Another Points of View ...

What is now left of the Madara texts is sufficient to reveal, together with the regional and stylistic particularities of the relief, the time when it was carved and its nationality. However,the correct deciphering of the texts and the relief required suitable conditions. The scholars could reach the rock only after the construction of a scaffolding. Such scaffolding was first erected in 1895 and later in 1905 when the first plaster cast of the relief was made. The last scaffolding was made in 1954 when more than thirty Bulgarian scholars from different disciplines related to the various aspects of the carvings studied it for a month, carefully comparing each detail. The carving was observed under different lighting including strong flood lighting during the night. All the documentation is kept in the Institute of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Science e and provides sound support for the above conclusions. The results are summed up in a volume that was published by the Bulgarian Academy of Science in 1956.

But before these final conclusions were agreed upon, the origins, dating and meaning of the Madara Horseman were interpreted in various ways and were often the subject of heated discussions. This is by no means surprising - the monument on the huge Madara rock is very unusual and has no parallel. Furthermore, the popular subject of the hunting horseman or the victorious ruler led many scholars to different conclusions.

Scholars learned of the Madara Horseman for the first time only a few years before Bulgaria became independent. In 1872 the Hungarian traveller Felix Kanitz visited some places far from the main roads of the Ottoman Empire and one of them was Madara. He wrote in hi book "The Danube Bulgaria and the Balkan" that he noticed through field glasses Latin letters and the word "sever". This made him assume the relief was carved during the rule of the Roman Empire. F. Kanitz also made a drawing of the monument with parts of the text but when his book was published in 1878 the engraver changed it considerably, with many mistakes. Thus the first publication was responsible for some of the first mistakes in the interpretation of the relief and texts.

The eminent Czech historian Konstantin Irecek saw the Madara Horseman in 1884. He observed it, too, from a distance but correctly noticed that the texts are in Greek. At first he considered the rider to be a Thracian. However, a few years later two other Czech scholars who made great contributions to Bulgarian studies, the brothers Skorpil, erected a scaffolding and made a more detailed study of the relief. Irecek agreed with them that the texts are from the early Bulgarian pagan period.

At first Karel Skorpil came to the wrong conclusion and defined the horseman as the Thracian Heros. Two years later, after further research of the details, and particularly of the clothing of the rider he decided this was not a Thracian. Skorpil was the first to presume that this was the image of the Bulgarian Khan Krum. This was one of the hypotheses which later on acquired great popularity.

Interest in the Madara Horseman grew. Scholars from the Vienna Academy of Science studied it. The Russian archaeologist and historian F. I. Uspenski was especially interested and was the first (in 1901) to declare the extreme importance of the Madara relief. He called it "most remarkable" and "absolutely unique". Uspenski confidently placed the work among the "most ancient and intriguing old Bulgarian monuments". Later, in 1929, the Russian byzantologist H. P. Kondakov dated the relief back to the Bulgarian khans of the beginning of the 8 th Century. He stressed the difference between the Madara Horseman and the large forms of the Persian rock reliefs, since some scholars connected these two. The Vienna art expert I. Schtigovski played an important role in that he established the connection with the Asian art of the proto-Bulgarians.

For several decades the Madara Horseman was primarily an object of research for archaeologists, historians and art experts, but then research extended to other sciences as well. The problems posed by the Madara Horseman are dealt with in all works dealing with early Bulgarian history and culture.

Gradually the assumptions that this was a Thracian horseman was rejected. Such an assumption is contrary to the texts which are obviously connected with events from the Early Middle Ages. Even if we were to presume that the texts were made later than the carving, the careful study of images of Thracian horsemen (and there are more than 1500) show some fundamental differences. The differences concern not merely iconographic details but the very significant point of the connection between the rider and the animals. For the Thracian Heroes both the lion and the dog are companions in hunting while the Madara rider is stabbing the lion, which is obviously an enemy.

During recent decades, the research of Prof. V. Beshevliev has made the greatest contribution. He has dated the oldest Madara text and proved that the rider could not possibly be Khan Krum.

Meanwhile, further archaeological research has been carried out on the Madara Plateau, which made the history of the location clearer. More monuments dating back to the time of the Madara Horseman were discovered.

After the socialist revolution in Bulgaria many problems related to Bulgarian history were scientifically re-examined. The popular belief that the Madara Horseman was Khan Krum was rejected on the basis of convincing arguments.

But this unusual monument still provokes discussions. At one time a very implausible theory emerged that the relief was the work of Hellenistic art from the 6th - 5th Century B. C. depicting the Persian king, Darius Hystaspes.

The need to solve fundamental issues relating to the texts and relief resulted in the research work of 1954. The results, based on the careful investigations of many Bulgarian experts and on very exact documentation, stated the opinion of Bulgarian scholarship concerning this exceptional monument.

An interesting issue is what happened to the monument during the ages. The relief and texts are damaged only by the elements. Obviously during the medieval history of the independent Bulgarian state the Madara Horseman preserved its significance. Nobody tried to destroy it either after Christianity became the official religion in Bulgaria (864) or after the introduction of the Slavonic alphabet. Clearly, both for the Bulgarian rulers and nobility, and for the people, the Madara Horseman was relevant to the foundation and consolidation of the Bulgarian state and not to religious issues. The traditions of the state were followed during the Middle Ages with great staunchness. One remarkable example of the respect for the early Bulgarian historical texts is the fact that a column with a carved inscription from the time of Khan Omurtag was placed in the Church of the Forthy Holy Martyrs built to commemorate the victory of Tsar Ivan Asen II in 1230 over the ruler of Epir, Todor Komnin, in the battle of Klokotnitsa. The old Omurtag column with a text in Greek describing the extensive building activity of Khan Omurtag was placed in the church next to a new marble column which in Bulgarian tells about the building and consecration of the church.

The Madara Horseman was carried out in pagan times but as it was connected not with religious beliefs but with issues of the state it was not attacked by the Christian Church. This is a very important point since we know that the Church fought fiercely against all pagan traditions and new heretical teachings. Colonies of Christian hermits existed in the Madara rocks - a widespread phenomenon during the 13 th and 14 th Centuries. However, the fact that those hermits hewed their cells high in the rock but did not touch the relief signifies that they did not consider the monument a pagan edifice.

The Madara Horseman was included in the List of World Heritage in 1979. This act was acknowledgement of its exceptional historic significance. The Madara Horseman joined the highest achievements of human culture.

We may say with confidence that time only increases its popularity. The further study of the laws of historical processes has made even clearer the significance of the relief carved in Europe in the dividing line between two epochs. The Madara Horseman is monumental evidence for the coming of new times for the European world.