Tyragetia

23-34

Authors: Victor Ţvircun

Frequently not only lifetime, but the posthumous biography of any historical figure becomes overgrown by numerous myths, legends and mysteries. The biography of the outstanding thinker of the first quarter of the 18th century, the Moldavian ruler Dimitrie Cantemir was no exception. The current publication is dedicated to the research of one of the least developed areas of Cantemirology - the study of the authenticity of the Moldavian prince's remains, which were transferred by the USSR Government to Romania and reburied in Iaşi in June 1935. On the basis of numerous archival documents taken from the archives of the ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and Romania, for the first time introduced into the scientific use, the author convincingly and gravely substantiates a version that that the transferred remains do not belong to Dimitrie Cantemir.

53-66

Authors: Igori Prohnenko, Maria Zhylenko

The sons of Voivode Szasz moved to Hungary after Bohdan had possessed a position of Moldavian Voivode in 1359 and started an open conflict with Hungarian Crown. As a kind of reimbursement, they have possessed high positions here and became the owners of extensive property. Within a short period of time they have taken possession of Kővár, Beltek, Erdőd domains as well as property in Máramaros. They became one of the most influential nobles of Hungary. They had received pro honore Nyalab domain with the center in the castle of Korolevo from the king Louis in 70s of the 14th century and governed it as the Counts of Ugocsa County. After Balk's death the castle had to be returned to the king. However, descendants of Moldavian nobles had refused to leave fortifications and started property disputes among themselves.

73-96

Authors: Igori Sapozhnikov

The article is devoted to the French cartographer and fortifier François Kauffer (1751-1801), who for the last 9 years of his life served the Ottoman Porte, but at the same time was an agent of the Russian Empire. Particular attention is given to his work in the territory of Bessarabia and Moldova, where he took part in strengthening the fortresses of Akkerman, Bender, Izmail, Kiliya, and Khotyn (in 1793-1797). The paper includes documents and lists of his manuscript maps and plans, which are stored in the Military Historical Archive (Russian Federation, Moscow).

117-128

Authors: Irina Cereş

In the period under review trade relations between the Principality of Moldavia and the Russian Empire experienced a new stage of development. Moldavia continued to import consumer goods from the Russian Empire. The increase in the volume of trade between the Russian Empire and the Romanian Principalities took place after the signing of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Trade relations between the Principality of Moldavia and the Russian Empire were based on the Russian-Turkish trade treaty concluded in 1783. Particularly important and especially expensive imported goods were furs. In addition to the furs, there were imported iron and steel products, which competed with the products from Austria. The government of the Russian Empire encouraged the duty-free importation of large quantities of goods from Russia ostensibly for the army, and this caused damage to the Moldavian treasury. An important role in the import of goods from the Russian Empire into the Principality of Moldavia played merchants, especially foreign ones. The analysis showed that furs, canvas, cloth, iron and ironware, linen, and vodka were predominant among these imports.

135-147

Authors: Valentin Tomuleţ

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.

163-172

Authors: Sergius Ciocanu

Based on the study of documentary materials, including previously unpublished or little known, as well as on the basis of his own field research, the author offers the detailed description of the reconstruction of the Assumption Church from the Căpriana Monastery in 1818-1820, which led to a change in the medieval appearance of this old princely building. The text is supplemented with photographs and the graphic reconstruction of the plan and the southern facade of the church after the completion of construction work initiated by Metropolitan Gavriil Bănulescu.

187-198

Authors: Eugen-Tudor Sclifos

After the Crimean War the Bessarabian question had an important place in the foreign policy of the Great Powers. During the preliminaries of peace in 1855 it was decided that Russia should cede Southern Bessarabia to the Principality of Moldavia. Russia, of course, did not accept this point and at the Congress of Paris proposed a territorial exchange - the condition unacceptable to British diplomats. Thus it was created a commission to study the problem of border delimitation in Bessarabia. In August 1856, Charles Auguste de Morny, half-brother of Emperor Napoleon III, was appointed Ambassador to St. Petersburg. Count de Morny was significantly involved in the solution of the Bessarabian question. According to documents from the archives of foreign policy in Paris, the diplomat was obsessed with the idea that Southern Bessarabia must remain part of the Russian Empire and tried to convince the Emperor Napoleon III and Count Walewski that France should support the Russian point of view. De Morny had a rival, Count Persigny, the French Ambassador in London, who believed that this area should be part of the Principality of Moldavia. After long negotiations the Bessarabian question was resolved not in favor of Russia.

