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The trade in salt-pickle d hsmsi and other fish
from the Black Sea to Athens during
the Archaic and Classical periods
Muzaffer Dernir
(Jniversil' o.l' M ull a, Ttrrkey
Abstract
This paper discusses the ancieni evidence for the catching and processing of hcunsi: which can be illuminatecl by' many
modern accounts. The trade in small-fry, which could be salt-pickled as salsamerrta or turnecl into a salty, aromatic
fish sauce (ganun), was as important as the more conspicuous trade in salted pelantl,s (palamut). which was one of the
staples of the economy of Byzantium. Erzidence from Classical Athens implies that both locall1, producecl ancl
imported small-frv (in the latter case predominantly hamsil wete a regular part of working people's diets, and an
important item of trade between the Black Sea and the Aegean in the Archaic and Classical periods.
Özet
Bu Eahgmada, modern verilerin de rqrk tuttugu hamsinin vakalanmasr ve iqlenmesiyle ilgili antik kal,naklag tartl$maktayrz.
Antik Qa$'da küEük bahklar saisamenta adr aitrnda tuzlanmakta veya tuzlu-kokulu bahk sosuna (gcu-unl
dönüqtürülebiimektevdi. Bu küEük bairklann ticareti, Byzantium ekonomisinin temel mahsüllerinden birini oluqturan
ve ondan daha cazip görünen tuzlanmlq palamut (pelamr')'un ki kadar önemliirdi. Klasik Dönem Atina gehir
devletinden sünümüze ulagan de1i1ler. hem verel üretilmig, hem de ithal edilmiq kügük balgrn (ithal edilenlerde hamsi
a$rr basmakta), qahqanlann beslenmesinde sürek1i ver aldr$rnr, avnca Arkaik ve Klasik Dönem'lercle Karadeniz i1e
Ege Denizi arastndaki ticaretin önemii bir kalemini meydana eetiriiisini ima etmektedir.
fJantsi (Engraulis ertcrasichohLs) is a small, but very
I Iprolific species of fish (fig. 1; Aelian, De Nattu-ct
Attintalitmt 8.18; Oppian, Halieutica 4.46S-500). In
humourous magazines, jokes are even made that all
fishes descend from hamsi, and it is humorously asserted
that, if the hamsi had not been touched or harmed at all,
they could have fil1ed all the seas in the world (Hantsi
1951: 9). It is from the family Engraulidae. There are
two species. One is Engraulis Encrasicholus Pontictts.
They are found all around the Black Sea. However, if we
draw a line in the,middle of the Blacli Sea verticallv from
north to the south, the bulk of this type of lnntsi stock
live in the western Black Sea. An insignificant
proportion of them migrates to live in the east. The other
is Engraulis Encrasicholus Maeoticus (hantsi of the
Maeotian Sea or eastern Black Sea hamsfi. They live in
southeastern parts of the Black Sea and in the Maeotian
Sea at certain times of the year, from which they take
51
their name (Slastenenko 1956:92-93). ln general, pliny
(31.95) states that the Romans call tinv fish aptLa, the
Greeks aphye (äqüfi, as this tiny fish is bred out of rain
(see aiso Pliny 9.160, Athenaeus 1.284r. However,
Athenaeus (7.284f\ states that there are several kinds of
aph-ue and 'a second kind is that ca1led gudgeon; this
comes fiom the small and paltry gobies which live in the
sand. and from precisely this small-fry others are
generated which are called ettcrasicholi'
(öyrpoolloÄor; also see Aristotle, Historiq Animalitutt
569b 16). Athenaeus (7.3001 328e) adds tltat ettctttsicltoli
arc mentioned by Aristotie as being very small
fishes and non-migratory in his treatise On Aninnls and
Fish.es. They are called öpiripog by the Chalcedonians.
