Sinope on the Black Sea is historically founded by the Greeks. Ionian migrants settle on the isthmus of İnce Burun c. 630 BCE. It's the northernmost extent of Anatolia along the Black Sea coast. Strategically it's an excellent location.
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The Ionians come from Miletus to hostile shores. While there's some suggestion of earlier Bronze Age Hittites moving up to the Black Sea coast it's not demonstrated. Hittite-made finds are more likely brought there by the Kaska or another tribe of mountain people.
Kaska, Kashka or Kaskians habitually raid Hittite settlements with more or less success. Sometimes they team up with kin, tribe or allies. They fight as mercenaries in titanic power struggles. They sack Hattusa in 1190 BCE, possibly killing the last Hittite King in the process.
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The reason the Hittite Empire doesn't make it to the Black Sea coast (known at the time as the Great Sea) is the resistance of the mountain tribes, especially the Kaska. Other tribal allies and/or enemies include the Pala and Tumanna also on the southern Black Sea coast.
According to 12th century BCE records of Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I, Kaska (Apishlu) and their Mushki and Urumu (Urumean) allies are active in the empire once belonging to Hittites. Tiglath-Pileser defeats them and the Kaska disappear from historical records.
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The Black Sea has an unusual hydrostructure in that deep waters don't mix with upper layers receiving oxygen from the atmosphere. Because of this, over 90% of the deep Black Sea volume is anoxic or oxygen-deprived water.
The Black Sea is a treacherous place to be in a tempest. Storms spring up, currents are fierce and shelter not always near. The rocky coast claims many lives. When the Greeks arrive at the place they call Sinope, they claim the world's edge is at the Black Sea.
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The Black Sea has some of the roughest waters in the world, with strong currents and unpredictable storms. It's a challenge for ships. With an average depth of over 2 mi (3.2 k) it's one of Earth's deepest seas.
The most dangerous fish in the Black Sea include the sea dragon or greater weever (Trachinus draco) which buries itself in the sand. This fish has poisonous spines and a toxic painful sting. The name weever is an early form of English "viper".
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Other poisonous Black Sea creatures include scorpion fish (Scorpaena porcus). The spines of the scorpion fish are equipped venom-releasing glands. A scorpion fish sting causes severe throbbing pain, peaking in 1 to 2 hours. It lasts about 12 hours.
Pain can be intense enough to cause hallucinations. Toxicity might manifest as redness, bruising, swelling, numbness, tingling, blisters or vesicles, and peeling flesh at the wound site.
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The common stingray (Dasyatis pastinaca) and stargazer (Uranoscopus scaber) are also creatures to avoid. Like the others they bury themselves in sand and stepping on one is a good way to end a Black Sea jaunt in medical treatment.
Before the Ionians arrive from Miletus, by the Meander River, the Black Sea shores are not overtly settled. The mountain clans if any remain are largely nomadic. By the first millennium BCE they've joined other settlements and dissolved into the general population.
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The rocky shores are dangerous for ships and unsafe for fishing. Toxic creatures lurk in the sandy shallows and coves. However, the pink and purple flowers growing abundantly in the hills are attractive and just a little too stimulating. The Ionians set up camp.
It's not long before civilization takes hold. Greeks without civilization are like wheels without wagons. Sinope issues its own coinage, founds colonies, and becomes known for a prized red earth pigment called sinopia after the name of the town.
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It's mined in Cappadocia, central Anatolia, though merchants are fond of keeping their secrets. They provide sinopia clay and pigment at Sinope to traders and travelers who brave the Black Sea, or make the overland trip. The color is from the red ocher stone, hematite.
Medicinal clays have been used since early humankind. In antiquity sinopia clay comes from a location in central Anatolia kept secret, and distributed through Sinope. The clay is called Rubrica Synopica by physicians, for the Greek settlement.
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The clay has medicinal use for skin health, and treatment for diarrhea, dysentery and bleeding. Clays are named after the places they originate, as different areas have unique soil compositions and no two clays or ochers are the same.
Hematite or iron oxide is the dominant component even in yellow clays. Medicinal clays are usually rich in minerals. The craving to eat clay often means the body is missing one of the minerals the clay contains, such as zinc or iron.
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Clay can be applied as an astringent as it tightens pores, and as a poultice to soothe arthritic aches. Even today wheel-thrown pottery is recommended as a healing activity for people with arthritis and rheumatic ailments.
The Black Sea is then known by the Greeks as Á-xe(i)nos, identified with the Greek word áxeinos (inhospitable). Later Romans call it Pontus Euxinus based on the Greek term. As they come to know the sea better they call it "Hospitable Sea" (Euxeinos Pontos).
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As it turns out the lush purple and pink flowers on the hillsides and their dense-leaved plants are deadly poison, not just to humans but any unfortunate livestock grazing on them. Livestock is usually saved by the bitter taste, which doesn't appeal to the palate.
However a little bit of magic happens here as people learn the plants have medical benefits, and in small amounts can act as a sedative or mild psychoactive. Too much and the body shuts down.
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A major discovery occurs when people gather the wild honey produced by local bees who gather nectar and pollen from the showy bright flowers. This honey is hallucinogenic. It can make a person deathly sick, but demonstrates strong spiritual and medicinal benefits.
It's thought to boost energy and fight disease. Eventually the honey is attributed with radical restorative powers to low libido or defunct equipment. It's known in modern times as the "sweet" Viagra. On today's black market "mad honey" commands top prices.
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Eventually, the Greeks strike out to create throughout their tenure 70 to 90 colonies along the Black Sea coast. Black Sea colonization is led by the Megarans and Ionian cities such as Miletus.
Agriculture in the Black Sea region gradually expands into cultivation of wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, and potatoes. Recently, Bronze Age artifacts found on the Moldavian coast of the Black Sea suggest trade earlier than the Ionians.
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Jade axes and decorated spearpoints come from the far east in the Sayan Mountains of southern Siberia. The closest parallels to these objects are axes found in a Bronze Age hoards known as “Pram’s Treasure” from 2nd century BCE at the entrance of the Black Sea.
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