The exhibit represents a fragment from a unique amphora discovered in 1988 in a ceramic kiln from the Chirileni III settlement (Sîngerei district), attributed to the Cucuteni-Tripolie archaeological culture stage CII (5th-4th millennia BC).
The ceramic fragment with painted human and geometric representations constitutes about 50% of the upper part of an amphora, made of clay paste without impurities. It is burned in an oxidizing environment, with a reddish color in the section. The inner surface of the vessel is covered with a pink-whitish color layer, and the smoothed and polished exterior is covered with a yellowish-gray engobe start. The body of the amphora is spheroidal with four pyramidal cakes on the shoulder, and the neck is high frustoconical with a short outwardly turned lip. The dimensions of the bowl: lip diameter - 18 cm; maximum body diameter - 43-45 cm; neck height - 13 cm; height of exposed fragment - 43 cm; the estimated total height of the vessel is 55-60 cm. Thickness at the lip - 6-7 mm, at the neck - 9-11 mm, and at the body - 10-13 mm.
The outer surface of the amphora in a proportion of about 4/5, except for the lower part, is bicolorly decorated with black and brown paint, the brush being used as a tool, which can be felt from the specific application of the lines. Two brushes were most likely used. The ornament is divided into three horizontal registers that surround the vessel dividing the interior into metopes. The decoration is composed of lines arranged vertically, horizontally or obliquely forming geometric compositions of the net type.
The special significance of the amphora resides in the representation in the middle register of the painting of the stylized scene of a female ritual dance. The scene painted on the body of the amphora represents the image of a group made up of 9 female characters assisted by two dogs and 3 snakes. The female images are represented schematically, with the emphasis on long legs, mini-trapezoidal skirts, short stretched bodies, folded dancing hands and pointed heads.
Vessels with painted anthropomorphic representations are very rare, being around 140 images of this kind known so far in the entire area of spread of the Cucuteni-Tripoli culture.
Based on the analysis of the shape of the vessel, the specific decoration and the context of the discovery, it can be admitted that the amphora from Chirileni belongs to the cult of the Mother Woman, the Great Goddess worshiped by the Eneolithic populations.
Considerations regarding the opportunity of Căpriana Monastery’s historic heritage museum valorization
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The monastic complex Căpriana is among the most important historic and cultural monuments from the territory of the Republic of Moldova and it is considered a complex of medieval and modern religious architecture having a unique value. Its history is indissolubly connected to the history of Ţara Moldovei and the greatest personalities of the country: Alexandru cel Bun, Ştefan cel Mare și Sfânt, Petru Rareș, Alexandru Lăpușneanu, Metropolitan Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni etc. From this viewpoint the scientific and museographic valorization of this monument has become an imperative of the time, an honorable obligation before the history and the memory of our predecessors.
The identification of the ways for resolving this problem has become the subject of some aroused debates between the museographers and the central authorities of the Republic of Moldova, the governmental project „Regarding the creation of the National Museum „The monastic complex Căpriana”, subsidiary of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova” being qualified by the specialists as imaginative and illegal, as, according to them, it contravenes the legislation in force, including the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova.
The author proposes the initiation of a new national project for the valorization of the Monastery Căpriana heritage that would enable, among others, the museification of the Church Assumption of Holly Virgin and of the two medieval architecture objectives from the church vicinity (the medieval wall and the foundation of the tour-belfry) or the creation of an independent museographic institution with a museum-monastery statue.
Elena Postică
Cu drag despre un Om drag: la aniversarea Doamnei Aurelia Cornețchi
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
The famine of 1946-1947 from Moldova in official documents and testimonies of survivors
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIV [XXIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
Oak from Caracui. Exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Academician Nicolae Corlăteanu
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Elena Postică
Documentary photography exhibition “War after the War”
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIII [XXVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Elena Postică
Memoirs - important resource of reconstructing the ordeal of deportations
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The exhibit represents a fragment from a unique amphora discovered in 1988 in a ceramic kiln from the Chirileni III settlement (Sîngerei district), attributed to the Cucuteni-Tripolie archaeological culture stage CII (5th-4th millennia BC)...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.