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Exhibit of the Month
10/2024
Anthropomorphic bone figure with copper fittings
H. 15.1 cm, W. 4.3 cm, Th. 0.9 cm
Grave 55, Late Chalcolithic
Historical Museum Provadia
Polished surface. The head is square; the face is conveyed by two panels. Four dimples on each side of the head. The eyes...
09/2024
GOLD PATEN
Veliki Preslav
First half of 9th c.
D 21 cm; weight 325 g
The paten is made from a gold sheet by hammering. It is a shallow open vessel with a wide profiled rim. The base is flat and signs of repair are visible. A cross is engraved in the middle of the...
08/2024
Bone sceptrе
Late Iron Age, 5th c. BC
Prehistoric salt-production and urban centre "Provadia-Solnitsata"
Photo: P. Leshtakov
Several Late Iron Age pits have been excavated in the southeastern sector of the Provadia-Solnitsata Tell. The lower part of a human skeleton...
07/2024
Exhibit of the month – July 2024
Ceramic zoomorphic vessel
Provadia-Solnitsata
Middle Chalcolithic
The vessel is 17 cm high, and has a rounded hemispherical body on four animal legs. A short cylindrical neck is formed in the front. The surface is...
06/2024
Zoomorphic ceramic application, discovered during regular archaeological excavations of the oldest malting centre in Europe, "Provadia-Solnitsata".
The exhibit is a stylized head of a night bird placed on a lid. The face is covered with a white substance. The eyes are filled...
05/2024
Gold anthropomorphic amulet and gold ring from Grave 138 Late Chalcolithic. Second half of 5th millennium BC Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis Photo: O. Pelevina
The Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis was accidentally discovered in 1972 in the Western Industrial Zone of Varna....
04/2024
Stone andirons Late 3rd – early 2nd c. BC Rescue archaeological excavations of site No 3 along the railroad Sofia – Plovdiv, Aladzhovi krushi locality, Paunovo village, Municipality of Ihtiman Photo: Z. Krasteva
Stone andirons – richly decorated parts of...
03/2024
Bronze statuette of Hermes
Roman imperial period, 2nd – 3rd centuries Archaeological investigations of Cillae – Roman road station and settlement along the Via Militaris Photo: K. Georgiev
The figure of the god is represented standing on a stand, naked with...
02/2024
Rhyton (horn-shaped vase), necropolis at Trebenishte, grave I
Silver, gold End of 6th c. BC NAIM-BAS
Horn-shaped vase with outturned rim, ribbed lower half of the body, and gold finial at the tip with ring for hanging. The rim is decorated with finely engraved band of...
01/2024
Aryballoi, grave I, Trebenishe necropolis
Faience, glass, End of 6th c. BC, NAIM-BAS
Two Corinthian and one Attic aryballoi (incense vessels). The vessels have a globular body. The first are with one handle each, made of faience, with a relief decoration of tongue...
12/2023
Goblets. Silver, gold. Trebenishte necropolis, grave VIII Late 6th c. BC National Museum of Belgrade
These tall, cylindrical cups are among the inventory of one of the richest graves in the necropolis. The grave offerings include also gold masks, sandal-shaped lamellae, a...
11/2023
Illyrian type helmet Bronze Trebenishte necropolis, grave V End of 6th c. BC
Illyrian type helmet made of a single sheet, with rectangular opening for the face. Two longitudinal ridges across the top and back part of the calotte and a pin on the forepart probably served to...
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10/2023
One of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries that have survived from the Classical Antiquity is the discovery of the necropolis of Trebenishte was accidently made in the last months of World War I. The necropolis is dated in the end of the 6th c. BC.
The artefacts...
09/2023
ROUND MEDALLION WITH AN ARCHANGEL The Round Church in Veliki Preslav, Shumen Province End of 9th – 10th c.
The medallion represents the image of an archangel in a solemn, frontal pose, with large, open eyes and an oval face. The hair is short with large curls. The...
08/2023
Ceramic house model
Tell Kodzhadermen, close to the town of Shumen, Shumen Province
Late Chalcolithic, second half of the 5th millennium BC
Found more than a century ago, in 1914, the house model from Tell Kodzhadermen is still one of the biggest, best preserved, most...
07/2023
Gold anthropomorphic figurine
Stray find from a tell near Kushla dere (now Kosharitsa), Nessebar Municipality, Burgas Province
Late Chalcolithic, second half of the 5th millennium BC
The gold anthropomorphic figurine is among the most intriguing finds from the dawn of...
06/2023
Bronze bust of Pallas Athena
Svilengrad, Haskovo region 1st c.
The figurine represents a bust of Athena emerging from a flowered cup placed on a tall circular base. The goddess is depicted as a young, determined woman. Her head is tilted down, turned slightly to the...
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05/2023
Tablet with Cyrillic text from Veliki Preslav, east of the Round Church, in a workshop for painted ceramics (monastery scriptorium)
10th c.
Length 19.8 cm; Width 11.5 cm; Thickness 0.05 cm; Weight 219 g
Three sides of the tablet are preserved with a missing lower...
04/2023
A measuring cup, "Italian sextarius", was discovered during rescue archaeological excavations in 2022 at the village of Aldomirovtsi, Slivnitsa Municipality. It serves for measuring bulk products (wheat and flour) and has a volume of about 700 ml. A Latin inscription is engraved...
03/2023
Discovered in a tumulus near Ruets (Yurukler), Targovishte municipality
Bronze, silver inlays H 42 cm; D (rim) 11 cm; D (foot) 12.9 cm Second half of 5th c. BC
The vessel has an out-turned rim decorated with an ovoid ornament. The neck is high, the body – ovoid with...
