Bulgaria. 17. Plovdiv.
1. Kozi Gramadi. Double axe, 21.07.2011.
Showing posts with label Bulgaria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bulgaria. Show all posts
Friday, 22 July 2011
Double axe found in Bugaria
A double axe of the ancient Thracians was discovered in Bulgaria.
It is 22 cm long and was found near the hill called Kozi Gramadi.
From: To Vima, 15.07.2001.
A ceremonial double axe, dated to c. 600 B.C. was brought to light by archaeologists in Bulgaria during excavations carried out in the palace of the rulers of the Kingdom of the Odryses, who were the strongest tribe of ancient Thrace. The iron axe, 22 cm long was discovered near the main gate of the fortified living place of the kings - today's hill of Kozi Gramandi - and, although it is the second that comes to light in an archaeological site of the region, it is considered an especially important discovery, as archaeologists are still trying to understand its exact use.
The double axe found in the digs of Kozi Gramadi.
"The Lavrys, as it was called by the Greeks, was used more for certain ceremonies and less for military purposes or as a household item", explains the head of the dig Ivan Kristoff. Another hypothesis, based on representations in tombs of ancient Macedonia and of the tomb discovered in the Haskovo region, is that the double axe was used in the royal hunt.
Didrachme of Pixodaros (340-334 B.C.), Carian Satrap, bearing the head of Apollo on the obverse and Zeus Labrandos standing r. on the reverse. Künker 136 (10.03.2008), 653.
"If not by the ruler himself, maybe by his comrades", says the archaeologists. "In this sense, the discovery of the iron weapon in the ancient Thracian palace is not a coincidence", he adds. He explains that the lavrys in ancient Greek mythology was the double axe of Zeus Labrandos, who was worshiped in Labranda of Karia, and is represented standing and holding a lavrys over his right shoulder.
Coin of Amadokos I (400-386 B.C.) showing a horse on the obverse and a double axe surrounded by the inscription AMA[Δ]OKO. G. Hirsch 271 (17.02.2011), lot 1801.
It must be noted that the first representations of a lavrys are dated to the 2nd millennium B.C., while in ancient Thrace the oldest are dated to the Bronze Age. In the Balkan region it appears for the first time as a royal symbol on the bronze coins of the king of the Odryses Amadokos at the end of the 5th century B.C. The new find will be added to the exhibition of the National Historic Museum of Bulgaria.
.....................................................................................
Note of A.M.: It must be noted that the double axe, the lavrys, was a central symbol of the Minoan civilisation on the island of Crete. This, then, is the oldest use of the symbol in the Balkan region, unless the term is used to the exclusion of what is today Greece.
Note 2 of A.M.: The double axe is found on coins of the island of Tenedos (Turkish: Bozcaada), in the entrance to the Dardanelles, dated to 450/387 B.C.
Coin of Tenedos (450/387). 0,48 g. It bears an ianomorphus head (female l., male r.) on the obverse and a double axe with the letters T-E on either side on the reverse. The heads on the obverse might be those of Tenes and his sister Hemithea. Künker 136 (10.03.2008), 628.
The presence of the double-axe is interpreted either as related to local myths of the island related to its eponymous hero Tenes, or a symbol of Dionysus. This last interpretation is interesting, as the presence of the lavrys on the coins of the Thracian-Skythian ruler Amadokos I and his successors is also likely to be related to the worship of Dionysus, who is known to have held special importance in the religious practices of the area (see for example the myth of King Lycourgos of Thrace). It is thought that the worship of this god was transmitted to Greece from the Thracian tribes.
It is 22 cm long and was found near the hill called Kozi Gramadi.
From: To Vima, 15.07.2001.
A ceremonial double axe, dated to c. 600 B.C. was brought to light by archaeologists in Bulgaria during excavations carried out in the palace of the rulers of the Kingdom of the Odryses, who were the strongest tribe of ancient Thrace. The iron axe, 22 cm long was discovered near the main gate of the fortified living place of the kings - today's hill of Kozi Gramandi - and, although it is the second that comes to light in an archaeological site of the region, it is considered an especially important discovery, as archaeologists are still trying to understand its exact use.
The double axe found in the digs of Kozi Gramadi."The Lavrys, as it was called by the Greeks, was used more for certain ceremonies and less for military purposes or as a household item", explains the head of the dig Ivan Kristoff. Another hypothesis, based on representations in tombs of ancient Macedonia and of the tomb discovered in the Haskovo region, is that the double axe was used in the royal hunt.
Didrachme of Pixodaros (340-334 B.C.), Carian Satrap, bearing the head of Apollo on the obverse and Zeus Labrandos standing r. on the reverse. Künker 136 (10.03.2008), 653.
