GOLDEN TREASURE: FROM THE GREEKS TO KYIVAN RUS SECTIONS:

• Kyivan Hoards
• Early Christianity on the Steppes
• The Great Migration: Romans, Goths, Huns, Slavs
• Greek Colonies on the Black Sea

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GREEK COLONIES ON THE BACK SEA

Ancient Greek myths abounded in tales of fabulous lands lying beyond the mist-shrouded entrance to the Black Sea. The Argonauts sailed across the sea in their quest for the Golden Fleece; Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus; and far to the north, ferocious griffins guarded streams of gold. Marvels of this far-off land lured travelers and merchants to explore the foreign shores.

Early Greek settlers called the Black Sea Pontos Axeinos (Inhospitable Sea), because of raging storms and fearsome nomads roaming the vast Pontic-Caspian steppeland. In the 7^th century BC, enterprising Greeks from Miletus settled the northern coastline and began to trade with the nomadic Scythians, renaming the sea Euxeinos (Hospitable). In exchange for finely crafted jewelry, wines and olive oil, the resourceful Greek colonists received shiploads of golden wheat, as well as honey, fish and slaves, that were exported to Athens at considerable profit.

In the 5^th century BC, Greek colonies in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula united to form the Bosporan Kingdom. The wealthy Kingdom rivaled Egypt in grain exports. Commerce prospered, supporting the ostentatious tastes of local Greek and nomadic elites whose treasures are still being unearthed from numerous tombs and kurgans found in modern-day Ukraine.

Fusing classical and local motifs, Bosporan goldsmiths created exquisite works of art. Intricate ornaments were manufactured with simple tools by hammering gold into thin sheets or melting gold dust and ingots over charcoal fires. Granulation and filigree were widely used to embellish gold objects.

In the 1^st century BC Roman forces under Pompey the Great conquered the Bosporan Kingdom, which remained subordinate to Rome for nearly half a millennium.

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