Big Bad Bosphorus/Bosporus=ΒΟΣΠΟΡΟΣ Thread

[keravnos]

I have searched far and wide and well, came up empty. Here is what happens... every single text I could find had "ΒΟΣΠΟΡΟΣ" in it. Unless there is something I miss, that means that it should be "Bosporan" not bosp-H-oran.

I have said bosporan and then changed my mind to bosphoran, as some uni sites and books had it thus.

I would like to publically thank Tellos Athenaios for his invaluable assistance in tracking down who wrote what and why. Actually this should be his thread, not mine. Ι am merely copying some of his excellent research.

Let's see what happens...

THEOPHANES CONFESSOR Chronogr. {4046 Click to search}

vel Theophanes Homologetes, vel Theophanes Isaacius, vel Theophanes Megaloagrius
A.D. 8-9
Geographic epithets: Constantinopolitanus, Samothracenus
Non-standard generic epithets: Abbas (Cyzici), Confessor

He consequently uses Bosph for Bosp and clearly refers to the Bosphorus you refer to. (A quick glance at the hit reveals he writes about the polis of Chersonesos, in the land of the Bosphorus. So, no mistake there.)

YET, (if ancient greek were that easy... )

Flavius ARRIANUS Hist., Phil. {0074 Click to search}

A.D. 1-2
Geographic epithet: Bithynius
Show works

Who writes about the same region and consequently calls it Bosp-...

Additionally the Bosp version coughs up many more hits. Including proper ethnicities. But it also coughs up dubious Greek: Bospore (Βοσπορη). (Bosph-version have very few hits, apparently occuring with one author only.)

also,
Herodotos mentions bosporos 16 times. Bosphoros, none.

Possibilities:
1) Dialect. That's easy, almost like cheating. Still, we have no way of knowing how the nearby Thraikian tribes called the greek name for that place and how it may have "twisted" the original sound.
2) Confusion with various places.
3) Both are simply correct?
4) Meaning of the words. Bos - phoros has a widely different stem from Bos -poros. (Cow (as in cattle) bearing, as in fertile land vs. Crossing of the cow as in mythology.)
5) Τhe Cow-crossing explanation might very well have been a form of psilosis! It could originally very well have been Bosphoros but because of being the common word & trade route it is it was simplified to Bosporos. ? A case of being hyper correct with the odd man out in 8/9 AD then, perhaps?
6) Mistake in transliteration. Φωσφορος=Phosphorus, Νικηφορος=Nikephorus, Βοσπορος=Bosphorus.


Ok, guys this is the research Tellos Athenaios and me (to a much lesser extent) did on that issue.

I hope it cleared some of the confusion. That's the hope at least.

[L.C.Cinna]

Thank you both very much for the time you invested and the information.