“Valley of the Thracian Kings” is a recently given name to the Kazanlak valley, also known as Bulgaria’s Valley of roses. It is located between two magnificent mountain ranges, Stara Planina and Sredna Gora, in the central part of the country. Owing to various favorable natural conditions, the area around the modern town of Kazanlak has been inhabited since the dawn of civilization.
Later, that territory was considered an excellent place to organize and develop an urban city. So, Seuthes III, who ruled the Odrysian Kingdom through 330 – 302/301 BC, built a new capital, Seuthopolis, in the valley. It was Odrysians who established the first state entity which replaced the tribal system in Balkans. Nowadays, the city of Seuthopolis is under the waters of Koprinka reservoir.
The Megalith Solar Gate and the Way to the Beyond
When Prof. Alexander Fol – the founder of the Institute for Thracian Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – died in 2006, his body was cremated. His wife, Prof. Valeria Fol, scattered his ashes through the Solar Gate. The so called “Solar Gate” is a part of one of the oldest and largest megalith complexes in Bulgaria. It is situated near the village of Buzovgrad at the Valley of the Thracian kings.
The Gate is perfectly oriented to the west: to death, according to the ancient Thracians’ beliefs, and the very last moment of sunset could be “caught” through it. A “solar gate” is mentioned in the Homer’s Odyssey but so far scholars presumed it to be a metaphor. “However, the Solar Gate is a fact and now we know that it had dominated the territory of the Valley of the Thracian Kings which was considered sacred”, explained Prof. Valeria Fol, and in her words this Solar Gate is one and the only of its kind in the world.
“My husband wished to pass through the Gate into the Beyond, but I am not allowed to talk much about the rite. Simply stated, I released my husband’s soul from the earthly fetters”, Valeria Fol was extremely laconic about the mysterious funeral of the most prominent Bulgarian expert on Thracian history.
The Thracian Gold Treasures
Even the largest museum in the world cannot afford a place large enough to accommodate all the Thracian treasures discovered at the territory of modern Bulgaria. The Thracians were well-known “bravehearts” and Spartacus, the gladiator who led the slave uprising against the Romans, was just one of them. But the Thracians were also known as skilful metalworkers and the best goldsmiths in the area.(The Thracian ethnos had covered the lands of modern Southern Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, parts of Serbia and Macedonia, Greece and Turkey.)
The world-famous “Panagyurishte Gold Treasure”, excavated at the Valley in 1949, is simply a handful of the ancient gold and silver finds. The Panagyurishte hoard is dated back to 4th – 3rd century BC. It consists of 9 vessels made of solid gold and weighing 6 kg (13.2 lb). The items form an exquisite and expensive set used in royal feasts or Orphic rituals. Scholars believe the vessels were made by local craftsmen whose goldsmith’s workshop had been situated in the nearby area. The Thracians obtained precious metals from mines, by panning for gold in gold-rich rivers and in the form of gifts and taxes.
The King Teres’ Gold Mask – a Masterpiece of the Thracian Craftsmanship
It is a 2400-year-old life-size mask made of 23.5-carat gold and weighing 672 g (1.48 lb). The mask belonged to king TeresI (450 – 431 BC) and was unearthed in a mound at the Valley of the Thracian kings in 2004. The sensational archaeological discovery was made by Prof. Georgi Kitov(1943 – 2008) and his team. “This is a unique mask and it looks even better than the famous image of king Agamemnon”, Kitov said, and went on: “There have been other gold masks discovered, but all of them are made of foil-thin gold. Gold masks with this shape and weight are absolutely unknown”. Besides the king Teres’ mask, the archaeologists excavated more than 130 precious items including jewelry, weaponry, ritual vessels.
In a second mound nearby, called Golyamata Kosmatka (literally meaning “The Big Hairy”), Georgi Kitov chanced upon another treasure trove of 73 gold and silver pieces, including a gold wrath and horse trappings, a visor, gold ornaments of a sword and gold horse harness.
As a result of all the archaeological discoveries made at the Valley of the Thracian Kings, Bulgaria has proposed that UNESCO should inscribe the Valley on its World Heritage List.
Sources:
Treasures Fit for the Kings, by Jumana Farouky, TIME magazine, May 29, 2005
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