Pages: 49-72 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2634972

This article brings together, for the first time in Russian-language historiography, most of the currently known vessels decorated with relief medallions — the so-called “Calena cups” — from the Northern Black Sea region. These medallions were stamped onto the bases of hemispherical cups produced in various centers. The sample includes only specimens dating to the 3rd—2nd centuries BC, found both in the region’s major cities and at other sites, as well as objects from early acquisitions by the State Hermitage Museum and the State Historical Museum. A preliminary analysis of the images shows that the medallions depict the principal figures associated with the Dionysian cult. They also include a range of female images, among them the goddesses Aphrodite and Athena, as alongside several other motifs.

Keywords: Northern Black Sea region, “Calena cups”, Hellenistic pottery, characters of ancient mythology

Information about author:

Tatyana Egorova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Lomonosovsky Ave., 27-4, Moscow, 119192, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-8479-0518

Denis Zhuravlev (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. State Historical Museum. Red Square, 1, Moscow, 109012, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-1139-6621