Murfatlar Rock Art (C1 and C2)

       The entrance of the burial chambers C 1 and C 2 is located 6 m. to the west and 5 m. down from the entrance of the church B 1. The first of them, C 1, is dug in the hill immediately after the arched opening and has an ovoid plan, with its sharp end facing north. C 2 is connected to C 1 by another arcuate hole formed in the base. Access to this part of the complex at the time of its discovery was blocked by a stone wall. Romanian archaeologists have found three skeletons there, two in C 1 and one in C 2. According to Ion Barnea, the C complex was residential before being converted into a tomb.

Funerary rooms C1 and C2. General plan.

Of the two "C" rooms, only the walls of C 1 contain engravings and inscriptions. In this respect, the eastern wall to the right of the entrance to C 2 is the richest. The panel incised there consists of engraved dragons (with heads and without heads), other mythical animals, crosses and numerous inscriptions. It was documented both by a complete drawing and by photographs of some of its parts. The comparison between the photographs and the drawings, however, shows that the originals were not always followed carefully. For example, the difference between the drawing and the photograph in one of the most important inscriptions here, the ligature enclosed in a frame, is so great that

Eastern wall of C1.

changes completely its content. This fact puts into question the authenticity of all of Murfatlar's written material known only from drawings even if they are correct. Fortunately, some of the

 

Eastern wall of C1. Detailed view.

materials from Murfatlar have been documented through photographs during the first archaeological survey of the site.

Left: ligature M after drawing, right: same ligature after photo.

 

Eastern wall of C1, dragons.

Two interesting observations can be made of the composition of the northwest wall. First, all the dragons are turned to the right and all the other animals to the left. This is due to the belief that the left side and the east direction are of paramount importance and therefore "good" and the left

The western wall of C1. Various animals.

side "bad". This rule is observed almost everywhere in Murfatlar, which allows at least one to identify the character of mythical animals. Secondly, the composition is covered with small cup-shaped signs, which must be related to the religious rituals performed there. This interesting feature calls into question the opinion of Romanian archaeologists that the C complex was residential before it became a tomb. Several of the inscriptions inscribed on the panel of the western wall, for which the Murfatlar alphabet was used, are known from facsimiles and photographs and have been published many times.

Ins. M22 (left) and M30 (right).

Ins. M23 (left) and M80 (right).

Unfortunately, much of the nonalphabetic Runiform inscriptions here cannot be interpreted due to contradictory drawings. However, some of the logographic inscriptions are known also by photographs. They give an idea of how much of the Runiform calligraphy was lost. For instance, the inscription M 80 is a ligature enclosed in a frame to underline its importance. It is composed of the graphemes:  and .

Runiform symbolism is also hidden in the drawing of the three Maltese crosses carved under two dragons on the left side of the panel (fig 26). The first of them symbolize the characters   and (M87). The second is probably made up of the graphemes  and  or  and or (M88). In the third, the characters ,,  and  are woven (M 89) (fig 27).  Of course, it is not clear which of them have to be read first and which last.

Crosses under dragons. (Fig. 26)

Possible readings of the crosses.

is the cross engraved above the inscription M 69. It also symbolizes the characters  and . Here, five of the graphemes can be identified with relative certainty 

Ins. M69.

Ins. M18.

        A large embossed Maltese cross is engraved on the eastern wall of room C1 above the entrance to C2. Graphemes, symbols and crosses are incised on its shoulders and under it. The place is known from the repeatedly published photos. But this, instead of facilitating, is an obstacle to clarifying the composition of the inscription on the shoulders of the cross (named M57). In each of the photos taken over the years, the inscription has different content. For example, in one of the first photos taken at the beginning of the study of the object, no graphemes are seen on the shoulders of the cross. In a photo, perhaps taken a little later, but probably with a better resolution, the characters  appear. In the photo, however, from about 2007 the character   disappears again. On the other hand, in a photo from around 2012, the character appears on the lower shoulder of the cross.

Incisions over the doorway to C2.

A small boot is engraved on the right side below the cross. To the right of it, a character and a Maltese cross with an inscribed rhombus are partially covered by an object that is difficult to identify, and a few more crosses are cut to the right. One of these crosses is an embossed moon-sun cross  and to the right of it is a Maltese cross woven into rune-like graphemes. The cross most probably symbolizes the characters   and .