On the other hand, Aelian and Oppian (De Natw"a
Artinmliwn 8.181- Halieutica 4.468-70) prefer to call
them eyypcruli5, although Aelian also points out that
some call Ihem encrasicltoli and he had even heard a

Fig. ,/. Hamsi
thild name, 'woll--mouths' (Äv

(iiEo lliisevin, is sricl 1o have talien larri.sr 1r.om his putrirn
b1' 1i,t.. cluring i1s sale in thc rnlrli.cl. Whcn lhev ireul the
sound ol pipes. even the people in the bath rush to the
markct. su,cating. r.r,itlr onh, l'rath towels on themselvcs.
and rvhcn thcy use lhcse trlu'c1-s to plll /ttl,/,si in, their'
genitals are seen. Whcn thc purciraser does not irave
mone)' to buv hrlnl.i'i, he oflers his fuith ol u'orcls to the
seller instcacl of cash. Despite this, he is relused. as the
/rarrsr-scller says thut he is tirecl of rvords tliat will be
paid later, ancl that 1äith cloes not rnake money. Then
thele is tlie saving, 'we are lront Tritpczus and we clo not
have monef in our hancls, iI there hacl nclt lteen ftrrnr.ll.
u,hat coulcl we have done?' Evliva Qelebi no1 on11'
meniions the benefits of lntnsi lbr hcalth but also its use
in meals. Qelebi says it is a finger's length, thin, slipper'1'
and shines like silver. When someone eats il fbr seven
days. his sexual desire gels stronger. It is ver-i strength-
ening, easily digestible and smooth 1o eat. When used ir.r
meals, it does not smell or result in a high tension. It
heals someone having pains. lts cldour makes snal

transportation over a great distance (Aristotle. Historia
Animaliunt 570a). This would have been the only
available hamsi product during the summer months,
when sailing and sea trading occurred. In Turkey in the
1930s, only salted hamsi was so1d, as this was the
simplest and the cheapest method of storing the fish. It
was mostly consumed in the coastal cities and a small
amount of it was erported to Bulgaria, Greece and
Romania. Greece was the second largest importer iihsan
1932: 76). Nowadays, also, a sma1l amount of hamsi is
salted in fäctories to make conserves" to meet the demand
of a smal1 export market.
Archaeological evidence also indicrte s that hamsi
was saltecl in large amounts in the Cimmerian Bosphorus
and Crimea in antiquity. Curtis states that,
although many different kincis of llsh were caught and
processed in salting establishments of the Black Sea
area. the tunny, particularly the pelamys. was the most
important commercially. Archaeologists have in
recent years uncovered the bones of many of these
fish as well as those of anchovies, herring, sturgeon,
sea roach, flounder" and mackerel. Some of these fish
bones have been found in saiting vats discovered bv
Soviet archaeoiogists in the strait of Kerch at Tvritake
and Myrmekeion and in the Crimea (Tauric
Chersonese) at Chersonesos (1991: 121) at
Tvritake rhe fislt rvcre primrrilv hcrrins rnd muller.
while at Myrmekeion the remains were mainlv of
xatnsa (hamsi in Turkish), a smal1 fish similar to
anchovv (199I:723). . . the vats of Chersonesus are
generally quite lar-ee . . . Small vats, but of consid-
erable depth. were probablv used for flsh sauces. The
annual production of preserved anchovies alone mav
have approached 3,000-3.500 metric tons of fisl-r,
enough to make the Crimea one of the largest centers
of salted tlsh . . . There \,vas apparentlv a salt-rvork
nearbv, and the tish remains fbund in most abundance
are those of anchovy (199i: 125).
Some ancient literari,- eviclence also sho'uvs that the
Cimmelian Bospl.rorus and Iake Nlaeotis, as well as the
other regions aronncl the Black Sea. rvere rich in saltecl
['ish (Strabo 2.2.1" 7.1.6: see also Curtis 1991: l]9
quoting Euthydemus quotecl in Athenaeus 3.116b"
Dorion quoted in Athenaer.rs III.1i8b ancl Dernosthenes
3,5.31-34), ancl the names of some of these
saltecl f'ishes are mentioned.r Thc. prohlern is that
- Flcrorlotus (-1.)i.-l) praiscs thc lish ol the Borvsthenes
(Dnicncr) rivcr. espcciallv lhe sturgcon. rvhicit. he adds. rvas
saltccl. Dorion (quoted in Athcnacus 3. I l3b) rrentions u saltccl
lish. thc r

-trig. ?. I)alrtmLrl
lJorvevcr. the problem u'ith thr ancie nr lilerarv
sources concerning tlie export o1' saitccl f ish to the
Aegean world is thal the-r, are ferv, inciclental ancl clo not
givc specific narnes fbr saltecl fish, but mostiv rcfer to
saltecl fish (räprXog) from 1he Black Sea in a generai
way. Neverthelc'ss. some inl-erences may be n.racle in
viell' of other literarv evidence regarding the nantes and
the value of certain frsh fiom the Black Sea.
