Suita militară din necropola de la Alba Iulia- Izvorul Împăratului (sec. X)
The Military Suite from Alba Iulia-Emperor’s Spring’s Necropolis
The article will focus on the military suite identified in the necropolis from Alba Iulia- Emperor’s Spring/Crăcuta (10th – 11th cent.) From the 223 inhumation graves investigated so far, a number of them present as funerary inventory: harnesses (stirrups, bridle) and weaponry (remains of quivers, bone plaques from the bows, arrows, axe, Säbelschwert), all of which beingspecific for the Magyar warriors during the 10th century. Despite the fact that the existence of graves attributed to warriors was never mentioned in any of the official excavations reports published by the archaeologist M. Blăjan , in his journals this kind of record was made. For example, M. 115 was most likely considered to be of Petcheneg origin. At the moment, in this category can be placed 13 graves (M. 115, M. 133, M. 143, M. 144, M. 165, M. 168, M. 173, M. 177, M. 184, M. 208 and M. 210), two of which were uncovered during the investigations made in 2014 . As a part of customs, we observe the dressing of the pit with lithic material and the presence of offerings (equine and eggs). Without question, this warrior graves formed the military suite that provided protection for Gylas during an agitated period of time corresponding with the renewal of Christianity in Transylvania. Most likely, this suite accompanied and protected Gylas in his journey to Constantinople (953), when he was baptized and came back at Alba Iulia with the Byzantine mission.
Keywords: : Alba Iulia, warriors, weaponry, Magyars, Transylvania, suite, offering.
