Talk:The tomb in Aleksandrovo

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THE THRACIAN TOMB IN THE VILLAGE OF ALEKSANDROVO

The village of Aleksandrovo (previously called Korudzhievo) is located 19 кm to the north-east of the town of Haskovo. It spreads on a hilly area, about 4 km. south from the Maritsa River. The adjacent agricultural area is richly populated with archeological monuments dating from different time periods. The hillside “Hasara” (“Korudzhievskoto kale, Korudzhievo Hill Fortress”) rises 1‚25 km east from the outskirts of the village, its highest point reaches 312.7 m. above sea-level. Traces of ancient and medieval fortresses can be seen here. The pottery found in the numerous treasure-hunters’ excavations, dates back to II-IV and IX-XIV centuries. A bronze coin of Joan I Tsimishi (969-976) and one undeciphered lead seal are kept in the exhibit fund of the Museum in Haskovo. The remains of main walls discovered at varied intervals and open for visitors are built of broken stones, welded with white and red mortar. There are separate ceramic fragments found, dating back to the Late Iron Age. A widely-spread legend, based on “authentic notes” tells the story of the muslim Kardzhalii army leader Emin Aga whose big treasure was hidden somehwre in the hill n the hill , has attracted the interest of numerous treasure hunters to the hill since the end of ХlХ c. until present days. The fortress remains were almost completely destroyed by a bulldozer construction works in the 1960s. The area of “Hasara” is covered with Thracian tomb stones in all directions. Their total number is 21 now. Most of them have been damaged by treasure-hunters’ raids and some of them werealmost ruined and non-exitent today. Four tomb stones have been preserved 1.9 km south-east from “Hasara” in the area of “Sadlazha” in the agricultiral lands area of the village of Polyanovo. In one of them in the spring of 2001 treasure-hunters destroyed a Thracian tomb funeral. The mound called by the local people “Sadlazhka Chuka” has a diameter of about 35 m. and is 6 m. high. That mound was built of limestone square blocks with dry weldings. The tomb chamber has a rectangular shape with dimensions 2‚11 m. x 2‚60 m. and a height of about 2 m. The roof construction is a false triangular vault, built with trapezium-shaped processed console square blocks. The mound does not have plastic or painting art decoration. The ceramic fragments found in the soil piles dug out by the treasure hunters, as well as the type of construction of the tomb give grounds to assume that it dates back to IV-th C. BC in general. At about 700 m. south east from Hasara in the autumn of 2000, a team led by Dr. Kitov examined a hill necropolis, consisting of three tomb mounds which fell into the construction route of the future “Maritsa” highway. The mounds contained tombs from the Early Iron Age were found (VIII-VI c. BC). 15 funerals must have been conducted in one of the mounds during the Middle Ages (ХII-ХIV c.) but most exhibits were destroyed when cultivating the land. Glass and bronze bracelets as well as fragments of other tomb gifts have been discovered in there. In 1926 Iv. Velkov published data and photos about some objects, found by treasure hunters in the mounds from the area “Sosludzha”, in the vicinity of the village of Ferdinandovo (now called Polyanovo), dating them back to the IVth c. The upper toponym has been erased in the memories of the local population but the author’s mentioning - “there was an area “Hisara” nearby” makes us suggest that the artifacts were found in some of the mounds described above. According to the above-mentioned author, there was a second mound was located nearby and in fact his photos showed walls that can be seen in its embankment. The name of the village of Aleksandrovo became popular at the end of 2000 when a Thracian tomb with wall - paintings, dating back to IV-th c. BC was found in the nearby mound. The complete archeological survey of the mound was finished in the autumn of 2003. There is a second mound, a considerably smaller one, about 90 m. east from that place. A lot of traces from the treasure-hunters’ excavations can be seen there. When conducting probing excavation works at the place of the future Museum Center at about 300 m. away north from “Roshavata Chuka” the team of Dr. Kitov found a tomb from the Late Iron Age; dead bodies were buried in ceramic sarcophaguses at the time.

