Two Greek Inscriptions from the Bosporan Frontier

These two inscriptional witnesses come from the early Bosporan kingdom's Sindian frontier. The first is a verse dedication from Labrys in which Leukon, son of Satyr, dedicates a statue to Phoibos Apollo after driving Oktamasades from the land of the Sindi. The second is a Nymphaion dedication in which Theopropides son of Megakles gives an entrance to Dionysus while Leukon rules Bosporos, Theodosia, Sindike, and neighboring peoples.

The Labrys dedication is preserved in three PHI records, printed below as parallel witnesses because the restored readings differ. The English translation follows the fuller SEG 52:740 text, while the earlier SEG 43:515 and SEG 48:1027 records remain visible for comparison.

For the Scythian shelf, the value is frontier evidence: Bosporan kingship, Sindike, the Sindi, Labrys, Nymphaion, Apollo, Dionysus, and local political violence appear in source-language inscriptions without collapsing the peoples of the north Black Sea into one identity.

Translation

1. Leukon Dedicates to Apollo at Labrys

After making a vow, Leukon, son of Satyr, set up this statue for Phoibos Apollo, the one in Labrys, guardian of this city, when he was archon of Bosporos and Theodosia, after he had driven Oktamasades out of the Sindian land by battle and power. Oktamasades was the son of Hekataios, king of the Sindi; he had cast his father out of his own rule and shut him up in this city.

2. Theopropides Dedicates an Entrance to Dionysus

Theopropides, son of Megakles, dedicated the entrance to Dionysus while serving as contest-director, when Leukon was archon of Bosporos, Theodosia, all Sindike, and the Toretes, Dandarioi, and Psessoi.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Ancient Greek inscription texts printed below. The English is a new rendering from inspected Greek source text captured from PHI Greek Inscriptions.

The first translation follows PHI Greek Inscriptions record SEG 52:740 / PH340409 as the fuller Labrys witness, with SEG 43:515 / PH339526 and SEG 48:1027 / PH339887 printed as parallel records. The second translation follows SEG 52:741 / PH340411.

The dossier is included for Bosporan, Sindian, Nymphaion, Labrys, and north Black Sea cult context. It should not be used as a broad identity claim about Scythians, Sindi, Maeotians, Bosporans, or any neighboring people.

Prepared for the Good Works Library of the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Labrys and Nymphaion Dedications under Leukon

Ancient Greek source texts from PHI Greek Inscriptions. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translations above.

SEG 43:515 / PH339526

1 εὐξάμενος Λεύκων υἱὸς Σατύρ[ο τόδ’ ἄγαλμα]
Φοίβωι Ἀπόλλωνι στῆσε τῶι ἐνλ̣[ογίμωι(?)]
τῆσδε πόλεως μεδέοντι Λαβρύτωμ, Β̣[οσπόρο ἐχθροὺς(?)]
Θευδοσίης τε μάχηι καὶ κράτει ἐξελ[άσας]·
5 Ὀκταμασάδε, ἄγης ἐΞίνδων {²⁶ἐξ Σίνδων}²⁶ παῖδ’ Ἑκ[αταίο]
τοῦ Σίνδωμ βασιλέως, ὃ̣ς πατέρα ο[ἰκηΐης]
ἐγβάλλων ἀρχῆς εἰς τήνδε πόλιγ κ[ατέκλεισεν(?)].

SEG 48:1027 / PH339887

1 εὐξάμενος Λεύκων υἱὸς Σατύρ[ο τόδ’ ἄγαλμα]
Φοίβωι Ἀπόλλωνι στῆσε τῶι ἐν Λ̣[αβρυ—(?)]
τῆσδε πόλεως μεδέοντι Λαβρύτωμ, Β̣[οσπόρο ἄρχων]
Θευδοσίης τε, μάχηι καὶ κράτει ἐξελ̣[άσας]
5 Ὀκταμασάδεα γῆς ἐΞινδῶν {²⁶ἐξ Σινδῶν}²⁶, παῖδ’ Ἑκ[αταίο]
τοῦ Σινδῶμ βασιλέως, ὃς πατέρα Ο̣(?)[— — —]
ἐγβάλλων ἀρχῆς εἰς τήνδε πόλιγ κ̣[— — — —].

SEG 52:740 / PH340409

1 εὐξάμενος Λεύκων υἱὸς Σατύρ[ο τόδ’ ἄγαλμα]
Φοίβωι Ἀπόλλωνι στῆσε τῶι ἐν Λ̣[άβρυι]
τῆσδε πόλεως μεδέοντι Λαβρύτωμ, Β̣[οσπόρο ἄρχων]
Θευδοσίης τε, μάχηι καὶ κράτει ἐξελ[άσας]
5 Ὀκταμασάδεα γῆς ἐΞινδῶν {²⁶ἐξ Σινδῶν}²⁶, παῖδ’ Ἑκ[αταίο]
τοῦ Σινδῶμ βασιλέως, ὃς πατέρα ο[ἰκηίης]
ἐγβάλλων ἀρχῆς εἰς τήνδε πόλιγ κ[ατέκλεισεν(?)].

SEG 52:741 / PH340411

1 Θεοπροπίδης Μεγακλέος τὴν εἴσοδον ἀνέθηκεν Διονύσωι
ἀγωνοθετέων, Λεόκωνος ἄρχοντος Βοσπόρο καὶ Θεοδοσίης
καὶ τῆς Σινδικῆς πάσης καὶ Τορετέων καὶ Δανδαρίων καὶ Ψησσῶν.

Source Colophon

The source texts were inspected from PHI Greek Inscriptions and captured locally for verification. PHI identifies the records as follows:

• SEG 43:515 / PH339526: N. Black Sea (Sindike) — Labrys (Semibratnee) — 390-380 BC — RossArkh (1993.2) pp. 34-47 — BE (1996) 306.
• SEG 48:1027 / PH339887: N. Black Sea (Sindike) — Labrys (Semibratnee) — 390-380 BC — SEG 43.515 — Hyperboreus 4 (1998) pp. 286-301 (S.R. Tokhtasʹev).
• SEG 52:740 / PH340409: N. Black Sea (Sindike) — Labrys (Semibratnee) — ca. 389-349 BC — SEG 43.515 — SEG 48.1027 — Ancient West & East 1 (2002) pp. 95-99 (A.J. Graham).
• SEG 52:741 / PH340411: N. Black Sea — Nymphaion (Geroevskoe-Elʹtigen) — ca. 389-349 BC — SEG 51.961 (partial text) — Hyperboreus 8 (2002) pp. 99-121 — cf. SEG 54.692; 56.891.

The Labrys records preserve the same inscription through successive published witnesses, with differing restorations around Apollo's local title, Leukon's Bosporan formula, and Oktamasades' treatment of Hekataios. The translation above follows the fuller PH340409 text and keeps the political narrative cautious. The Nymphaion text is translated separately because it is a different dedication, not a parallel to the Labrys verse.

The local HTML captures and extracted Greek source files are preserved in the Scythian source archive as phi_339526_seg_43_515_labrys_leukon_ins66.html, phi_339526_seg_43_515_labrys_leukon_ins66_source.txt, phi_339887_seg_48_1027_labrys_leukon_ins66.html, phi_339887_seg_48_1027_labrys_leukon_ins66_source.txt, phi_340409_seg_52_740_labrys_leukon_ins66.html, phi_340409_seg_52_740_labrys_leukon_ins66_source.txt, phi_340411_seg_52_741_nymphaion_dionysus_ins66.html, and phi_340411_seg_52_741_nymphaion_dionysus_ins66_source.txt.

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