site.btaUPDATED National Museum of History to Show 11 Artefacts in Forthcoming Ancient Thrace Getty Museum Exhibition, Including Panagyurishte Treasure

Eleven artefacts from the National Museum of History will be part of the upcoming exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, the museum’s Director, Assoc. Prof. Boni Petrunova, told BTA. The Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece exhibition features more than 150 artefacts from 14 Bulgarian museums. It will be on between November 3 and March 3, 2025.  

The Panagyurishte gold treasure is among the 11 exhibits, which the Museum is sending to Los Angeles, Petrunova added. It is the subject of controversy. Formally, according to documents, it is registered at the Plovdiv Archaeological Museum, but since it has been exhibited at the National History Museum since it was established in 1973, she explained.

The artefacts were selected by the exhibition curators, with each artefact representing a unique and interesting part of Thracian culture. Some of them cannot be seen elsewhere, like the stone relief from one of the Thracian mounds in Strelcha. Other exhibits represent part of significant treasures.

THE EXHIBITS

Other exhibits represent part of significant treasures, as in the case of the Rogozen Treasure, three items from which will be shown in the USA, Petrunova said.

"It is, I can say, the discovery of the 20th century, because everyone would dream of making just such a find - whether by chance or during regular archaeological excavations," says Petrunova. The Rogozen Treasure was discovered in 1986 in Vratsa region. It turned out that the treasure itself had been hidden in two parts and a group of archaeologists led by Bogdan Nikolov began excavations and found some 100 silver objects with a total weight of over 20 kilograms, she recalled. The entire collection of vessels in this treasure includes a variety of objects such as jars, phiale, and cups. "Most importantly, they are very ornate, have ornamental motifs and represent the Hellenistic era in its full glory," she added.

There are also some unique pieces in this treasure that give information about previously unknown images. Especially the Thracian gods. "Until this discovery, we had no information about how they imagined and how they depicted the Great Mother Goddess. Here she is amply represented," the Director of the National Museum noted.

The museum is also sending two 4th century BC phiale from the so-called Mogilanska Mogila mound in the centre of Vratsa. One of the tombs contained the lavish burial of a Thracian maiden, perhaps a member of a ruling dynasty, as well as rich offerings. One of the luxuriously crafted goblets bears an inscription denoting the name of the Odrysian ruler Cotis I. The director of the National Museum of History recalled that the Odrysian state was the largest Thracian union that could be called a state, which left serious traces in that early age. They managed to unite several Thracian tribes and gave a serious resistance to conquests throughout this 4th century BC

THE TREASURES

Three objects from the Letnitsa Treasure will also be exhibited at the Getty Museum. Petrunova says she has called it an ancient tale about the way to power. She recalls that the story of how the hero passes through various challenges, performs a variety of heroic deeds and feats, and is finally rewarded and becomes a god himself, is conveyed on forged appliqués, very exquisitely crafted.

She then went on to explain that the treasure was found by chance, in 1963. The appliques were concealed in a vessel which was buried bottom up, and upon examination turned out to contain pieces of horse ammunition, made of silver and gilded, and narrated the events that experienced by the Thracian horseman,” Petrunova said.

The appliques participating in the exhibition depict the moment when the hero enters into a sacred marriage with the Mother Goddess, and it is this act that makes him a deity as well, she noted, adding that the other applique is quite curious, once again depicting a woman, most likely a goddess, fighting a three-headed dragon.

"These objects are very interesting and made an impression already in the selection of artefacts from the 4th century BC. This comes to show the diverse, interesting, mythology-rich culture of the Thracians. Something that people have not seen. Of course, the authors of the exhibition are keen to introduce the whole world to what we have as cultural and historical heritage," says the director of the National Museum of History.

The Panagyurishte Treasure has gained extremely wide popularity and seems to be the most appreciated. "Perhaps it wins the first place in the public opinion because of the way it is made, because it tells an ancient legend, about the golden apple, about the three goddesses who fight for it, so that the shepherd can recognize which one is the most beautiful. These goddesses are depicted in the treasure's jars - they are Athena, Aphrodite and Hera, very significant goddesses of Greek mythology. And of course - the famous vessel with images of heads of a darker race, which makes a very strong impression. As far as I have read medieval archaeology, I have not read any adequate summary and explanation of why these particular images are found on this monument," she said.

THE EXHIBITION AT GETTY MUSEUM

Similar presentations of objects from the Thracian period have been made before. "But I personally was very impressed by the idea and I think that this presentation, as it is conceived, especially that it is made through the joint efforts of 14 museums, the exhibition itself will visit many different places and cities,  and this will open very wide the doors to explore the ancient stories of the Bulgarian lands, and of course, we hope that this will bring tourists to Bulgaria, and also expand the cooperation of people who explore Ancient Thrace and the ancient world outside our territories. I mean foreign scholars," Assoc. Prof. Bonni Petrunova said.

"We have a very good presentation. Because the task of the National Museum of History is to present as well as possible the entire history of the settlement of the Bulgarian lands from the deepest antiquity to the modern era. 

Now the hall itself is to be renovated and not all the artefacts found at different times, in different places, are included in this exhibition. But that is also impossible, as it will become something huge and impossible to move and exhibit," she said.

The Director of the National Museum expressed hope that the exhibition will be a great success, that its presentation in the States will bring the viewers to Bulgaria and will raise the spirits of Bulgarians a little, who will realize that they live on an exceptional territory and must, in the modern era, respond at least a little to what their ancestors achieved.