"If not by the ruler himself, maybe by his comrades", says the archaeologists. "In this sense, the discovery of the iron weapon in the ancient Thracian palace is not a coincidence", he adds. He explains that the lavrys in ancient Greek mythology was the double axe of Zeus Labrandos, who was worshiped in Labranda of Karia, and is represented standing and holding a lavrys over his right shoulder.
Coin of Amadokos I (400-386 B.C.) showing a horse on the obverse and a double axe surrounded by the inscription AMA[Δ]OKO. G. Hirsch 271 (17.02.2011), lot 1801.
It must be noted that the first representations of a lavrys are dated to the 2nd millennium B.C., while in ancient Thrace the oldest are dated to the Bronze Age. In the Balkan region it appears for the first time as a royal symbol on the bronze coins of the king of the Odryses Amadokos at the end of the 5th century B.C. The new find will be added to the exhibition of the National Historic Museum of Bulgaria.
.....................................................................................
Note of A.M.: It must be noted that the double axe, the lavrys, was a central symbol of the Minoan civilisation on the island of Crete. This, then, is the oldest use of the symbol in the Balkan region, unless the term is used to the exclusion of what is today Greece.
Note 2 of A.M.: The double axe is found on coins of the island of Tenedos (Turkish: Bozcaada), in the entrance to the Dardanelles, dated to 450/387 B.C.
Coin of Tenedos (450/387). 0,48 g. It bears an ianomorphus head (female l., male r.) on the obverse and a double axe with the letters T-E on either side on the reverse. The heads on the obverse might be those of Tenes and his sister Hemithea. Künker 136 (10.03.2008), 628.The presence of the double-axe is interpreted either as related to local myths of the island related to its eponymous hero Tenes, or a symbol of Dionysus. This last interpretation is interesting, as the presence of the lavrys on the coins of the Thracian-Skythian ruler Amadokos I and his successors is also likely to be related to the worship of Dionysus, who is known to have held special importance in the religious practices of the area (see for example the myth of King Lycourgos of Thrace). It is thought that the worship of this god was transmitted to Greece from the Thracian tribes.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
A Sanctuary of a Persian God Was Opened for Visitors in the Rhodope Mountain
A Sanctuary of a Persian God Was Opened for Visitors in the Rhodope MountainKamelia Кrumova, information by dir.bg
The only sanctuary of a Persian god Mithra in the Rhodope mountain was shown to the attention to the medias”.
The sanctuary is situated in close vicinity to the Greek village Thermes, just 6 km from the Bulgarian border. It was discovered in 1915 by the archaeologists Mr. Bogdan Filov.
Archeology researches were not made in the region. After the opening of the new customs near Zlatograd, the rock sanctuary is now available for visits.
The sanctuary of Mithra God is situated in the forest nearby the Thermes village. Just a month ago it was covered with threes and shrubs. The barelef of Mithra and the sacred spring can be seen there.
In III-IV century Mithra was the most popular god in the Roman empire, later it was substituted with the Christianity, announced prof. Nikolai Ovcharov. According to him the cult to Mithra is connected with earlier cults in the Rhodope mountain – those of the Thracians.
The border zone to the south of Zlatograd is famous with its archeology resources. Thus Bulgarian and Greek scientists start mutual researches of the terrain. The sanctuary of Mithra God will b included in a joint tourism route.
Source: Visit Bulgaria, 08.04.2010 (http://www.visitbulgaria.net/en/zlatograd/news/20100408/mithra_god.html)
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Internet Museums in the Balkans...
First posted: 25.03.2010
Updates: 05.07.2011 (added to FYRo Macedonia)
I have been working of a page called "Sites per Country", which is a rather ambitious affair that you can find at the top of this page (or here). In it I hope to list Museums, Archaeological sites and Various Institutions working on archaeology and history per country, that have a site of their own accessible to all.
Working on this project I found myself defining Museums that enter into this in an ever more loose manner, so that I have ended with a list that contains all Museums I come across on the Web.
The following statistical data refers exclusively to Internet Sites of museums: Sites of Archaeological excavations, research institutions etc have been excluded.
I started with the Balkans, and I am sad to say that things here look rather bleak: With the exception of Greece - although it is an exception mostly due to a lack of competition- Institutions in the Balkan countries do not seem to have cottoned on to the fact that the Web offers enormous opportunities when it comes to scientific research...And that it all starts with a decent Website!
To give you an idea, here are some statistics from the countries whose lists I have already compiled:
Albania: No sites were found. Only a site of an Italo-Albanian co-operation project that seems to have the ambition of presenting all Albanian museum, but for the time being is a shambles.
Albania recently voted a reform of its Archaeological Services following the Italian example; not everyone is optimistic as far as the chosen model is concerned...This is just one aspect of a multilevel infiltration of Italy into Albanian society.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: One museum, admittedly nicely designed.
