Aboba 1899 -the Beginning

Aboba 1899 - the Beginning Nedyalko Ovcharov London, 2023 In the spring of 1899, an expedition of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople began the first archaeological excavations near the village of Aboba (later renamed Pliska). Russian and Bulgarian scientists assume that the first Bulgarian pagan capital, Pliska, was located on the site of large ancient ruins near the village. The remains are impressive. The medieval city occupies an area of 24 square km, surrounded by a rectangular earth rampart and ditch (Fig. 1). In its centre stands a stone castle, built of large rectangular blocks of white limestone, the joints of which are filled with red mortar. During these first excavations, walls, towers and gates of the stone castle, some of the administrative buildings and churches of the palace complex were studied. Also, a huge basilica was discovered to the northeast of the castle. The expedition found some stones, bricks, tiles and pottery pieces engraved with mysterious graphic symbols. Since they are usually cut individually or in small groups of 2 or 3 and were assumed to be masonry marks, archaeologists called them "signs"1. Karel Škorpil categorises signs according to the material on which they are cut. Two large groups are distinguished: signs engraved on stone (Fig. 2) and signs cut on ceramics (Fig. 3). The first category is also divided: signs cut on the inner surface of the stone and signs inscribed on its face. Signs are found everywhere: on city walls, towers and gates, on the stones of administrative buildings and churches, and floor coverings. Škorpil suggests that the marks cut on the inner surface of the stones must have been made by the stonemason (or at least before they were installed in the wall). They can be used either as a numerical marking to determine the position of the stone in the structure or as signs marking the individual batches of stones. The second major subcategory, signs incised on the surface of stones, are found primarily on city walls, towers, gates, columns, and floor slabs. They rarely appear on the walls of residential buildings. According to Škorpil, some of them were made by stonemasons, but the rest must have been carved on the surface of the stones after the walls were built. He also found signs engraved between the Greek inscriptions' letters. A small group of signs were inscribed on the surface of standing stones (Fig. 22b), known as "devtashlar" (dev-demon, tash-stone). 1 Materials from the expedition were published in two editions of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Constantinople (IRAIK 10, 1905 and Aboba-Pliska 2005). Signs are also found on surfaces of ceramic production. They are made with a sharp tool before the ceramics are baked. According to Škorpil, some types of signs engraved on building ceramic are identical to those cut on stone, but some are found only on bricks and roof tiles. He suggests that the signs engraved on building ceramics are the producer’s trademarks. Also, signed ceramic tiles are found only in residential buildings. Škorpil also categorises the signs according to their appearance. 11 groups of characters are composed of straight lines. Category 1 includes signs made of simple straight lines, category 3 – cross-like signs, category 5 – arrow-like signs and category 8 - triangles. Two other groups of signs are made of oval lines - e-like signs and bow and arrow signs. The categorisation of signs made by Karel Škorpil would prove its durability and be used by Bulgarian archaeologists until today. Figure 1, Plan of Pliska. Green – earthen rampart, red- tumuli, rosestone buildings, pink- paved road, blue- river, yellow- standing stones F. Uspensky analysed the meaning of the signs. He compared the signs from Pliska with those made by builders at Knossos and other cities in Crete and also Troy. He concludes that despite the significant time difference of 2500-3000 years, the signs are strikingly similar: “Isn’t it worthy of special attention the fact that most of the signs on the stones that were included in the construction of the palace of the semi-mythical Minos we find in Bulgaria on hewn stones that were included in the construction of the palace in which Krum and Omurtag lived”? Uspenski believes that the signs found in Pliska are not part of the script but masonry marks. They are used as trademarks or installation marks. However, he admits that some of them may have a ritual character. But some of the graphic materials discovered in 1899 in Pliska give reason to believe that the system of "signs" is more than stonemason’s marks. For example, some signs are incised in groups of two or three and sometimes form a ligature. However, those “signs” were found in ruins filled with dozens of pieces of Greek, Roman and Cyrillic inscriptions. The dilemma about the character of the newly discovered graphic system can only be stonemason's signs or alphabet. However, even if some of these characters were letters of an unknown alphabet, a string of three characters could barely make up a word and could hardly be taken as an inscription. Figure 2, Graphems incised on stone blocks. This is probably why the first explorers of Pliska did not notice that the same system of graphemes was used in drawings they found inscribed on the surfaces of stone blocks and bricks. True, these graphs are included in the paintings and usually look like random scratches, and when Škorpil noticed that there were signs in the drawing, it was when they were similar to Cyrillic or Greek letters. Even today, after 123 years, it is difficult to understand that archaic and relatively primitive calligraphy could flourish on the ruins of the Greco-Roman world. Almost every picture found in Pliska during the Russo-Bulgarian expedition contains Runiform characters, and