НОВООТКРИТ ЕПИГРАФСКИ ПАМЕТНИК ОТ ПЛИСКА
NEWFOUND DISCOVERED EPIGRAPHIC MONUMENT FROM PLISKA

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this article is a unique epigraphic monument, found during the regular archeological excavations at site No 41 in the Outer Town of Pliska in 2018. It is a fragment of a limestone block with a well-smoothed front surface, on which engraved signs and drawings can be seen (epsilon flanked with vertical features, human image, ladder, Glagolitic letters, etc.). The different depth and nature of the signs and images suggest that the stone is "written" at least twice with different types of tools. The most distinct and deeply engraved on the stone is the proto-Bulgarian symbol, accepted as a runic sign - a combination of an epsilon and two surrounding vertical features - IYI. There are also several Glagolitic letters, well known from other epigraphic monuments from the early Bulgarian Middle Ages. The most interesting in this case is the human composition. The figure depicted on the stone from Pliska is apparently of a man, leaning towards the ladder with one end of the outer garment, i.e. probably by hand, and as if gripped by it. The grace of God's right hand falls right on man's head. This gives additional grounds for the figures to be perceived as a deliberately hatched composition, which in this case is reminiscent of an iconographic representation of a familiar biblical story. Most likely, the composition on the stone, including the ladder, the full-length human figure, and the hand of God, may be related to either the ladder from Jacob's dream (Genesis 28: 11-12), on which angels ascended to heaven and descended. her, or with the Ladder of John the Ladder (Sinai).

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