A metal mounting found near the Bosporan city of Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula has been declared a 'Mithridatic Ram'. No detailed photos yet but text states it has inscription of Mithridates VI.
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For my money the fitting looks too light to be a true ram. It seems more like a reinforcement to the cutwater found on many ships from the classical period. One can see where it could have been mounted on the keel.
Small Roman galley |
It may not be too much of an exagerration to call it a ram but the size of the fitting and the vessel it is supposed to have been mounted on do not really amount to a warship.
This find is very exciting because it demonstrates how much is waiting to be found under the sea and highlights the Black Sea, with its anoxic depths as a potential place where we may one day be able to gaze upon a preserved sunken trieres.
Lecture about Greek settlement in Taman |
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