The Royal Kurgan or Tsarskiy Kurgan (Ukrainian: Царський курган, Russian: Царский курган) from the 4th century BC, is one of the most impressive tumuli (

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

s) of the eastern

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. The burial barrow is located in the present-day

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

, which developed out of the

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 ...

town

Panticapaeum Panticapaeum ( grc-gre, Παντικάπαιον , from Scythian , "fish-path") was an ancient Greek city on the eastern shore of Crimea, which the Greeks called Taurica. The city lay on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus, and was found ...

(Παντικάπαιον) founded by

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 ...

Background

About 200 burial mounds exist in Kerch and its immediate surroundings. The Royal Kurgan is located about 5 km northeast of the town centre, close to the memorial to the defenders of the Adzhimushkay quarry. The mound is almost 20 metres high and its base perimeter is about 250 meters. It holds a burial chamber with a square floor plan (4.39 m X 4.35 m), which gradually merges into the circular shape of a corbelled dome (" false vault"). The total height of the burial chamber is 8.84 meters. Also the generous

dromos Dromos may refer to: * ''Cursus publicus'', the public road system of the Roman and Byzantine empires * Dromos, in architecture, an entrance passage or avenue leading to a building * Dromoi Dromoi (Greek: δρόμοι "ways"; singular: δρόμο ...

, a 2.80-meter-wide and 37-meter-long acute entrance passage, is built in the corbelled vault technique. Both parts of the building are made of yellowish

limestone block Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when th ...

s and have a floor from a tamped mix of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, lime and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. It is assumed that the Royal Kurgan, a masterpiece of ancient

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, was the final resting place of a ruler of the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, ...

. This was founded in the 5th century BC from the Greek colonies in the northern

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 ...

region and at the Sea of Azov. The kurgan could in particular have been the tomb of

Leukon of Bosporus Leucon I of Bosporus ( gr, Λευκὼν, Leukon, lived c. 410-349 BC) also known as Leuco, was a Spartocid ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom who ruled from 389 to 349 BC. He was arguably the greatest ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom. He was the son o ...

(389 - 349 BC). In the course of excavations in the years 1833 until 1837, the kurgan was opened. It contained only remnants of a wooden sarcophagus, so it is possible it was robbed long ago. Christian symbols carved on the walls suggest that the grave rooms served early Christians as a place of refuge and as a sanctuary. A

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphy, epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas reliefs ...

is also located inside the enclosure of the barrow. The small museum displays archaeological finds from ancient times, including pedestals, grave stelae, and sarcophagi.

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{coord, 45.3739, N, 36.5260, E, source:wikidata, display=title Kurgans Kerch Bosporan Kingdom Tombs in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Crimea