Three extremely rare artifacts from the Nessebar Ancient Museum are among the exhibits from 14 Bulgarian museums that will be featured in the "Ancient Thrace and the Ancient World" exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles from November 3 to 3 March 2025.

The exhibition of treasures from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece contains more than 150 artifacts.

The precious objects illustrate the rich cultural heritage of the city of Nessebar in the period of antiquity and the symbiosis with the surrounding Thracian population. The city was then called Mesembria, the old Thracian name for today's Nessebar.

Todor Marvakov, director of the Nessebar Ancient Museum, told BTA more details about the exhibits, their importance and value.

The three exhibits are a marble tombstone of Julia-Hecate from the 2nd century with a very interesting inscription, a marble slab dating from the 4th century BC dedicated to Cybele and a pottery with ancient house decorations and various images on them.

The first and most interesting monument is the tombstone of Julia-Hecate, which mentions the history and origin of the city. It is written there: "My homeland is called Mesambria, from "Melsa" and "Bria". This shows the origin of the name Mesambria, which means "a city of Melsa". "Bria" is the Thracian word for the city, while Melsa is the name of the Thracian founder of the city. /BTA