#Exhibit of the Month

Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are rare in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Therefore, those few items found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova occupy a worthy place in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM). In particular, in the archaeological exhibition, two bronze cauldrons are displayed, discovered near the village of Nicolscoe in 1988 in burial mounds no. 14 and 15. In addition, in 2020, two bronze cauldrons without any accompanying documents were found in the collection of NMHM; however, they were visually identified as coming from various excavations in the Low Dniester region, such as burial mound no. 45 near Dubăsari and burial mound no. 1 near the Răscăieții Noi village.

The object presented as the exhibit of the month is a little-known find discovered in 1979 in barrow 1 near the village of Răscăieții Noi in the Ștefan Vodă district. In addition to its outstanding size (about 10 m high), this mound is known for discovering a cast bronze finial in the Scythian animal style on its surface in 1953. However, by the beginning of excavations, the locals had damaged part of the mound and a Scythian cast bronze cauldron was found near it. The cauldron was seriously damaged by mechanical impact, as a result of which the rim was deformed, and the walls, with one preserved vertical handle, were bent inwards. Fragments in the upper part of the body and one handle have been lost. The total reconstructed height of the cauldron is 24 cm (excluding the handles), the reconstructed diameter of the hemispherical cauldron is 30 cm, and the weight is 6.5 kg. In 2020, data on the chemical composition of the bronze cauldron alloy were obtained, revealing that it was cast from an alloy of almost 95 per cent copper. Unfortunately, due to the loss of information on the context of the discovery of the cauldron at Răscăieții Noi, it is impossible to link its discovery with one or another Scythian burial of the barrow. Moreover, the grave goods of other Scythian burials of Barrow 1 do not allow them to date below the 4th century BC. However, the cauldron with vertical handles from Răscăieții Noi most likely belongs earlier. This may be indicated by a bronze finial from the first half of the 5th century BC, which was found on this barrow in 1953. In addition, burial 7 from the nearest excavated barrow 2 at Răscăieții Noi, containing a plaque depicting a rolled predator (a copy of which is also on display at the NMHM), belongs to the mid- 5th century BC. Thus, there is a high probability that the cauldron from Barrow 1 at Răscăieții Noi is associated with the late Middle Scythian period or the mid-5th century BC.

Scythian bronze cauldrons in the west area are concentrated in three main regions: Bukovina-Podolia, the Lower Danube, and the Lower Dniester. Some Scythian cauldrons have no reliable archaeological context. Nevertheless, in combination with the same "stray" finds like the Scythian statues, the finds of Scythian cauldrons mark the Scythian presence, most likely not earlier than the late 6th century or even the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC. The cauldrons first appeared in Bukovina, where they have been known since the middle of the 7th century BC. Bronze cauldrons (with their carriers) entered the steppe region 150-200 years later, and the "military" burials that appeared in the western steppe regions were no earlier than the middle of the 5th century BC. Most burials with cauldrons (and, apparently, the stray finds) are dated back to the second half of the 5th century BC. Then, in the early 4th century BC, their quantity was reduced, and after the first quarter of the 4th century BC, they completely disappeared from the cultural practice of the population of the steppes of the North-Western Black Sea region.

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Exhibitions

“Ecclesiastical Flag of Stephen the Great from the Collection of National Museum of History of Romania, Bucharest”

August 27 - September 10, 2011

The National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova presented on 27 August 2011, in the framework of an extraordinary exhibition, a masterpiece from the collection of the National Museum of History of Romania - the ecclesiastical flag of the Stephen the Great.

The exhibition, which was held under the high patronage of Vladimir Filat, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, was organized by the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Moldova, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Romania, Romanian Cultural Institute "Mihai Eminescu", National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova, and the National Museum of History of Romania, with the official support of the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of Romania.

The event was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Independence of Moldova.

Along with this valuable ecclesiastical object, the exhibition included several panels with information about restoring of the flag of Stephen the Great and its recovery in 1917.

The exhibition could have been visited from August 27 to September 10, 2011.