On 17 December 2000 a team of archeologists lead by Dr. G. Kitov noticed some freshly dug soil on the embankment of the mound “Roshavata Chuka”, located near the village of Aleksandrovo. Their professional reflex was awakened right away and the conducted observation made them face one of the most remarkable discoveries of the Bulgarian archeology. Getting-in through the opening, made by the treasure-hunters, the scientists entered a Thracian tomb with incredibly well-preserved wall paintings. The very first inspection showed that the paintings were unique and had no parallel with exhibits of that type that had been found so far. The tomb architecture is impressive and with its dimensions it competes with the most monumental archeological works in our land. “Roshavata Chuka” is located near the west borders of the village, in the eastern foothills of the area “Asara”. The height of the mound is about 15 m. and its diameter is over 70 m. The tomb has a corridor long about 15 m. with east - west orientation. The entrance with its facade, destroyed in Ancient times, is situated in the east, about 10 m. from the mound periphery. It was built with stone square blocks of various dimensions with no joining elements among them. Its height at the entrance to the east is 2,25 m., and at the end to the west is 1,8 m. The corridor width also varies from 1,17 m. to 1,25 m. The corridor has a flat ceiling of roughly processed slab stones. From the corridor you can enter a rectangular chamber with dimensions of 1,92 m. x 1,5 m., prolonged in the north - south direction. Its roof construction has a trapezium shape. The passage from the corridor and the entrance has a rectangular shape with a height of 1,20 m. and a width of 0,70 m. Through an entrance with almost the same dimensions you can get into a round chamber. It has a diameter of 3,30 m. in its bottom part and a height of 3,40 m. Its vaulting has a bell shape since the narrowing starts right from the floor. Attached to the tomb’s south periphery there is a ritual bed built from slab stones. When the tomb was discovered, the ritual site had already been destroyed and its parts were spread in disarray on the chamber floor. In the narrow parts of the tomb to the south and west there were stone “cushions” like the ones, found in the tomb of Mezek. The plaster traces found on some of the stones provide evidence that the bed must have had a wide colourful decoration which was obviously destroyed by the treasure-hunters on entering. The passage between the round and rectangular chamber must have been closed at the time with a two-wing stone door, ruined during the numerous treaure-hunters’raids. One of its wings was found completely preserved at the bottom of the dromos and the other one - broken into pieces in the corridor of the round chamber. There are traces of red-painted plaster on them. The door must have been locked with a complex mechanism of which only one bronze hoop has remained nowadays. The round and the rectangular chambers were built of well-processed slab stones without any welding joint. The slabs have rustic front sides with plaster on them and then the paintings were made on the plaster. This is evidence of at least two definite periods of using the facility. Proof of this are the two floor levels, discovered in the round chamber - the first one, constructed of slab stones and the second - of stamped clay. The rough construction of the corridor as well as its partial wall paintings only in the west end in the pre-entrance area contrast with the precise construction techniques, applied to the two chambers. Even the plaster on which the picturesque layer in the dromos was placed was not leveled in a vertical straight line to the west but is undulated; creating the impression that something made the builders and the artist at the time be in a hurry. What the reasons for that might have been we can only guess now. The tomb in the village of Aleksandrovo is among the biggest tombs of this type found up to now. Its wall paintings, which so far have had no parallel, make it truly unique. The wall paintings cover completely the round and rectangular chambers and a small part from the corridor. Hunting and fighting scenes as well as funeral feast scenes alternate with monochrome bands and others with an ornamental decoration. The round chamber is the most richly decorated part. Here the wall paintings are divided into six horizontal bands of different width, placed one above the other. The first band, placed in the bottom next to the floor, has been strongly damaged during treasure hunters’ invasions. Nevertheless, directly opposite the entrance to the west the images of three sitting figures can be seen. The one on the left is of a man with a beard, turning his head to a man-servant, giving him a horn with wine. There is a sword hanging from the backside of the chair he is sitting on. On his right, there is a man and a woman sitting with hands placed one over the other. The artist must have painted the ruler and his wife there - in terms of plot and gesture – the scene is familiar to us from the funeral feast scene in the tomb in Kazanlak. Farther to the right we can see the figure of a second servant, standing up, serving a gold rhyton to the ruler. In front of the revels a table is seen, covered with gold and silver plates. The band has been destroyed to the right of the scene but on a bigger preserved fragment we can see drawings on various pots, probably part of the feast hall interior. Above the funeral feast band there is a monochrome band, decorated in red. This is the place where one of the most intriguing but mysterious discoveries in the tomb has been made. Opposite the entrance again,in the chamber above the funeral feast scene,the figure of a young man turned to the left was carved with a sharp tool. Above that portrait there is an inscription with Greek letters, deciphered by Professor Gerasimova as KODZIMASES HRESTOS. In her opinion the first word is a personal name having a Thracian origin and the second - a by-name which means “capable”, “brave”, “smart” and so on. So this inscription can be interpreted as KODZIMASES THE MASTER. According to Dr. Kitov this is the self-portrait and autograph of the artist who painted the walls of the tomb. Over the red band, there is a geometrical band with connected swastikas, coloured in white and black. Below the band there is an Ionian pattern, and at the top of the band we see a narrow white band, with red dots. Next to it is the best-preserved figure band, showing scenes of a royal hunt. It is not big in height - it hardly reaches 38 сm. Hunting is one of the most popular topics in Thracian art. We see it on numerous monuments, jewels, pots, votive tablets and others. According to the ancient Thracian beliefs the order of the universe is established through a victory over the powers of chaos. Defeating the wild boar - embodying the chaos, the ruler restores the world order and acquires a new higher status. Four riders are drawn on a white background, accompanied by foot soldiers, and attacking wild boars and deer. The horses they