Free Valley of Thracians by Ellis Shuman Page B

by three
brothers outside a Panagyurishte ceramics factory in 1949 were a more important
discovery,” Sophia said, the excitement apparent in her voice. “But due to the
incredible quantity of vessels, I believe the Rogozen collection is much more
significant in understanding the ancient Thracian kingdom. On many of the
Rogozen vessels you can see inscriptions with the names of the Thracian rulers
and even of the silversmiths, goldsmiths, and engravers who made them. The
graphic depictions on the Rogozen vessels show a clear connection between
Thracian and Greek mythology and culture.”
    Sophia explained to Simon that ancient
treasures were accidentally discovered quite frequently in Bulgaria. Gold and
silver vessels were unearthed near the village of Valchitran in 1924, and farmers uncovered treasures while plowing their fields near
the town of Borovo in 1974. Other caches of Thracian relics had been dug up by
chance at Loukovit and Letnitsa.
    “We have unearthed so many treasures,
and there are so many more yet to be found. As recently as 2004, Professor
Georgi Kitov discovered a unique five-hundred-gram gold human mask near the
village of Shipka, in central Bulgaria. It was unearthed in a burial tomb in
what we call the Valley of the Thracian Kings. Not as glorious as the Valley of
the Kings in Egypt, perhaps, but still, a valley with more than thirty ancient
burial tombs of significant value. It is amazing that Kitov was able to
discover that mask in pristine condition after it being buried for two
millennia. Who knows what other treasures lie just
below the surface, waiting for us to find them,” Sophia said.
    “What was in this one?” Simon was
standing by an empty glass case, the largest in the entire Treasures Room hall.
“Is this item on temporary loan to another museum?” he asked.
    “Hardly,” Sophia replied with a sigh.
“Unfortunately, that item is no longer in the Rogozen collection, and it was
the most stunning Thracian artifact of all! Do you know what a rhyton is?”
    Simon started to shake his head, but
then remembered the local custom. He forced his head to nod up and down.
“What’s a rhyton ?”
    “A rhyton is an ornate drinking vessel, or container, typically shaped like a drinking
horn with an animal or animal’s head at the bottom. We know they held fluids
intended for drinking, however, they may have been used to pour libations in
ritual ceremonies.
    “In this display case, the museum
exhibited the largest, most magnificent rhyton ever discovered in Bulgaria. It was absolutely enormous, almost half a meter in
length and weighing nearly two kilograms. It was completely silver and covered
at its ends in pearls. At the lower part was a finely carved oversized lion’s
head. As I said, the rhyton is a
drinking vessel, and as such, its opening was the lion’s mouth itself. On the
inside of this rhyton there was an
inscription, and the likely translation from the ancient Thracian meant
basically ‘Mother Earth.’ There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this rhyton belonged to a royal family,
possibly to the King of Thrace himself. This vessel was very famous. News of
its discovery at Rogozen was announced with huge publicity all around the world
back in 1985. Of all the items in this collection of treasures, only this one
was given a specific name. They called it the Rogozen Drinking Lion.”
    “What happened to it?”
    “It’s sad, really. The Rogozen Drinking
Lion was hidden underground for two millennia alongside the other treasures
that you see here. It was able to escape being captured by the Macedonian
kings, including Alexander the Great himself. But it wasn’t able to avoid the
dangers of modern greed.
    “The Rogozen Drinking Lion, perhaps
Bulgaria’s finest Thracian treasure, was stolen from this museum a few years
ago,” Sophia said, her eyes never dropping from the empty display case.

 
 

Chapter
16

 
 
    That night he had trouble sleeping.
    He was too old for