05/05/2020
Golden jewelry of theThracian high priestess Leseskepra, 1 century BC - 1 century AD, Burgas Archeology Meseum.
The gold and silver jewelry of the priestess Leseskepra from Anchialo (present-day Pomorie) represent the ancient culture of the people, who occupied the lands of Bourgas Bay.
According to the archaeologists, the princess Leseskepra was a noble woman who had the highest position in the social hierarchy. Jewels of the Thracian woman were found in the burial mounds and are considered to be burial gifts.
The found earrings are typical for the Thracian culture. They have five clearly distinguishable elements – a typical Thracian palmette, a circular golden element with a stone in it, a golden band with the name of the person who possesses the earrings, a stand of griffin and a griffin.
Information about the early history of the town Anchialo we receive from Strabo, who wrote about the war between the towns Apollo and Mesambria in the beginning of the II century BC. Between II and I century BC, the independent city Anchialo had developed as a primary economic center. According to an inscription from II century BC, found in Pomorie, a temple of the Egyptian gods Osiris and Isis, was located there.
In I century AD Anchialo was the capital of the Thracian aristocrat Apollo Eptaikent, who ruled vast areas in eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, on behalf of the Odrisian rulers. Therefore we can be sure that in the late Hellenism, Anchialo was a Thracian city. Many rich burials were found there, dated I - III century AD. From the archeological findings and the epitaphs we know several names of rich landowners, such as Avludzen and the rich woman – Leseskepra, who was probably a priestess. Near the city was found a silver treasure of Egyptian coins of Ptolemy IX, also coins from the last years of I century BC, glassware and import items, and a large number of coins, architectural details, objects and jewelry products from the Roman era.
In 270 AD Anchialo was destroyed by the Goths, and with the reforms of Emperor Diocletian in the late 3rd century it was included in the boundaries of the Roman Hemimont province. At the end of the 3rd century, three kilometers from Anchialo a Thracian tomb was built, where more than 100 Thracian mounds were found. The findings are dated to 1-3 century AD and give evidence for the preservation of a compact group of old Thracian aristocracy.