The Supreme Gods of the Bosporan Kingdom: Celestial Aphrodite and the Most High God

Religions in the Graeco-Roman World

by Yulia Ustinova

This is the first systematic study of the cults of the Bosporan Kingdom, which existed in South Russia in the first centuries AD. The research is based on a variety of archaeological evidence and inscriptions, largely unknown to the non-Russian readers, as well as historical and literary texts.
The religion of the Bosporus is viewed in this monograph as a blend of Greek and indigenous Iranian traditions. Its first part is dedicated to the cult of Celestial Aphrodite. The second part examines the controversial cult of the Most High God and its alledged Jewish affinities.
The book, illustrated with thirty figures, is an important contribution to the understanding of the religious life in Greek colonies, and the history of Eastern Mediterranean in Late Antiquity.

Genres: History

Leather Bound

First published December 10, 1998

About the author

Yulia Ustinova was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in Russia, and received her PhD from the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1988. In 1990 she migrated to Israel. Her research focuses on ancient Greek religion and its role within the society. In addition to historical written and archaeological sources, she makes use of a multidisciplinary approach based on the application of results of cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, and sociology to the interpretation of historical phenomena.

Reviews

[Andrew Frei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for me when I was looking into the Multi cultural religions of the ancient northern Black Sea. However, Ustinova’s language when referring to the non Greek was shocking in its orientalist connotations. I thought by 1999 a heavy reliance on vocabulary such as “barbarian” and “of the orient” would have been less prevalent.