Archaeological Discovery in Bulgaria Clue to Ancient Mystery

www.novinite.com ^ | 2003-02-13 | Novinite editorial Staff

[vannrox]

 
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Archaeological Discovery in Bulgaria Clue to Ancient Mystery
2003-02-13
Bulgarian archaeologists discovered an oval ritual hall fitting the description that ancient historians gave to the Dionysus Temple in the Rhodope range famous for its splendor and mysteriousness in antique times and for the many failed attempts to determine its exact location in modernity.

During an expedition in 2002, the team of archeologist Nikolay Ovcharov unearthed the hall inside of an ancient Thracian palace, some 250km southeast of Bulgaria's capital Sofia. The temple-palace is part of the dead city of Perpericon in Bulgaria's Eastern Rhodope Mountain that was important religious and political center for centuries on end.

According to Ovcharov, the oval hall has a diameter of 30m and a round alter erected 3m above the floor in the middle. "This totally fits the description of the rituals in the Dionysus Temple in which the ancient poured wine into the alter and watched the range of the alter fire to make a prediction whether a given event will occur or not," the archaeologist said in an exclusive interview for novinite.com. He also outlined the fact that the main hall of the Dionysus Temple reportedly had no roof similarly to the hall his team discovered.

To shed light on his hypothesis, Nikolay Ovchrov resorts to Hellenic historian Herodotus who wrote that the Rhodope range was inhabited by the Thracian tribe of the bessies. Herodotus also said that the bessies built the legendary Dionysus Temple that was equal to the ancient Greek Apollo sanctuary in Delphi. Like Delphi's temple, the Dionysus temple had an oracle that made great prophesies such as the foretell of the victorious march of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Later on, in the Roman age the oracle predicted that Octavius Augustus would create the Roman Empire.

The ancient Thracians inhabited an area extending over most of modern Bulgaria, northern Greece and the European part of Turkey. The Thracian tribes were ruled by a powerful warrior aristocracy rich in gold treasures.

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[vannrox]

Cool.

[DensaMensa]

The Thracian tribes were ruled by a powerful warrior aristocracy rich in gold treasures.

Sounds like Celts to me.

[xJones]

Nobody is ever going to figure out that region formally known as Yugoslavia. Years of DNA testing wouldn't be able to solve the mystery, and the best thing is to leave the denizens alone.

[xJones]

Okay, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, same differance. They'all crazy, just ask Albanians.

[farmfriend]

ping

[blam]

Thanks for the ping.

[ruoflaw]

Thanks!

[lodwick]

bttt

[tet68]

Hmmmm, nothing about wild drunken orgies where frenzied women tore men to shreds.

No, wait, that was one of MY memories.

[Verginius Rufus]

Herodotus, Book VII, Chapters 110-111 (describing Xerxes' progress through this area on the way to Greece):

Here are the Thracian tribes through whose territory he travelled: the Paeti, Cicones, Bistones, Sapaei, Dersaei, Edonians, and Satrae. Some of them lived on the coast, and they went along with their ships, while the inland tribes from this list of mine were all forcibly conscripted into the land army--all except the Satrae, that is.

The Satrae have never been subject to anyone, as far as we know; they are the only tribe in Thrace to have retained independence all the way up to my day. They live in a region of high mountains which are thickly wooded with all kinds of trees and covered with snow; they are also extremely good fighters. They are the ones who have the oracle of Dionysus in the highest part of the mountain range in their country. The pronouncements at this shrine are interpreted by the Bessians, a sub-tribe within the Satrae, and as at Delphi it is a prophetess who is the mouthpiece, and her utterances are no more elaborate than those of her counterpart at Delphi.

[Little Bill]

Sounds like Celts to me

The people that pushed the Dorians into Greece, the Celts were further North and East.

[DensaMensa]

the Celts were further North and East.

I believe the Celts were all in through that country. The people the Apostle Paul wrote to in his Letters to Young Churchs were largely Celtic.

[Verginius Rufus]

The news item is not specific about the time period involved. At the time of Herodotus, the Celts were mostly in western Europe (present-day France, Great Britain, Ireland, parts of Spain).

Celts captured Rome except for the Capitoline hill in 387 B.C. and occupied the Po Valley in Italy for centuries. In the 3rd century B.C. some of them invaded Greece. Eventually they settled down in Galatia in Asia Minor. St. Paul traveled through there (Acts 16.6; 18.23) and wrote a letter to the Galatians--but the letter is in Greek and there is nothing to show whether the recipients were of Celtic ancestry. (They could be descended from Greeks who had settled in that area, or of other non-Celts in the Roman province of Galatia who had become Greek-speakers.)

Probably there were many similarities between the customs of the Thracians and the ancient Celts. Herodotus said that among the Thracians "to live by war and plunder is of all things most glorious."

[DensaMensa]

Probably there were many similarities between the customs of the Thracians and the ancient Celts. Herodotus said that among the Thracians "to live by war and plunder is of all things most glorious."

Yes, there were many similarities, and you are correct, no time was indicated.

My offhand comment was with regard to "The Thracian tribes were ruled by a powerful warrior aristocracy rich in gold treasures." Of course there were other warrior led tribes, and lots of people liked gold treasure, but one of the things that follows the Celts all the way from their origins in NE asia throughout Europe is their love of gold and their unique artistic ability to work in the medium. Museums all across Europe are full of stunning Celtic gold art.

Eventually they settled down in Galatia in Asia Minor. They didn't "settle down" and just disappear. They continued to grow and became the dominant peoples of western Europe today. (Regrettably, even the French are Celtic.) How long they remain dominant remains to be seen, with the most popular newborn Male name in Belgium now "Mohammed".

[DensaMensa]

Herodotus said that among the Thracians "to live by war and plunder is of all things most glorious."

That almost sounds like Vikings, doesn't it?

[Theophilus]

Drunk buggers eh?

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

For some reason, when I read about Thracian tribes in Dersaei, my mind jumps to John Carter of Mars and his Princess, Dejah Thoris, Tara of Helium.

[SunkenCiv]

I was sincere in my belief that I would be getting offline and going to bed. But I haven't done it yet. Thanks vannrox for this old topic.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Ptarmigan]

Interesting. I know Celts went to Anatolia and Ural Mountains. I belive Tocharian language is a Celtic language.

[blam]

" I belive Tocharian language is a Celtic language."

Tocharian A & B are an extinct Indo-European language. Tocharian is most closely related to ancient Celtic.