The exposed object, an "askos" type ceramic vessel, comes from the tumulus necropolis near the village of Ciumai, Taraclia district. The vessel was discovered in 2015 in a cenotaph tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, dated to the early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2600 BC).
The vessel, with an obviously asymmetrical configuration, is hand-moulded from quality clay paste, having a smooth brown surface with gray spots. The body of the vessel is provided with a pronounced protrusion and a truncated neck with a wider opening towards the mouth. The vessel has a stem and is ornamented with three pairs of symmetrically placed relief appliqués. The height of the bowl is 15.5 cm, the diameter of the mouth is 11.4 cm, the diameter of the body is 15 cm and the diameter of the base is 7.5 cm. Such vessels in the archaeological literature are known as "askos" vessels, the respective term being of ancient Greek origin, denoting one of the primitive containers of the period - the bellows made of animal skin.
In prehistoric times, among some peoples, the bellows was transposed into ceramics, in these cases the basic features of the archaic leather vessel were preserved, acquiring a prominent convex shape with a stem and a flat bottom. From the original appearance of the bellows, the asymmetric mouth corresponding to the animal's neck has been preserved, and sometimes three or four legs, corresponding to the appendages of the flayed skin from the animal's legs. These vessels have lost their original zoomorphic character, entering as a new form in the inventory of Neo-Eneolithic ceramics. The first vessels of this type are attested in Greece, in the early Neolithic (ca. 5000-4500 BC) having the shape of cups or cups. In the Neo-Eneolithic Carpatho-Balkan cultures, the type of Aegean askos of short or tall form, with or without legs and with a handle, is found. Less often, they are provided with two mouths (one for filling and one for emptying) or they are off-center and provided with strangely shaped mouths. In the space between the Carpathians and the Dnieper, only tall forms of simple askos, without zoomorphic elements, are known. Askos-type vessels are present in various prehistoric cultures, especially in Southeast Europe and Anatolia.
Being often discovered in association with cult inventory, askos vessels could be an important indicator of use in religious ritual practices. Along with the zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and rhyton-type vessels (roughly conical container from which, in some ceremonies, liquids were drunk or poured), the askos were included in the category of vessels intended for worship, being related to libations (ritual act that consisted of tasting and then pouring a cup of wine, milk, etc. as homage to the deity).
Holy images on blades: unique swords from the State Hermitage Museum (preliminary publication)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The focus of this article are interesting rarities from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum - swords of the 17th-18th centuries with inscriptions in Greek and Slavonic, with images of Christian saints inlaid in gold. The authors offer the general characteristics of 17 exemplars of this kind of arms which are divided into several groups according to the shape of the hilt. A brief overview of the relatively few publications on this subject includes articles by Vasilii Prokhorov (1877); data from the Index of the Medieval Department of the Imperial Hermitage published by Nikodim Kondakov (1891), a catalogue of Count Sergei Sheremetev's collection of arms compiled by Eduard Lenz (1895), and a monograph by E. Astvatsaturian on Turkish arms from the collection of the State Historical Museum (2002). The authors pay special attention to the description and analysis of two swords from the Hermit- age collection. One of them belonged to Count Michail Miloradovich, and was presented to him in 1807 from the city of Bucharest. The second sword came to the Hermitage after the Bolshevik Revolution from the Marble Palace, the residency of the Grand Dukes Konstantinovichi. Besides the traditional inscriptions and images of the Virgin with Child crowned by angels, the blade bears a unique image of Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phokas blessed by Jesus Christ with both hands. There are also two cartouches with quotations from Psalms in Greek. The extremely rich décor of this sword and the unique depiction of the Byzantine Emperor leave no doubt that they were made on a special order. The authors connect the sword to the Greek Project initiated by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. The main idea of the project was a restoration of the Byzantine Empire with Constantinople-Istanbul as its capital, where Grand Duke Konstantin, Catherine the Great's grandchild, would be ascended to the throne.
This article is a preliminary publication of a project in process on compilation of a complete catalogue of all swords with Greek and Slavonic inscriptions and with images on Christian subjects from the collection of the State Hermit- age Museum.
List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Sword and scabbard, Inv. № VO-5812.
Fig. 2. Sword VO-5812, detail of the hilt.
Fig. 3. Sword VO-5912, detail of the blade with the image of the Virgin and Child, the Greek inscription and the date 1445.
Fig. 4. Sword VO-5812, detail of the blade with the image of Dove - Holy Spirit, the Virgin and Child with angels and crown.
Fig. 5. Sword VO-5812, detail with arabesque on ricasso (side view).
Fig. 6. Sword VO-5812, detail of the blade with the four-pointed cross and traces of the more oldest inlay. Fig. 7. Sword VO-5812, lithography by V.A. Prokhorov, 1877.
Fig. 8. Sword and scabbard, Inv. № VO-3239.
Fig. 9. Sword VO-3239, detail of the blade with Greek inscriptions.
Fig. 10. Sword VO-3239, detail of the blade with Greek inscription from Psalm 34. Fig. 11. Sword VO-3239, detail of inlay on the blade near the hilt.
Fig. 12. Sword VO-3239, detail of cartouche with Greek inscription from Psalm 44.
Fig. 13. Sword VO-3239, detail of second cartouche with Greek inscription from Psalm 44.
Fig. 14. Sword VO-3239, detail of the blade with an image of the Virgin and Child.
Fig. 15. Sword VO-3239, detail: the blade with an image of the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phokas blessed by Jesus Christ.
Fig. 16. Sword VO-3239, detail: the blade with an image of the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phokas.
Fig. 17. Sword VO-3239, detail: the blade with Greek inscription and date beneath an image of the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros Phokas.
Юрий А. Пятницкий
Coptic textile from Count Alexey Bobrinsky's collection in the State Hermitage: the history of one mistake
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Юрий А. Пятницкий
Cloisonné enamels from the former collection Alexander Zwenigorodsky and a new book by Ljudmila Pekarska, Jewellery of Princely Kiev. The Kiev Hoards in the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Related Material
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Юрий А. Пятницкий
Old Russian art on the shores of Seine. Some notes on the "Holy Russia: Russian Art from the beginning to the times of Peter the Great" exhibition in the Louvre in 2010
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The exposed object, an "askos" type ceramic vessel, comes from the tumulus necropolis near the village of Ciumai, Taraclia district. The vessel was discovered in 2015 in a cenotaph tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, dated to the early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2600 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.