Conferences

International Conferences

In this directory, you will find the speakers, photos, and summaries of the annual conference series In Poseidon's Realm, which has been held since 1995. Within just a few years, In Poseidon's Realm has grown into an internationally renowned and well-attended conference. The key to its success lies in our cooperation partners, whose support enables us to organize events on current topics in underwater archaeology. Occasionally, topics that do not primarily belong to the field of underwater archaeology are also chosen, such as our eleventh conference on transport ceramics. Connections like these serve as important forums for exchange between terrestrial and underwater archaeologists as well as other scholars.

In Poseidons Realm XXXI

Pontos Axeinos - Pontos Euxeinos*

Underwater archaeology in the Black Sea

from May 4th to 10th - 2026 in Batumi, Georgia

The anniversary meeting 2026 of the DEGUWA - German Society for the Promotion of Underwater Archaeology e.V. - IN POSEIDON'S REALM XXXI will be organized in close cooperation with the "LEPL - Ajara Museum".

The "Adjara Museum" is an association of seven museums. It implies a new understanding of the museum in terms of content and concept and the transformation of its activities according to modern standards.

1. Khariton Akhvlediani Museum

2. Amiran Kakhidze Archaeological Museum

3. Art Museum

4. Brother Nobels Technological Museum

5. Ilia Chabchavadze Museum

6. Mehmed Abasbidze Museum

7. Religion Museum

Georgia is a country in Transcaucasia located on the south-eastern coast of the Black Sea, with its capital in Tbilisi. The country is situated at the junction of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. In the south, it is bordered by Armenia, in the south-east by Azerbaijan, in the north and east by Russia and in the south-west by Turkey. Georgia's mountainous lands lie between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains.

Ajara – the south-western part of the country – became of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1920 and was granted autonomy under the Georgian constitution in February 1921.

Batumi, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and Georgia's second largest city, is located on the Black Sea coast close to the Turkish border. Bathys, derived from Greek the "deep harbour", firstly mentioned by Pseudo-Aristotle in the 4th century BC. Latin Portus Altus with the same etymology is attested at the Tabula Peutingeriana as well.

The best way to get to Georgia is by plane. International airports are located in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi. All airports are served by a network of shuttle buses that provide comfortable access to the destination city. There runs a direct train from Tbilisi to Batumi.

* "Pontos Axeinos" and "Pontos Euxeinos" are two ancient names for the Black Sea that reflect its ambivalent perception in the Greek and Roman worlds. "Pontos Axeinos" (Πόντος Ἄξεινος) means "inhospitable sea", while "Pontos Euxeinos" means (Πόντος Εὔξεινος) "hospitable sea".

Until the 8th century BC, the Greek colonists still referred to the "Aksaena", Scythian: "black" (because of the depth of up to over 2,200 meters) as Axeinos Pontos, on the one hand because of the often difficult weather conditions for shipping with violent storms and long fog banks, and on the other hand in order not to have to share the riches of the coasts with others (Jason Saga).

It was not only through the in-depth research of an international archaeology team in 2018 and the latest interpretations of the flood myth of the flooding of the Black Sea basin that the attention of archaeological experts was drawn to the Pontus. Since the 70s, today's 6 countries bordering the Black Sea have been conducting more or less intensive coastal and underwater research.

The results prove the great importance of the inland sea for trade and cultural exchange from Greek colonization until the present day, as well as its strategic importance for imperial aspirations.

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