‘Thracian royal residence’ found near Bulgarian village Benkovski

A team of Bulgarian archaeologists has begun excavations of a site near the Greek border at the village of Benkovski, uncovering what they believe is a Thracian royal residence dating back more than 2000 years.

(The round altar found at the site. Screenshot: BNT)

The site includes a palace, a sanctuary, at least five royal burial sites in a necropolis and a 500m fortress wall. This, with several large buildings and a round altar, has led to the conclusion it was a Thracian royal residence.

Archaeology Professor Nikolai Ovcharov, a consultant on the dig, said that during excavations in the area in 2016, a double grave, believed to be of a person of nobility, and ornaments, including silver and bronze jewellery, dating from the fourth to the third century BCE were found.

The large wall found in what is today forest is thought to have enclosed a royal residence.
The head of the archaeological dig team, Associate Professor Zdravko Dimitrov, said that the wall so far had remained unexamined.

"So far, we have no data on its chronology, but it actually encloses the entire complex. All this has led us to think that this is on complex, and we have to investigate whether it really is. Most likely, we will find here all the elements of the Thracian culture, including a sanctuary, the necropolis, of course, and a settlement."

The complex near Benkovski is similar to the Thracian Kozi Gramadi residence near Starosel.
The excavations, which are privately funded, will continue until the end of October 2018.

• Friday, October 12, 2018
  archeology current affairs modern Greece Thrace

Ancient Thracian settlement found on Bulgaria’s St Thomas Island

The remains of an ancient Thracian settlement from the early Iron Age have been found by archaeologists on St Thomas Island, about 15 km south of Sozopol on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, the National History Museum announced.

The National History Museum team of archaeologists, led by Professor Ivan Hristov, also found Thracian cult pilts and established the locations of the remains of a Roman settlement from the fifth to sixth centuries and a small mediaeval monastery that existed in the 12th to 16th centuries.

The findings were made during the first stage of an archaeological study of the sites on the island, which is about 0.012 square kilometres in size and is part of Bulgaria’s Ropotamo Nature Reserve. The island is 0.2 nautical miles south of Humata Foreland in Arkutino Bay.

The island takes its name from a chapel dedicated to Saint Thomas that once existed on it. It has another name, Snake Island, from the grey water snakes that are plentiful in the waters surrounding it.

The results of the excavations will enrich the database of the rich cultural heritage of the reserve and will be the basis for their preservation and protection, the museum’s statement said.

With funding from Bulgaria’s Ministry of Culture, the archaeological studies in the area of Arkutino near Sozopol will continue underwater, where Professor Hristov’s team will examine a reef believed to have been dry land at the time of antiquity.

• Tuesday, July 10, 2018
  archeology current affairs Thrace

Celebrating the Bendideia

On the 19th of Thargelion, an Athenian festival for the Thrakian Goddess Bendis (Βενδις) was held. This festival, which went on into the night of the 20th of the month, was designed especially for Bendis, who was introduced to Attika by Thrakian métoikos who took the opportunity to introduce their Goddess into the Athenian pantheon after the Oracle of Dodona decreed that Thrakian worshippers should be granted the right for ground to build a sanctuary on. Their shrine to Her was built on the hill Mounykhia, near to the temple of Artemis, with whom She was identified. The temenos was completed somewhere before 429 BC, and at least one Thrakian festival to the Goddess was held before the Athenians got involved.

 

The Goddess Bendis originated in Thrake, to the north of Hellas. Her cult was imported into Athens around 432 BC, at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Athens had always had close ties with Thrake, but besides the oracle's decree, it seems that the acceptance of the foreign cult into the city at this time was probably connected with Athens' military alliance with the Odrysian Thrakians, who supplied mercenaries throughout the war.

 

The Bendideia (Βενδίδεια) itself was celebrated in the port town of Peiraeeus. At first, only the Thrakians honored Her, but within a few years, the Athenians held their own procession alongside the Thrakians, theirs winding down from the Prataneion (Πρυτανεῖον)--the seat of government in ancient Hellas--in the morning  to the sanctuary of the Goddess in the Peiraios, while the Thrakian procession was entirely within the port town. The six-mile procession of the Athenians was so unusual, that a decree called for basins, water and sponges to bathe after it, and garlands. It seems obvious to place a meal here in the timeframe, followed by a period of rest until it became dark enough to perform the most telling of cult worship to the Goddess: an evening torch race on horseback; a true novelty. Plato, in his 'Republic' tells us a little it about this race:

 

"Polemarchus said to me: I perceive, Socrates, that you and our companion are already on your way to the city.