211-221

Authors: Andrei Emilciuc

The subject proposed in this article, though it seems only a matter of the history of jurisprudence, is also important in the study of issues related to domestic and foreign trade in Bessarabia, as almost all important transactions of purchase and sale in this period were made under the contracts, which should be notarized. Before the adoption of the reform, notarial attributions were owned mainly by judicial institutions and even police authorities, that did not contribute to the efficiency and clarity of judicial proceedings. Russian statesmen were well aware of the need for reform in this area. However, a new Notarial Regulation in the Russian Empire was adopted only on 14 April 1866 within the judicial reform.

237-250

Authors: Alexandru Argint

The reform of primary education of 1864 was implemented in Bessarabia in 1868, mainly in the villages of large landowners, where before there were no rural primary schools for peasants, in contrast to villages of the state-owned peasants. A network of primary schools started to be created on the basis of special (peace) agreements signed between the rural communities and conciliators of land lawsuits as the state representatives; it became the foundation of modern primary education in these localities.

257-266

Authors: Svetlana Suveică

The article deals with the under-researched topic of loyalty manifested by local public servants of Bessarabia, the South-East European borderland region that during the World War Two changed its status as Romanian then Soviet territory several times. In focus is the year of 1940, when the Romanian army and administration was retreating from the region and the Soviets were entering it. The findings show that, whereas the Romanian as well as the Soviet regimes considered the lack of loyalty at the local level as their Achilles heel, they failed to overcome it. When confronted with the dilemma of "switching loyalty" toward one or another regime, the servants acted in order to ensure personal and family safety and preserve their property. Despite the risk of being charged with "betrayal", the majority of public servants stayed in Bessarabia and served both regimes.

279-288

Authors: Yuri Pyatnitsky

In the late 1880s, Count Alexey Alexeyevich Bobrinsky, an ethnographer and art historian, made a gift of 29 fragments of Coptic textile to the Imperial Hermitage. However, publications describing the history of the Coptic collection of the Hermitage and using only initials of the donator, attribute the gift to another member of this noble family - Count Alexey Alexandrovich Bobrinsky, Chairman of the Imperial Archaeological Commission. Meanwhile, the documents preserved in two St Petersburg archives, the Russian State Historical Archive, and Archive of the State Hermitage Museum clearly state the name of the donator. Count Alexey Alexeyevich Bobrinsky was a man who selflessly cared for the enrichment of the museum collections, and his name should be remembered along with the names of other patrons of the State Hermitage Museum.

301-316

Authors: Adelaida Chiroşca

Many icons from the collection of the Museum are devoted to the theme of the Eucharist - the iconographic types of "The Last Supper" and "Jesus Christ "The Vine". This article presents an iconographic type less well-known in our area - "Jesus Christ "The Vine", which is reflected on the three icons from the museum. Eucharist is one of the great sacraments in which Jesus Christ, presaging the sacrifice of the Cross, gives his disciples bread and wine in the chalice referring to the bread as "my body" and the wine as "my blood". Icons from the Museum's collection represent the general scheme of this type of icons: the Savior is depicted sitting on the altar table, behind Him - the Cross, vines with grapes grows from His rib and He presses the grapes with both hands into the chalice, supported by an angel. On the left side another angel holds a large rolled scroll. On the two icons, in the upper part of the composition, two angels hold scrolls with inscriptions, on one of the icons in the Romanian language, on the other in the Old Slavonic: "one who eats My Body", "one who drinks My Blood".

