HERMONASSA
Bosporus.
Ionian colony near
Taman on the S shore of the Gulf of Taman. It is mentioned in the ancient sources (Eust. ad Dion, 1. 549;
Strab.
11.2.10; Plin.
HN 6.18). Founded in the mid 6th c. B.C.,
it reached its zenith in the 4th-3d c. B.C. Many ancient
buildings and streets have been uncovered, including a
large dwelling of the 4th c. B.C. with an interior peristyle
courtyard; remains of archaic structures; grain pits; and
a hearth. There are also remains of buildings of the 1st-4th c. A.D., some along a paved street, and evidence of
extensive replanning and construction in the 2d c. A.D.
The necropolis, which dates from the 6th-5th c. B.C.,
contains tumulus tombs. There is a fine marble sarcophagus from the beginning of the 3d c. B.C.; the lid is
shaped like a pitched roof and has acroteria. The sides
of the sarcophagus are decorated with a frieze of
rosettes. The Hermitage and Kiev Museums contain
material from the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. B. Zeest, “Raskopki Germonassy,”
KSIIMK 58 (1955) 114-21; id., “Raskopki Germonassy,”
KSIIMK 74 (1959) 58-63; id., “Arkhaicheskie sloi Germonassy,”
KSIA 83 (1961) 53-58; V. P. Gaidukevich,
“Tamanskii nekropol' (raskopki 1931, 1938 i 1940 g.),”
Nekropoli Bosporskikh gorodov [Materialy i issledovaniia
po arkheologii SSSR, No. 69] (1959) 154-87; N. P. Sorokina, “Raskopki nekropolia Germonassy v 1956-1957
godakh,”
KSIA 83 (1961) 46-52; A. L. Mongait,
Archaeology in the USSR, tr. M. W. Thompson (1961) 200-201;
E. Belin de Ballu,
L'Histoire des Colonies grecques du Littoral nord de la Mer Noire (1965) 129-31; I. B. Brašinskij, “Recherches soviétiques sur les monuments antiques
des régions de la Mer Noire,”
Eirene 7 (1968) 109-10.
M. L. BERNHARD & Z. SZTETYŁŁO