Tire main text, ri'hich is verv important in terms of
consideration of Black Sea trade in general. belongs to
Poivbius in the second centur\, BC. In his list of soods
(actuallv the food items). il'hich rvere exported from the
Biack Sea region to tl.re Aegean rvorjd. salted tish
('roprXo5) is said ro have been abundant. and it is
specifiecl as one of the food irems of which there was roo
much (.1.38..1; see also above note 2). This evidence is
confirmed b1,the cc-rmic playr,r'right Hermippus. an older
contemporarv of Aristophanes. His utopic list of luxurv
goods. imported to Athens. contains 'mackerel and everv
salted fish from the Hellespont (ör< äÄ),rlon-övrou
o

1991: 119). Other literary evidence also confirms that
pelamys was one of the main fish sources caught and
salted in the Black Sea (see note 2).
As the modern data sirows, hamsi (Engraulis Encra-
sichohrs fulaeotius) hatches in lake Maeotis during the
summer. The young fish are caught in the narrow straits
of the Cimmerian Bosphorus during their migration to
the south. and tire old ones in the course of their return.
According to statistical data of 1937-1938, most of this
type of lnmsi in the Black Sea are caught in lake
Maeotis. and especially in the narrow Kerch Straits.
during their migration (Slastenenko 1956: 99). Most of
the fish caught in the Kerch strait in antiquitv rvere
possibly ftarnsl. In the south. hcunsi migrate from the
northwestern Anatoiian Black Sea coasts of Turkey as
far as the city of Trapezus. where tirey are mature enough
fbr catching and salting. On the other hand, like
pelamlls. one group oI EngrauLis encrasichohts Porttictts,
which mainly hatch on the western coasts of the Black
Sea and in the territorial rvaters ofBalaklava, Sevastopol
and Odessa, migrates as l-ar as the waters of the
Propontis. In antiquity one would expect these to have
been crught in the Goiden Horn as well, although
possibiy in smalier quantities compared to the ones
caught in the Black Sea. A comparatively small group of
hamsi migrates to the Sea of Nlarmara. Herc. hantsi
spend the winter in deep rvater near the Nlarmaran
islands. Gemlik ba,v and in the territorial rvaters of the
gulf's of izmit and Bandrrma. ancl they are abundantlv
caught. although not as much as the amount ol Engrauiis
Encrasicholus Maeoticus 1Üner 1900: Kutavgil 1978:
32). The other group of this tvpe of /zrzns4 migrrting
along the north Anatolian Black Sea coasts of Turkev to
the east. supplements the stocks of hunsi caught mlinlv
in the territoriai waters of Trapezus.
Tirus, like pelanws. ftcrn.il must liave been cru-ght
abundantly in the Black Sea. especially at lake Maeotis"
the Cimn-rerian Bosphorus and the territorial rvaters of
Trapezus in the eastern Anatolian Black Sea. and
contributed to the economies of the cities of these regions
as a resuil of its export. Although Pol1"bius does not set
()irf ro lrive snecitltr nlaces around the Black Sea tiom
where salted fish. possibly inciLrding saltecl /rrrinsl ancl
poLatntLt at large. was exp{)rtecl to Atliens. other rncrent
sources help us in this fcspect. In a familiaL passage.
