Cepi

Cepi 

(Greek, Kepoi), an ancient city founded by the Miletians in the first half of the sixth century B.C. on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Taman’ in what is now Krasnodar Krai. Part of the Bosporan State, the city flourished during Hellenistic times and during the first and second centuries A.D. It ceased to exist in the fourth century.

Excavations conducted in 1957 revealed a complex of wineries, a ceramic stove, and the remains of a sanctuary, where a small marble sculpture of Aphrodite (the Taman’ Aphrodite) was found. More than 400 graves of the Cepi necropolis have been investigated, including rich burials with gold ornaments, painted and glass vessels, terra-cotta figurines, weapons, and sculptured tombstones.

REFERENCES

Sokol’skii, N. I. “Kepy.” Antichnyi gorod. Moscow, 1963.
Sokol’skii, N. I., and N. P. Sorokina. “Raskopki goroda Kepy i ego nekropolia v 1957–1963 gg.” Ezhegodnik Gosudarstvennogo Istoricheskogo muzeia. Moscow, 1966.