Ins. M90.

To the right of the entrance to C2 was engraved a scene of two griffons. It is believed that the image of the gryphon penetrated the art of the First Bulgarian Kingdom from the art of Sassanid Persia and was later influenced by Byzantine art. Griffons are part of the decoration of belt applications, jewellery and, rock reliefs, and are also found in the repertoire of graffiti on the fortress walls of Pliska. It prevails the opinion that in the Middle Ages the gryphon was considered a good creature and protected people. That's why griffons on the wall of C1 "look" to the left. The images on the diadem from the Preslav treasure^[1] help to clarify the role of the gryphon in Bulgarian mythology. There, two gryphons were harnessed to Alexander the Great's chariot. Runiform characters are engraved on their bodies. There are also Runiform inscriptions on the bodies of senmurs: on the body of the viewer on the left and, respectively, on the body of the viewer on the right. This unequivocally suggests that these fantastic animals might have been part of Bulgarian Pagan mythology.

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[1] The Preslav treasure was discovered in the spring of 1978 near the town of Veliki Preslav. It consists of golden and silver objects which were enclosed in a leather-covered wooden box. The treasure was hidden in a heart of a burned and abandoned hut. Archaeologists suppose that this happened in 971, during the Byzantine invasion See Totev T. 1986. 

Griffons from the northeastern wall of C1.

Griffons and senmurvs from Preslav treasure.

       The panel incised on the western wall of C1 contains also a clear Pagan plot. In the middle stood a fantastic animal without legs and with long strangely looking ladderlike horns. The lack of legs and the ladderlike horns might suggest that this creature travels or lives in the upper world (which actually might be not the case). Left of it is incised a beautifuly executed horse who faces to its left and therefore possesses a good spirit. However, the legless animal is faced to its right and is a dark creature. The same are headless snakelike dragons incised above it. Another but “good” dragon is incised just over the horns of the headless demon. Its body is interwoven into two Runiform characters.  Between the horse and the headless creature is incised a ligature composed of as it looks the same two characters: . The panel was damaged severely by adding to it countless 20th-century inscriptions in Romanian. The modern graffiti masters even tried to copy the medieval style of Murfatlar. Thus, it is hard to decide of which epoch come some of the details are incised here.

The panel from the north-western wall of C1.

The face of a male individual of Asiatic origin is incised at the very edge of the south wall of C1.  It is very hard to decide without any context what could possibly represent a male face. Only formal similarity can be sought with the male face of Biyarnitsa Cave of Tsarevets, which was connected with the myth of creation. But nevertheless, its existence gives at least material for future comparisons.

A male face from C1.

What is the meaning of the scenes on the walls of C1? Its pagan character is out of the question. Could we regard that the priests (or monks) from the complex carried out shamanic practices? Theoretically, Bulgarian shamans or colobars must have had at least three functions: to cure ill individuals, to escort the soul of the deceased person to the underworld and to worship. In order to do this, they have to undertake a journey to two completely different realms: the sky and the underworld. The church B1 is not just accidentally high above the C1-2. On its walls are decorated scenes connected with the celestial ascent. On the contrary, on the walls of C1-2 are incises scenes from the descent to the underworld. For instance, the horse with a bridle but without a rider from fig. 3b has to represent a soul of a horse offered to the supreme Sky god. The hare hunt incised on the walls of B1 reminds a hare hunt described to happen when the Siberian shaman describes his journey to the sixth sky, the realm of the Moon. Snakelike dragons and other animals depicted on the walls of C1 are inhabitants of the underworld. Thus, caves B1 and C1-2 have to be seen as one temple complex. Now almost destroyed church B2 probably had its own “underworld” among rooms next to B3. With B3 and especially B4 this tradition slowly transforms which suggests that B3 and B4 were built later. It is difficult to say how E-complex fits this scheme. A large part of it was totally destroyed by excavations of chock. It might be the most archaic building faze of Murfatlar religious complex connected even to the Pagan times as there are no Cyrillic inscriptions incised on its walls.