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 base on the inside. It is an equal arm with slightly flared ends ending with three round medallions: two small ones at the ends and a larger one in the middle. A stylized palmette is engraved at the base of the cross. An inscription in Greek is engraved on the periphery of the paten:

„+ ΛΑΒΕΤΕ ΦАΓΕΤΕ ΤΟΥΤΟ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΤΟ ΣΩΜΑ ΜΟΥ ΤΟ / ΫΠΕΡ ΫΜΩΝ ΚΛΩΜΕΝΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΑΦΕΣΙΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΩΝ”

Λάβετε, φάγετε· τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κλώμενον εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν.

Translation: Take and eat it, this is My body, for your benefit, for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26.26)

The inscription consists of 65 letters arranged in a field with a total length of 56 cm. The letters are narrowed, elongated, about 1.4 cm high. A similar bronze paten was found in Pliska.

The gold paten was found during archaeological excavations in 1949 on the floor of a room situated next to the southern gate of the Inner Town.

The exhibit is part of the permanent exhibition of the Museum and is on display in the Medieval Hall.

Bibliography:

Иванова 1955: В. Иванова. Надписът на Мостич и преславския епиграфски материал. – В: С. Станчев, В. Иванова, М. Балан, П. Боев. Надписът на чъргубиля Мостич. София, 1955, 83-84.

Иванова 1959: В. Иванова. Южната порта на Вътрешния град в Преслав, нейният градеж и архитектурен тип. – Известия на Археологическия институт, ХХІІ, 1959, 147-148.

Гошев 1961: И. Гошев. Старобългарски глаголически и кирилски надписи от IX – X в. София, 1961.

BByzW 2011: Bulgaria in the Byzantine World. Sofia, 2011.