PANAGJURIŠTE
S Bulgaria.
A town in the
district of Plovdiv, noted for its Thracian funerary tumuli of the 4th c. B.C. In them have been found precious golden fittings, as well as objects in silver and bronze, some imported from Greece and some showing Greek
influence but of Thracian execution. Among the imported objects are two ornate silver disks showing in bas-relief the struggle between Herakles and the Nemean lion, and bronze amphorae with reliefs. Even more interesting are the examples of Thracian art, such as a silver
lamina on which are represented a man, a siren with a
lyre, and two winged swine. Typical of the barbaric
zoomorphic taste that includes the Thracians in the great
decorative tradition of Scythia and Sarmatia are the ornaments in white bronze in the form of lion feet, heads of
birds, griffin heads, and other fantastic beasts. An exceptional trove of gold vessels includes four-head rhytons in
the form of stags, rams, and goats, decorated with mythological scenes; three oinochoi in the form of female heads ornamented with bestial figures; an amphora with two handles in the shape of centaurs, decorated with
scenes of Achilles at Skyros, Herakles and the serpents,
and satyrs with negroid heads. These are in the National
Museum at Plovdiv.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
B. Filov, “Monumenti dell'arte tracia,”
Izv. Bulg. Arch. Soc. 6 (1916-18) 1; id., “Denkmäller
der thrakischen Kunst,”
RämMitt 37 (1917) 21; id.,
L'art
antique en Bulgarie (1925) passim; D. Zoncev, “The
Gold Treasure of Panagurište,”
Archaeology 8 (1955)
218-27; id., & B. Svoboda, “Neue Denkmäler antiker
Toreutik (Der Goldschatz von Panagurište),”
Monumenta archeologica Ceskoslovenska Akademie, IV (1956);
id.,
Der Goldschatz von Panagurischte (1959)
I; H.
Hoffmann,
RömMitt 65 (1958) 121ff.
A. FROVA
