Apahida necropolis

The Apahida necropolis is an archeological site in Apahida, Romania. Two graves have been discovered here, and a third one may have existed.^[1][2] One of the graves was discovered in 1889, and its artifacts are in Budapest. The second was unearthed in 1968, 300 m from the first, when conducting some excavation for installation of concrete poles. Its grave goods are now exposed in the National Museum of Romanian History. The second grave dates to c. 475 and was presumably the tomb of a Gepid king, based on the inscription on a gold ring called Omharus.^[3]

The thesaurus

The thesaurus displayed in the National Museum of Romanian History

At Apahida, near Cluj-Napoca, were found by turn, in 1889, 1968 and 1979, three princely tombs attributed to Gepids. Located on the right bank of Someșul Mic River and near the former Roman road that ensured liaison between Napoca and camps on Someș River (Gherla, Cășeiu, Ilișua), the points from where come the three sumptuous complexes of Apahida can enroll in an area no greater than approx. 500 m².

The fibulae of the thesaurus

The discovery of the first tomb, the one from 1889, was made while taking gravel from a neighbouring area of Apahida.^[4] Some of the inventory was recovered for Transylvanian Museum by H. Finály, and other two pieces (sealing ring with monogram and a pendant with bells) appeared in 1897, on the market of trade with antiques, being purchased by the Hungarian National Museum. From the inventory of the tomb were preserved many objects of gold, a cruciform brooch with onion-shaped cufflinks, a bracelet with thickened ends, three rings, a belt buckle and a second smaller buckle, five pendants with bells, two silver mugs, a gold band and several applications, probably used to decorate or repair vessels.

The second discovery was made, also by chance, in October 1968, by workers digging the foundation pit of a transmission tower.^[5] In the first instance, from the pit were collected gold pieces with a total weight of approx. 900 g, of these authorities managing to recover next year, in February, when was heard about the discovery, only 800 g, the rest being probably transformed into modern jewelry.^[6] During the excavations was destroyed the upper part of the tomb, the lower part thereof being able to be studied by archaeologists. The pieces recovered by the Transylvanian History Museum in Cluj-Napoca, were then transferred to Bucharest, during establishment in 1971 of the National Museum of History.

In 1979, a 6 year old child discovered a large gold buckle in the earth excavated during the construction of the local post. The buckle is the only piece preserved from a third tomb. The piece was taken over in 1980 by the National Bank of Romania, and in 2002 was transferred to the National Museum of History.

See also

• Romania in the Early Middle Ages
• Kingdom of the Gepids

Gallery

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  Gold ring of King Omharus

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  Gold penannular armlet with flared terminals, an insignia of the Gepid royal family

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  Belt buckle

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  Belt buckle

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  Late antique silver tankard from the grave of Omharus

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Treasure of Apahida.