site.btaExhibition on Egyptian Cults around Black Sea to Open at Alexandria Library as Bulgaria and Egypt Mark 100 Years of Diplomatic Ties

An exhibition titled Egyptian Cults Around the Black Sea will open at the Library of Alexandria on February 10, the Bulgarian Embassy in Egypt said. 

Organized by Bulgaria’s diplomatic mission, Vessela Atanassova of the Institute of Balkan Studies with the Centre of Thracology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and the Library of Alexandria, the event is part of the celebrations marking 100 years of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Egypt.

The poster exhibition presents historical monuments from ancient cities along the Black Sea coast, including Tauric Chersonese (Crimea), Olbia (Parutyne, Ukraine), Tyras (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine), Tomis (Constanta, Romania), Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol, Bulgaria), Mesambria (Nessebar, Bulgaria), Odessos (Varna, Bulgaria), Byzantion (Istanbul, Turkiye), and Vani (Georgia). The artifacts illustrating the spread of Egyptian cults in the region are arranged in seven thematic sections according to their type: epigraphic monuments, objects made of bone, terracotta, bronze, sculpture, gems and rings, and coins.

It is believed that the first contacts between the Black Sea coast and Ancient Egypt were established at the beginning of the first millennium BC. The numerous Egyptian or Egyptian-style amulets discovered in the Greek colonies of Tauric Chersonese, Olbia, Apollonia Pontica, and Mesambria attest to the early development of these trade and cultural relations.

Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the rise of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, certain cults from the Nile Valley spread across the eastern Mediterranean and reached the coastal areas of the Black Sea. To their Egyptian roots were soon added Alexandrian and Greek elements, which facilitated their adoption by the local population.

The exhibition is part of the project Thrace and Egypt in the Greco-Roman World, led by Vessela Atanassova. The curators are Atanassova and Prof. Laurent Bricault of the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaures, with design and prepress work by Eli Filipova.

The exhibition will be on view until February 17 and will later be presented in Cairo.