Stone of Tmutarakan was discovered on the Taman Peninsula in 1792. It was the time when the famous English traveler Edward D. Clarke was passing through the area. Dr. Clarke mentioned the finding in his bestselling book:
“The words of the inscription are to the following effect: – “In the year 6576 (1065) Indict. 6, Prince Gleb measured the sea on the ice; and the distance from Tmutaracan to Kertchy was 30,054 fathoms.” Pallas relates, that the freezing of the Bosphorus, so that it may be measured on the ice, is in itself no uncommon occurrence; which, while it serves to ascertain the truth of ancient history, proves also that the degrees of heat and cold do not vary as those of latitude; both Taman and Kertchy being nearer to the equator than Venice, where the freezing of the sea would be accounted a prodigy. The cavalry of Mithridates [VI the Great] are said to have fought on the ice, in the same part of the [Cimmerian] Bosphorus where a naval engagement had taken place in the preceding summer.”
The inscription on Tmutarakan Stone irrefutably confirms the close connection between Kyiv Rus and modern Crimea. As a reminder, Moscow did not exist at the time.
Dr. Clarke other observation in the same area:
The book “Kyiv Rus in Heimskringla Sagas and Byzantine Texts” helps to see Kyiv Rus through the eyes of the Viking kings and Byzantine historians.
The “Royal Scythia, Greece, Kyiv Rus” book tells the story of Mithridates the Great and how the city of Eupatoria in Crimea got named after him.
