Visitors to Leuke Island

Abstract

This article is the publication of the plates compiled by N.N. Murzakevich, secretary of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities. It contains tracings of 241 Classical coins and lists of coin finds from the island of Fidonisi (known as Leuke in antiquity), which had been excavated in the 1840s and early 1850s. Recent data have led to a doubling of the list of Greek centres (up to 202) and the rulers of a number of states and peoples, whose coins made their way to the island. Details of these finds and the dates of the emissions illustrate clearly the development and chronological framework of the religious and economic ties between the northern coast of Pontus with the various regions of the Classical oikumene. The geographical range of the coin finds (from Magna Graecia, Sicily and the Levant to the Aegean, the Balkans, the Pontic region and Asia and as far away as Mesopotamia) demonstrates that the sanctuary of Achilles on the island of Leuke situated at a meeting point of Black Sea trade routes, enjoyed enormous popularity in the Classical world. The publication of these plates compiled by N.N. Murzakevich makes available new information on the maritime trade in the Pontus area between the 5th century BC and the 5th century AD.