Kimmerian Bosphorus
Journal: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Year: 2012

Abstract The Kimmerian Bosphorus is the strait (Hdt. 4.12,28) at the eastern extension of the Crimean Peninsula, leading into the Maeotis Lake (Sea of Azov) at Kerch (Pantikapaion, Bophorus). Its extent is described by Strabo (11.2.1–16). The term Bosphorus means “ox‐crossing” and thus designates a strait. The term Kimmerian distinguishes this strait from the Bosphorus in the southwest which permits entrance into the Black Sea at Byzantium/Constantinople. The ethnic origin of the Kimmerii is obs