Bulgaria: From a list of 99 museums given here only one is listed as having a website. I did slightly better having found 5 museums in Bulgaria - of all callings - that have their own websites, albeit most of them rather shabby and amateurish.
Croatia: One museum only possesses a site. For some reason I had hoped for something better in all...The Croatian Museum Documentation Centre is an interesting project, but definitely needs a lot more work!
(F.Y.) Republic of Macedonia: Despite the frenzy of archaeological activity that has been going on during the last few years largely due to what has been termed the "Antiquization" programme of the current government, Museums are sadly lacking when it comes to internet sites. I only managed to locate three (!) museums on the web, of which the largest the (National) Museum of Macedonia does not offer its content in English.
Update 05.07.2011: I added the Museum of the City of Skopje site bringing the number of museum sites to four. I also located three sites for archaeological digs, although the Gradiste site seems to have disappeared... This changes its rank to second.
Greece: As mentioned Greece does rather better than its neighbours: I listed 66 museums that posses a fully functional website, of which only two do not offer their content in English, while most of the larger museums have excellent and professionally designed sites (and the list is far from complete: I just decided to add the other countries before coming back to Greece).
It must be noted, however, that there seems to be a lack of central planning as far as public museums are concerned, and there seem to be many without an internet site of their own. It is also surprising that important museums come out rather low in Google results: for example the National Archaeological Museum - one of the worlds most important museums - appeared on the third page of Google when searching with the Greek term "Μουσείο"...
It must also be noted that while a lot was done in the domain of culture in the run up to the Athens Olympics in 2004, since then it has been plagued by scandals and underfunding, so it shall not be surprising if things take a turn for the worse in the future. See here for current situation of many museums and sites in Greece and for specific sites see here.
Kosovo: No Museum possesses an internet site.
Montenegro: 1 museum, but that is enough to give it the third highest rating, thanks to its small population.
Serbia: I only managed to locate museums in Belgrade with internet sites. I can only imagine that the rest of the country also has museums, but it is certainly difficult to locate them on the web...Of the 41 Museums that the Wikipedia lists on its relative page, only eight museums actually have working internet sites. I must however pause to mention the impressively unexpected Museum of African Art in Belgrade, which possesses a rather nice internet site.
[It goes without saying that if you know of any museums in any country that is not listed here I would be more than interested to hear about it! - Please only Museums that have their own Internet Site!]
(more to come...)
Updates: 05.07.2011 (added to FYRo Macedonia)
I have been working of a page called "Sites per Country", which is a rather ambitious affair that you can find at the top of this page (or here). In it I hope to list Museums, Archaeological sites and Various Institutions working on archaeology and history per country, that have a site of their own accessible to all.
Working on this project I found myself defining Museums that enter into this in an ever more loose manner, so that I have ended with a list that contains all Museums I come across on the Web.
The following statistical data refers exclusively to Internet Sites of museums: Sites of Archaeological excavations, research institutions etc have been excluded.
I started with the Balkans, and I am sad to say that things here look rather bleak: With the exception of Greece - although it is an exception mostly due to a lack of competition- Institutions in the Balkan countries do not seem to have cottoned on to the fact that the Web offers enormous opportunities when it comes to scientific research...And that it all starts with a decent Website!
To give you an idea, here are some statistics from the countries whose lists I have already compiled:
Albania: No sites were found. Only a site of an Italo-Albanian co-operation project that seems to have the ambition of presenting all Albanian museum, but for the time being is a shambles.
Albania recently voted a reform of its Archaeological Services following the Italian example; not everyone is optimistic as far as the chosen model is concerned...This is just one aspect of a multilevel infiltration of Italy into Albanian society.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: One museum, admittedly nicely designed.
Bulgaria: From a list of 99 museums given here only one is listed as having a website. I did slightly better having found 5 museums in Bulgaria - of all callings - that have their own websites, albeit most of them rather shabby and amateurish.
Croatia: One museum only possesses a site. For some reason I had hoped for something better in all...The Croatian Museum Documentation Centre is an interesting project, but definitely needs a lot more work!
(F.Y.) Republic of Macedonia: Despite the frenzy of archaeological activity that has been going on during the last few years largely due to what has been termed the "Antiquization" programme of the current government, Museums are sadly lacking when it comes to internet sites. I only managed to locate three (!) museums on the web, of which the largest the (National) Museum of Macedonia does not offer its content in English.
Update 05.07.2011: I added the Museum of the City of Skopje site bringing the number of museum sites to four. I also located three sites for archaeological digs, although the Gradiste site seems to have disappeared... This changes its rank to second.
Greece: As mentioned Greece does rather better than its neighbours: I listed 66 museums that posses a fully functional website, of which only two do not offer their content in English, while most of the larger museums have excellent and professionally designed sites (and the list is far from complete: I just decided to add the other countries before coming back to Greece).