Strabo states that Gleeks not only imported their supplies
of grain fiom Crimca in carliel times. but aiso. 'thcir
supplies of sait-fish fl'orn tlie lake' (Strabo 7.-1.6). The
sources citccl nbovc shorv that thc Cimmerian Bosphorus
ancl ]ake Maeotis r'vere rich in saltecl fish. Since Strabo
also particularlv rretrlions thlt thc Bospolan King,
Leucon [. sent a lalqe nrt.tount ol'grain to r\thcns tl'om the
city of Theoclosia. it is probablc that saltccl flsh was
The Black Sea: Past. Present artd Future
62
already being exported from the Bosporan Kingdom by
the first half of the fourth century BC to Athens. This is
confirmed by a specific piece of evidence. In the speech
Against Lacritus Demosthenes, sometime before 338
BC, said that the ship, in which the defendant, Lacritus,
was carrying goods fiom the Cimmerian Bosphorus, was
wrecked on its way back somewhere between Panticapaeum
and Theodosia. One of the items on board this
ship wrs salted [ish iroprXo5,t (35.3i). There is no
reason to doubt these sections of the text, as the plaintiff
himself only objects to the claim by Lacritus that there
was also Coan wine on board. Thus the exportation of
salted fish caught in the territorial waters of the Bosporan
Kingdom to Athens was common in the fourth century
BC. Salted lnrnsi may have constituted a considerable
amount of the exported fish.
Nevertheless. despite the abundance of the lnmsi
catch in the Black Sea as given bv the modern statistics,
and its use for making salsarnenta and gartrm rn
antiquity, as indicated by the archaeological evidence,
and the f-act that it is praised both economicallv and
sociaily by the people of the Black Sea in mociern times,
in contrast with pelanrys, not a single Greek or Roman
author specifically praises the significance of salsamenta
made from hamsi.3
This ma-.1 contradict the account of Polybius
mentioned above. that all the salted tish exported fiom
the Pontus was a luxury. However. the actual word
used to ciassif .v the export of salted fish fiom the Black
Sea is periousia. This word might be translated as
'superfluities' rather than 'luxuries'; it does not appear
to have l completelv satisfactory counterpart in
English. It could mean 'something whicir is over and
above necessarv expenses, surplus. irbundance. plentv'.
The main objective of Polybius in the text was
obviousl-v to make a contrasl between the necessities
and non-necessities. The salted flsh included in these
non-necessities was not necessariiy a luxury tbod item
(Braund 199.-i: 169. n. 2).
'' There migitt possibly be r sinele l{oman source rnentioning its
gurunt Plinv (3 1.9,i) statcs that an ailex had nlso lregun to be
rracie sepalltelv l'rorn a tiny lis]r (tl'tc upuu in Latin tr upltvcitt
Greek). othcrrvise ol'no use. ancl tlint the peopie of the Forum
JLrlii catl lrr2rrs (rvoll) the tish ti'om which thcv make gclrll
(sce also Alciplrron 1.31). Isidtuc (.Et.r'rrroLogiuc 1].6.-t0.
20.i.10) also meutions srrail fisli itt ,guntnr production. Allex
ltccame a luxlrlv. lnd its varir.lus tyltt:s clrnre to bc innunrcrabie:
,gururn Ior instancc rvas bicnclcrl to ths colouf o1' olcl honev
i.vine. and to l lilstc so plersant that it coulr-l bc tlrunk. As statccl
rrbovc. Acliart I De Nutttrtt ,,\rrintulirun 3. lil) statcs that some call
irarr.ll 'r,voll-rnoutlrs'. This might cxplain the nalne luprrs
rnentionetl hv PIinv. llthough l)linv secnrs to bc rvrong to rctcr
to thc ultutt us u purticularly tinr' fish.

