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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: JUN-KHA |
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KERCH, or KERTCH , a seaport of S. Russia, in the government of Taurida, on the Strait of Kerch or Yenikale, 6o m. E.N.E. of Theodosia, in 450 21' N. and 36 30' E. Pop. (1897), 31,702. It stands on the site of the ancient Panticapaeum, and, like most towns built by the ancient Greek colonists in this part of the world, occupies a beautiful situation, clustering round the foot and climbing up the sides of the hill (called after Mithradates) on which stood the ancient citadel or acropolis
Petersburg
house
mineral
The Greek colony of Panticapaeum was founded about the middle of the 6th century B.C., by the town of Miletus. From about 438 B.C. till the conquest of this region by Mithradates the Great, king of Pontus, about too B.C., the town and territory formed the kingdom of the Bosporus, ruled over by an independent dynasty. Phanaces, the son of Mithradates, became the founder of a new line under the protection of the Romans, which continued to exist till the middle of the 4th century A.D., and extended its power over the maritime parts of Tauris. After that the townwhich had already begun to be known as Bosporapassed successively into the hands of the Eastern empire, of the Khazars, and of various barbarian tribes. In 1318, the Tatars , who had come into possession in the previous century, ceded the town to the Genoese, who soon raised it into new importance as a commercial centre. They usually called the place Cerchio, a corruption of the Russian name K'rtchev (whence Kerch), which appears in the Itth century inscription of Tmutarakan (a Russian principality at the north foot of the Caucasus). Under the Turks, whose rule dates
Archaeologically Kerch is of particular interest
minor note, were golden dishes adorned with griffins and beautiful arabesques. In the Kul-oba, or Mound of Cinders (opened in 183o-1831), was a similar tomb, in which were found what would appear to be the remains of one of the kings of Bosporus, of his queen, his horse and his groom. The ornaments and furniture were of the most costly kind; the king's bow and buckler were of gold; his very whip intertwined with gold; the queen had golden diadems, necklace and breast-jewels, and at her feet lay a golden vase. In the Pavluvskoi kurgan (opened in 1858) was the tomb of a Greek lady, containing among other articles of dress and decoration a pair of fine leather boots (a unique discovery) and a beautiful vase on which is painted the return of Persephone from Hades and the setting out of Triptolemus for Attica. In a neighbouring tomb was what is believed to be " the oldest Greek mural painting which has come down to us," dating probably from the 4th century B.c. Among the minor objects discovered in the kurgans perhaps the most noteworthy are the fragments of engraved boxwood, the only examples known of the art taught by the Sicyonian painter Pamphilus.Very important finds of old Greek art continue to be made in the neighbourhood, as well as at Taman, on the east side of the Strait of Kerch. The catacombs on the northern slope of Mithradates Hill, of which nearly 200 have been explored since 1859, possess considerable interest
inscriptions and crosses.See H. D. Seymour's Russia on the Black Sea and Sea of Azoff London, 1855) ; J. B. Telfer, The Crimea (London, 1876) ; P. Bruhn, Tchernomore, 18521877 (Odessa, 1878) ; Gilles, Antiquites du Bosphore Cimmerien <1854) ; D. Macpherson, Antiquities of Kertch (London, 1857) ; Compte rendu de la Commission Imp. Archeologique (St Peters-burg) ; L. Stephani, Die Alterthiimer vom Kertsch (St Petersburg, 188o) ; C. T. Newton, Essays on Art and Archaeology (London, 188o) ; Reports of the [Russian] Imp. Archaeological Commission; Izvestia (Bulletin) of the Archives Commission for Taurida; Antiquiles du Bosphore Cimmeriert, conservees au Musee Imperial de l'Ermitage (St Petersburg, 1854) ; Inscriptiones antiquae orae septentrionalis Ponti Euxini graecae et latinae, with a preface by V. V. Latyshev (St Petersburg, 189o) ; Materials for the Archaeology of Russia, published by the Imp. Arch. Commission (No. 6, St Petersburg, 1891). (P. A. K.; J. T. BE.) End of Article: KERCH, or KERTCH If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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