Pontic Timeline

700 BCE – 1500 CE · 3 sites

All sites in this period

Continent Record

Northernmost Known Site in Asia

Sinop

700 BCE – 400 CE

The birthplace of Diogenes the Cynic philosopher and the oldest Greek colony on the Black Sea coast, a natural peninsula fortress that became the capital of the Pontic Kingdom under Mithridates.

ClassicalHellenisticRoman

61

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Amasya

300 BCE – 1500 CE

The royal capital of the Pontic Kingdom, where monumental rock tombs of Pontic kings are carved high into the cliffs above the Yesilirmak River, overlooked by a citadel and flanked by elegant Ottoman mansions.

HellenisticRomanByzantine

59

Amisos

600 BCE – 400 CE

An ancient Greek and Pontic city beneath modern Samsun, where spectacular painted royal tombs with intact grave goods have been discovered — among the finest Hellenistic funerary paintings in Turkey.

ClassicalHellenisticRoman

56