327-334

Authors: Andrey Krupnenko, Yuri Pyatnitsky

In the history of post-Byzantine icon painting from the second half of the 15th century until the 21st , the period of the mid second half of the 19th century is among those that did not attract much attention of art historians. For fine art connoisseurs, icons of this period were works of practically contemporary painters, and, as a result, the Hermitage Museum, whose icons collection has been formed solely out of acquisitions of private, museum, and state collections, possessed only a few works of Greek and Balkan workshops. During the last decade, the purchase of icons from private persons, this lacuna became filled with interesting works made at Mount Athos, Palestine, the Balkans, and Ionian islands. One of these icons, The Virgin of Tenderness, was acquired in 2013. The icon depicts the waist-high Virgin Mary holding the Child cuddled up with the cheek to the Virgin's face. Two life-size figures of Archangels Michael and Gavriil are placed in the upper corners; they crown the Virgin with one hand and hold the gold medallions with black monograms of Her name in the other, "МР ӨY". White letters "M" and "G" are visible over the gold halos of archangels. On the background, to the right from the figure of the Child, there are white monograms "IC XC".

339-349

Authors: Elena Postică

On September 8th, 2015, the National Museum of History of Moldova hosted an exceptional cultural event dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of prominent cultural figure - Ion Ungureanu, actor and director, ex-Minister of Culture of the Republic of Moldova, Artist of the People, Laureate of the National Award, holder of the Order of the Republic.

39-74

Authors: Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici, Angela Simalcsik

In the work on the materials of a cremation burial in bronze situla of the 2nd-1st centuries BC, which was found in Mana village (Orhei district), we have taken for comparative and anthropological analysis remains of calcined bones from the burial in situla from Sipoteni (Călăraşi district) published in 1950s. Osteological research of the contents of the bronze vessel from Sipoteni showed that the remains belonged to a man 20-30 years old. In the burial urn a fragment of a black-burnished vessel, a silver fi bula of the Middle La Tene type, an iron ring, and an amorphous iron object were found. The grave goods also contain a bronze situla, identical in shape and size, which was found near the funeral urn. Researches attributed the Sipoteni burial to the 2nd-1st centuries BC, a period of domination of Bastarnae tribes in the central and northern part of the Carpathian-Dniester region. Our own comparative analysis of this type of bronze vessels showed that they are similar with identical containers from the Middle Danube sites, as well as from northern Italy, southern France and Spain, which were used by Celtic tribes as funeral urns. To the east of the Carpathians identical bronze vessels were found in the village of Mana, at the site of Bădeni (Iaşi), and as part of the so-called odd hoards from Bădragii Noi, Vesela Dolina, and Maryevka (in the region from the Eastern Carpathians to the Dnieper and the Don at least 50 so-called hoards were found), including ones in the bronze vessels, which we have mentioned. Some researchers’ attempts to attribute the situlae from Sipoteni, Bădragii Noi, Vesela Dolina, Maryevka, etc. to the type of Eggers 18-23 or the type of Bargfeld seem to us to fail, because these bronze vessels have slender shape, riveted bronze or iron attaches and the maximum diameter of the vessels is at the height of the fourth part. The East Carpathian situlae are of less slender proportions, and the largest diameter is located at the third part of the height of the vessels. In addition, the East Carpathian vessels have no trace of riveted attaches. They either have a different system of handles attachment or have no traces of them. Morphological features of bronze situlae found to the east of the Carpathians made it possible to attribute vessels without handles and attaches or traces of rivets to a special type – the type of Mana, and bronze containers with mobile iron handles – to the Bădragii Noi variant of the same type. Most researchers dated the bronze situlae within the 1st century BC. Analysis of the grave goods from the cremation burial complexes identified at Sipoteni and Mana (bronze situlae, silver fibula, weapons of Celtic type, etc.), as well as analysis of objects from odd hoards confirm that they belong to the 1st century BC, likely to the first half of this chronological interval.

