Fragment of the bottom of a black-lacquered Attic salt cellar with graffiti
ID:
4916
Updated:
25.02.2025
Name:
Fragment of the bottom of a black-lacquered Attic salt cellar with graffiti
Author:
Original name:
The country of the work of art:
Date:
IV-III centuries BC
Type:
Ceramic products
Estimated value:
Circumstances:
Аppropriated by representatives of the russian federation during illegal excavations of cultural heritage sites of Ukraine
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Details of theft
Year of the incident:
2015
Place of the incident:
Archaeological complex "Ancient city of Nymphaeum"
Coordinates (Lat, Lon):
45.24029083004593, 36.41150551741924
Place of last known stay:
Links
Archive links

Description of the incident location
Nymphaion (Ancient Greek: Νυμφαι̃ον — "sanctuary of the nymphs") was an ancient city located north of the village of Eltigen (Heroivske, within present-day Kerch). It was founded between 580 and 560 BCE by Greek settlers from the island of Samos. The city is mentioned in the works of Aeschylus, Pliny, and Ptolemy. Excavations have uncovered parts of the acropolis, defensive structures, residential and public buildings, wineries, pottery kilns, an ancient temple, and several sanctuaries from the 6th–3rd centuries (dedicated to Demeter, the Cabeiri, and Aphrodite).
Between 2014 and 2019, staff from the russian State Hermitage Museum (a group led by senior researcher of the Department of the Ancient World, O.Yu. Sokolova) conducted illegal excavations at the Nymphaion archaeological site — a cultural heritage monument of Ukraine in Crimea — under the guise of "archaeological research." During these excavations, archaeological artifacts were unlawfully removed from the site. Damage was inflicted on valuable examples of ancient Greek (Hellenistic) and other Crimean cultures.
Since 2020, alongside the Hermitage expedition, representatives of the Crimean branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (the Steppe Unit of the South Bosporan Integrated Archaeological Expedition, led by I.V. Rukavishnikova and D.V. Beylin) have also been conducting illegal archaeological excavations at the site.
Between 2014 and 2019, staff from the russian State Hermitage Museum (a group led by senior researcher of the Department of the Ancient World, O.Yu. Sokolova) conducted illegal excavations at the Nymphaion archaeological site — a cultural heritage monument of Ukraine in Crimea — under the guise of "archaeological research." During these excavations, archaeological artifacts were unlawfully removed from the site. Damage was inflicted on valuable examples of ancient Greek (Hellenistic) and other Crimean cultures.
Since 2020, alongside the Hermitage expedition, representatives of the Crimean branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (the Steppe Unit of the South Bosporan Integrated Archaeological Expedition, led by I.V. Rukavishnikova and D.V. Beylin) have also been conducting illegal archaeological excavations at the site.
Provide additional information