The Golden Orphism Book (), also known as the Etruscan Gold Book, is a

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

artefact consisting of six connected sheets of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. The small sheets contain writing identified as

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...

, together with images of two people carrying a large vessel; a horned animal; a horse and its helmeted rider; a musical instrument, perhaps a

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

; a siren; and two people carrying shields. Inscribed leaves of gold known as Totenpässe were associated with the

Orphic religion Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underworld and returned ...

, hence the modern name of the artefact. Two golden rings pass through holes in each sheet, connecting them, and are themselves joined to a third ring. A date of 660 BCE has been associated with the artifact, based on the stylistic evidence of the letterforms and images. If confirmed, this would make it the earliest surviving example of a

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

, that is, a bound book; however, some argue that this only applies to ''folded'' sheets.Erik Kwakkel
'What is the Oldest Book in the World?'
''medievalfragments'', 20 December 2013. The artifact is said to have been discovered in either 1943 or 1955 in the area of the

Struma river The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source from the Vitosha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Its subsequent whereabouts are not known, but in 2003, the elderly discoverer donated it anonymously to the National Historical Museum (NIM) in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. Museum director Bojidar Dimitrov asserted that the book's authenticity had been 'confirmed by two experts in Sofia and London', according to a BBC report derived from the French news agency AFP, but neither expert was named. It was reported in 2022 that the Museum was preparing a publication about the artifact. , nothing has been published.

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Lamine_d%E2%80%99oro_in_lingua_etrusca_e_fenicia_con_dedica_di_un_luogo_sacro_a_pyrgi_C.jpg, A sheet from the

Pyrgi Tablets The Pyrgi Tablets (dated ) are three golden plates inscribed with a bilingual Phoenician– Etruscan dedicatory text. They are the oldest historical source documents from Italy, predating Roman hegemony, and are rare examples of texts in these la ...

, 500 BCE), with Etruscan characters Orphic_Gold_Tablet_(Thessaly-The_Getty_Villa,_Malibu).jpg, Lamella Orphica (

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

), mid-4th century BCE, with Greek characters

References

External links

'World's Only Etruscan Gold Book Added to Bulgaria's Archeology Treasures'

Novinite Novinite is a Bulgarian English-language news provider based in Sofia. "Novinite" () means "The News" in Bulgarian. It is also sometimes referred to as SNA (Sofia News Agency) by its forum users. Through its website novinite.com/sofianewsagency.c ...

, 23 May 2003
'Unique book goes on display'
''BBC News'', 26 May 2003
'Златната орфическа книга, сътворена преди повече от 2500 години'
('The Golden Orphic Book, created over 2500 years ago'), '' bTV'', 28 March 2018. Bulgarian-language video interview with Bonni Petrunova and Pavlina Devlova of the National Historical Museum.

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References

External links

See also