Myrmēkion or Myrmecium (, ) was an ancient
Greek colony
Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC, across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.
The Archaic expansion differed from the Iron Age migrations of the Greek Dark Ages ...
in the
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
. The settlement was founded in the eastern part of the modern city
Kerch
Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of
Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...
, 4 km NE of ancient
Panticapaeum
Pantikapaion ( , 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 founded by Milesians in the late 7t ...
on
the bank of the Kerch bay near the cape Karantinny. The settlement was founded by
Milesians in the first half of the 6th c. BC.
According to
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...
it was 20 stadia from
Panticapeum, and 40 stadia from Parthenium and opposite to it was the town of Achilleum. Near the town was a promontory of the same name.
[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Myrmecium](_blank)
/ref>
It was in the place of modern Yeni-Kale and many ancient remains have been found.
/ref>
In the 5th century BC, the town specialized in winemaking and minted its own coinage. It was surrounded by towered walls, measuring some 2.5 metres thick. Myrmekion fell into the hands of the Bosporan kings in the 4th century BC and gradually dwindled into insignificance in the shadow of their capital, Panticapaeum. Regular excavations began in 1934 undertaken by an expedition led by V.F. Gaidukevich. The site was excavated by Polish archaeologists, led by Kazimierz Michałowski
Kazimierz Józef Marian Michałowski (14 December 1901, in Tarnopol – 1 January 1981, in Warsaw) was a Polish archaeologist and Egyptologist, Art history, art historian, member of the Polska Akademia Nauk, Polish Academy of Sciences, profe ...
, in the 1950s. Between 1982 and 1994 an expedition led by Yu.A. Vinogradov was working at the site. In 1999 an archaeological expedition of the State 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, and holds the large ...
began work at the site.
See also
* List of ancient Greek cities
This is an incomplete list of ancient Greek cities, including colonies outside Greece, and including settlements that were not sovereign '' poleis''.
Many colonies outside Greece were soon assimilated to some other language but a city is included h ...
References
External links
The official website of the Hermitage Museum archaeological expedition in MyrmekionMyrmekion
{{coord, 45.3534, 36.5224, format=dms, type:city_region:UA, display=title
Milesian colonies in Crimea
Former populated places in Eastern Europe
Kerch
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Crimea
Archaeological sites in Ukraine