About the Film
The Seal of Tervel is an independent feature documentary that follows a cross-continental investigation into the earliest known portrait of a Bulgarian ruler - a seal linked to a man whose actions at Constantinople in 717–718 changed the fate of Europe.
This documentary uncovers how one object can rewrite an entire chapter of medieval history.
The Story Behind the Documentary
The film began after two Bulgarian researchers working at Harvard received exceptional access to study and document the personal seal of Tervel - today preserved in a secure vault in Washington, D.C. This seal is the earliest known image of a Bulgarian ruler and a rare artifact that connects Bulgaria to major turning points in early medieval Europe.
The documentary traces the path of this extraordinary object and the historical world surrounding it. The Seal of Tervel combines archival research, archaeology, genetics, sphragistics, 3D scanning, laboratory analysis, artificial intelligence, and state-of-the-art scientific tools.
It is a visually rich, academically rigorous journey into the foundations of European civilization.
Contributing scholars & experts
Prof. Dimiter Angelov – Historian, Harvard
Prof. Zhenya Zhekova – Keeper of the Coins and Seals, Regional History Museum, Shumen
Dr. Jonathan Shea – Curator of Coins and Seals, Dumbarton Oaks
Assoc. Prof. Andrey Aladzhov – Archaeologist, National
Archaeological Institute – BAS
Prof. Daniel Ziemann – Historian, Central European University, Vienna
Prof. David Reich – Ancient DNA, Harvard
Prof. Miliana Kaimakamova – Historian, Sofia University
Prof. Alexander Nikolov – Historian, Sofia University
Prof. Stanislav Stanilov – Archaeologist, National
Archaeological Institute
Prof. Petar Angelov – Historian, Sofia University
The seal of Tervel kaisar. Obverse. Year 705
© Dumbarton Oaks, Coins and Seals Collection, Washington, DC.
Who Was Tervel?
Khan Tervel of the Dulo dynasty ruled Bulgaria from 700 to 721 AD.
In 705 he restored Justinian II to the Byzantine throne and received the exceptional title “Caesar” - the highest rank after the emperor and unprecedented for a foreign ruler.
A decade later, during the siege of Constantinople (717–718), he played a decisive role in stopping the largest Arab invasion ever to reach Europe.
In 716 he concluded a pioneering treaty with the Eastern Roman Empire - the first in medieval Europe to include trade clauses - establishing a peace that endured for thirty years.
Today, his lead seal at Dumbarton Oaks preserves the earliest known image of a Bulgarian ruler.
It also hides a secret. A secret from a time when the world was on the edge of collapse.
To understand our world we live in, we will return to the moment when the old one, nearly fell apart. This is the story of The Seal of Tervel.