Highly Acclaimed ‘Armor of Thracian Warriors’ Exhibition Presented in Bulgaria’s Kazanlak

A poster presentation of the highly acclaimed exhibition entitled “The Panoply of the Thracian Warriors,” a project of Bulgaria’s National Institute and Museum of Archaeology, has been opened in Kazanlak as part of the annual Celebrations at the Valley of Odryssian Thracian Kings in the city.

The exhibition on “The Panoply of the Thracian Warriors” showcasing stunning artifacts from the armor, weaponry, and military adornments of the Ancient Thracians was developed and displayed by the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia in 2022-2023.

Subsequently, the Institute, which is part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, organized a poster exhibition presenting the results from the original exhibition. The effort was part of the National Scientific Program entitled “Development and Recognition of Bulgarian Studies Abroad,” also known as the Bulgarian Studies Program.

The poster exhibition on the armor of the Ancient Thracian warriors was opened on Monday, August 19, 2024, at the Cultural-Information Center of the “Iskra” Kazanlak Museum of History, as previously announced by the National Archaeology Museum.

The exhibition features sixteen posters showcased the ancient craftsmanship, richness and diversity in the creation of different types of Ancient Thracian attack, defensive, and parade weaponry and equipment.

The original “Panoply of the Thracian Warriors” exhibition displayed more than 120 artifacts discovered in today’s Bulgaria and Southern Romania.

It also presented a number of Ancient Thracian burial mounds and tombs where full sets of Thracian armaments have been unearthed.

Both the original and poster exhibitions feature information on Thracian warfare, the Thracian elite’s funeral practices and rites, Thracian mythological beliefs, and the aesthetics of Thracian craftsmanship.

The most intriguing finds presented in the “Panoply of the Thracian Warriors” exhibition have been

A composite scaled corslet, helmet, and sword found in the Zlatinitsa – Malomirovo burial mound in Southeast Bulgaria;

A war helmet found in Ruets, Northeast Bulgaria;

A parade neck-guard discovered in the Mezek tomb in Southeast Bulgaria;

A sword with a sheath, helmet and greaves from the Golyama Kosmatka burial mound near the city of Kazanlak in Central Bulgaria, which was the burial place of King Seuthes III of the Odrysian Kindgom (r. 330-300 BC);

A gold and silver greave from the Mogilanska burial mound in Vratsa in Northwest Bulgaria;

A rich inventory from the Dolna Koznitsa burial mound near Kyustendil in Southwest Bulgaria;

Artifacts from the Svetitsata (“The [Woman] Saint”) burial mound near Shipka and Kazanlak in Central Bulgaria;

Artifacts from the stone tomb in Agighiol, Tulcea District, in Southeast Romania;

– among others.

“The posters present the results from the ‘Panoply of the Thracian Warriors’ exhibition, which is one of the largest and most significant temporary exhibitions organized in Bulgaria in the past few decades,” the Kazanlak Museum of History says in a statement.

It notes that the Thracian Armor exhibition was showcased at the Treasure Hall of the National Museum of Archaeology in Sofia from April 21, 2022, until January 29, 2023.

It was developed in a joint scientific project of the Archaeology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” for an all-out investigation of Thracian defensive weaponry and the development of Ancient Thracian warfare practices.

Besides the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia, the exhibition on Thracian armor and weapons featured the participation of 20 other museums from Bulgaria, and two museums from Romania – the National History Museum in Bucharest and the Tulcea Museum of History and Archaeology.

The poster exhibition on the “Panoply of the Thracian Warriors” will be open in Bulgaria’s Kazanlak as part of the Celebrations in the Valley of Odrysian Thracian Kings until September 30, 2024.

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Background Infonotes:

The Valley of the Odrysian Thracian Kings (also referred to as the Valley of Thracian Kings) is a term used to describe the numerous Ancient Thracian tumuli (burial mounds) containing tombs and graves in the valley of the Central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak, which was coined by late Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov, a tracologist (an archaeologist specializing in Ancient Thrace).

It is believed that over 1,500 Ancient Thracian burial mounds exist in the Valley of Thracian Kings alone, of which some 300 have been excavated by archaeologists. Not unlike the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, the Valley of the Thracian Kings is where the Thracian rulers and high aristocrats were buried.