Archaeologists have unearthed a 5,000 year old dagger and more than 500 other gold items in central Bulgaria. The artifacts shed new light on ancient Thracian civilization. The 16cm dagger and 545 pieces of Thracian golden jewellery, dating back to the 3rd millenium BC, were discovered near the central Bulgarian village of Dabene, about 120km east of the capital, during excavations headed by archaeologist Martin Hristov. “It’s really a sensational discovery,” NMH Director Bozhidar Dimitrov said on Sunday, when the treasure trove was announced. “The dagger, which we believe is made of gold and platinum, most probably belonged to a Thracian ruler or to a priest. No item of this type was found even in the legendary city of Troy,” he added. The dagger is perfectly preserved and extremely sharp, so that one could even “shave with it”, according to Dimitrov.
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An almost 7 000 year old stone tablet was found in Bulgaria, which bears carvings that might turn out to be one of the .

“These signs are unique and apparently bear a meaning” Nikolai Ovcharov, the archaeologist who found it, told a press conference. Ovcharov said he had received the tablet from a private collector who had unearthed it 20 years ago. The collector asked to remain anonymous, because he risked criminal prosecution for looting or criminal possession of antiquities. The tablet, about three inches, carries five distinct signs each made up of two elements, Ovcharov said.

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After the remarkable rule of Simeon, Bulgaria fell into decay. Many historians tend to blame the son of Simeon the Great, Tsar Peter I, for the decline of the country. They describe him as weak, sickly and meek. Indeed, he did not have his father’s dash, his abilities as a military commander, his diplomatic skill or his immense erudition. Yet that quiet and modest monarch remained on the throne longer than any other medieval Bulgarian ruler: from 927 to 970.

The reason for Bulgaria’s unhappy lot should not be reduced to the faults of Simeon’s son. While many years of wars led to an unprecedented expansion of the state, the peasantry, which constituted the main source of soldiers for the army, was depleted. Human losses, suffering, taxes and the draining of the nation’s vital resources was the price Bulgaria paid for the victories of Simeon the Great.
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By the late 9th and the beginning of the 10th century, Bulgaria extended to Epirus and Thessaly in the south, Bosnia in the west and controlled the whole of present-day Romania and eastern Hungary to the north. A Serbian state came into existence as a dependency of the Bulgarian Empire.

Under Tsar Simeon I (Simeon the Great), who was educated in Constantinople, Bulgaria became again a serious threat to the Byzantine Empire. Simeon hoped to take Constantinople and make himself Emperor of both Bulgarians and Greeks, and fought a series of wars with the Byzantines through his long reign (893-927). The war boundary towards the end of his rule reached Peloponnese in the south. Simeon proclaimed himself “Tsar (Caesar) of the Bulgarians and the Greeks,” a title which was recognised by the Pope, but not of course by the Byzantine Emperor.
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There are all reasons to say that the time of king Simeon marked the highest point in the development of the Bulgarian Kingdom in the middle ages. In the first quarter of the 10th century Bulgaria is an unparalleled in south-eastern Europe and one of the most civilized states in the Christian world. Under king Simeon Byzantium controls only 1/3 of the Balkan territories and is true worried about its future presence on the Peninsula. For the more sagacious contemporaries of the events it is clear that SIMEON intends to change the status of Bulgaria. Byzantine and to create a new imperial system in which the Bulgarians will dominate. The young prince whom the Patriarch of Constantinople Nikolay the Mystic called “THE SO OF PEACE”, was born after the conversion to Christianity and had Christian upbringing Later he continues his education in the famous School of Magnaura. In Constantinople the third son of king BORIS, who is preparing for a clerical career, comes to know the source of imperial power, which spring not from human and natural resources, but from thousands of years of cultural tradition that gave the Byzantines self-confidence and pride. Years later, on coming back to his home country, SIMEON makes use of his knowledge to set the beginnings of the period of cultural flourish for Bulgaria, known as THE GOLDEN AGE.

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Sveti Ivan Rilski ( 876 - 946) is the first Bulgarian hermit and the founder of the grandest monastery in Bulgaria. He was born in the village of Skrino (near the town of Doupnitsa) and until the age of 25 he was a herd keeper. Then he took the monastic vows, but did not stay long in the cloister; in fact, he became devoted to living in complete seclusion, prayers, fasting and privation.

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