On July 9, 2024 (Tuesday) at 18h00 in the Serdika Ancient Complex (Largoto) there will be a presentation of the collective volume Egyptian Cults on the Black Sea, followed by opening of the poster exhibition Egyptian Cults on the Black Sea / Cultes égyptiens en Mer Noire / Egyptian Cults Around the Black Sea. Special guest will be Prof. Laurent Bricot, affiliated with the French University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, who is a specialist in the field of Egyptian cults in the Mediterranean. The event is organized by the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Tracology "Prof. Alexander Fol" at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences together with the Regional History Museum - Sofia, New Bulgarian University, École française d'Athènes and with the support of the Francophone University Agency (Agence universitaire de la francophonie), which celebrates its 30-year presence in Southeast Europe.
The monuments presented in the exhibition come from the ancient cities along the coast of the Black Sea Chersonesos Tavricheski (Crimea), Olbia (Parutino, Ukraine), Tiras (Belgorod-Dniester, Ukraine), Tomi (Constanza, Romania), Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol, Bulgaria), Mesambria (Nessebar, Bulgaria), Odessos (Varna), Byzantium (Istanbul, Turkey), Vani (Georgia) and others. They are divided into seven sections according to their type - EPIGRAPHIC MONUMENTS, OBJECTS OF BONE, TERRACOTTA, BRONZE, SCULPTURE, GEMS AND RINGS, COINS - and are selected to illustrate the penetration of Egyptian cults into the Black Sea region.
The first contacts of the Black Sea coast with Ancient Egypt were probably established at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The numerous Egyptian or Egyptian-type amulets found in the Greek colonies of Chersonesus Taurice, Olbia, Apollonia Pontica and Messambria testify to the early development of these commercial and cultural relations. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. and the rise to power of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, some cults from the Nile Valley spread into the eastern Mediterranean and reached the coastal areas of the Black Sea. To their Egyptian roots, Alexandrian and Greek traits were quickly added, which facilitated their adoption everywhere around the Euscine Pontus thanks to the many routes of communication. The exhibition Egyptian Cults in the Black Sea invites you to discover the ancient connections between the Black Sea and the Nile Valley.
Curators of the exhibition: Assist. Prof. Dr. Vessela Atanassova, IBSCT–BAS, Prof. Laurent Bricot, University of Toulouse III
Design and preprint: Dr. Eli Filipova, IBSCT-BAS