Speaking of
chariots, our thoughts automatically go to Egyptian, Assyrian, Scythian, Greek
and Roman examples but hardly any Thracian. The picture of one such Thracian
chariot including the skeleton of two horses was a recent top hit on Reddit.
Thracia was Macedonia ’s northern neighbor and roughly covers
today’s Bulgaria , Eastern
Greece and western (European) Turkey .
The Thracians were fierce fighters and it took King Philip, Alexander’s father, several battles to finally subdue
them. When Alexander crossed the
Hellespont into Asia , a contingent from
Thracia was among his troops.
In today’s Bulgaria , a
tomb of a Thracian nobleman was discovered in 2009. His brick tomb also
contained a chariot and the man in armor was buried with precious gifts of gold
rings and coins, together with a silver cup depicting a Greek inspired Eros.
Typically, this kind of burial was popular 2,500 years ago and continued far
into Roman times. To the Thracians, chariots meant prestige, power and authority
and they evidently wanted to carry these values with them into the afterlife.
The splendid
chariot and its horses seen on the photograph were discovered in 2008. The
wooden chariot was covered in bronze but unfortunately the decoration scenes
from Thracian mythology are difficult to make out. It is estimated to be 1,800
years old.
The dead horses
were not part of the animal sacrifices that accompanied such a burial but pigs,
sheep and deer were. It is assumed that the horses pulled the chariot into
place and were killed on the spot before being buried together will their owner
and all the rich burial goods.
Such tombs are
very much sought after by looters who get good prices for the precious sacrificial
gifts on the black market. In our present case, luckily, the tomb was excavated
before the looters got there and the finds will go to the museum for all to enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment