#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“About the Polish language in Chișinău”

September 26 – October 26, 2023

In many countries, the European Day of Languages is celebrated on each September 26 since 2001 on the initiative of the Council of Europe. Thanks to the events organized on this occasion, Europeans discover different languages and cultures. Cześć, gąszcz, czyżyk, źdźbło, mitrężycyt, dżdżysto, gżegżółka, chrząszcz - discover the beauty of the Polish language in the Romanian version of the exhibition prepared by the Polish Institute in Bucharest.

We invite you on a journey through an unusual alphabet, listening to the hissing and rustling sounds of the Polish language. Our guides will be associations, dots, dashes and tails, which will help you remember the most interesting things about the Polish language.

The exhibition about the Polish language is presented in the context of the approaching academic year, during which we hope to be able to resume language courses as well. It also accompanies the celebration of the European Day of Languages.

The first source attesting to the Polish language is a papal document from the early 12th century. It mentions the oldest Polish names and surnames. The first longer text was written about 200 years later. In the 15th century there were already poems, prose and documents in Polish.

The exhibition dedicated to the Polish language presents a brief history of the language, the main pronunciation rules, and numerous peculiarities. The viewer finds out, among other things, what is the oldest sentence written in Polish, what "strange" letters are in the Polish alphabet, as well as onomatopoeic expressions that sound funny and literally whistle, squeak and creak on the exhibition panels.

The exhibition not only allows us to discover more about the Polish language, but also encourages us to learn this interesting language that is spoken by more than 40 million people around the world.

The exhibition can be seen from September 26 to October 26, 2023 on the fence of the National Museum of History of Moldova.