Between the Scythian and the Greek-Roman World: The Case of the Thracian Arts in the East-West Interactions

Abstract

In this paper, I will explore the Thracian arts in the Black Sea area, today’s Bulgaria region in order to locate the unique Thracian arts within the context of the East-West cultural interactions of Eurasia. Situated between the Scythians and the Greek-Roman world, the ancient Bulgarian arts possess the interesting amalgam of various cultural elements including the nomadic and Hellenistic cultures. The important relics and artifacts from the ancient Bulgaria to be discussed here include the stone chambered tombs with wall paintings and a lantern ceiling as well as various horse harness ornaments and gold and silver vessels approximately dated to the 5th century BC and up to the 1st century AD. The diverse cultural elements shown in the ancient Bulgarian arts mixed with the nomadic culture and the Western culture continued to flow up to the first Bulgarian empire in the 7th century AD which was established by Khan Kubrat whose treasures contain the Turks style and the Byzantine style artifacts. Thus, the paper will try to illuminate the role of the ancient Bulgarian art in the East-West cultural interaction.