Description

The particular exhibit is Byzantine embroidery of 15^th century. The ecclesiastical flag has dimensions of 1.24 m x 0.95 m and depicts the iconographic image of Holy Great Martyr George, who is considered a symbol of military victory. The iconography and chronological dating of the object initially led to the misconception that this was a battle flag of Prince Stephen the Great, but the absence of the coat of arms of Moldova, a characteristic of a military flag, rejected this hypothesis.

The embroidery depicts St. George seated on a throne with red cushion, with knees slightly apart and feet rested on a winged dragon with three heads. In his right hand the saint holds the hilt of a sword, and in his left hand he holds its blade. Composition of the figure of the saint is oval. He has curly hair and wears a crown with nine rosettes, decorated with precious stones and pearls and supported by two angels. The left angel holds in his right hand a sword, and the right angel holds in his right hand a shield. St. George wears a gray military tunic over a green long shirt and sandals with straps crossed at the calves.

In the top right and left corners there is embroidered an inscription in Greek: "Saint George from Ca(p)padocia". But the inscription does not mention that the flag had been given by Stephen the Great to the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos, as was common at that time. The embroidery is made of red silk, faded by time and damaged in old years, when, through ignorance, monks from the Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos replaced it on a piece of low-quality velvet.

Around the edge of the cloth there is an inscription in Old Slavonic with the prince's (Stephen the Great) prayer to the saint: "Oh, subjected to torture and invincible Great Martyr Saint George, who are quick defender and helper in need and disaster and ineffable joy of those afflicted, receive this prayer of your humble servant Stephen, Prince of Moldova by the grace of God, keep him well in this century and in the future with the prayers of those who worship you, be glorified forever. Amen. Made in 7008 (1500), and in 43^rd year of his reign".

History of recovery of the object

In the spring of 1917, when Romania was at war, through the efforts of the Romanian Consul General in Thessaloniki G. C. Ionescu and with the assistance of French General Maurice Sarrail, the Kingdom of Romania recovered this precious object from the Zograf Monastery.

The initiative of its recovery belonged to the great politician Ion C. Bratianu (1864 - 1927), who, on February 1917, as the President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent a ciphered telegram to the Romanian Legation in Athens, demanding in imperative tone: "Do everything possible to get the flag of Stephen the Great".

The similar demand was also made on February 26, 1917 by the Secretary General of the Ministry of War, General Gheorghe Burghele, who addressed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to take necessary steps to bring the flag to the country. Following his recourse to French General Maurice Sarrail, commander of allied armies in Thessaloniki, the latter ordered the Franco-Russian detachment in the Holy Mountain to recover the flag and send it to the French General Staff. On 25 March 1917, the Romanian Consul General in Thessaloniki G. C. Ionescu communicates to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the French general gave him the flag and he keeps it and expects the orders from the Romanian authorities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Consul Ionescu to send the flag to the Romanian Legation in Paris on board of a French warship. On April 29, 1917, the flag was taken into custody in Paris by Minister Alexandru Em. Lahovary. He proposed to submit it to a bank, because it was dangerous to send "this precious trophy from here to Iasi" at the time when a part of Romania was occupied by the Central Powers. Finally, on 22 February 1920, the Ministry of War stated that the flag of Stephen the Great was transmitted to the Great General Staff to be submitted to the Military Museum.

Restoration

The flag of Stephen the Great was subjected to extensive restoration. Initially, the embroidery was made on silk fabric duplicated with linen fabric in order to support metal thread embroidery and successive layers that shape the entire composition. The silk foundation deteriorated in course of time was replaced by monks with velvet by means of cutting and pasting the embroidery to the new foundation with organic glue. It was entirely inappropriate intervention that affected the original state of the object. The process of restoration recently conducted in the National Museum of History of Romania consisted of the separation the object from the velvet foundation, cleaning the back of embroidery of organic glue, total cleaning of the object, fixing the embroidery on a new basis of natural silk, sewing with silk threads and re-embroidery in the lower part (the dragon's heads), and overlay of a tulle prepared in advance for protection and finishing.