Archaeologists Unearth 1100-Yr-Old Breast Plate With Cyrillic Text Meant to Protect the Wearer From Trouble and Evil

Researchers have unearthed a 1,100-year-old breastplate in the ruins of a fort in Bulgaria and it just might have some of the earliest examples of Cyrillic texts inscribed on it. In 2023, Bulgarian National Museum's archaeologist, Ivailo Kanev, led a team to excavate the ancient fortress. The fortress was located between the borders of Greece and Bulgaria. "The text was written on a lead plate worn on the chest to protect the wearer from trouble and evil," Kanev said, stated Live Science.

"The inscription refers to two supplicants named Pavel and Dimitar." He also mentioned that they did not discover much about Pavel and Dimitar's history but Dimitar most likely participated in the military garrison and settled in the fortress. Kanev theorized that he was a relative of Pavel as well. Kanev's team shared how the inscription found on the breastplate dated back to the time of Tsar Simeon I, who was also known as Simeon the Great.

Tsar Simeon ruled over the Bulgarian Empire between 893 AD and 927 AD. During his reign, Simeon extended his empire and launched military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire. "Based on how the letters are written and the location of the inscription within the fortress, this text probably got into the fortress in the period between 916 A.D. and 927 A.D. and was brought by a Bulgarian military garrison," Kanev mentioned. According to PBS, the Cyrillic alphabet and writing system is closely based on the Greek alphabetwith about a dozen additional letters invented to represent Slavic sounds not found in Greek.

In the early eighteenth century, under Peter the Great, the forms of letters were simplified and regularized, with some appropriate only to Greek being removed. In Russia, Cyrillic was first written in the early Middle Ages. After going through many changes over the centuries, the alphabets are still used in many Slavic Orthodox countries. "The newly discovered inscription is, therefore, one of the oldest Cyrillic texts ever found," Kanev said, stated Live Science. He also planned to publish a detailed description of the inscription on the breastplate and the Bulgarian fortress later on.

Yavor Miltenov, a researcher with the Institute for the Bulgarian Language of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, remarked how the breastplate was an important find and urged caution about it. "This is a very interesting find and deservedly arouses interest," Miltenov told Live Science in an email. "We will need to see the full publication of the inscription and the context in which it was found before we can be certain of its date."

Additionally, BNR Bulgaria noted that the Cyrillic inscription was initially invisible. The inscriptions came under the radar of experts after the expedition's photographer documented the artifact and the breastplate was established to be an amulet instead.ㅤ