The Institute of Balkan Studies with Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBSCT-BAS), École française d’Athènes and the Archeological Museum of Sozopol present the exhibition Cultes égyptiens en Mer Noire/Egyptian Cults around the Black Sea. It is part of the ‘Thrace and Egypt in the Greco-Roman World’ project directed by Vessela Atanassova, a visiting researcher at the École française d’Athènes and is funded by Horizon TMA-Maria Skłodowska-Curie Actions (project n˚101130859 – ECAT). The opening will take place on August 7, 2025 at 18:00 at the Archaeological Museum of Sozopol (Khan Kroum Street No. 3).
The first contacts between the coastal cities of the Black Sea and ancient Egypt were probably established at the beginning of the first millennium BC. The large number of Egyptian or Egyptian-style amulets found in the Greek colonies as Chersonese Taurica, Olbia, Apollonia Pontica, Mesambria bear witness to these early 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, certain cults from the Nile Valley spread to the eastern Mediterranean and reached the Black Sea coast. To their Egyptian roots were soon added Alexandrian and Greek features, which facilitated their reception all around the Pont-Euxin, along the multiple routes of a very dense network of communications. The exhibition Egyptian Cults around the Black Sea invites you to discover these ancient links between the Black Sea and the Nile Valley.
The objects on display come from ancient cities along the Black Sea coast, including Chersonese Taurica (Crimea), Olbia (Parutino, Ukraine), Tyras (Belgorod-Dniester, Ukraine), Tomis (Constantza, Romania), Mesambria (Nessebar, Bulgaria), Odessos (Varna, Bulgaria), Byzantium (Istanbul, Turkey) and Vani (Georgia). To best illustrate the polymorphous penetration of Egyptian cults in the Black Sea region, they have been divided into seven sections: Epigraphic Monuments | Bone Objects | Terracotta | Bronzes | Marble Sculptures | Gems & Rings | Coins.
Exhibition curators: Assist. Prof. Dr. Vessela Atanassova, IBSCT-BAS/École française d’Athènes
Prof. Laurent Bricault, Université de Toulouse III
Design and pre-press: Assist. Prof. Dr. Eli Filipova, IBSCT-BAS