ride are in different colours - grey, yellow, white and red. The first three riders gallop to the left and only the one with the red horse - to the right. The last rider has been drawn over the stone bed and although the central part of the stripe is circular, this fourth rider is placed at the spot where the eyes of the observer/visitor coming into the chamber would naturally focus. The aim of the artist to highlight that very figure is evident from the fact that in contrast to the other three riders the back-cover of the horse (the saddle)of the fourth rider is made from leopard’s skin - a proof of a higher social status. And also - the rest of the riders gallop after the animals, attacking them from the back whereas the man attacks the wild boar frontally. He stabs it with two spears and then tries to stab the pain-stiff animal with a third spear while his assistant - a naked giant, attacks him from the back, waving a double axe in the air. We have all the reasons to accept that this is the exact image of the presented as a hero ruler, buried in the tomb. Proof of the fact that the southern sector of the round chamber and the interior in it shall/are supposed to be accepted as the main (central) ones, can be found also in an interesting detail from the architectural plan. The vertical sides of the entrance frame towards the chamber are not cut at right angles - as usual, but obliquely positioned in order to direct the attention and the movements of the entering person to the south - to the bed and the wall paintings above it. Here, in similarity to the tomb in Kazanlak, we can observe the detailed well-thought and planned in advance interrelation between the architecture and the art combining in harmonious unity is implemented in practical terms. The images of the other riders are equally interesting. They are dressed in clothes of different colours, attacking the animals they hunt with spears with swords, hanging from their waist-belts. The accompanying foot soldiers are also dressed,and attack the animals with various weapons, some of them unfamiliar up to now. About ten dogs - black, yellow and white - take part in the hunt with them. If the rider on the red horse is the ruler then who are the other three, depicted on the picture in the round chamber? Logically and visually, four different scenes can be independently defined. The artist might have probably presented only the ruler in various moments of his daily life. A second, more elementary interpretation is possible - the ruler is presented while hunting, accompanied by his fellows, representatives of the Thracian aristocracy. The style of the artist is unusually realistic; the minor details are specifically worked out, the armaments and the horse image, too.The artist’s attention has not missed even such minute details as the seams on the clothes. There is a band above the hunting scene strip that separates it from the upper part of the vault. Initially, it was covered in yellow but now it is almost completely grey as a result of the natural aging processes. The keystone forms a field with the shape of a flat disc at the top of the vault. It is coloured too, and the paintings incorporate the typical symbols of the Thracian religious ideas of the time coded. The disc is divided into four different in size sectors. The east and the west are bigger and coloured in red and black correspondingly. The red colour to the east symbolizes sunrise, the day, the sun and the life, and the black to the west - the sunset, the night, death and the underground world. The two narrower sectors between them have the shape of a double axe - a royal symbol which highlights the significance of the facility. The scenes from the round chamber show the life of the dead ruler and the trials he had to pass through to achieve the status of a hero - demi-god. The first thing observed on entering the tomb are several fighting scenes in the farthest end of the corridor and the rectangular chamber. Painting these battle scenes scenes, the artist wanted to illustrate the battle feats of the buried as another argument for his special status. Unfortunately these parts of the wall paintings have been badly ruined. The details have been lost but, nevertheless, the figures are clear enough to be interpreted as part of a plot. In fact, on the northern and southern wall panel in the corridor and at the entrance the figure is one and the same - the ruler on a horse, fighting with a foot soldier. Only in the south part of the dromos he is in a fight with two foot soldiers. One of them is standing up in complete armour, raising a sword with his right hand. The second soldier is kneeling down and as a gesture of humbleness he is offering his sword to the attacking rider. The bravery and the battle merits of the ruler have been highlighted in the wall painting on the northern wall of the corridor. Here the ruler is attacking, armoured with a spike and with a big round shield he is coming down at a naked foot soldier that is running in panic, with a head turned back. The wall paintings in the rectangular chamber have been very badly damanged.. In their bottom part the walls had initially been painted in in black. The horizontal stripes with plant ornaments, restricted at the top and at the bottom with a number of patterns separate the black areas from the red-coloured vault of the chamber. There must have been some images in the trapeze bands above the two entrances, but partially preserved is only one of them - the one to the west of the round chamber. Its upper part has been damaged. Here we see again a battle between a horse-rider and a foot soldier. The wall paintings from the tomb in Aleksandrovo are the work of a skillful artist, a perfect master of the techniques of art and an expert on the details of Thracian life. The paintings are completely different from those in the tomb of Kazanlak, painted in the typical for the Hellenic period style where gods are portrayed as people and people - perfect and beautiful as gods. The characters from the tomb in the village of Aleksandrovo are different. Together with the riders we see a strong sturdy giant armed only with a Thracian crooked knife to attack a royal stag. A naked boor stabs a wild boar. Dogs swill blood rapaciously from the wounded animals. These are all pictures of real, live creatures taken from the real world. The paintings of the tomb are an unusually valuable source of information for the reconstruction of the Thracian way of life. They provide enormous volume of information about the clothing and the armour of the ancient Thracians, about the methods applied in using various arms in battles and while hunting. The restoration works of the wall paintings reveal new, unfamiliar up to now details of pictures which will enrich the collected information.

The tomb in Aleksandrovo was constructed in the second half of IV c. BC. It was intended to be used as the last home of some of the Thracian rulers whose name is still a mystery for us. With its architecture and wall paintings it is one of the precious monuments of the Thracian cultural heritage in our lands.