Tyras

Tyras, ae, m., = Τύρας,

• a river in Sarmatia, now the Dniester, Mel. 2, 1, 7; Ov. P. 4, 10, 50.—Called also Tyra, Plin. 4, 12, 26, § 82.

Tyrās, ae, m. (Τυρας), ein Fluß in Sarmatien, später Danaster, j. Dnjestr, Ov. ex Pont. 4, 10, 50. – ders. Tyra, Plin. 4, 82. Mela 2, 1, 7 (2. § 7).

Tўrās, v. Tyra 1.

TYRAS

TYRAS(ό Τύρας, Strab. 2. p. 107), one of the principal rivers of European Sarmatia. According to Herodotus (Hdt. 4.51) it rose in a large lake, whilst Ptolemy (Ptol. 3.5.17, 8.1, &c.) places its sources in Mount Carpates, and Strabo (l. c.) says that they are unknown. The account of Herodotus, however, is correct, as it rises in a lake in Gallicia. (Georgii, Alte-Geogr. p. 269.) It ran in an easterly direction parallel with the Ister, and formed part of the boundary between Dacia and Sarmatia. It fell into the Pontus Euxinus to the NE. of the mouth of the Ister; the distance between them being, according to Strabo, 900 stadia (Strab. 7. p. 305, seq.), and, according to Pliny (Plin. Nat. 4.12. s. 26), 130 miles (from the Pseudostoma). Scymnus ( Fr. 51) describes it as of easy navigation, and abounding in fish. Ovid ( ex Pont. 4.10. 50) speaks of its rapid course. At a later period it obtained the name of Danastris or Danastus (Ammian. 31.3.3; Jornand. Get. 5; Const. Porphyr. de Adm. Imp. 8), whence its modern name of Dniester( Neister), though the Turks still call it Tural. (Cf. Hdt. 4.11, 47, 82; Scylax, p. 29; Strab. 1. p. 14; Mela, 2.1, &c.; also Schaffarik, Slav. Alterth. 1. p. 505.) The form Τύριςis sometimes found. (Steph. B. p. 671; Suid. s. v. Σκύφαιand Ποσειδώνιος.)

[T.H.D]

TYRAS

TYRAS(Τύρας, Ptol. 3.10.16), a town of European Sarmatia, situated at the mouth of the river just described. (Hdt. 4.51; Mela, 2.1.) It was originally a Milesian colony (Scymn. Fr. 55; Anon. Peripl. P. Eux. p. 9); although Ammianus Marcellinus (Ammian. 22.8.41), apparently from the similarity of the name, which he writes Tyros,ascribes its foundation to the Phoenicians from Tyre. Pliny (Plin. Nat. 4.12. s. 26; cf. Steph. B. p. 671) identifies it with an older town named Ophiusa (gelidis pollens Ophiusa venenis,Val. Flacc.). Ptolemy, however (l. c.), makes them two different towns; and places Ophiusa somewhat more N., and towards the interior. Scylax knows only Ophiusa, whilst the later writers, on the other hand, knew only Tyras. (Cf. Neumann, Die Hellenen im skythenlande, p. 357, seq.) It probably lay on the site of the present Ackermann. (Clarke,> Travels, 2. p. 124; Kohl, Reisen in Südrussland, 1.167.)

[T.H.D]

Tyras

(Τύρας). Now the Dniester; subsequently called Danastris; a river in European Sarmatia, forming in the lower part of its course the boundary between Dacia and Sarmatia, and falling into the Pontus Euxinus north of the Danube. At its mouth was a town of the same name.

TYRAS (Belgorod Dnestrovskii) Ukraine.

A Greek city on the W bank of the Dniester liman near Belgorod-Dnestrovskii. It is mentioned in ancient sources (Strab. 7.3.16; Ptol. 3.10.8; Ps. Skyl. 68; Steph. Byz. and Anon. Peripl. 88.62). Founded in the 6th c. B.C., it was destroyed by the Getae in the mid 1st c. B.C. The city recovered, was replanned, and was destroyed again ca. 240 A.D., probably by the Goths.

Excavation has been hampered by thick mediaeval strata, but there are remains of buildings with cellars from the 4th c. B.C. and some dwellings of later eras. Parts of an ancient defensive wall with a circular tower (probably 2d c. A.D.) have been excavated, and from the same century a broad street with rows of houses on either side. During this period Legio I Italica was stationed in Tyras as well as Legio V Macedonia and Legio XI Claudia.

Pottery is represented by Ionian wares from the 6th c. B.C. and red-figured Attic wares from the 5th c. From the 3d c. B.C. on, relief wares from Asia Minor predominate. The city minted its own coins from 360 B.C. The Hermitage and Kiev Museums contain material from the site.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

E. H. Minns, Scythians and Greeks (1913) 445-49; C. M. Danoff, Pontos Euxeinos (1962) 1091-92 = RE Suppl. IX; A. I. Furmanskaia, “Antichnyi gorod Tira,” Antichnyi gorod (1963) 40-50; E. Belin de Ballu, L'Histoire des Colonies grecques du Littoral nord de la Mer Noire (1965) 38-41; I. B. Braşinskij, “Recherches soviétiques sun les monuments antiques des régions de la Mer Noire,” Eirene 7 (1968) 82-83.

M. L. BERNHARD & Z. SZTETYŁŁO

Tyras Tyras, a Scythian river

• the Dniester: Hdt. 4.47
• Cimmerian graves by it: Hdt. 4.11
• its source: Hdt. 4.51
• mark of Herakles' foot on its bank: Hdt. 4.82