TYRAS
(Belgorod Dnestrovskii) Ukraine.
A
Greek city on the W bank of the Dniester liman near
Belgorod-Dnestrovskii. It is mentioned in ancient sources
(
Strab. 7.3.16; Ptol. 3.10.8; Ps. Skyl. 68; Steph. Byz. and
Anon.
Peripl. 88.62). Founded in the 6th c. B.C., it was
destroyed by the Getae in the mid 1st c. B.C. The city
recovered, was replanned, and was destroyed again ca.
240 A.D., probably by the Goths.
Excavation has been hampered by thick mediaeval
strata, but there are remains of buildings with cellars
from the 4th c. B.C. and some dwellings of later eras.
Parts of an ancient defensive wall with a circular tower
(probably 2d c. A.D.) have been excavated, and from the
same century a broad street with rows of houses on either
side. During this period Legio I Italica was stationed in
Tyras as well as Legio V Macedonia and Legio XI
Claudia.
Pottery is represented by Ionian wares from the 6th
c. B.C. and red-figured Attic wares from the 5th c. From
the 3d c. B.C. on, relief wares from Asia Minor predominate. The city minted its own coins from 360 B.C. The Hermitage and Kiev Museums contain material from the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. H. Minns,
Scythians and Greeks
(1913) 445-49; C. M. Danoff,
Pontos Euxeinos (1962)
1091-92 =
RE Suppl. IX; A. I. Furmanskaia, “Antichnyi
gorod Tira,”
Antichnyi gorod (1963) 40-50; E. Belin
de Ballu,
L'Histoire des Colonies grecques du Littoral
nord de la Mer Noire (1965) 38-41; I. B. Braşinskij, “Recherches soviétiques sun les monuments antiques des
régions de la Mer Noire,”
Eirene 7 (1968) 82-83.
M. L. BERNHARD & Z. SZTETYŁŁO