these are not just "groups of signs" but actual inscriptions. They are not arranged in rows like the Greek inscriptions. The characters are of different sizes and positions; they are embedded in the structure of the picture, sometimes even an organic part of the bodies of people and animals. Moreover, the world of these drawings has nothing to do with everyday life. They describe the fantastic world of myths and legends. Their plots can only be understood with the knowledge of Bulgarian folklore and the myths and legends of the people of Central Asia and Siberia, where shamanic practices were still alive in historical times. Figure 3, Graphems incised on building ceramics. Figure 4, Extra graphemes. The pictures collected during the first excavations of the early Bulgarian capital are impressive. The published are mostly sketches but have been executed with incredible attention to detail. Our mission will be to understand their plots and inscriptions, extract individual characters and compile a list of the characters used in Pliska and the surrounding area. Almost all pictures come from the ruins of Pliska; only two of them were found in a church near the medieval castle of Shumen: 1. Incised on a fragment of brick picture. The made of yellow clay brick is 7 cm wide and 4.4 cm thick. It was found at the eastern gates. The picture is made before firing with a sharp metal object. Two intertwined characters ( symbolic representation of a vagina. and ) are incised below the picture of a Figure 5, Picture on a piece of brick found at Eastern Gate. 2. Incised on a brick picture measuring 36x26x6 cm. Found at the eastern gates. It was done with a finger before baking. Two animals and one mosquito can be recognised here. The sound of the mosquito is used in shamanic performances to induce silence. The lines around the animals cannot be identified, but they may represent Runiform characters or monsters such as snakes, dragons, or both. Here only character can be recognised with certainty. Figure 6, Picture on a piece of brick found near Eastern Gate. 3. Incised on a brick picture. It is found in the ruins of the Great Palace. It represents a battle between an unknown animal and a dragon. The lines around the animal's body may suggest that it emits fire. Only three interlaced characters can be recognised: , and . Figure 7, Picture on a brick found in the ruins of the Great Palace. 4. Carved on a brick picture. The size of the brick is 29 cm width and thickness of 5.5 cm. Found in the narthex of the Great Basilica. The pattern is cut out with a sharp object after firing. Four animals are depicted here, perhaps horses. The characters intertwined in front of the head of the upper horse. The single character and are and ligature are incised in front of the head of the second horse. Also, characters are incised next to the third horse. and Figure 8, Picture on a brick, found at Great Basilica. 5. Incised on fragment of a brick picture. It is found in the Great Palace. Several snakes and character are depicted here. A strange ligature appears next to it, resembling a snake with an open mouth ( ). Figure 9, Picture incised on a piece of brick found in the Great Palace. 6. Incised on the inner side of one of the walls of the pentagonal tower picture. It depicts a human head, perhaps male, representing the sky god Tengri. To the right is carved an animal head, and below it a deer. Another animal with an unfinished body is incised in the lower left corner. Several single Runiform characters and ligatures compete with the composition. The ligature Character (or single character) is incised below the male head. appear below it and to the left of it . The ligature is woven into the body of the deer and the character into the body of the other animal. remains between the two animals. The group is supposed to be. is incised near where the other animal's head Figure 10, Picture incised on a wall of the pentagonal tower. 7. Picture from the inner side of the wall of the pentagonal tower. Here is depicted Deer hunting. The scene illustrates a myth usually termed as “The wonderful hunt”. The hunter, his horse and the stag are marked with Runiform characters. body of the hunter. The group intertwined with the stag’s body and is incised on the appears in front of the mouth of the horse. appears in front of it. Figure 11, Picture incised on a wall of the pentagonal tower. is 8. Picture from a stone block found in the Great Palace. The composition contains a drawing of a horse and several characters. The group the horse. The characters and is incised over the body of appear one level lower. Lower, almost at the centre of the stone, is incised a comparatively large character attached at a different level to it to form a ligature. right. , and . and , , and are appear slightly to the are incised one level lower. Then, roe. Under them: . The group incised under and left of this point, but it might be a cluster of intertwined characters. , come in a straight is difficult to analyse at Figure 12, Picture incised on a stone block found in Great Palace. 