You are not far wrong, I said.

But do you see, he rejoined, how many we are?

Of course.

And are you stronger than all these? for if not, you will have to remain where you are.

May there not be the alternative, I said, that we may persuade you to let us go?

But can you persuade us, if we refuse to listen to you? he said.

Certainly not, replied Glaucon.

Then we are not going to listen; of that you may be assured.

Adeimantus added: Has no one told you of the torch-race on horseback in honour of the goddess which will take place in the evening?

With horses! I replied: That is a novelty. Will horsemen carry torches and pass them one to another during the race?

Yes, said Polemarchus, and not only so, but a festival will he celebrated at night, which you certainly ought to see. Let us rise soon after supper and see this festival; there will be a gathering of young men, and we will have a good talk. Stay then, and do not be perverse.

Glaucon said: I suppose, since you insist, that we must.

Very good, I replied."

 

What, exactly, Bendis presided over to either the Thrakians or the Athenians is unclear. She was identified mostly with Artemis, but not equated with Her, as She received a temple of Her own. Due to a connection with grain and the growth cycle of plants, she was identified with Demeter, and sometimes Persephone and/or Hekate. She was also associated with Selene. What we do know is that the worship of Bendis outside of Thrake and Athens never caught on; she was revered almost solely at these places. Yet, the Athenians seemed to have held her in high regard for a Theia not of their pantheon.

 

Whether or not you want to celebrate the Bendideia hinges on a couple of factors. Those who reconstruct the archaic period might see no reason at all to pay homage to a Goddess who was not worshipped in Hellas in their time period. Similarly, if you feel no need to worship 'imported' Gods, this festival might not be for you either. If you do want to celebrate his festival, I would suggest something with horses and torches besides offerings to the Goddess. Alternatively, you could look at the Goddesses She was associated with for clues about Her worship. Whatever the case, enjoy your Bendideia tonight, and deep into the night tomorrow.

• Tuesday, May 28, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture Athens Bendideia Bendis festivals Hellenismos 101 métoikos Thrace

The ancient tradition of Martes

A few days ago, Baring the Aegis reader and Athenian tour guide George Rockos shared an image and a bit of an ancient Hellenic custom on the Facebook wall of Baring the Aegis. He spoke of a practice where a red-and-white piece of string was tied around the wrist, and called it 'Martes'.

It seems the name this practice is best known as is 'Martenitsa', and refers to a mostly Bulgarian practice that is very much alive and kicking. Within the tradition, Martenitsas are gifted to loved ones on the first of March, and then worn until the month ends, or a stork, swallow, or blossoming tree is spotted. At that point, the Martenitsa is hung on a tree as an offering. We all know March is a temperamental month, so it is not odd that this practice in Bulgaria and other Balkan countries serves to appease Baba Marta: 'Grandmother March'. Other names for the modern festival with very antique roots are: Marta, Marti, Martaki, Martitsi, Martogaitano, Martuvane, and many more.

It seems that the traditional Bulgarian martenitza can include coins, cloves of dry garlic, beads, iron rings, hairs of horsetails, snail shells, in addition to the white and red threads. It is considered a talisman, a charm against evil forces. It seems that 'children wear their martenitzas on the right wrist, around the neck or on the breast, while young girls and brides wear it around the neck or woven into their hair. Men, however, tie the martenitza above their left elbow or left ankle. Martenitzas are tied on young animals and all fruit trees'.

Although I can not find any reliable sources that definitively state so, there are those who claim that the practice was also known in ancient Hellas, and there are two versions of this lineage. One is that the ancient Hellenic version of the practice is called 'Martes', or 'Martis' (μάρτης), and was linked to a well-known Hellenic deity: Ares. Ares, it seems, was born in ancient Thrace, now a part of Bulgaria, and the ancient Thracians asked Him for much of the same things as Baba Marta is asked for today.

The second trace of the tradition of Martenitsa to ancient Hellas comes in the form of a 'króki' (κρόκη). It seems that, during the walk from Athens to Eleusis for the (lesser?) Mysteries, the mystai stopped various times, and one of those times, officials known as 'Krokidai' would tie a yellow woolen thread known as the 'króki' around the right hand and left wrist of each of them.

Whatever the case, the tradition is kept alive even in modern day Greece, and if it appeals to you, you might enjoy adopting this practice next year. If anyone has more, or more reliable, information on this practice, I would love to hear about it.

• Wednesday, March 20, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture Athens Eleusinian mysteries modern Greece Thrace