01/2023
Discovered in the village of Bashanli, Karaagach district 1st century AD
Figure grotesque of a kneeling man with a bent forward body, wearing a short mantle. The hands are folded in front of the chest, tied together at the wrists. The head is shaved, leaving a strand on...
12/2022
Hoard of Roman coins
2nd – 3rd c.
The hoard was discovered by chance in 1907 in the town of Ihtiman. It consisted of around 2000 silver Roman coins placed in a pot.
The preserved part of the find that entered the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Sofia...
11/2022
17th century
From the village of Gabrovitsa, Ikhtiman district (now Pazardzhik), sent by the district administration in 1895.
The artefact is part of the temporary exhibition 130 years National Archaeological Museum which is on display until February 5th, 2023, in the...
10/2022
Marble Gigen (Oescus), Gulyantsi Miunicipality, Pleven Province 2nd c. H 2.83 m
The statue represents a colossal standing female figure, wearing a long, deeply draped chiton, falling to the ankles, and a himation, one end winding round her right hand, the other, thrown over...
09/2022
Late Neolithic, second half of 6th millennium BC
H 8 cm
The ceramic altar is triangular, with a triangular reservoir and legs at each corner. Its outer surface is decorated with incised lines forming circles and square and triangular fields of round impressions filled with...
08/2022
Second half of 2nd c.
Height – 1,45 m; Length – 2,47 м; Width – 1,25 m
The sarcophagus is made of limestone and consists of two parts. The lid is sculpted as double-edged tiled roof with acroteria shaped as sphinxes, situated on each of the four corners,...
07/2022
During the Early Medieval period, the city of Veliki Preslav emerged as the embodiment of state power. This lavish centre became the second Bulgarian capital for the next eight decades. It stood as a milestone in forming new models and trends, which would begin to define early...
06/2022
The third millennium BC was a time of astonishing creativity, the flowering of artistic development, the exchange of raw materials, ideas, and technologies, and a time of long-distance trade and contacts. All these factors impacted the emergency of civilizations and the...
05/2022
Bronze, silver First half of 4th c. BC
Discovered in 2000 in a sarcophagus-like grave with a rich inventory in Peychova Tumulus, Starosel necropolis, Municipality of Hisarya, Plovdiv Province. The helmet is cast and finished by forging. The calotte is oval and has an...
02/2022
Calyx-cup
Silver
Height 8.7 cm; Doameter of rim 9.7 cm; W 168.50 g
Part of the inventory of a stone tomb discovered in 1885 in Chereshka (Troshka) locality near Varbitsa, Shumen region.
Late 4th – first half of...
01/2022
H 11.2 cm; D 9 cm; Weight 449 g. Silver gild. First half of 4th c. BC Photo: NAIM-BAS archive
In 2022 we celebrate 130 years since the establishment of the National Archaeological Museum. Among the exhibits, part of the first exposition of the Museum, are the...
11/2021
Sandal-shaped plate
Silver, gilding
Trebenishte necropolis, Ohrid region
Grave 7
End of 6th c. BC
The excavations of the necropolis near Trebenishte, Ohrid region, began with an accidental find during...
10/2021
Provadia-Solnitsata tell Late Neolithic, 5400 – 5200 BC, Karanovo III-IV culture NAIM-BAS
The collective find of sickles was discovered during the excavations of a two-storey Late Neolithic dwelling in the prehistoric salt mining centre Provadia-Solnitsa....
09/2021
The terracotta represents a horse with a four-wheeled cart and a seated human figure. Made in a mould, with the details added afterwards by hand. The terracotta is of purified clay, with an even ocher colour. It originates from the region of Suhindol town, Veliko Tarnovo...
08/2021
A small clay head from an anthropomorphic figure is exhibited in the Prehistory Hall of the National Archaeological Museum. It is dated to the 5 th millennium BC (Chalcolithic period) and was discovered in Tatar kioi locality near Galabets village,...
05/2021
Epithaph Veliki Preslav, Selishte locality, near the northern foundations of a monastery church Middle – third quarter of 10th c. Limestone, 1.02 х 0.55 х 0.10 m
In 1952, at the eastern end of the Selishte locality, S. Stanchev (Vaklinov) and V. Ivanova-Mavrodinova...
03/2021
The Early Bronze Age (3 rd millennium BC) was a period of intensive cultural and trade contacts between distant regions. The intensive contacts, the exchange of ideas and knowledge contributed significantly to the development of the jewellery production. The intensive...
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01/2021
The statue is a Roman replica of the Relaxing Satyr by Praxiteles. Known as Periboetos (the Famous), it was one of his last works. The Satyr is depicted as a demon of nature, a joyful character already typifying the atmosphere of Hellenistic art, and the poetry of Theokritos. He...
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12/2020
In the permanent exhibition of the National Archaeological Museum can be seen gold signet ring from Svetitsa Tumulus, near the town of Shipka, Stara Zagora Region from late 5 th c. BC. The ring belongs to grave goods found in a sarcophagus-like grave in the Svetitsa Tumulus....
11/2020
In the permanent exhibition of the National Archaeological Museum can be seen two curious in shape ceramic vessels dated in the Early Bronze Age or the 3 rd millennium BC. They are in the shape of a tall tankard with slightly out-turned rim and two symmetrical handles attached...
10/2020
In the NAIM depository are kept 12 silver appliqués with relief decoration – part of the grave offerings discovered in a tumulus in the Mramor locality near the town of Panagyurishte. The tumulus was looted in 1903. In it, a burial from the Early Hellenistic Age was...
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