Nymphaion necropolis in Bosporos - article ; n°1 ; vol.27, pg 199-216

Nadejda Jijina

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Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen - Année 1998 - Volume 27 - Numéro 1 - Pages 199-216
18 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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• Publié par: TRAVAUX_DE_LA_MAISON_DE_L-ORIENT
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1998
• Nombre de lectures: 156
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

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Nadejda Jijina
Nymphaion necropolis in Bosporos
In: Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 1998. pp. 1-2. (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient
méditerranéen)
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Jijina Nadejda. Nymphaion necropolis in Bosporos. In: Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 1998. pp.
1-2. (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen)
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/mom_1274-6525_1998_act_27_1_1086NYMPHAION NECROPOLIS IN BOSPOROS
NadejdaJIJINA*
Various archaeological finds from Kertch have been regularly discussed in literature starting from the
40s of the previous century. Among these were wooden sarcophagi with decorative appliques made of
plaster. 1 Along with the rest of sarcophagi from Bosporos, those dating from the lst-2nd centuries A.D.,
the mentioned ones should be considered as specific examples of local art production, "quite characteristic
of Bosporos that show themselves to be its contribution to the development of classical craft and
culture". 2 As for decorative plaster appliques for the sarcophagi panels, they were also discussed in
literature, mainly together with other groups of archaeological materials and in relation to some aspects
and general problems of classical art history and archaeology of the Black Sea coast. 3
In the present article an attempt is made to find out, if such decorative elements of wooden
sarcophagi like plaster appliques can be recognized as date-reliable finds. Apart from that, there exists a
problem common for any research in archaeological materials from necropoli, namely that of social
stratification in this or that ancient community.
The ruins of the city of Nymphaion lie seventeen kilometres south-west from Kertch on rather a
high plateau by the sea-side. The city-site and its necropolis have been investigated since mid- 19th
century but only in the late 30s of the present century the sporadic excavations of the past changed for
regular ones. The particular description of Nymphaion necropolis and the data from the earliest period of
its investigation were presented by Lina F. Silantyeva in her special work devoted to the items from the
Hermitage collection and the archives. 4 The newly accessed materials that are discussed here, were
excavated by the expedition of the State Hermitage museum under the guidance of the late Dr. Nonna
L. Gratch. Most of the tombs dating from the 1st century B.C.-the 3rd century A. D. were examined
during the seasons of 1973-1977. 5 They occupied mainly the north-eastern part of the necropolis area,
north-west from the city-site. The artificial earth-ridge that hides most of the tombs stretched "along the
ancient ravine descending northwards from the plateau of Nymphaion". 6 Twenty two catacombs, cut in
rock, almost parallel to each other, their entrances chiefly open to north-west, were discovered on the
western side of the ravine. 7 They formed a solemn and strict street of underearth sepulchres. Several
* Musée de l'Ermitage, Service des antiquités grecques et romaines, Saint-Pétersbourg.
1. Zapiski Odesskogo obshtchestva istorii i drevnostey, Odessa, 1844, p. 617-618; Ashik 1854, vol. I,
p. 614 et al. ; Ashik 1854, vol. II, p. 815-816 et al. ; OAK za 1862 g., p. XI-XII ; OAK za 1864 g.,
p. XVI ; OAK za 1867 g., p. XI ; OAK za 1868 g., p. 59 ff ; OAK za 1872 g., p. XXII-XXIV ; OAK za
1873 g., p. VII ; OAK za 1874 g., p. IX-X etc. Detailed list of publications and the archival information to
be found in Sokolsky 1969, p. 54-85.
2. Sokolsky 1971, p. 120.
3. Stephani 1878, Jebeliov 1901, Brodskaya 1960, Blavatskiy 1979.
4. Silantyeva 1959.
5. Gratch Nonna 1975a, p. 270-271 ; Gratch Nonna 1975b, p. 59-60 ; Gratch Nonna 1978, p. 314-315.
6. Gratch 1975a, p. 270.
7. Op. cit., p. 271.
Nécropoles et pouvoir, TMO n° 27
Maison de l'Orient, Lyon. 200 Ν. JIJINA
types of burials dating from the Roman times were discovered there : apart from the rock-carved cata
combs, two more kinds of vaults have been found - those dug in earth, their walls free of stone covering,
and the one with its walls lay ed and strengthened with even limestone slabs. All catacombs appeared to be
family tombs which had been in use for rather a long period. Other burials, once used for the only dead,
