II. PROTO-BULGARIAN RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS
12. The Mystery of the Sacred Proto-Bulgarian Number – the Number Seven
The star-shaped symbol developed to symbolize the king’s power and it obtained the sound value of “SH" because in the Proto-Bulgarian language the word for star started with “SH". The numerical value of the Proto-Bulgarian star – the number seven, was also closely associated with its value as a symbol of the king’s power – it was both the admiration of the seven celestial bodies and the idea that the king’s power extended in seven directions (the so-called “seven climates").
Let’s return to one of the most mysterious Proto-Bulgarian relicts – the bronze rosette from Pliska. This star shaped rosette contains fourteen characters – two characters on each of its seven rays (see Figure 4), and its rear side has the combination JUI. The rosette impresses by it fine workmanship – it was cast in bronze, unlike the other, often carelessly scratched amulets.
On one ray we one can read clearly the word SAN, since the characters are familiar to us from the inscriptions from Caucasus and from Murfatlar. Another ray has the word BJA (or BE), the next one – HJA (or HE), followed by IO, NON, KHE, and the last one – SHR (or SHAR).
The form of the rosette is most important for the interpretations of the words. The seven rays, each one containing a special word, point to the conception of the seven celestial bodies. Indeed, the close examination of the words of the rosette show that they resemble the names of the stars in the ancient languages. Thus, for example, the word SAN reminds of the Accadian name for the moon SIN, which was transferred under the form SHANA in Sanskrit. UO resembles the name of Jupiter from the other Proto-Bulgarian inscription, NON – the Sumerian names of Venus NANA, etc. The table below lists all words of the rosette and the correspondent astronomical terms:
Rosette Analogies in the ancient languages of the Near East SHAR SHARU (Sun)
SAN SIN, SHANA, SAN-DIRA (Moon)
BJA BEL, BIBU (Mars) HJA HA-BATU (Mercury)
UO UO, UMUN-PADUA, JOV (Jupiter)
NON NANA, NAHIT (Venus)
KHE KAIMANU, KEIWAN (Saturn)