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).
The elites of Bessarabian bourgeoisie: Armenian and Greek wholesale merchants (1812-1868)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
In the given article, based on the published monographic literature and unpublished archival sources, the authors make a brief description of the concept of the elite and by the examining the Armenian and Greek wholesale merchants raise the issue of the commercial elite of Bessarabia, which was formed shortly after its annexation to the Russian Empire in 1812. The authors state that the genesis and evolution of Bessarabian bourgeoisie in general, and the commercial-industrial in particular, was influenced by multiple factors, both economic and political, both internal and external. A special place in this respect belongs to the immigration of alien merchants to Bessarabia – Armenians, Greek, Jews, Bulgarians, and those from the interior provinces of Russia, many of whom settled in the province for permanent residence, filling the ranks of the commercial bourgeoisie of Bessarabia as a conse- quence of national-commercial policy promoted by the imperial government in the newly annexed territory. Based on the example of Armenian merchants, but also on the history of Panteleimon Sinadino – the Greek merchant of the first guild from Chisinau, whose commercial capital reached in the 1830-ies the value of 2 million rubles, the authors analyze the process of establishment of commercial bourgeoisie in Bessarabia.
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
Valentin Tomuleț
Mazili and ruptași (and other social categories) in the statistics of the 1817 census
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
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
Jewish component in the ethnical structure of the commercial bourgeoisie in Bessarabia (1812-1868)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
Valentin Tomuleț
Bessarabian bourgeoisie in modern age (Classification, characteristics, evolution)
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.