PHILIPPOPOLIS (Maya Martinova – maya_martinova@abv.bg) The site was situated outside the fortification wall. Part of a cardo was discovered, paved with syenite slabs. Houses of the Roman period were excavated, built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar; a drain built of bricks and a water-conduit of terracotta pipes were also discovered. During the 3rd century AD, the southern necropolis of the city appeared over the debris of the houses. A kiln for production of building ceramics of the 5th – 6th century AD was excavated there. The graves in the necropolis were constructed within the debris of the earlier houses. An Early Christian grave covered with tegulae was discovered. The burial pit was dug into the earlier structures. Scattered skeletal remains of seven individuals were also discovered on the site. An Early Christian tomb with frescoes of the beginning of the 4th century AD was discovered. The tomb consisted of one chamber covered with horizontal stone slabs, built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar, with floor paved with stone slabs bonded with mortar. The tomb was oriented east – west and measured 1 m by 2 m and 1.40 m in height. The frescoes were painted in five colors: red, white, black, ochre and green. They showed two evangelical scenes with miracles of Jesus. These were one of the earliest images of Jesus in the Christian iconography known so far. Jesus was represented as a noble Roman citizen: beardless and with short curly hair, wearing a tunic and a pallium. The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead was represented on the northern wall of the tomb. Lazarus was represented wrapped in a shroud and tied with ribbons like a mummy, standing at the entrance of a building. Healing the Paralytic was represented on the southern wall. A kantharos with two peacocks was represented on the eastern wall, symbolizing the miracle of Changing Water into Wine at Cana and the spring of life. A Christogram inside a wreath between two palms was represented on the western wall. The tomb was looted. Skeletal remains from four individuals, one of them a man, and a bone hairpin were found in the tomb. Philippopolis was among the earliest Christian centers in the Roman Empire. The first Christian community in Philippopolis was established in AD 36 – 37 by Saint Ermus who died as a martyr. The beginning of the 4th century AD, when the tomb was built, was a turning point for Christianity. In AD 313 Licinius and Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan, which ended the persecution and Christianity was recognized as equal to other religions in the Roman Empire.

PHILIPPOPOLIS (Maya Martinova – maya_martinova@abv.bg) In the western necropolis of Philippopolis, sectors from a street were discovered, paved with slabs. Part of a family tomb with two burial chambers was explored, oriented north – south. Its walls were built of bricks bonded with mortar and its floor was plastered with mortar. No skeletal remains or grave goods were discovered. Part of a grave was discovered. It was built and paved with bricks. No skeletal remains or grave goods were discovered. A sector of the foundation of the aqueduct of Philippopolis was also discovered.

PHILIPPOPOLIS (Maya Martinova – maya_martinova@abv.bg) Graves built of bricks bonded with mortar were explored in the western necropolis of Philippopolis. Grave No. 1 was covered with a stone slab. Its interior was plastered with mortar and its floor was paved with bricks. There were small square niches in its long southern and short eastern walls. No skeletal remains or grave goods were found. Grave No. 2 adjoined the eastern wall of grave No. 1. It was destroyed. The interior of the grave was plastered with mortar and its floor was paved with bricks. A semicircular wall built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar was explored. It belonged to a structure that was 14.20 m in diameter. The graves dated to the 2nd – beginning of the 3rd century AD. Two walls built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar were explored. They belonged to the foundations of the aqueduct of Philippopolis.

PHILIPPOPOLIS (Maya Martinova – maya_martinova@abv.bg, Zdravka Korkutova) The site was situated in the western necropolis of Philippopolis. Four graves were explored, destroyed by later building activities. The graves were oriented north – south and had rectangular burial chambers, built of bricks bonded with mortar. The burial chambers were probably covered with horizontal stone slabs. There were inclined bricks on the southern end of the floor in one of the graves, resembling a pillow; the head of the dead was placed on it. The inner sides of three of the graves were covered with white plaster. The graves dated to the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. A Late Antique monumental wall was discovered, built in _opus mixtum_.

PHILIPPOPOLIS (Zdravka Korkutova – zdravka_p@abv.bg, Maya Martinova) Two tombs were excavated in the western necropolis of Philippopolis. Tomb No. 1 was oriented northeast – southwest. The burial chamber was built of bricks bonded with mortar and was covered with rectangular syenite slabs plastered with mortar. There was a pillow built of bricks on the southwestern side of the burial chamber. Disturbed bones of three individuals were discovered in the chamber: a man, a woman and a child. The grave goods included four Roman coins, a bronze bead and a hairpin. Two shells of turtles were also found. Tomb No. 2 had the same orientation and was built of bricks bonded with mortar. The tombs dated to the 3rd century AD.

PHILIPPOPOLIS (Maya Martinova – maya_martinova@abv.bg) The excavations were carried out in the southern necropolis outside the fortification walls of Philippopolis. A section of a wall of a building was discovered. Its northern façade was covered with white plaster decorated with two parallel red lines. The wall was built of roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar. A water-conduit of terracotta pipes run through the wall across the building. The building belonged to the southern quarters of Philippopolis that existed before the construction of the fortification wall during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in AD 172. Once the southern quarters became _extra muros_, the area gradually became a necropolis. A grave covered with ridge-roofed tegulae was discovered. A woman c. 30 years old was laid in the grave with her head to the southwest. A coin of Julian was found in the grave.