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2024 - Volume 7 - Number 2

Thracian Royalty: The Institution of the King-Priest and Later Accounts of the Importance of Gifts and Their Means of Acquisition

Asen Bondzhev
New Bulgarian University, Department of History, Sofia, BULGARIA

Open Journal for Studies in Arts, 2024, 7(2), 45-54 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsa.0702.02045b
Received: 5 October 2024 ▪ Revised: 8 November 2024 ▪ Accepted: 30 December 2024

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

ABSTRACT:
The first part of this study focuses on the institution of the Thracian king-priest – a leader who in addition to the political, also directs religious affairs, as attested since at least the middle of the 2nd millennium BC not just by written accounts, but by the tripartite vessel from the Valchitran Treasure and the numerous excavated double axes as well. The second part of the research is dedicated to the role of gifts in Thracian aristocratic society. It is so significant that according to Thucydides, it is “impossible to get anything done without a present.” Special attention is therefore given to the personal account of Xenophon, who describes in full detail the method of Seuthes II for acquiring gifts.

KEY WORDS: Thracians, king-priest, double axes, archaeology, eschara, Thracian treasures, royal gifts.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Asen Bondzhev, New Bulgarian University, Department of History, Sofia, BULGARIA.

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