Myrmēkion or Myrmecium (Ancient Greek: Μυρμήκιον, Russian: Мирмекий) was an ancient Greek colony in the Crimea. The settlement was founded in the eastern part of the modern city Kerch, 4 km NE of ancient Panticapaeum on the bank of the Kerch bay near the cape Karantinny. The settlement was founded by Milesians in the first half of the 6th c. BC.[1]
According to Strabo it was 20 stadia from Panticapeum, and 40 stadia from Parthenium and opposite to it was the town of Achilleum.[2] Near the town was a promontory of the same name.[3]
It was in the place of modern Yeni-Kale and many ancient remains have been found.[3][4]
In the 5th century BC, the town specialized in winemaking and minted its own coinage. It was surrounded by towered walls, measuring some 2.5 metres thick. Myrmekion fell into the hands of the Bosporan kings in the 4th century BC and gradually dwindled into insignificance in the shadow of their capital, Panticapaeum. Regular excavations began in 1934 undertaken by an expedition led by V.F. Gaidukevich. The site was excavated by Polish archaeologists, led by Kazimierz Michałowski, in the 1950s. Between 1982 and 1994 an expedition led by Yu.A. Vinogradov was working at the site. In 1999 an archaeological expedition of the State Hermitage Museum began work at the site.
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