The ancient Greek name of the sea is Pont Aksinsky (“Inhospitable Sea”), and the name “Scythian” is also found. In Strabo’s “Geography” it is assumed that the sea received this name due to difficulties with navigation, as well as the wild hostile tribes that inhabited its shores. However, most likely, the Greeks took the local Scythian name for the sea – the ancient Iranian word axsaina (dark blue, “dark”), and re-interpreted it in consonance with the Greek word “inhospitable”. Later, after t...