#Exhibit of the Month

The exhibited necklace of beads originates from Funerary Complex No. 6 of Kurgan No. 4, excavated in 1982 by Dr. Habil. Eugen SAVA near the town of Taraclia. The beads were found in the chest area of the deceased, indicating that they had been worn as a necklace and had remained in their original position within the funerary assemblage.
The necklace consists of 11 elements made entirely of Egyptian faience. Eight of the beads are spherical and decorated with vertical incisions forming between 14 and 21 raised ribs. Their diameters range from 13 to 20 mm. Two additional elements are scarab representations measuring 23.5 × 19.5 mm, while the final component is a flattened cylindrical pendant bead featuring a central vertical groove and measuring 22 × 9 mm. The objects range in color from light blue to dark blue and violet hues, reflecting the natural deterioration and glaze variations characteristic of Egyptian faience.
Egyptian faience is an artificial quartz-based material coated with an alkaline glaze, typically blue or blue-green in color. It was widely used in Ancient Egypt and later spread throughout the Mediterranean and Pontic regions through trade networks. During the first centuries AD, such objects served as important indicators of cultural and economic contacts between the Mediterranean world and the communities of the North Pontic region.
Owing to its typological, technological, and symbolic characteristics, the Taraclia necklace is an exceptionally valuable artifact for the study of intercultural relations, the circulation of prestige goods, and the funerary practices of the Sarmatian communities during the first centuries AD (1st-2nd centuries AD).

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Inauguration of the "Bessarabians in the Gulag" exhibition in GNAS

July 6, 2023

On July 6, the "Bessarabians in the Gulag" exhibition was inaugurated in the Great National Assembly Square, where the shocking testimonies of the victims of the Stalinist deportations from Bessarabia are exhibited. Two train cars, identical to those used for deportations, were brought into GNAS, giving the public the opportunity to get up close to this tragic part of our history.

The exhibition organized by the Government of the Republic of Moldova, in collaboration with the National Museum of History of Moldova, the National Archives Agency and the National Library of the Republic of Moldova, presents authentic and old images that illustrate the unfortunate fate of the deported people. One of the carriages hosts a thematic exhibition with pieces from the National Museum of History of Moldova, including a series of pieces that were part of the exhibition "Remembering childhood, the testimonies of Bessarabian deportees" inaugurated at the Arbor Culture and Arts Association in 2022, curated by Victoria Nagy Vajda. In the other carriage, the documentary film "Siberia in Bones" will be shown, which will be broadcast every day at 18:00 and 20:00.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Sergiu Prodan, the Minister of Culture, emphasized the importance of bringing these wagons not only to the Government, but also to every locality in Moldova. He highlighted that these dramatic images represent the real lives of people and families who were brutally deported. The Minister expressed the wish that, within a year, the Ministry of Culture, with the support of the Parliament and the Government, would help the National Museum of History of Moldova in its efforts to provide support to every museum in the country and, where it does not exist, to establish at least one chamber of memory, so that every locality in the Republic of Moldova has access to this important page of our history.

July 6 marks the Day of Commemoration of the Victims of Stalinism, coinciding with the moment when the biggest wave of Stalinist deportations took place. On the night of July 5-6, 1949, the Soviet regime deported tens of thousands of Bessarabian peasants to forced labor camps in Siberia, confiscating their property. In the period 1941-1951, three waves of deportations took place, and historians' estimates indicate that the total number of deported Bessarabians would be between 80 and 120 thousand. Through this exhibition, we aim to bring to the attention of the public these tragic events of our past and to honor the memory of the victims of these inhuman atrocities.

The "Bessarabians in the Gulag" exhibition is open to visitors from July 6-30, until 21:00.