2. Bulgaria, Panagyurishte Treasure

3. Panagyurishte Treasure

4. The Panagyurishte Treasure (Bulgarian: Панагюрско златно съкровище) is a Thracian treasure excavated on December 8, 1949 by three brothers, Pavel, Petko and Michail Deikov who worked together at the region of “Merul” tile factory near the town of Panagyurishte, Bulgaria. It consists of a phiale, an amphora and seven rhitons with total weight of 6.164 kg of 24- karat gold. All of the objects are richly and skilfully decorated with scenes of Thracian myths, customs and life. It is dated from the 4th-3rd centuries BC, and is thought to have been used as a royal ceremonial set by the Thracian king Seuthes III. As one of the best known surviving artifacts of Thracian culture, the treasure has been displayed at various museums around the world. When not on a tour, the treasure is the centerpiece of the Thracian art collection of the National Museum of History in Sofia. The items may have been buried to hide them during 4th century BC invasions of the area by the Celts or Macedonians. The phiale carries inscriptions giving its weight in Greek drachmae and Persian darics.

8. Phiale (a dish), adorned with relief images of black men’s heads and acorns, situated in concentric-circle forms. Height 3 cm, diameter 25 cm, weight 845.5 g.

9. Amphora-rhyton with centaurs- formed handles. Three compositional scenes are depicted on the vessel. The central scene represents five warriors in a battle. The second scene depicts two warriors in the fortune-telling ritual of predicting the future on a liver. The third one, in the lower part of the amphorae, represents the figures of Silenus and the little Heracles in his cradle killing two snakes. Height 21.5 cm, diameter 10.5 cm, weight 460.75 g.

10. Gold rhyton with a goat-protome-shaped lower part. The relief figures of Hera, Arthemis, Apollo and Nike are presented on its neck. Height 14 cm, diameter 9 cm

11. Amazon-head-shaped gold rhyton. The amazon has a veil over her well-arranged hair and a necklace on her neck. The handle of the rhyton ends in the figure of a flying sphinx. Height 21,5 cm, maximum diameter 10,5 cm, weight 460,75g.

12. Gold Aries-shaped rhyton. The handle of the vessel ends in a lion figure. Relief figures of the sitting Dionysus and the bacchante Eriope are depicted on the neck of the rhyton. Dancing bacchantes are represented around them. Height 12,5 cm, diameter 8.5 cm, weight 505.5 g.

13. Gold rhyton in the form of an Amazon head with a helmet on. The two sides of the helmet bear the relief figures of flying sphinxes. Height 20,5 cm, width 12,1 cm, maximum diameter 8,36 cm, weight 387,5g.

14. Gold deer-shaped rhyton. Its handle ends with a lion figure. Two mythological scenes of fightings are represented on the neck - Heracles against the doe of Cerynia and Theseus against the bull of Marathon. Height 12,5 cm, diameter 8 cm, weight 689 g.

15. Amazon-head-shaped gold rhyton. The amazon has a veil over her well- arranged hair and a necklace on her neck. The handle of the rhyton ends with the figure of a flying sphinx, whose wings have been broken during digging. Height 22,5 cm, width 13,5 cm, maximum diameter 10,3 cm, weight 466,75g.

16. Gold deer-shaped rhyton. The figures of Athena, Paris, Hera and Aphrodite are represented on its neck. Height 13,5 cm, diameter 8.8 cm, weight 674.8 g.

17. Photos & information : Net 30.12.2013 Created by Day

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