Nymphaion (Crimea)

Nýmphaion (Greek: Νύμφαιον; Latin: Nymphaeum), also known as Nymphaion on the Pontus (Ancient Greek: Νύμφαιον τὸ ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ),¹ was a significant centre of the Bosporan Kingdom, situated on the Crimean shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus. Today it is located near the resort town Heroivske. It lies at a distance of about 14 kilometers south of Kerch, which was the site of ancient Panticapaeum.

Geography

The ruins of Nymphaion stand on a rocky cape approximately 200 meters west of the shoreline. Centuries of coastal erosion caused the shoreline to recede. The ancient shoreline would have been some 300 meters further east.²

Today the ruins are bordered by the Čurubaš Lake to the north and the Tobečik Lake to the south. In ancient times both of these lakes were ravines with sea gulfs at their mouths in the east. These ravines were situated 7 kilometers apart. They enclosed a territory of more than 40 square kilometers further west, where a rocky ridge of steep hills bordered the area on the west.²

These natural borders made the territory of Nymphaion more easily defendable. In addition, it is well suited to agriculture thanks to its fertile chernozem soil. It also receives 100 millimeters more rainfall than surrounding land.²

History

The city was founded by Greek colonists from Samos between 580 and 560 BC. There is no archaeological evidence for the presence of Scythians in the area before the city's founding.² The town issued its own coins and generally prospered in the period of , when its citizens controlled , which was vital for the well-being of mainland Greece. chose it as its principal military base in the region ca. 444 BC and Gylon, the grandfather of , suffered banishment from Athens on charges that he had betrayed Nymphaeum during the . It was annexed to the by the end of the century.