Vakhrameieva G. Cult of Demeter in the Bosporus: VI–I c. BC

This dissertation is devoted to the study of the cult of Demeter in the Bosporus of pre-Roman times. The dissertation is the first comprehensive generalized research devoted to the history of the development of the cult of Demeter in the Bosporan Kingdom during the VI–I centuries BC. A powerful source database of archaeological materials and other data has been organized and systematized, a catalogue of the most expressive terracottas of the goddess and her daughter in the Bosporus has been created. An original typology of three-dimensional statuettes and protomes of Demeter and Kore-Persephone has been developed. It significantly simplifies and optimizes work with this group of sources. The main iconographic types of Demeter and Kore-Persephone have been identified. The periods of development of the cult of the goddess of agriculture in the Bosporus are concretized and this process is demonstrated in the historical dynamics. The place of the cult in the state pantheon, family religion and funeral rite is considered. It is determined that the presence of barbarian tribes in the Bosporus state did not have a decisive influence on the worship of Demeter, especially in the Archaic and Classical periods. System analysis of the archaeological materials, taking into account the general tendencies of Greek religion, social, political and economic processes on the territory of Bosporus, allowed specifying separate periods of development of the Bosporan cult of Demeter, identifying both the overall dynamics of this process and key trends for selected periods.