Pontic Olbia ( grc, Ὀλβία Ποντική, uk, Ольвія) or simply Olbia is an
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
site of an
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
city on the shore of the
Southern Bug estuary (''Hypanis'' or Ὕπανις,) in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, near the village of Parutyne. The archaeological site is protected as the National Historic and Archaeological Preserve. The preserve is a research and science institute of the
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; uk, Національна академія наук України, ''Natsional’na akademiya nauk Ukrayiny'', abbr: NAN Ukraine) is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine th ...
. In 1938–1993 it was part of the
NASU Institute of Archaeology as a department.
The Hellenic city was founded in the 7th century BC by
colonists from
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
. Its harbour was one of the main
emporia on the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
for the export of cereals, fish, and slaves to
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, and for the import of Attic goods to
Scythia
Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
Hi ...
.
Layout
![Greek colonies of the Northern Euxine Sea (Black Sea)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Greek_colonies_of_the_Northern_Euxine_Sea_%28Black_Sea%29.svg)
The site of the Greek colony covers the area of fifty hectares and its fortifications form an isosceles triangle about a mile long and half a mile wide.
The region was also the site of several villages (modern Victorovka and Dneprovskoe) which may have been settled by Greeks.
[
As for the town itself, the lower town (now largely submerged by the Bug river) was occupied chiefly by the dockyards and the houses of artisans. The upper town was a main residential quarter, composed of square blocks and centered on the ]agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
. The town was ringed by a defensive stone wall with towers. The upper town was also the site of the first settlement on the site in the archaic period.[ There is evidence that the town itself was laid out over a grid plan from the 6th century – one of the first after the town of ]Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
.[
By the later period of settlement, the city also included an ]acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
and, from the 6th century BCE, a religious sanctuary.[ In the early 5th century, a temple to ]Apollo Delphinios
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
was also built on the site.[
]
History
Archaic and Classical periods
The Greek colony was highly important commercially and endured for a millennium. The first evidence of Greek settlement at the site comes from Berezan Island where pottery has been found dating from the late 7th century. The name in Greek means "happy" or "rich". It is possible that it had been the site of an earlier native settlement and may even have been a peninsula rather than an island in antiquity.[ It is now thought that the town of Berezan survived until the 5th century BCE when it was possibly absorbed into the growing Olbian settlement on the mainland.][
During the 5th century BCE, the colony was visited by ]Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
, who provides our best description of the city and its inhabitants from antiquity.
It produced distinctive cast bronze money during the 5th century BCE in both the form of circular tokens with Gorgon
A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...
heads and unique coins in the shape of leaping dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
. These are unusual considering the struck, round coins common in the Greek world
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in History of the Mediterranean region, Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as sig ...
. This form of money is said to have originated from sacrificial tokens used in the Temple of Apollo Delphinios
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
.
M. L. West
Martin Litchfield West, (23 September 1937 – 13 July 2015) was a British philologist and Classics, classical scholar. In recognition of his contribution to scholarship, he was awarded the Order of Merit in 2014.
West wrote on Music of Ancien ...
speculated that early Greek religion, especially the Orphic Mysteries
Orphism (more rarely Orphicism; grc, Ὀρφικά, Orphiká) is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheu ...
, was heavily influenced by Central Asian shamanistic
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...
practices. A significant amount of Orphic graffiti unearthed in Olbia seems to testify that the colony was one major point of contact.
Hellenistic and Roman periods
After the town adopted a democratic constitution, its relations with Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
were regulated by a treaty,[Serhii Plokhy (2015) "The Gates of Europe : A History of Ukraine" New York : Basic Books] which allowed both states to coordinate their operations against Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
's general Zopyrion in the 4th century BCE. By the end of the 3rd century, the town declined economically[A board of food commissioners was set up to distribute cereals among the population.] and accepted the overlordship of King Skilurus
Skilurus, or Scylurus, was a renowned Scythian king reigning during the 2nd century BC. His realm included the lower reaches of the Borysthenes and Hypanis, as well as the northern part of Crimea, where his capital, Scythian Neapolis, was situate ...
of Scythia
Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
Hi ...
. It flourished under Mithridates Eupator but was sacked by the Getae under Burebista
Burebista ( grc, Βυρεβίστας, Βοιρεβίστας) was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61BC to 45/44BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area loca ...
, a catastrophe which brought Olbia's economic prominence to an abrupt end.
Having lost two-thirds of its settled area, Olbia was restored by the Romans, albeit on a small scale and probably with a largely barbarian population. Dio of Prusa visited the town and described it in his ''Borysthenic Discourse'' (the town was often called Borysthenes
Borysthenes (; grc, Βορυσθένης) is a geographical name from classical antiquity. The term usually refers to the Dnieper River and its eponymous river god, but also seems to have been an alternative name for Pontic Olbia, a town situate ...
, after the river).
The settlement, incorporated into the Roman province of Lower Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
, was eventually abandoned in the 4th century CE, when it was burnt at least twice in the course of the Gothic Wars
The Gothic Wars were a long series of conflicts between the Goths and the Roman Empire between the years 249 and 554. The main wars are detailed below.
Gothic War (249–253)
(Goths under Cniva against the Roman Empire)
The War was probably in ...
.
Excavation
The site of Olbia, designated an archaeological reservation, is situated near the village of Parutino in the district of Ochakiv
Ochakiv, also known as Ochakov ( uk, Оча́ків, ; russian: Очаков; crh, Özü; ro, Oceacov and ''Vozia'', and Alektor ( in Greek), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the admini ...
. Before 1902, the site was owned by the Counts Musin-Pushkins, who did not allow any excavations on their estate. Professional excavations were conducted under Boris Farmakovsky from 1901 to 1915 and from 1924 to 1926. As the site was never reoccupied, archaeological finds (particularly inscriptions and sculpture) proved rich. Today archaeologists are under pressure to explore the site, which is being eroded by the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
. At 2016 started in Olbia excavations of the Polish Archaeological Mission "Olbia" of the National Museum in Warsaw
The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art ( Eg ...
headed by Alfred Twardecki
Alfred Twardecki (born 4 February 1962) is a Polish historian of classical antiquity, antiquity and translator. He works as curator at the Department of Ancient and Eastern Christian Art in the National Museum, Warsaw, National Museum in Warsaw. ...
. Many of the more notable finds from the period are visible in the Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia.
Notable finds from the town include an archaic Greek house in a good state of preservation from the area of the later acropolis and a private letter (written on a lead tablet) dating to around 500 BCE, complaining about an attempt to claim a slave.[
]
See also
* List of ancient Greek cities
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Ancient Coinage of Sarmatia, Olbia
in English translation
* Pyotr Karyshkovskybr>''Coins of Olbia: Essay of Monetary Circulation of the North-western Black Sea Region in Antique Epoch. Киев'', 1988.
.
* Pyotr Karyshkovsky
''Coinage and Monetary Circulation in Olbia (6th century B.C. – 4th century A.D''.) Odessa (2003)
.
Site of the Polish Archaeological Mission "Olbia"
{{authority control
Archaeological sites in Ukraine
Milesian Pontic colonies
Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast
Roman towns and cities in Ukraine
Dnieper–Bug estuary
History of Mykolaiv Oblast
Former cities in Ukraine
Archaeological museums in Ukraine
Populated places established in the 7th century BC
Populated places disestablished in the 4th century