81-116

Authors: Stanislav Ţerna, Thomas Saile, Maciej Dębiec, Martin Posselt

Between 2014-2015, a joint Moldavian-German expedition undertook surface investigations, geophysical prospections and small-scale excavations on several LBK sites from the Republic of Moldova. This fieldwork allowed us to obtain unique data on the internal organization of Neolithic sites from the Prut-Dniester interfluve. The geomagnetic scans led to the identification of long houses, typical for the LBK from Central and Western Europe. Some of these complexes have been checked by small test-trenches. The geophysical plots also included some Copper Age structures overlapping the LBK ones. Thus, we have been able to obtain the first complete geophysical plan of a Precucuteni settlement from the territory of Moldova. The analysis of the data obtained from the field led to a reconsideration of some older conceptions regarding the architecture and internal organization of LBK settlements from the North-Western Black Sea region.

129-145

Authors: Mihail Videyko

This article is dedicated to investigations of the site, which gave its name to the Trypillian Culture. For the first time it was excavated by V. Khvoika in autumn 1897, at the same time when he explored few sites around the village of Trypillia in 40 km south of Kiev. Despite the fact that since the excavation more than a hundred years has passed, the results have not been published, except a description in two pages that appeared in 1901. Later the place of excavations was forgotten, and only after 100 years it was discovered for a second time and identified using archival materials. A brief history of this “rediscovery” is presented in this article. We also propose the description of explored objects based on a modern view on the Trypillian Culture objects and interpretation of other finds from this site in the system of contemporary dating and periodization. This article mainly based on data from the Scientific Archive of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and some materials from the National Museum of History of Ukraine. Trypillia now is the largest (possibly up to 100 hectares) site of this culture in the Middle Dnieper region and at the same time the earliest one of these sites, dated by BI-II stage (around 4400-4200 BC).

165-174

Authors: Regina Uhl, Mariana Vasilache-Curoşu, Veaceslav Bicbaev, Mariana Sîrbu, Livia Sîrbu

În articol este făcută o prezentare generală a rezultatelor investigaţiilor arheologice, întreprinse la Petreni, raionul Drochia, de către echipa de cercetători de la Muzeul Naţional de Istorie a Moldovei şi de la Departamentul Eurasia (Eurasienabteilung) al Institutului German de Arheologie, în anii 2011-2015.

195-200

Authors: Mariana Sîrbu, Veaceslav Bicbaev

In the spring of 2009, in addition to other two archaeological finds discovered and explored during the period of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the lake of Valea Morilor in Chişinău, a pit was discovered. It was revealed by V. Bikbaev during the verification of adjacent land. The pit was located on a gentle slope on the left side of the Valea Morilor creek, 105 m away from the irrigation canal that crosses this part of the valley in the NW-SE direction. The archaeological investigations proved that it was a household pit containing material of Sabatinovka culture relating to the period of the Late Bronze Age. A large number of animal bones were found in the filling of the pit, including a dog skeleton, a small number of pottery fragments, stones and stone tools.

211-224

Authors: Nikolay Tupchienko

Based on archaeological evidence about ancient nonferrous and ferrous metallurgy, from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages, the author discusses perspectives in search of possible ways of forming of mythological and sacral aspects of iron symbolism in traditional culture of the Eastern Slavs. The focus is concentrated on the mechanisms of the transmission of metallurgical knowledge, and especially on a role of carriers of this knowledge in other ethnic environment, as well as on special methodological aspects of reconstruction of symbolic meaning of metal in archaeological finds. Also, an attempt has been made to define the area geographic area and ways of distribution of metallurgical knowledge and symbolic meaning of iron among the Eastern Slavs and their ancestor.

