#Exhibit of the Month

The Roman bronze situla comes from a collection of archaeological artifacts confiscated at customs and transferred to the holdings of the National Museum of History of Moldova in 2009. Its place of discovery remains unknown.

A situla (Latin for "bucket") is a metal vessel-usually made of bronze-shaped like a pail and equipped with two movable handles at the top, traditionally used for mixing wine with water. The handles are attached to the vessel via two decorated ears that are welded to the rim.

The body of the situla is truncated-conical in shape and features two decorative bands with small circular patterns formed by hammering, located just below the rim.

Its base is double-layered: the inner bottom is hemispherical and hammered, while the outer bottom is flat and lathe-made. The outer base is welded to the inner bottom, serving as the vessel's foot-support.

This object was crafted using a combination of casting, hammering, and partial lathe-finishing. Dimensions: Maximum height - 31.7 cm; Maximum diameter - 22.8 cm; Base diameter - 13.5 cm

Situlae of this type originated in the Roman Empire and were later adopted by various ancient peoples, including those from the northwestern Pontic region.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“Childhood in the Gulag”

“Iuliu Maniu” Memorial House in Bădăcin (Romania)

March 7 – May 10, 2024

On March 7, 2024, the Museum of Victims of Deportations and Political Repressions of the National History Museum of Moldova, in partnership with colleagues from the "Iuliu Maniu" Memorial House in Bădăcin (Sălaj county, Romania) and the County Museum of History and Art - Zalău (Romania), organized a new opening of the photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" (curator Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru). The event took place within the commemorative actions devoted to the Day of Anti-Communist Political Detainees from the period 1944-1989, marked in Romania on March 9.

The exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" presents photo-documentary images that reflect the life of Bessarabian children condemned to deportation, starvation, Russification, indoctrination and forced separation from their own families based on the repressive policies of the totalitarian-communist regime in the Moldavian SSR, in the period 1940-1941 and 1944-1953. The exhibition brings together about 180 photo-documentary images, accompanied by memories and archival documents from the collections of the National History Museum of Moldova, the Edineț County Museum, the Museum of History and Ethnography in Soroca, the Pro Memory Institute, from the archives of the memory communities, as well as the family archives of the victims of the totalitarian-communist regime in the Moldavian SSR.

The event was attended by Dr. Marin Pop, head of the Museography Section of the County Museum of History and Art - Zalău, Mr. Gheorghe Bancea, sub-prefect of Sălaj County, Mr. Paul Maghiu, administrator of Sălaj County, Dr. Ana-Maria Borz, museographer at the "Iuliu Maniu" Memorial House, and via video - the curator of the exhibition conf. Dr. Ludmila D. Cojocaru, from the Museum of Victims of Deportations and Political Repressions, branch of the National History Museum of Moldova. Among those present at the Opening were school teachers and students from the "Simion Bărnutiu" National College, the "Horia" Secondary School, and the "Silvania" Secondary School from Salaj county.

The exhibition can be visited at the "Iuliu Maniu" Memorial House in Bădăcin, Sălaj county (Romania) until May 10, 2024.

The photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag" was elaborated with the support of "The Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.