Panagyurishte Treasure

The treasure consists of a phiale, an amphora, three oinochoai and four rhytons with total weight of 6.164 kg of 24-karat gold.^[2][3][4] All nine vessels are richly and skilfully decorated.^[5] It is dated from the turn of the 4th-3rd centuries BC.^[6] It is thought to have been used as a royal ceremonial set by the Thracian king Seuthes III.^[7][8][9]

The items may have been buried to hide them during 4th century BC invasions of the area by the Celts or Macedonians.^[10] The phiale carries inscriptions giving its weight in Greek drachmae and Persian darics.^[11]

It was accidentally discovered on 8 December 1949 by three brothers, Pavel, Petko, and Michail Deikov, who worked together at the region of “Merul” tile factory near the railway station of the town of Panagyurishte, Bulgaria.^[12] At the time of its discovery it was considered "the richest treasure to have been unearthed in Europe since World War II.".^[13]

As one of the best known surviving artefacts of Thracian culture, the treasure has been displayed at various museums around the world.^{[14][5][15][16][17]} The treasure is the centerpiece of the Thracian art collection of the Plovdiv Regional Historical Museum, the National Museum of History in Sofia, and the History Museum in Panagyurishte.^[18] There are three replica sets, which are displayed in the museums in Panagyurishte, Sofia and Plovdiv, when the authentic treasure is lent for exhibitions abroad.^[19]

• Rogozen Treasure
• Valchitran Treasure
• Lukovit Treasure
• Borovo Treasure

• Tsontchev, Dimiter (1955), "The Gold Treasure of Panagurishte", Archaeology, vol. 8, Archaeological Institute of America, pp. 218–227, JSTOR 41663325
• Venedikov, Ivan (1961). Panagyurskoto sukroviste. Sofia: Bulgarski Hudozhnik.
• von Bothmer, Dietrich (December 1962). "A Gold Libation Bowl". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 21 (4): 154–166. doi:10.2307/3257939. JSTOR 3257939.
• Kontoleon, N.M. (1962), "The Gold Treasure of Panagurischte", Balkan Studies, vol. 3, pp. 185–200, retrieved 24 June 2018
• Corbett, P.E. (1964). "Reviewed Work: Venedikov, (I.) "The Panagyurishte Gold Treasure" Sofia: "Bulgarski Houdozhnik" Publishing House, 1961, Pp. 29, 39 plates. 14 figures". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 84: 229–231. doi:10.2307/627788. JSTOR 627788.
• Strong, Donald Emrys (1966). Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. pp. 97, 102.
• Griffith, John G. (1974). "The Siege Scene on the Gold Amphora of the Panagjurischte Treasure". Journal of Hellenic Studies. 94: 38–49. doi:10.2307/630418. JSTOR 630418.
• Hoddinott, Ralph F. (1975). Bulgaria in Antiquity: An Archaeological Introduction. London, Tonbridge: Ernest Benn Limited. pp. 85, 89.
• Moorey, P. R. S (March 1976). "Thracian Treasures". The Burlington Magazine. 118 (876): 179–174. JSTOR 878327.
• Marazov, Ivan; Fol, Alexander (1977). Thrace and the Thracians. New York: St. Martin’s Press. pp. 22, 60, 66, 69, 75, 79, 81–85, 100, 111, 153. Retrieved 8 June 2018 – via Internet Archive.
• Venedikov, Ivan (1977). "The Archaeological Wealth of Ancient Thrace". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 35 (1): 39 (color plates 9–14). doi:10.2307/3258668. JSTOR 3258668. via- Met Publications
• Kramer, Hilton (June 10, 1977). "Glory of Thrace Shines at MET". The New York Times: 54. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
• "The Panagyurishte treasure, Turn of the Fourth and Third Century B.C., Archaeological Museum, Plovdiv, items 361-369". Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria: Checklist of The Special Exhibition, June 11- September 4, 1977, coordinated by Dietrich von Bothmer. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1977. Retrieved 25 June 2018 – via Digital Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Vickers, Michael (1989). "Panagyurishte, Dalboki, Lukovit and Rogozen: Questions of Metrology and Status". In Cook, B. F. (ed.). The Rogozen Treasure: Papers of the Anglo-Bulgarian Conference 12 March 1987. London: British Museum Publications. pp. 33–37.
• Moonan, Wendy (May 22, 1998). "ANTIQUES; Rediscovering 'Lost' Culture Of Thrace". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
• Rotroff, Susan I. (July–August 1998). "Thracian Glitter: A dazzling display of ancient art". Archaeology. 51 (4): 64–67. Retrieved 3 June 2018 – via Archaeology Archive.
• Marazov, Ivan; Fol, Alexander (1998). Ancient gold: The Wealth of the Thracians: Treasures from the Republic of Bulgaria. New York: Harry N. Abrams, in Association with the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, in Cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria. pp. 145–148.
• Archibald, Zosia H. (1998). The Odrysian kingdom of Thrace: Orpheus unmasked. Oxford, New York: Clarendon and Oxford University Press. pp. 271–272, 328.
• Kitov, Georgi (2003). The Panagyurishte Treasure. Varna: Slavena Publishing House.
• Fanthrope, Lionel; Fanthorpe, Patricia (2009). Secrets of the World's Undiscovered Treasures. Toronto, Ontario: Dundurn. p. 72.
• Guzzo, Pier Giovanni; Spatafora, Francesca; Vassalo, Stefano (2010). "Una phiale d'oro iscritta dall'entroterra di Himera /An inscribed golden phial from the hinterland of Himera: from Sicily to New York and back". Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité (122–2): 451–477. doi:10.4000/mefra.303.
• Chary, Frederick B. (2011). The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations: THE HISTORY OF BULGARIA. Santa Barbara, CA; Denver, CO; Oxford, England: Greenwood, An Imprint of ABC-Clio, LLC. pp. 1, 145.
• Ovadiah, Asher (2014). "A New Look at the Mythological Representation of the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure, Bulgaria". Gerión. 32: 137–155. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
• Valeva, Julia (2015). "Chapter 14: Gold, Silver and Bronze Vessels". In Valeva, Julia; Nankov, Emil; Graninger, Denver (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Thrace. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 202–203.
• Holt, Frank Lee (2016). The Treasures of Alexander the Great: How One Man's Wealth Shaped the World. Oxford University Press. p. 47.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panagyurishte treasure.

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