The Lukovit Treasure () is a silver
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, ...
treasure. It was discovered in 1953 near the town of
Lukovit
Lukovit ( ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, part of Lovech Province. It is situated on both banks of the Zlatna Panega between the Danubian Plain and the foot of Stara Planina. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 9,630.[Lovech Province
Lovech Province (, former name Okrug, Lovech okrug) is one of the 28 provinces of Bulgaria, lying at the northern centre of the country. It is named after its main city: Lovech. As of December 2009, the population of the area was151,153.] , northwestern
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 ...
.
Description
It consists of two groups of objects: plates, applications for horse bridles and vessels, 9 phiales, 3 ewers and a bowl.
The objects are made of silver, some of them gilded in order to reinforce the artistic images and to put emphasis on the ornaments. Phiales and the bowl are richly adorned with ornaments, depicting floral shapes, human heads and other artistic elements. On the applications various animals are portrayed – lion, gryphon, dog, stag and others.
There are also depictions of equestrians, typical of Thracian art. On two of the plates there is a lion jumping on a deer, kneeling under the weight of the beast. Another plate depicts two horsemen chasing lions, which are already overtaken and fallen under the hoofs of the horses. These scenes in the Thracian art bear a certain social meaning. They are connected to glorifying the royal power. The rulers and their companies did spread by all possible means the legends for their exceptional divine origin and even by the trimming of the horse bridles made the common subjects to have faith and to obey.
The Lukovit Treasure is dated from 4th century BC and was made by different craftsmen. It was most probably buried in the ground during
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
's invasion of the north-western Thracian lands.
Gallery
File:Lukovit_treasure_1.jpg
File:Lukovit_treasure_2.jpg
File:Lukovit_treasure_3.jpg
File:Lukovit_treasure_9.jpg
See also
*
Panagyurishte Treasure
*
Rogozen Treasure
The Rogozen Treasure (), called the find of the century, is a Thracian treasure.
Discovery
It was discovered by chance in the autumn of 1985 by tractor driver Ivan Dimitrov, digging a hole for an irrigation system in his garden in the Bulgar ...
*
Valchitran Treasure
The Valchitran Treasure or Vulchitrun Treasure () is an early Thracian treasure.
Discovery
It was discovered on 28 December 1924 by two brothers who were working in their vineyard near the village of Valchitran, 22 km southeast of Pleve ...
*
Borovo Treasure
Notes
Sources
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via- Met Publications*
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References
Lukovit treasure
1953 archaeological discoveries
History of Lovech Province
Treasure troves in Bulgaria
Silver objects
Treasure troves of classical antiquity
Ancient art in metal
Thracian archaeological artifacts