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.
Historiographical considerations regarding the status of ruptashi in Bessarabia under Tsarist domination (1812-1847)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Keywords: Bessarabia, ruptashi, rupta de vistierie, rupta de cămară, social category, fiscal category, the Russian Empire.
Abstract: In this article, without touching the status and evolution of the fiscal category of ruptashi considered by the author in previous articles along with the category of mazyli, there is analyzed a long and varied process of this category understanding by different researchers in new and modern historiography, which indirectly or specifically focused on this topic.
Analyzing the existing concepts, the author comes to the conclusion that almost all researchers in the 19th-early 21st centuries consider the ruptashi a privileged class: the ancestors of foreign colonists - Bulgarians, Serbs, and others, who settled in the area during the time of the Moldavian government; farmers who have been from the category of clergy and ministers of the church by origin. Rupta de vistierie and rupta de cămară were equated with raznochinsy; rupta de vistierie paid taxes to the treasury, and rupta de cămară - personally to the rulers (cămara). After the annexation of the territory by Russia ruptashi lost almost all their privileges and social prestige. Most researchers tend to see in ruptashi a social category, while in reality they were a fiscal category.
Archival sources indicate that ruptashi had a heterogeneous composition, which included both local and foreign people from the rural and urban environment, migrated to Moldova. They were not included in the category of the privileged classes, using only certain privileges, had no permanent residence and had not been enrolled in the category of birnichi (tax-payers). Their privileges with some difficulties were confirmed by the imperial administration, but in 1847 the fiscal category of ruptashi had been liquidated, and they were included in the category of odnodvortsy.
The analysis of the examined works, which indirectly or specifically address the issue under discussion, allows the author to conclude that the fiscal category of ruptashi (later - the odnodvortsy) is not sufficiently covered in the studies, and this theme is still waiting for its researcher.
Valentin Tomuleț
Literate mazili and ruptași in Bessarabia in the first half of the 19th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Valentin Tomuleț
Bessarabian bourgeoisie in modern age (Classification, characteristics, evolution)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț
Jewish colonies in Bessarabia in the 19th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț, Cristina Gherasim
Some considerations on factors that generated mentality shifts of the landlords in Bessarabia under tsarist domination (1812-1817)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț
The protests and the revindications of the Bessarabian people in the first decades after the annexation of the territories between the Prut and Dniester rivers to Russia (years 1812-1828)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], 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.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
