The Avar Treasure, called sometimes Vrap Treasure, is an ensemble currently in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. The various vessel making up the ensemble were found in Vrap, Albania, and have been attributed to the Avars. On the other hand, the treasure is attributed also to the Bulgars. The Avars were a nomadic people from the steppes of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

who arrived in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

in the 6th century AD. Being a warlike people, the Avars warred with and subjugated much of the local population, and occasionally clashed with the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. Through these conquests, the Avars were able to amass considerable amounts of treasure, some of which was buried en masse near Avar settlements. The origin of the treasures found is disputed; some posit that the Avars were themselves skilled metalworkers, while others believe that the valuable objects (including gold jars, cups, and dishes) found in Avar hoards were made in Byzantium and then either looted or given as tribute to the Avars. The ensemble housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was recovered from the Albanian village of Vrap (which rose to international prominence in 1902 when a cache of Avar gold and silver was found in the village) in the early 20th century and given to the museum by J. P. Morgan Jr. in 1917. The ensemble consists of several gold cups, a silver bucket, several drinking dishes and a jug.

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