Runiform Inscriptions from Madara

 

Since Felix Kanitz discovered for the science the Madara Rider, the area around the village of Madara (District Shumen, Bulgaria) cached the attention of Bulgarian archaeologists. Karel Skorpil believed that the Madara Rider had an ancient origin and belonged to the Thracian culture. However, discovered around the Relief Greek inscriptions containing the names of early Bulgarian rulers led the opinions in the direction of the Bulgarian origin of the monument. Soon several caves and ruins of buildings were discovered in the area. Bulgarian archaeological circles grew the idea that the surroundings of the village of Madara, which was situated some 20 km. from the capital, Pliska had great importance in Medieval times. Thus in 1925, the Bulgarian archaeological institute decided to start excavations. The research took place in 1925 and 1926 and continued in 1936. The cultural layers discovered there began in the Neolithic and, without interruption, continued to the Ottoman period. Archaeologists found several structures from the Roman period and Medieval times. It became clear that the area around the Madara Raider was an important sanctuary.

The excavations took place in several areas. One of them was the Great Cave. Archaeologists discovered there three walls that run parallel to the entrance. One appeared to be built in Roman times, but the other came from the Early Medieval period. The second excavated area was situated around a rock called “Kulata” (The Tower). It had a column shape and stood 7 meters tall, but it was destroyed sometime before 1900, and only it remained in the time of excavations. The complex of buildings discovered there suggested that the Tower was regarded sacred. There is information that in old times, locals put meat on top of it to feed the nearby eagles. The third excavated area was situated around a rock called Daul Tash. The archaeologist found a puzzle of walls belonging to buildings from Roman and Medieval times.

Bulgarian archaeologists discovered, as it was expected, many Runiform inscriptions on the surface of building materials from the Early Medieval period. Runiform characters were incised on the stone blocks, mortar, roof tiles, bricks and water pipes. In addition, inscriptions were found on the caves’ walls and the rocks’ surface. Also, two inscriptions were found on a rock near Kalugeritsa, a village about 2 km. from Madara.

Some of the Runiform characters discovered at Madara were already known from Pliska. Others appeared to be new findings. Thus, graphic materials from Madara contributed to widening the stock of the Bulgarian Runiform script. Also, inscriptions, where characters are arranged in groups, show clearly that the script’s purpose perhaps was to represent a language, not just to serve as a system of trademarks and family signs.

Attention deserves an inscription under number 3, where several Greek letters were used. This practice is already known from Pliska, but some of the characters from other inscriptions from Madara can be considered Greek borrowings. Why would medieval Bulgarians have to borrow letters from the Greek script to Runiform tradition? If it was an alphabet, the reason could be to create a secret massage, as this was the case with lead amulets written sometimes with a mixture of Cyrillic and Glagolitic letters. However, the reason might be different in the case of a logographic script. Those Greek letters might represent words borrowed from the Greek language. Thus, the inscription might mean “νικα” (victory) and the inscription Md23 “ισους χριστος” (Jesus Christ).

Figure 1. The Madara Rider, a sketch made by Karel Skorpil. 

Figure 2. Madara rocks.

Figure 3. An Inscription from Pliska.

Figure 4. A Runiform inscription on a pot from Pliska.

Figure 5. A Runiform inscription on a piece of pot from Pliska.

Figure 6. A drawing with an inscription. 

Figure 7. A Runiform inscription from Kalugeritsa.

Figure 8. A Runiform inscription from Kalugeritsa.

Figure 9. A Runiform inscription from Kalugeritsa.

Figure 10. Two inscriptions from the Small cave.

Figure 11. Runiform inscriptions from the Big Cave.

Figure 12. A Runiform character engraved at the beginning of a Greek inscription. 

Figure 13. Runiform inscriptions from building materials in Madara.

Figure 14. Runiform inscriptions from building materials in Madara.

Figure 15. Runiform inscriptions from building materials in Madara.

Figure 16. Runiform inscriptions from building materials in Madara.

Figure 17. Runiform inscriptions from building materials in the locality Kirika.

Figure 18. Runiform inscriptions from building materials in the locality Kirika.

Table 1. 1- number of characters. 2- characters from Pliska. 3- characters from Madara and Kirika. 4- characters from Byala and Varna.

Table 2. 1- number of characters. 2- characters from Pliska. 3- characters from Madara and Kirika. 4- characters from Byala and Varna.

Table 3. 1- number of characters. 2- characters from Pliska. 3- characters from Madara and Kirika. 4- characters from Byala and Varna.

Table 4. 1- number of characters. 2- characters from Pliska. 3- characters from Madara and Kirika. 4- characters from Byala and Varna.

Figure 19. A plan of the area of Madara Reider.