Localization of the hydronym Ovechi Vody and prospects for archaeological research

Abstract

The article is devoted to the localization of the hydronym Ovechi Vody, which in the scientific literature is associated with one of the rivers near Kalka where a battle took place on May 31, 1223, between the combined forces of Kyivan Rus’ princes and the Cumans. It is also considered the place where Beklyarbek Mamai was murdered.

Ovechi Vody is mentioned as a disputed territory between the Crimean Khanate, the Great Horde, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It served as the southern border of the Great Horde and appears among the borders of the Ulus of the “Semenov people” in the “Lithuanian Metric”. Golden Horde city remains are recorded at Ovechi Vody. It served as one of the main gathering points for Crimean Tatars on the Muravskyi Way before raids, and Kaniv Cossack attacks in the river's area contributed to a trade crisis in the Principality of Moscow. The Ovechi Vody area also became a nomadic refuge for the Crimean Horde during periods of drought and famine in Crimea.

The aim is to localize a river or rivers named Ovechi Vody by analyzing a wide range of sources and comparing the hydronym to historical events of the 13th–17th centuries. Solving this task will greatly contribute to further archaeological searches for the site of the 1223 clashes between the Kyivan Rus’ forces and the Cumans and the Mongols, as well as to localizing the Golden Horde city during the time of Temnik Mamai.

The localization of this river is complicated, as it is not recorded on any modern map or on the historical maps of the specified period. Researchers suggest the presence of three Ovechi Vody sites within the territory of the modern Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts. The analysis of the source base established that the hydronym Ovechi Vody should be understood as the flooded Orikhiv stream, a left tributary of the Konka River in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Among the important data is the testimony from the 1680 embassy mission to Crimea, based on which, in 1876, O.O. Rusov was able to correctly localize Ovechi Vody near Orikhiv. Archaeological explorations and further research in this area can provide answers to many questions regarding the historical events recorded in written sources from the 13th–17th centuries. It is possible to discover the remains of the Golden Horde city in the Ovechi Vody area, traces of which were recorded by travelers as early as the mid-19th century.