Rare 5th Century AD Late Roman Marble Table Discovered in Petrich Kale Fortress near Bulgaria’s Varna

January 19, 2021 · by Ivan Dikov · in Ancient Rome / Roman Empire, Antiquity, Byzantine Empire, Middle Ages

The marvelous 4th-5th century white marble table has been found inside one of the towers of the Petrich Kale Fortress near Bulgaria’s Varna. Photo: Video grab from BTA

Archaeologists have discovered a beautiful white marble table from the 4^th – 5^th century AD, i.e. the Late Roman and Early Byzantine period, during excavations in one of the towers of the Petrich Kale Fortress near the Black Sea city of Varna in Northeast Bulgaria.

Even though the rare artifact, an ancient marble table signifying the presence of a high-ranking Roman official, has been found broken, almost all of its pieces are in place, allowing the restorers from the Varna Museum of Archaeology to put it back together.

Petrich Kale is a fortress which was in used for about 1,000 years by the medieval Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and the medieval Bulgarian Empire, up until the region’s conquest by the Ottoman Turks.

The Petrich Kale Fortress is located in Avren Municipality, right outside of the Black Sea city of Varna (it should not to be confused with the modern-day town of Petrich in Southwest Bulgaria).

The Petrich Kale Fortress was established in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine period, in the 5^th century AD, and was destroyed by the end of the 6^th century by barbarian invasions.

It was rebuilt in the 11^th century, and became a major stronghold in the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396). In 1154 AD, medieval Arab geographer Muhammad Al-Idrisi wrote that Petrich was a “thriving small town” to the west of Varna.

The Petrich Kale Fortress was ultimately destroyed for good by the Ottoman Turks in 1444 AD, three days before the Battle of Varna, in which they defeated the second and last Christian Crusade of the King of Poland and Hungary, Wladislaw III (also known as Varnenchik because he found his death in the Battle of Varna).

An archaeological team from the Varna Museum of Archaeology has found the white marble table from the 5^th century AD inside the ruins of the southern tower of the Petrich Kale fortress during excavations in the fall of 2020, BTA reports.

The marvelous 5th century white marble table has been found inside one of the towers of the Petrich Kale Fortress near Bulgaria’s Varna. Photo: Video grab from BTA

The marvelous 5th century white marble table has been found inside one of the towers of the Petrich Kale Fortress near Bulgaria’s Varna. Photo: Video grab from BTA

The marvelous 5th century white marble table has been found inside one of the towers of the Petrich Kale Fortress near Bulgaria’s Varna. Photo: Video grab from BTA

“It is one of the nicest finds from our latest excavations of the Petrich Kale fortress,” says Assist. Prof. Maria Manolova-Voykova from the Varna Museum of Archaeology.

“It is a round table made of white marble, and is known in scientific literature as a table from the “raven beak” type due to its typical profile, with its top slightly curled inwards,” she explains.

Manolova-Voykova notes that similar white marble tables from the Late Roman and Early Byzantine period are known from the Eastern Mediterranean, where samples have been found in Greece and Turkey.

The 5^th century table from the Petrich Kale fortress near Varna is the first one of its type to have been discovered in Bulgaria.

“Interestingly, unlike most [late Antiquity and early medieval] marble tables, which are connected with some liturgy functions from the Christian period, this type of tables have more of a secular character and household usage, as a household item showing the well-being of the respective residence,” the archaeologists says.

“Because of that, it was very interesting for us to discover this table in one of the fortress towers, which showed that the tower probably was the residence of some high-ranking administrator, perhaps dealing with the defense of the fortress, or perhaps its very governor,” she elaborates.

“Of course, for the time being, those are just conjectures but it is a fact that we found the marble table in a layer connected with the 4^th century AD (i.e. the Late Roman period),” Manolova-Voykova states.