9. Those two Runiform characters incised on a stone block in one of the towers of the northern gates are presented with the pictures. However, they have to be considered a Runiform inscription. Figure 13, Two Runiform characters from a stone block from the northern gate. 10. Picture of a bull's head from a stone at the northern gates. The Runiform characters and , are incised here. Figure 14, Picture from s stone block from the northern gate. 11. A picture of a bull’s head incised near Picture 9. Next to it added an unknown symbolic figure and a branch. The character is incised between them. Figure 15, Picture of a bull's head from the Northern Gate. 12. Picture incised on a stone block measuring 120x50 cm, found at the Eastern Gates. In the centre of the composition is a carved human body. The remaining objects are not recognisable. It is difficult to distinguish between Runiform characters and animals or other objects. Thus, the large character drawn over the face of the man appears to be identical to the character with the meaning “moon” . Is this a symbolic representation of the moon, a Runiform character, or both? The other large character can be seen as a representation of a snake. Do we deal with a myth in which a snakelike dragon tries to swallow the moon, and a hero saves it? It is hard to say; the drawing is too symbolic. The first goop of characters appears at the upper left corner: , , , and . The characters and , , , and continue over the head of the man. Furthermore, are intertwined with the large . and occupy the lower left corner. Figure 16, Picture incised on a stone block from Easthern gate. 13. An incised vertically Runiform inscription. It is carved on a stone block from the Eastern Gates near picture 12. Figure 17. Runiform characters from a stone block from Eastern Gates. 14. Picture carved on a stone block from the ruins of a church near Shumen Castle. In the middle of the composition is depicted a church. Two tall spears on either side of it have been added, probably carrying flags. Four characters are incised on the roof of the church: , , and . Right of them: and . Figure 18, Picture carved on a stone block from a church near Shumen castle. 15. Picture carved on a stone block from the inner side of the pentagonal tower. The scene of the Wonder Hunt is depicted here. The hunter holds in his hands an arkan, a tool still used by the nomads of Central Asia to catch animals. The group of characters is incised behind the hunter. The order of characters is perhaps the following: . Runiform characters , and are intertwined in a ligature over the head of the hunter. Characters and are incised behind the second horseman and the stag's body. The picture is the first of a series of three scenes incised on three consecutive stones. They can be part of a single story. over Figure 19, Picture carved on a stone block from the Pentagonal Tower. 16. This is the second drawing of a pentagonal tower. A battle scene between three horsemen is depicted here. There are two additional riderless horses. The story’s main character is perhaps the fighter cut in the middle. He holds a long spear, but in front of his horse are stretched a battle-axe, a spear, and a bow. Perhaps these are the weapons at his disposal. Only a few runic characters have been added to this scene. Three of them are incised above the head of the central figure: horse that stood left of him and , and . is engraved next to the under his horse. Figure 20, Picture carved on a stone block from the Pentagonal Tower. 17. This is the third picture from the pentagonal tower. Here a warrior is depicted triumphantly near the body of his enemy. The dead warrior's soul is shown above. The inscriptions here centre around the image of the soul. The first group of three characters ( , and ) is followed by a miniature version of . comes next and then . Another, slightly bigger ( ) appears near the head of the spirit. The characters , and incised in front of one of the horses depicted on the right side of the spirit. appear between the horse and the spirit. the body of the spirit and , , are and and are intertwined vertically inside and next to them. Skorpil divides the characters by the material on which they are cut. To this classification were added characters accompanying the drawings, and thus the comparative tables presented here were formed. Without entering into a detailed analysis, it is clear that the large number of characters accompanying the drawings have no matches among the "single" characters. One of the reasons for this is the difference in writing style. Single characters have a new geometric shape, while characters in drawings are sometimes italicised to follow the lines of the drawing and be part of the overall graphic composition. Figure 21, Picture carved on a stone block from the Pentagonal Tower. The number of characters published by the first archaeological excavations in Pliska is 170. This is a much larger number for an alphabet whose letters usually range from 24 to 100. Syllabic letters use several hundred symbols, and logographies use thousands. Thus, the English alphabet has 26 letters, the Japanese hiragana 48 characters and the Chinese script over 3000 characters. Linear B has 87 syllabic characters and over 100 ideographic characters. But even text in English, when unfamiliar, can contain more graphic content than expected. Imagine a 20th-century English text having to be decoded by someone who doesn't know it. It can have 26 lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols such as ?, $, + and >. 170 characters are not enough to make a logographic system; however, our research shows that this might be the case with Bulgarian Runiform script. Table 1, 1- character number, 2- characters carved on a stone block,3- characters carved on building ceramics, 4- additional characters, 5- characters from pictures. Table 2, Table 3, 1- character number, 2- characters carved on a stone block,3- characters carved on building ceramics, 4- additional characters, 5- characters from pictures. Table 4, Table 5, 1- character number, 2- characters carved on a stone block,3- characters carved on building ceramics, 4- additional characters, 5- characters from pictures. Figure 22, Left- a roof tile with incised character, Right Characters found on the surface of standing stones. Literature: IRAIK 10, 1905- Извѣстiя русскаго археологическаго института въ Константинополѣ, Томъ Х, Софiя, 1905; Aboba- Pliska, 1905- Абоба– Плиска, Альбом къ Х тому Извѣстiй русскаго археологическаго института въ Константинополѣ, Томъ Х, Вѣна, 1905.