It must be noted, however, that there seems to be a lack of central planning as far as public museums are concerned, and there seem to be many without an internet site of their own. It is also surprising that important museums come out rather low in Google results: for example the National Archaeological Museum - one of the worlds most important museums - appeared on the third page of Google when searching with the Greek term "Μουσείο"...
It must also be noted that while a lot was done in the domain of culture in the run up to the Athens Olympics in 2004, since then it has been plagued by scandals and underfunding, so it shall not be surprising if things take a turn for the worse in the future. See here for current situation of many museums and sites in Greece and for specific sites see here.
Kosovo: No Museum possesses an internet site.
Montenegro: 1 museum, but that is enough to give it the third highest rating, thanks to its small population.
Serbia: I only managed to locate museums in Belgrade with internet sites. I can only imagine that the rest of the country also has museums, but it is certainly difficult to locate them on the web...Of the 41 Museums that the Wikipedia lists on its relative page, only eight museums actually have working internet sites. I must however pause to mention the impressively unexpected Museum of African Art in Belgrade, which possesses a rather nice internet site.
| COUNTRY | No of Listed Museums (With Internet Site) | Museum/ Population Ratio[1] |
| | 70 | 0,62 |
| (F.Y.) Republic of Macedonia[4] | 4 | 0,19 |
| | 1 | 0,15 |
| | 8 | 0,11 |
| | 5 | 0,07 |
| | 1 | 0,02 |
| | 1 | 0,02 |
| | 0 | N/A |
| Kosovo[10] | 0 | N/A |
[1] Calculated as: (Listed Museums/Population)x100000 (rounded to second decimal).
[2] Population: As of January 2008, the population of Greece is estimated at 11,262,000 by Eurostat.
[3] 2009 estimate: 672,180
[4] 2009 estimate: 2,114,550.
[5] 2009 estimate: 7,334,935 (excluding Kosovo).
[6] 2009 estimate: 7,560,000.
[7] 2009 estimate: 4,613,414.
[8] 2009 estimate: 4,489,409
[9] Approx. 3,500,000, according to Albania National Institute of Statistics official web site. http://www.instat.gov.al/.
[10] 2007 estimate: 1,804,838
[It goes without saying that if you know of any museums in any country that is not listed here I would be more than interested to hear about it! - Please only Museums that have their own Internet Site!]
(more to come...)
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Bulgaria: Organising the Material - Administrative Organisation.
Since 1999,
The enumeration follows an North-South, East-West order:
1. Dobrich
2.
3. Burgas
4. Silistra
5.
6. Rousse
7. Razgrad
8. Targovishte
9.
10.
11. Veliko Tarnovo
12. Gabrovo
13.
14. Haskovo
15.
16. Lovech
17.
18. Kardzhali
19. Smolyan
20.
21.
22.
23. Pazardzhik
24.
25.
26. Pernik
27. Kyustendil
28. Blagoevgrad
Administrative Divisions of Bulgaria. (Source: Blank Map Template from Wikipedia)
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Bulgaria: Cybele Temple in Balchik to be Protected by Archaeologists
Bulgaria: Cybele Temple in Balchik to be Protected by Archaeologists
BalkanTravellers.com
15 March 2010 | A commission of archaeologists, architects and scientists was appointed by Bulgaria’s culture minister for the protection and preservation of the unique temple of Cybele in the Black Sea town of Balchik, which dates back to the third century BC.
The temple of Cybele should receive the status of a cultural heritage site of national importance, minister of culture Vezdi Rashidov suggested, which would bring about a total ban on any construction activities in the area.
The temple of Cybele, the Phrygian deification of the Earth Mother, was discovered by accident in the spring of 2007, during a dig for the construction of a new hotel. The temple is the best preserved Hellenistic temple in Bulgaria and the only discovered temple of the Goddess Mother in the eastern part of the Balkans.
Since it was discovered, the invaluable archaeological site has been lying out in the open and no proper excavation or preservation of it has taken place, because of the local authorities’ dispute with the plot’s owner.
The newly appointed commission will define the archaeological site’s territorial borders, which will then be put into the city’s plan and where construction not connected to the site’s excavation and protection will be banned.
A protective cover over the site will also be put in place shortly, which would shield it from the environmental destruction. The need for such a cover is even more dire after a part of the site collapsed recently.
“We agree to finance the conservation of the temple as long as the Ministry of Culture gives us the legal right to claim it. If we are delayed a bit more, next year there might be no temple to conserve,” mayor of Balchik, Nikolay Angelov, told media.
The artefacts discovered at the temple so far – about 20 marble statues, most of which are of Cybele, around 20 signs mostly in Latin and almost 200 coins, testify for the religious and public life in the area in the first quarter of the fourth century AD. The temple, most likely built around 280 – 260 BC functioned for more than 700 years, before it was destructed either by earthquake or invaders.
Source: BalkanTravellers.com
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