SOFIA, Bulgaria -- A 2,400-year-old golden mask that once belonged to a Thracian king was unearthed in a timber-lined tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, archaeologists said Monday.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-ancient-mask,0,6072374.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlines

http://standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2007-07-16&article=5674

The Thracian king was close to Alexander of Macedon

Prof. Kitov Found a Beheaded King

The Museum of History in Sliven will buy reinforced showcases for the newly-found treasure


What all archeologists were expecting after the discovery of yet another gold mask happened yesterday. The team of Prof. Georgi Kitov unearthed a gold ring that most probably belonged to the buried Thracian ruler. It features a balding man with a beard and an inscription in ancient Greek. According to Prof. Margarita Tacheva, archeologist, the inscription reads "To the Savior of Asia." In the opinion of Bozhidar Dimitrov, director of the National Museum of History, the buried king was close to Alexander of Macedon
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The gold royal ring unearthed yesterday
Photo BGNES
Archeologists are unanimous that that the gold ring is no less valuable than the gold mask. Along with the ring they found a small metal vessel with a effigy of a woman. This makes the experts think that the burial dates back from the end of the 5th cent. BC, not the 4th as they assumed yesterday.
In any case the serious analyses are yet to be made. Standart learnt that the burial site where the gold mask and the ring were found is the only one out of 16 burials to the east of Sliven that has not been previously researched by geophysicists.
Another interesting and rare fact is that the buried king was decapitated; archaeologists found his head by his pelvic bone. Yesterday no one could tell what would that mean.
As of yesterday, it will be the restorers who will take up the conservation job at the Dalakova Mogila.
In the last two days a team of discovery Channel has been filming the excavation works. So far the archaeologists have explored three Thracian tells. Before end-summer they will have to study a vast region to the east of Sliven.

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A few hours earlier Prof Kitov discovered a gold mask

Photo Reuters Couldn't understand the "Alexander of Macedon" link, but it's all very exciting. They are unearthing a new treasure almost every day.

The Tracians have been an Aryan blond/blue eyed people.

To Xenophanes is due the saying:

"The gods of the Ethiopians are dark-skinned and snub-nosed, the gods of the Thracians are fair and blue-eyed; if oxen could paint, their gods would be oxen."


http://www.ditext.com/runes/x.html

Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570- c 480 B.C.) A contemporary of Pythagoras who may have been a student of Anaximander. Usually associated with the Milesian school, his studies carried him into an examination of the phenomena of nature. He held that all living creatures had an origin, that plants and animals had natural origins.