Pots of Gold: Thracian Treasure, Plovdiv and Sofia, Bulgaria

I’m a little bit partial to shiny stuff, but then, aren’t we all? If humanity hadn’t found gold so attractive, it would have no value at all. After all, you can’t eat it, so its worth is only really calculated in aesthetic terms. And I suppose it’s relatively rare (mind you, so am I; rarer, in fact, but I doubt I’ll ever be as coveted, or that anyone will use me as collateral). It’s amazing, if you think about it, that one material can be so desired, the maker and breaker of dreams, and universally symbolic all at once of greed, excellence, beauty, and corruption. Anyway, personally I like it because it’s pretty.

I gather that the oldest gold treasure found to date was discovered in Varna, Bulgaria, in 1972, and is something like 7,000 years old. Sadly, I didn’t get to see this particular hoard, found in a burial site, as we did not visit the area. Maybe one day. However, I did see some other splendidly gorgeous gold artefacts in museums in Plovdiv and Sofia.

The Panagyurishte Treasure, unearthed in 1949, comprises nine vessels used for eating and drinking. They were made of 23-carat gold in Lapseki in the 3^rd century BC. Greek mythological scenes decorate their surfaces, and they may have been a ceremonial set used by royalty. Clearly it’s not an average person’s tableware. It is now housed in the Regional Archaeological Museum, Plovdiv.

The six photographs below show the Panagyurishte Treasure. The image at the head of the post is also from the Panagyurishte Treasure. The first four show different shaped rhytons (cups).

above: amphora. 

above: phiale (shallow dish) with African heads and acorns. Beautiful. I wonder what the symbolism is?

Even older is the Valchitran Treasure discovered in 1924 by two brothers working in their vineyard, which includes thirteen gold vessels, dating from 1,300 BC. Unfortunately, some of the pieces were damaged as their discoverers tried to ‘share’ their booty. It is thought the vessels were used for ritual purposes, rather than as household items. I saw these in Plovdiv as well, although I believe they are usually kept in Sofia’s National Archaeological Museum.

The four photographs below show the Valchitran Treasure:

There are of course many other gold pieces in Bulgaria’s museums, some of which I share here. Who knows what else lies buried there, shiny, shiny, waiting to be brought once again into the light?

For now, please feast your eyes and let them linger on the gleam of rediscovered Thracian gold (all at the National Archaeological Museum, Sofia, except where indicated):

above: 23-carat gold funeral mask of Teres I, king of Odrysian kingdom of Thrace (5^th century BC).

above: gold diadem, 4th century BC.

above: gold wreath, 4th century BC.

above: gold jewellery, 4th-3rd century BC.

above: gold jewellery and horse appliques, 4th-3rd century BC.

above: pectorals, 5th-3rd century BC.

above: gold breastplate, 5th century BC (Regional Archaeological Museum, Plovdiv)

For more information: https://archaeologicalmuseumplovdiv.org/_m1711/Thracian-Art

Vault - National Archaeological Institute with Museum (naim.bg)