9 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A 1,100-year-old lead amulet of Bulgarian soldiers sieges Constantinople found

A lead plate amulet bearing an inscription in Cyrillic dating from the times of Tsar Simeon the Great was discovered in the fortification “Balak Dere” near the village of Huhla, Ivaylovgrad Municipality, in southern Bulgaria.

The find was announced by archaeologist Ivailo Kanchev, a member of the National Museum of History team.

Prof. Vesselina Inkova’s subsequent conservation revealed a shallow inscription in Cyrillic letters. Georgi Singalevich then assumed that the beginning of the text was applied on the inner side of the plate while deciphering it using reflectance transformation imaging (RTI). When it was carefully opened, the researchers discovered a lengthy Old Bulgarian Cyrillic inscription that was written in seven lines on the inside and four lines outside the plate.

The names of the supplicants, Nikola and Pavel, were successfully deciphered on the lead plate amulet, the BTA reported. The amulet was found in a cultural layer attributable to the beginning of the 10th century.

The site is a fortification in a locality called Balak Dere by the village of Houhla, near Ivaylovgrad in southern Bulgaria.
The site is a fortification in a locality called Balak Dere by the village of Houhla, near Ivaylovgrad in southern Bulgaria. Photo: Rodopi

This prompted archaeologists to focus on Tsar Simeon I’s so-called Golden Age (893-927), comparing historical sources from the time that described the Bulgarian ruler’s marches on Constantinople and the epigraphic analysis of the find, complete with the archaic orthography of specific letters dated to the 10th century.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Experts say the one-year orthography is similar to writings from present-day Northeast Bulgaria, where Simeon’s capital of Preslav was located. Unlike any previous finds of this type, this one is unusual for the canonical-sounding text it contains, as well as the successful deciphering of the names of the supplicants, Nikola and Pavel.

All of this, combined with the archaeological context, gives scholars reason to believe that they have discovered one of the earliest Cyrillic texts known to date.

The lead plate amulet folded through. Photo: Ivaylo Kanev Team
The lead plate amulet folded through. Photo: Ivaylo Kanev Team

The geographically closest similar artifacts are two 10th-11th century amulets found near Kardzhali and Haskovo.

According to Ivaylo Kanev, during Tsar Simeon’s march on Constantinople, there was a Bulgarian garrison at Balak Dere, and the lead plate amulet belonged to his warriors.

Tsar Simeon I. nicknamed Simeon the Great, was the son of Boris I, king of the First Bulgarian Empire, and ruled from 893-927. Simeon’s successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars, and Serbs led to Bulgaria’s greatest territorial expansion, making it the most powerful state in modern Eastern and Southeast Europe.

The unfolded plate amulet. Ivaylo Kanev Team Photo

Related Articles

The Only Known Roman Brewery, Discovered in Central Italy

6 July 2024

6 July 2024

Archaeologists from the University of Macerata have discovered the only brewery from the Roman era found to date on the...

Hidden 13th-century carving of ‘face of Christ’ discovered in Ballymore, Ireland

12 May 2022

12 May 2022

At Ballymore, in the county of Westmeath, Ireland, sunlight led to an interesting and special discovery. The sunlight revealed that...

Luxurious Feather Beds of Iron Age Warriors

27 March 2021

27 March 2021

According to a new study, two warriors from the 7th century in Sweden were buried in graves where they were...

New ancient ape from Türkiye challenges the story of human origins

2 September 2023

2 September 2023

A recently discovered fossilized ape from a site in Turkey that is 8.7 million years old is inspiring scientists to...

The Discovery of a Historic Wooden Shipwreck in the North Sea

27 January 2025

27 January 2025

A section of a wooden shipwreck was uncovered near Rantum, a coastal village located on the island of Sylt in...

Zeus Temple’s entrance was found in western Turkey’s Aizanoi Ancient City

31 July 2021

31 July 2021

During recent digs, the monumental entrance gate of the Zeus Temple sanctuary in the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in...

A Unique 2000-Year-Old Oil Lamp Found in Israel

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a rare 2,000-year-old oil lamp in David, Jerusalem. Archaeologists have discovered a rare oil lamp, shaped like...

“Scythian golds” will be returned to Ukraine

15 November 2021

15 November 2021

The fate of the Scythian Golds, which were sent to be exhibited in the Allard Pierson Museum before the Russian...

Researchers identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume more than 2,000 years old

25 May 2023

25 May 2023

A research team at the University of Cordoba has identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume...

Archaeologists Uncover Early Bronze Age Ceremonial Complex in Murayghat, Jordan

4 August 2025

4 August 2025

Archaeologists have uncovered striking evidence of an ancient ceremonial complex in Murayghat, Jordan, that could rewrite what we know about...

The sword, thought to be a replica, turned out to be an authentic 3000-year-old Bronze Age sword

22 January 2023

22 January 2023

A sword in Chicago’s Field Museum that was previously thought to be a replica has been revealed to be an...

Two statuettes of Demeter discovered in Aigai, the ‘city of goats’ of the Aeolians in western Türkiye

20 November 2023

20 November 2023

Two statuettes of Demeter, the Greek goddess of earth and fertility, were discovered in a cistern in the ancient city...

The ancient city of Kastabala will soon have a colonnaded Street

4 September 2021

4 September 2021

The archaeological excavation of the ancient city of Kastabala in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey continues. Kastabala-Hierapolis is one of...

Burial site for Enigmatic Anglo-Saxon King Cerdic found, author claims

3 May 2024

3 May 2024

The possible final resting place of Cerdic, the enigmatic founder of the Kingdom of Wessex and a key figure in...

Archaeologists find a Roman military watchtower in Morocco for the first time

7 November 2022

7 November 2022

A Roman military watchtower the first of its kind was discovered by a team of Polish and Moroccan archaeologists in...