The Mystery of the Stolovatets Slabs
In 1971-1972, in the Stolovatets area (about 5 km west of Razlog), remains of a Thracian sanctuary from the late Bronze and early Iron Ages were discovered. Ruins of walls built of crushed stone are clearly visible. There, 3 large marble slabs with relief decoration were found, associated with the cult of the sun. The large slab lay diagonally face down, its narrow end to the southwest, and the wide one to the northeast. About 2 meters away was the missing slab, and 5-6 meters to the northwest – the small slab. The Razlog slabs are considered extremely valuable for the history of mankind.
The marble slabs from Stolovatets date back to 2 thousand BC. They are most likely part of a sanctuary associated with the cult of the Sun widespread among the Thracians. This cult, precisely in 2 thousand BC. is widely distributed in the Mediterranean area. Of particular interest is the male figure with a clearly pronounced phallus on one of the slabs. In this way, one of the main gods of the Thracians, known by his Hellenic name Hermes, is depicted. It is characteristic of him that he is the god of the Thracian kings and leaders. The presence of this image testifies that the sanctuary belongs to a Thracian leader. However, the ruler’s house – his fortification – is missing. In 2008, during an archaeological tour, such an object was discovered, dated to the same era as the sanctuary. This is one of the few Thracian fortified places from 2 thousand BC that has survived to the present day. Eight ancient settlements have been registered in the Razlog area /8th century BC. – 5th century/, and in the entire municipality – 22. Part of the finds are the Thracian sword-rhompheia, six torcs, a fibula, etc., discovered in an ancient necropolis 2 km east of the city. Today, one of the slabs with unusual decoration is kept in the museum in Razlog. The second is housed in the National History Museum – Sofia, and traces of the third slab are lost.
The slabs have been restored to their original size and patterns and will soon be placed on the green areas in front of the cultural center in Razlog, where everyone will be able to touch their history and mystery. The incredible story of the slabs from Stolovatets tells …
On the highest and most prominent part of the “Stolovatets” area, there was the field of Iliya Georgiev Radushin, which sheltered a valuable slab. For decades, he knew that under his field there was a large slab with some “patterns” on it, but he did not show any curiosity to dig it up. After some time, one of his neighbors decided to remove and store the slab. With or without the owner’s knowledge, the slab was removed and carried to a yard of a house in Razlog. The goal was to break the slab into small slabs for paving the yard. At that time, a local cultural figure saw it and managed to carry it to the museum. While the slab was in the yard, children played on it and scratched it, repeating some of the engraved lines.
From the first glance, it is clear that the slab is an extremely interesting and ancient monument, the study of which will shed light on the early history of our lands.
The slab is a large stone block of white layered marble, probably over 1 ton. At 170 cm long, the slab is 13 – 13.5 cm thick. Its shape seems natural. The large upper part of the slab’s front surface is occupied by a huge ornament, consisting of three main stripes. Below, on a relatively small space, a scene with small figures is depicted. To the left of the scene, the space is clear, which is one of the many mysteries of the slab. If it stood upright (which is likely), there is a stylistic feature characteristic of ancient Cretan and Mycenaean culture: the stone steps on the ground with its narrower end, while at the top it ends with a wider end.
To the left of the first vertical strip is the second. It is also composed of a triple-banded bundle, which meanders and unwinds successively in four spirals. The third vertical strip, which is far to the left, is also an ornament obtained by the spiral winding and unwinding of two- and three-banded bundles according to the scheme of the famous Mycenaean reticulated spiral ornament from the stone ceiling of the small burial chamber in Orchomenos. The roots of this complex ornament go back to deep antiquity, as we see from its Egyptian parallels.
The general arrangement of the three main stripes of the ornament on the plate suggests a symmetrical addition of two more vertical stripes to the right of the first, i.e. in the space outside the plate. The master engraver was far from lacking in the sense of symmetry. And although the symmetry is marked, he did not bring it to completion. Here we come across another puzzling feature of the Razlog plate. From a purely artistic point of view, despite a number of primitive features evident in the execution of the ornamentation, one cannot help but recognize and be amazed by the artistic perfection with which the ornament is freely balanced in the irregular space of the plate. It is precisely thanks to this skillful balancing that the viewer immediately and easily reads it and gets the impression of its
