A Bosporan Dedication from Apatouron

This short dedication from the Taman peninsula belongs in the Scythian library because it stands at the edge of Bosporan Greek religion and Scythian-name evidence. The dedicator is Demarchos, son of Skythes, and the goddess is Aphrodite Ourania, named here as the power who watches over Apatouron.

The inscription should not be made to carry more than it says. Skythes may be a personal name rather than a direct ethnic statement about Demarchos. Its value is more careful and more durable: a compact fourth-century BCE Bosporan dedication where a Scythian name-form stands inside the cult of Aphrodite Ourania.

The translation below was made from the inspected Greek text captured from PHI Greek Inscriptions, CIRB 1111 / PH183846.

Translation

Demarchos, son of Skythes, dedicated this to Aphrodite Ourania, who watches over Apatouron, when Leukon was archon of Bosporos and Theodosia.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Ancient Greek inscription text printed below. The English is a new rendering from the Greek. PHI Greek Inscriptions was used as the source text, with the local HTML capture retained for verification.

The translation is a new Good Works rendering from the inspected Greek source text.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: CIRB 1111

Ancient Greek source text from PHI Greek Inscriptions, CIRB 1111 / PH183846. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Δήμαρχος Σκύθεω

ἀνέθηκεν Ἀφροδίτη[ι]

Οὐρανίηι Ἀπατούρο

μεδεούσηι

ἄρχοντος

Λεύκωνος Βοσπόρ[ο]

καὶ Θεοδοσίης.

Source Colophon

The source text was inspected from PHI Greek Inscriptions, CIRB 1111 / PH183846, North Shore of the Black Sea, Taman Peninsula, Lake Tsukur, dated by PHI to 389-348 BCE and cross-referenced as IosPE II 343. The source capture is preserved in the Scythian source archive.

PHI prints restored letters in brackets in Ἀφροδίτη[ι] and Βοσπόρ[ο]. The English renders Σκύθεω as the patronymic "son of Skythes"; this may be a personal name-form and should not be treated by itself as proof of Demarchos' ethnicity. μεδεούσηι is rendered as "who watches over" to keep the goddess' protective/ruling force visible without over-defining the local cult title.

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