were similarly either carved in rock, or dug in earth. Some of them (mainly rock-carved graves) contained
a sarcophagus or a simple coffin (the latter were mainly discovered in earthen graves), some were lined
with a thick rug of dry algae or seaweeds, dead body put on it without any receptacle for a corpse. It is
"personal" graves never exceeded 2,85m in length by 1,7m important to mention that the largest among
in width and contained burials in wooden sarcophagi decorated with plaster-cast theatrical or lion masks.
Most of the tombs are left aside here but the earthen vault ordinal n° K-26. It contained a group of burials,
both in sarcophagi and without ones. This seems sufficient to suppose that the vault had existed for
relatively a long period, and to suggest some conclusions. This vault was the last link in the chain of the
above mentioned twenty two catacombs on its western end (Fig.l) but in this very place the rock broke
abruptly. Unlike the rest of the catacombs, the entrance of this one was open to south with slight
declination to west, "the axis of the dromos and the camera was directed from south-west to north-east". 8
Before presenting the precise description of the vault itself, the ritual and the offerings, it seems
necessary to mention that the excavations were carried out in the shortest period and should be considered
as rescue works because the area had been intended to be built up. Therefore the company of 1974 resulted
in excavating the camera of the vault, while the dromos was examined during the next season (1976).
Partly the vault was excavated with the help of mechanisms, thus it should be remembered that some
informative lacunae or uncertainties may still exist, especially concerning the depth and the filling of the
camera.
Layout of the Vault
The underearth camera and the dromos were dug in a dense soil - dark brown loam -, on the
southern part of the area (i. e. by the dromos), and grey forerock soil on its northern side (/. e. by the
camera). In both cases the soil was mixed with rock crumb and debris. The upper level of this basic
forerock vein lay as deep as 1,40m (on the camera side) and 1,00m (on the dromos side) from modern
surface. The camera lay in it as deep as 1,80m and the dromos at 1,60m. The above described soil was
overlaid with a stratum of a buried dark soil mixed with humus. It was as thick as 1,10m on the camera
side, while on the dromos side it appeared to be only 0,15-0,20m thick as it had been overlaid with a
bolster of the dug up earth, also mixed with rock crumb. Thickness of the bolster was about 0,70m, it
could be traced on both sides of the dromos when viewing the entrance. The humous stratum that overlaid
everything was as thick as O,3O-O,35m on the camera side and 0,1 0-0, 15m on the dromos side.
All this proves that the works were started on the dromos side in order to settle the camera under the
thickest earth layer, namely under the southern end of the ridge. It seems evident that the location of the
ridge was convenient enough to place the catacomb necropolis exactly there. At the same time the ridge
itself could have been growing in the process of catacomb building.
The right-angled camera of the vault was as big as 2,50m (east-west) by 2,90m (south-north). Three
earthen podia were located in the walls (but the wall with the entrance), their height being almost similar
(0.15-0,20m), their width different (eastern podium was 0,70m wide, western one -0,60m, northern -
0,50m). The slightly inclined walls of the camera prompt that the ceiling was semi-circular, numerous
traces of white, yellow and light blue paints prove that they had been once decorated. The light coloured
earth of the collapsed ceiling (0,90- 1,0m thick) could be easily differed from the lower part of the filling,
which was dark-grey (1,50m thick). The trapeziform short dromos was filled with the same kind of soil
that contained some black streaks, however. It should be mentioned that at the threshold of the camera the
dromos was almost twice wider than at its mouth (1,30m against 0,70m).
8. Gratch Nonna 1978, p. 315. NYMPHAION NECROPOLIS 201
The Contents of the Vault (funeral ritual and the offerings)
The camera of the vault contained the remains of nine buried persons. The bones of only four
skeletons were still preserved in respectively strict anatomical order, while the rest ones had been badly
disturbed supposably in ancient times (Fig. 2).
I. The better preserved female skeleton had an ordinary n° 5. 9 It was located on the podium by the
eastern wall of the camera, quite close to the latter.
The buried one lay on the back, her arms along the body, her head pointing to the north-east. The
cranium had been moved to the left shoulder. Thick bedding of seaweeds was discovered under the cranium
and the upper extremities. The decorations and the offerings were as follows :
Two bronze ring-shaped earrings on the craniu