Pantikapaion

Pantikapaion was an ancient Greek city founded by Milesian colonists in the late seventh or early sixth century BC on a hill on the eastern shore of Crimea, on the site of modern Kerch. At its peak it covered about 100 hectares and served as the residence of two dynasties, the Archaeanactids and then the Spartocids, ruling the Cimmerian Bosporus; a Jewish community flourished there in the early centuries AD, and King Mithridates VI of Pontus took his own life in the city after his defeat by Rome. Pantikapaion was abandoned around 370 AD, and its excavated material is held in the Hermitage and Kerch museums.