Tmutorokan Principality

Tmutarakan

Excavation at the site, September 2008
Location of the site within Russia Show map of Krasnodar Krai Location of the site within Russia Show map of European Russia
Alternate name	Hermonassa
Location	Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Region	Taman Peninsula
Coordinates	45°13′09″N 36°42′51″E / 45.21917°N 36.71417°E / 45.21917; 36.71417Coordinates: 45°13′09″N 36°42′51″E / 45.21917°N 36.71417°E / 45.21917; 36.71417
Type	Settlement
History
Founded	6th century BCE
Abandoned	After 14th century CE
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Tmutarakan or Tmutorakan was the name of a Mediaeval Kievan Rus' principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa (Ancient Greek: Ἑρμώνασσα), situated on the Taman peninsula, in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia, roughly opposite Kerch. The Khazar fortress of Tamantarkhan (from which the Byzantine name for the city, Tamatarcha, is derived) was built on the site in the 7th century and became known as Tmutarakan (Ukrainian: Тмуторока́нь, Russian: Тмутарака́нь) when it came under Kievan Rus control in the 10th and 11th centuries.

The Greek colony of Hermonassa was located a few miles west of Phanagoria and Panticapaeum, major trade centers for what was to become the Bosporan Kingdom. The city was founded in the mid-6th century BCE by Ionians, although there is evidence of others taking part in the enterprise, including Cretans. The city flourished for some centuries and many ancient buildings and streets have been excavated from this period, as well as a hoard of fourth century golden coins. Hermonassa was a centre of the Bosporan cult of Aphrodite and in the early centuries CE was trading with the Alans. There is also archaeological evidence of extensive replanning and construction in the second century CE.