...from Apollonia Pontica in Bulgaria’s Sozopol

The ruins of the 6th century BC home from the Archaic Period of Ancient Greece discovered in Bulgaria’s Sozopol. Photo: Archaological Team

The well-preserved ruins of a 6th century BC home from the Ancient Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica, today’s Sozopol on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, have been discovered during rescue digs together with numerous artifacts, which include an Attica red-figure pottery krater (a large ceramic wine vessel) depicting the myth about Oedipus and the Sphinx.

The Antiquity home with the krater decorated with Oedipus and the Sphinx have been made during the 2017 rescue excavations in ancient Apollonia Pontica, the Black Sea town of Sozopol, in the foundations of a Modern Era building from 1826, a property slated for construction. The property is located within Sozopol’s Old Town Archaeological Preserve on the Skamni Peninsula.

The rock Cape of Stolets (also known as Skamni or Skamniy) is one of the landmarks of Bulgaria’s Sozopol, and is frequented by local and international tourists every day.

In 2016, the ruins of a 6th century BC shrine of goddesses Demeter and Persephone built by the Ancient Greek settlers were discovered there by Bulgarian archaeologists.

The 2017 rescue excavations that have to the discovery of the 6th century BC home have been led by archaeologists Pavlina Devlova and Iliya Kirov from the National Museum of History in Sofia.

The 5th century BC red-pottery krater depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx in a scene from Ancient Greek mythology, which has been discovered in Bulgaria’s Sozopol. Photo: National Institute and Museum of Archaeology

Underneath the foundations of the 1826 home, they have researched an archaeological layer reaching nearly 2 meters in depth (6.5 feet), which contained pottery and coins from both the Antiquity period and the Middle Ages.

In the said layer, the archaeologists have also discovered several graves from a medieval necropolis that was used in two time periods – in the 11th century AD and then again in the 13th – 14th century AD.

In a grave from the 11th century, the researchers have found two small crosses – one made of bronze and another one made of bone.

A bronze cross and a bone cross from the 11th century AD have also been discovered in a medieval necropolis unearthed during the rescue excavations in Bulgaria’s Sozopol. Photo: ArchaeologyinBulgaria.com

During the digs, they have also identified the ruins of a medieval Christian chapel and of Antiquity buildings.

The archaeologists point out that the excavated part of the Skamni Peninsula in Bulgaria’s Sozopol has been inhabited ceaselessly since the Archaic Period of Ancient Greece, 8th – 5th century BC, to this day.

“[We have] exposed a well preserved structure with a rectangular shape (a residence) with materials from the end of the 6th – 5th century BC," the archaeological team say.

They add that they have also discovered three pits hewn into the rocks from the Classical Period of Ancient Greece containing materials from the 5th – 4th century BC.

“During the archaeological excavations, [we have found] numerous items which belonged to the ancient residents of Apollonia Pontica," the team say.

The artifacts in question include imported luxury ceramics, red-figure pottery, sgraffito pottery, pottery lamps, loom weights, spindle parts, coins, amphora seals, an arrow coin (more arrow coins were discovered in Bulgaria’s Sozopol in 2016), ceramic game pieces, adornments.

Probably the most impressive find from the 2017 rescue excavations in Sozopol is an intact red-figure pottery krater (a special vessel for mixing wine (and water)), which has now been unveiled to the public in the 2017 Bulgarian Archaeology Exhibition at the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology in Sofia.

The Attica red-figure pottery krater with Oedipus and the Sphinx discovered in Bulgaria’s Sozopol is dated to the second quarter of the 5th century BC. Photos: ArchaeologyinBulgaria.com

The krater in question was produced following an Ancient Greek decoration style known as red-figure pottery, which was in use between the 6th and the 3rd century BC. Red-figure ceramics were produced primarily on the Attica Peninsula as well as in Southern Italy and Etruria.

The krater discovered in the Black Sea town of Sozopol, the successor of the Ancient Greek colony of Apollonia Pontica, is dated to the second quarter of the 5th century BC.

Its images depict Oedipus and the Sphinx, a scene from Ancient Greek mythology in which Oedipus answers the riddle of the Sphinx.

According to the Oedipus myths, the Sphinx, a mythical creature with a human head and a lion’s body, guarded the entrance to the Ancient Greek city of Thebes. The Sphinx would ask travelers a riddle to let them pass, and would strangle and devour those who would fail to give the right answer.

Her riddle was, “Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?”

Oedipus, the son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes, answered her riddle correctly by saying, “Man – who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then uses a walking stick in old age".

In addition to the 5th century BC Attica krater depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx, another intriguing and well preserved ceramic vessels discovered in the latest excavations on the Skamni Peninsula in Bulgaria’s Sozopol is a ceramic askos, an ancient vessel with a specific shape used for pouring small amounts of liquids.

A 6th century BC ceramic askos which has also been discovered during the rescue digs in Bulgaria’s Sozopol. Photo: ArchaeologyinBulgaria.com

The ceramic askos discovered in Sozopol is dated to the second half of the 6th century BC, and was “made in the tradition of grey monochrome Aeolian pottery."

It has been presented in the 2017 Bulgarian Archaeology Exhibition alongside the krater and the two crosses from the newly found medieval necropolis as the finds representing the rescue excavations in Sozopol.

Sgraffito pottery fragments discovered during the rescue digs in Bulgaria’s Sozopol. Photos: Archaeological Team