December 16, 2022
An ornate Iranian sword has recently been uncovered during an excavation of the Greek colony of Phanagoria in the Black Sea region of Russia.
Dating back to the 4th to the 6th Century CE, the sword, along with several relics, has been unearthed from the burial site of a warrior, who was an inhabitant of the Taman Peninsula, Heritage Daily reported October 15.
The sword suggests a political and cultural connection with the Sassanian or Neo-Persian Empire from modern Iran and Iraq, likely given as a diplomatic gift or taken as a military trophy, the report said.
Also, the archaeological project yielded pieces of a harness, buckles and belt tips, as well as high-status items such as glass jugs, wooden and metal utensils, and wooden boxes with decayed cloth linings.
There is little doubt the warrior was a representative of the elite of Phanagoria and was a bearer of the military aristocratic culture of the Bosporan Kingdom in the Migration Period, said one of the members of the project.
The ancient city of Phana-goria was a Greek colony, first founded on the Taman Peninsula by Teian colonists in the 6th Century BC after a conflict with the Persian king Cyrus the Great. The city grew into a major trading center that, along with the associated necropolis, covers an area of more than 9 square kilometers (3-1/2 square miles).