237-252

Authors: Octavian Munteanu

Les recherches archéologiques menées dans l’été de 2015, à l’Ouest du promontoire Butuceni Orhei, est une suite logique des études qui ont été réalisées en 2013-2014. La complexité des résultats précédents ont soulevé plusieurs questions, et dans la recherche de solutions, les priorités ont été i déterminés par la nécessité de l’évaluation de la confi guration du système de défense dans le point extrême ouest du promontoire, ainsi que l’appréciation des éléments composants ce système. Il était nécessaire de corréler les segments défensifs trouvés avec des traces d’une parcelle relativement bien préservées de la fortifi cation, représentée comme les fossés et vallum disposés dans la partie supérieure du promontoire. Avant l’étude en 2013, on a cru que l’accès au côté ouest du promontoire a été bloqué par un système de protection rectiligne, qui commence exactement à ce point, en suivant le chemin vers l’ouest, dans la direction du canal rivière Raut. Nos observations nous ont amenés à croire que la ligne défensive, que nous avons identifi ée et explorée dans les années précédentes, aurait un trajet diff érent de celui qui a été considéré comme traditionnel. Pour tester cette hypothèse, ont été organisées en 2015 des fouilles, à la suite desquelles est détecté un nouveau segment défensif. Il convient de noter, cependant, que les structures observées ont aucun rapport avec les précédemment étudiés et ne contribuent pas à la confi rmation de l’hypothèse. Dans le même temps, il n’y a pas suffi samment de preuves pour le rejeter catégoriquement, laissant ainsi la place pour d’autres recherches plus approfondies.

261-284

Authors: Liana Oţa, Valeriu Sîrbu

Studiul de faţă îşi propune să analizeze descoperirile care pot fi puse în legătură cu ceea ce am definit drept prima etapă de pătrundere a sarmaţilor în Muntenia, datată în intervalul care începe în ultima decadă a secolului I p. Chr. şi se extinde şi pe parcursul secolului al II-lea.

303-314

Authors: Vlad D. Ghimpu

Based on the research of many rock-hewn churches of the Romanian region, located in the Dobruja andaround the Carpathian mountain range, the author notes the existence there of a number of Christian churches belonging to the early Christian period and the early Middle Ages. According to the author, the religious buildingswere created for the most part of very strong material because of the highly volatile external environment, due to the pressure of the migratory and nomadic peoples. On the basis of new archaeological data it can be argued that in the territory of the future Moldova there was a diocese under the guidance of a chorbishop (bishop of rural settlements). The presence and discovery of a very valuable exhibit, which is a rare example of art, iconography and folklore heritage of Romanians in early Middle Ages (red brick with depictions), gives us the first written evidence of the presence of Christianity in this area.

323-331

Authors: George Dan Hânceanu

Le Musée d’Histoire de Roman a reçu en 1989 un lot d’objets en fer de la période médiévale découverts sur la rue Unirii près du centre historique de la ville. Après une série d’activités administratives de la municipalité on a découvert un four et quelques objets en métal. Une fois arrivés au musée à la suite d’une donation, les objets sont restés dans les dépôts de l’institution muséale jusqu’en 2015 quand ils nous ont retenu notre attention. En conséquence on a choisi un nombre de 27 objets pour les restaurer. Du point de vue archéologique et historique il est important de présenter ces objets en tenant compte de l’ensemble des découvertes provenant des bourgades médiévales – premièrement il s’agit des outils, pièces importantes quand on cherche d’établir une typologie générale et puis la location d’où viennent les objets, c’est à dire le centre de la bourgade.

345-356

Authors: Anton Kostenko

The article tells about the history of the archaeological collection of I.C. Suruceanu after his death in 1897. It contains information about modern museums, where part of the collection is stored today. Particularattention is paid to the I.C. Suruceanu’s collection of lapidary monuments, which is almost completely preserved in the Kherson Regional Museum. Also there is presented a list of groups of antiquities from the collection of I.C. Suruceanu in Kherson.

369-375

Authors: Ana Boldureanu

The author presents data on coin findings in the Republic of Moldova, about which there are known from the discoverers or from some communications or publications of the second half of 2015 and the first half of 2016. Among the ancient coin issues there are a hoard of siliquae found at Lărguţa (Cantemir District) and some isolated finds of Roman coins. The Middle Ages are represented by an ingot of the sommo type, originated from the Old Orhei area, a few small complexes from Costeşti (Ialoveni District), Old Orhei, and Alcedar (Şoldăneşti District), and the coins found during excavations in the Soroca Fortress in 2015.