Naturally. therc were different varicties o1 slrlied i'ish
from the Black Sea, solne 01 which were flvoured. as
sccn above in the casc: r:f palan*'s. Possiblv these wcre
more e xpsnsive cumparecl to the ones fiom other
regions. especiallv when tl.re cost and risks clf transportation
arc taken into account. FIowever. Curtis
points out that the maioriti, oi presen,ecl or saltecl tish
products of all qualiti0s \vere no1 expensive and wele
pricecl so as to be aflbrclable to most o1 the peoplc"
inch"rding the poor, soldiers. or ther disreputable who
consumecl large quantities o1' lish sauce in their dail1,
diet (Cultis 1L)91: 170" 1751.
ln tire comic plays of Aristopiranes, it appears that
salted fish was commonly consumed as a cheap and
little-esteemed fbod. In Krriglrr.s (1247), the Sausage
Seller savs that at the gates of tiie city of Athens. a much
more disreputable iocation for tr;rders than the agora,
since it was dirty and occupied by prostitutes and sellers
of dogs' and asses' meat. traders sell salted-fish. He also
sel1s his sausages in the same place. What ma,r' actually
be inferred from this passage is that. even during the war.
salted flsh was commonly sold in tl.re streets, just as
sausages were. lt was also as cheap as sausages,
appealing to tl.re taste and pocket of the ordinar)' folk. In
Wasps (490-95), Bdelycieon savs, 'i had not even heard
the word "dictatorship" for -50 years back, but nor.r- it is a
good deal cheaper than salted fish (roü topilou5 . . .
ä[rc,:rdpo), so much so that its name is actually bandied
about in the market place'. Tirus Bdelvcieon thinks that
the cheapest and the most commonly sold food in the
market piace, which he could compare with use of the
word 'dictatorship', is salted fish. in other works of
Aristo-phanes, we also see that slices of salted-fish
were commonly eaten in Athens during the Peloponnesian
War (Acharnenses 91"J . f091-102' Ranae 558).
We do not have definite and specific information
about the cost of salled hatnsi in Athens. However, we
can infer some things about the vaiue of the freshly
consumed small-fry, which must have included hamsi.
Archestratus (quoted in Athenaeus 285b), the inventive
genius of cookery, says, 'count all small-fry as abomination,
except the Athenian'. This Athenian aplryeu'as
the foam-fish. but Athenaeus (7.285b and L1'nceus of
Samos, quoted in Athenaeus 285e) states that the fresh
ones caught in the Phaleric bay and in the waters off
Rhodes were the best (see also Athenaeus 4.135a). The
philosopher Chrysippus (quoted in Atirenaeus 7.185d), in
the tract On things to be cltosen for their own sake, says,
'In Athens they despise small-fry on account of their
abundance, and declare that they are beggars' food; but in
other cities people like smail-fry extravagantly, though
they are much inferior to the Athenian'. It is not certain
in this account whether the value of imported sma11-fr;' is
Detrit
63
relerrecl to as well. I-lowe'u'er. in thc casc of imporlecl
srnall-1rt'. the titste o1' the Athenians mar' nttt htve been
cliflcrent. The main point is LhaI lnmsi r'vas a usual.
rbunclanl arrcl cheap fbocl item. possiblt' e.tplaining wh,r,
il was clespised b,r' thc u,ealth\, ,r\tircnians. Chyrysippus'
claim rrighl simplr lrc an ideological clainr on behall'the
wealthr,. Sinall-fif is also usecl as a means o1'riclicule in
cornecly (Aristophanes. Acltornetr.sc.s 640; Athenaeus
8.339b) and as nicknames lbr someone udro lr,as oi light
colour, thin lncl hircl large eves (Athenaeus 13.586b: see
also 9.367a). We alsci see in otiier ancienl sources that
crpln,e . 't generai name fbr all sclrts o1 small-fr1'. was nol
a luxur1' or wanted flsh. lt was ealen f}equentll' by both
Greeks and Romans (Athenaeus 4.131d. 4.135a, 4.148e.
6.128e. 6.244c, 6.269f , 6.293d, 7.271f , 7.3\)(tc, 7.326d,
8.3-57e, 9.4i)3b; see also Bithynians, Athenaeus l.7e-f;
and iIs gtu'tun r,vas made by tl.re Romans (Curtis 1991: 14.
