore, Apollo, and Dionysos were worshiped in the city. The remains of a gymnasium from the 3d c. B.C. and a heroon with painted decoration have been found. Also to the 4th-3d c. date the Bol'shaia Blitznitza barrow and the Mt. Vasiurina kurgans (see below). In the 2d c. B.C. the city was conquered by Mithridates. Several winemaking establishments date to the early centuries A.D. and the remains of baths (?). In the 4th c. A.D. the city was destroyed by the Huns but revived by the end of the century and became an important mediaeval center.
In a kurgan necropolis on the outskirts of the city rich archaeological finds provide evidence of contact with the great centers of Hellenic civilization. In the 6th c. B.C. Ionic wares were imported, followed by Attic wares and wares from Chios and Thasos. However, there was from the beginning considerable local production, consisting of imitations of Greek models, especially of pottery. The Hermitage Museum and the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, contain material from the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHYV. D. Blavatskii, “Raskopki v Fanagorii v 1938-1939 gg.,” VDI (1940) 3-4.287-300; id., “Otchet o raskopkakh Fanagorii v 1936-1937 gg.” Trudy Gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeia 16 (1941) 5-74; id., “Raskopki nekropolia Fanagorii v 1938, 1939 i 1940 gg.,” Materialy po arkheologii Severnogo Prichernomor'ia v antichnuiu epokhu [Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR, No. 19] (1951) 189-226; A. P. Smirnov, ed., Fanagoriia [Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR, No. 57] (1956); A. L. Mongait, Archaeology in the USSR, tr. M. W. Thompson (1961) 199-200; C. M. Danoff, Pontos Euxeinos (1962) 1133-35 = RE Suppl. IX; M. M. Kobylina, “Issledovaniia Fanagorii v 1959-1960 i 1962 gg.,” SovArkh (1963) 4.129-38; id., “Raskopki iugo-vostochnogo raiona Fanagorii v 1964 g.,” KSIA 109 (1967) 124-29; E. Ballin de Ballu, L'Histoire des Colonies grecques du Littoral Nord de la Mer Noire (1965) 144-48; A. K. Korovina, “Raskopki nekropolia Fanagorii v 1964 g.,” KSIA 109 (1967) 130-35; I. B. Brašinskij, “Recherches soviétiques sur les monuments antiques des régions de la Mer Noire,” Eirene 7 (1968) 107-8. Bol'shaia Bliznitza. On the Taman peninsula to the SW of Phanagoria is a rich Greek barrow (15 m high and ca. 350 m in circumference) dating to the latter half of the 4th c. B.C. It contains five independent elements: an empty chamber of painted masonry, perhaps looted; a square stone tomb with corbeled roof containing a male burial in the remains of a wooden coffin with ivory inlay; a square tomb with corbeled roof reached by a short dromos and containing the so-called Priestess of Demeter so named because of a head of Demeter or Kore painted on a slab in the middle of the cupola; another tomb with a female burial; a stone chamber roofed with timber containing a female burial in a wooden coffin. There are many rich grave gifts and traces of a great pyre. The gifts include a gold diadem and a group of terracottas.
BIBLIOGRAPHYE. H. Minns, Scythians and Greeks (1913) 423-29; M. Rostovtsev, Antichnaia dekorativnaia zhivopis' na iuge Rossii (1914) 10-29; id., Skiflia i Bospor (1925) 371-74 = id., Skythien und der Bosporus (1931) 330-32; A. A. Peredol'skaia, “Terrakoty iz kurgana Bol'shaia Bliznitsa i gomerovskii gimn Demetre,” Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha 7 (1962) 46-92; G. A. Tsvetaeva, Sokrovishcha prichernomorskikh kurganov (1968) 71-78; M. I. Artamonov, Treasures from Scythian Tombs in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (1969) 73-79. Mt. Vasiurina. A series of kurgans of the 4th-3d c. along a mountain range S of Phanagoria. The most interesting one dates to the 3d c. It has a stone stairway leading down to a rectangular passageway, the entrance to the burial chamber (3.70 x 3.75 x 4.70 m). These two areas are covered by an arch showing remains of painted decoration. The wall frescos imitate encrusted marble. On either side of the entrance to the tomb long stone boxes contain four horse burials along with rich grave gifts; saddlery and harnesses of gold and gilded bronze. No objects were found in the tomb itself.
BIBLIOGRAPHYM. Rostovtsev, Antichnaia dekorativnaia zhivopis' na iuge Rossii (1914) 30-69; id., Skifiia i Bospor (1925) 373 = M. Rostowzew, Skythien und der Bosporus (1931) 331; G. A. Tsvetaeva, Sokrovishcha prichernomorskikh kurganov (1968) 79-81.
M. L. BERNHARD & Z. SZTETYŁŁO