For a long time, researchers and scientists believed that the Tmutarakan principality was just a fictional part from the chronicle "The Word about Igor's Campaign." And only in 1792, on the Taman Peninsula, during the escort of the Black Sea Cossacks to Taman, a marble slab was discovered, later called the Tmutarakan stone, on which there was an Old Russian inscription. Later, near this stone, the remains of the chronicle Tmutarakan 'were excavated. Although for a long time, many scientists doubted the authenticity of the inscription on the Tmutarakan stone.
The inscription on the slab says that Prince Gleb Svyatoslavovich measured the distance between Tmutarakan and Korchev (modern Kerch) along the ice. When they decided to check the accuracy of the measurements, it turned out that the prince had accurately measured 14,000 fathoms, which corresponds to 24 kilometers from the central temple of Tmutarakan, the Church of the Virgin, to the church of St. John the Baptist in Kerch.
But until the 20th century, scientists continued to argue about how authentic this inscription is. It is the oldest ancient Russian inscription on a stone and served as the beginning of the development of Russian epigraphy - a science that studies ancient inscriptions on solid materials. Also, the Tmutarakan stone was at the center of political events. At the time of its opening, the then ruling Catherine II intended to return to Christianity Greece, which was considered dependent on the Russian Empire. Accordingly, the stone was regarded as evidence of the historical connection between Russia and the Byzantine Empire. But there were also opponents of such plans of the empress, who proclaimed the stone a fake.
They examined the stone and tried to determine its approximate age by the destruction, carried out a thorough analysis of the handwriting of the inscription, even attracted foreign specialists to this business and looked for other ancient inscriptions similar and corresponding to the same time. The found remains of the principality became a solid proof of the authenticity of the Tmutarakan stone. Now the stone is in the Hermitage of St. Petersburg.
The Tmutarakan principality existed in the 10-12 centuries. Its distinctive feature was the diversity of its ethnic composition: that territory was inhabited not only by the Russians, but also by the Greeks, Khazars, Alans, Armenians, Jews and Taurus. Accordingly, there were several religions on the territory of the principality: Christianity coexisted with Judaism and paganism. The city of Tmutarakan was the capital of the principality and at the same time a stone fortress, the ruins of which have been found and have survived to this day. It is known that the walls of the city wall were almost 8 meters thick and were lined with adobe bricks.
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The Greeks began to build the fortress from the island of Lesbos, later it became part of the Bosporus kingdom and part of the Byzantine Empire. Then it was conquered by the Turkic Kaganate. After the defeat of the Khaganate, the city became part of Russia.
Excavations of the Tmutarakan principality began in the 19th century. Samples of Greek and Old Russian ceramics were found at the excavation site. We also managed to restore the layout of streets and houses in the city. Water tanks and grape presses were found in the streets; cellars and grain storage pits were found near the dwellings. Several cemeteries were located around the city.
Excavations of the ancient Tmutarakan principality continue to this day. Now the local territory has been declared a museum-reserve.