Egyptian Cults on the Black Sea Coast

Bricault, Laurent
Atanassova, Vessela (dir.)

The Black Sea is a vast navigable area situated at the crossroads of ancient worlds: the Balkans to the west, the Eurasian steppes to the north, the Caucasus and Central Asia to the east, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the south, and Greece to the southwest. In the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, Greek communities settled permanently on its shores, establishing an active and lucrative trade network directly linked to the Mediterranean. At the same time, several kingdoms (notably those of the Bosporus, Pontus, and the Odrysae) developed, fostering close relationships with the Aegean world. It is in this dynamic context that certain Egyptian beliefs reached the coasts of the Pontus Euxinus, taking root there permanently.
The volume Egyptian Cults on the Black Sea Coast, which compiles 11 papers presented in June 2022 in Varna, Bulgaria, during the international conference of the same name, is the culmination of a fruitful project. Written by the foremost specialists in the Pontic area, these articles shed new light on ancient questions, while revealing numerous previously unseen documents that wonderfully illustrate the significant impact of cultural interactions during Antiquity in this part of the world.