n. 30: see above note 3). Salted small-fry, u4rich must
have included salted ltmnsi. was cheap, abundant and
largell' consumed by the common folk. Salsanrcnta from
Itantsi appears to have been boiled and eaten in iarge
quantities by the Greeks as a common food in antiquitl',
as Athenaeus indicates (7.285a, 7.300f). Nowadays,
bolled Jnntsi (lnntsi lnslamasr in Turkish) ranks fourth
among the 12 main dishes made from ltamsi. The
important point is that boiied lmmsi is made from saited
lrumsi, as fresh hamsi fa11s to pieces when boiled. The
salted-pickle of hantsi is first put inro water overnight. If
it is too saltl'. the water of the vessel shouid be changed
severai times. In the morning, it is transferred to an
earthenware stewpan. To make it tastier, several fig
leaves are placed on it. After the necessarl' amount of
water is added, it is heated. When it is boiled enough to
eat, the water is sizzled until oniy a smal1 amount of it is
left, so that the lwmsi is not entirell' dried out (Ihsan
7932: 48). Pickled hamsi, as it is readily available, is
quickly prepared after boiling and usually eaten in the
fields, where the villagers work during the summer
gathering tobacco leaves (Hamsi 1966: 6-7). So, in
antiquiil', when Ettcrasicholus u'as boiled, it mal' have
been made from salted-pickle. These data also imply that
salted hamsi was abundant and consumed commonly
during antiquity. Apart from salted-pickle and sauce, 14,
19, 40 or even 49 kinds of meals are said to be made from
/rainsl (ihsan 1932: 45-53). The contradictory and
exaggerated views of severai authors possibly result from
the fact that it became one of the main staples in and
around the province ofTrapezus, and was added to every
sort of meal because it was so prolofic.
Nevertheless, the vaiue of salted hantsi may have
differed from that of fresh sma1l-fry caught in Athens.
What is commonly produced or found in one region is
likely to be more valuable in another region, where it is

not available all the time. For Athenians hamsi wls
imported from a distant source and consumed in summer,
out of season . Like palamut, hamsi. as mentioned above,
is caught in winter and pickled to be consumed in
summer. Pickled or salted hamsi cotld easiiy have been
preserved for two years. Since they were imported from
a particuiarly distant piace, and pickled in jars during a
p{lrticulrr season. its price m11 have been higher
compared to the other cheap salted tish sold in the streets
of Athens, which was possibly locally caught and salted
on a large scale, but sti1l affordable.
In sum. as Braund has pointed out (1995: 167), the lack
of literary evidence should not lead us into thinking that
fish, including hamsi, was not caught, salted and traded
fiom particular regions to Athens. The archaeological and
modern data allor'v us to argue that. in antiquitv, as the
main tish supply of the Black Sea. lmmsi was caught.
salted and exported in abundance especially from lake
Maeotis. the Kerch strait and the province of Trapezus.
This probably brought considerable profit to the
economies of these regions. This phenomenon can be
compared with the case of Byzantium. We shouid take
into consideration that pelamys. a kind of tunny which
comes second after hamsi in terms of the amount of the
tvpe of fish caught in the Black Sea, was saited in
Bvzantium in large quantities and this made a large contribution
to its econom.v. Besides. the sulsatnenta and gtutun
of pelant.vs from this citv were praised in antiquity.
Although hamsi does not appeer to have been valued as
much, since it was a species of small-fiy, this should not
mean that it was not imported to the citl,ofAthens. In thct.
as an abundant, cheap but tasty and healthv fish favoured
particuiariy by the common peopie of Athens, it may have
been imported tiom the Black Sea out of pref-erence and
consumed in large amounts. I think r,ve should not assume
that the Athenians ahvays imported exotic or luxury lbod
items from distant places. The individual Greek merchants
had good reasons to import plentifiri, cheap. but at the
sane time high-qualitv tbod items. especiail,v in times of
need, r.vhich thev could sell easily, as they apperled to the
taste and pocket of a consicierable portion of Athenian
societv. Hrunsi sulely constitutecl an important tbod
export t'rom the Blacli Sea in ar.rticluitv.
Biltliography
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!utiotr of lTatn irl. D.P.T. Yuyul (a publication of the
Department o1' State Planning). Ankara
i\schcrson^ N. l9!l-5: Bluck Sau: Tlrc Birtltplctce of'Civil-
i.str/iott turi Burburi snr. L,ondon
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