Древние Еврейские Надгробные Памятники: Oткрытые в Насыпях Фанагорийского Городища Drevniye Yevreyskiye Nadgrobnyye Pamyatniki: Otkrytyye v Nasypyakh Fanagoriyskogo Gorodishcha (Ancient Jewish Tombstones: Discovered in the Embankments of the Phangoria Settlement)
Saint Petersburg: Пантелеевых (Panteleevykh), 1880. First edition. Softcover. Quarto. 8pp. of text + 8 plates. Green printed wrappers with black lettering on the front cover. Pages un-opened. A scarce and obscure publication detailing the Jewish tombstones found at the archeological site of the ancient Greek city of Phangoria. The publication contains 8 pages of text followed by 8 plates of b/w illustrated figures, reproducing the content of the ancient graves.
Founded circa 543 BC, Phangoria was located on the Taman Penninsula, in what is now Krasnodar Krai, in southern Russia, across the Strait of Kerch from Crimea. At its height, city served has the main and most important trading hub between the areas North of the Sea of Azov, and the areas on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Excavations at the site starting in the early 19th century revealed that the site contained a vast necropolis surrounding the city. Among the interesting revelations of these excavations, there appeared what were believed to be Jewish grave sites, dating to at least the first centuries AD. This is a striking reminder of the spread of Jewish people and culture around vast areas of the world, beyond the borders of Judea and the the eastern Mediterranean, providing important insight into this period of ancient Jewish history. There has been some doubt cast on the legitaimacy of these claims, in the years since.
Text in Russian.
Wrappers with minor rubbing to extremities, and a few small smudges to the front cover. Small ink stamp with pen markings of a previous owner on the back cover. Wrappers in very good, interior in near fine condition overall. Extremely scarce. vg to near fine. Item #47246
Price: $1,250.00