Depunerea lui \u00een morm\u00e2nt nu pare s\u0103 fi fost \u00eent\u00e2mpl\u0103toare. \u00cen antichitatea greco-roman\u0103, vinul ocupa un loc important at\u00e2t \u00een via\u021ba cotidian\u0103, c\u00e2t \u0219i \u00een practicile funerare. Vechii greci considerau consumul de vin drept un semn de civiliza\u021bie deoarece producerea vinului presupunea practicarea agriculturii. Banchetul (symposion) \u00eensemna un consum ritualizat al vinului : unul dintre participan\u021bi, deobicei gazda, era symposiarh, adic\u0103 avea inclusiv dreptul de a stabili cantitatea de b\u0103utur\u0103 pe care o primea fiecare mesean, deoarece be\u021bia nu era \u00eeng\u0103duit\u0103. \u0218i tot pentru evitarea excesului, vinul, care \u00een antichitate era mult mai tare dec\u00e2t cel de azi, nu era consumat ne\u00eendoit cu ap\u0103. Iar pentru amestecarea vinului cu ap\u0103, \u00een antichitate se foloseau vase numite cratere sau amfore de mas\u0103. Exemplarul pe care \u00eel prezent\u0103m a fost depus \u00een morm\u00e2nt \u00eempreun\u0103 cu un ansamblu de obiecte destinate servirii vinului : trei ulcioare tip lagynos, un bol cu decor \u00een relief \u0219i un polonic din bronz. Este cunoscut din m\u0103rturiile scrise p\u0103strate din antichitate obiceiul stingerii t\u0103ciunilor rugului funerar cu vin, cheie \u00een care s-ar putea explica prezen\u021ba acestor obiecte laolalt\u0103 cu cenu\u0219a celui \u00eengropat acolo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amfora impresioneaz\u0103 prin elegan\u021ba formei \u0219i rafinamentul decorului realizat \u00een stilul denumit conven\u021bional West Slope. Firnisul negru mat, un \u00eenveli\u0219 asem\u0103n\u0103tor smal\u021bului, contrasteaz\u0103 cu motivele ornamentale executate cu pigment alb \u0219i bej, precum \u0219i cu inciziile fine care las\u0103 s\u0103 se \u00eentrevad\u0103 culoarea natural\u0103 a ceramicii. Pe g\u00e2tul vasului este reprezentat\u0103 o delicat\u0103 ghirland\u0103 de ieder\u0103, iar pe um\u0103r palmete (ornamente sub forma unor frunze), compozi\u021bia decorativ\u0103 p\u0103str\u00e2nd armonia caracteristic\u0103 atelierelor elenistice. Toartele sunt decorate la baz\u0103 cu mici pastile ceramice eviden\u021biate prin vopsea alb\u0103. \u00cen partea inferioar\u0103, decorul este completat de un \u0219ir de puncte albe \u0219i dou\u0103 linii incizate, care las\u0103 s\u0103 se \u00eentrevad\u0103 culoarea natural\u0103, c\u0103r\u0103mizie, a ceramicii. Piesa a fost realizat\u0103, cel mai probabil, \u00eentr-un atelier vest-pontic, fapt sugerat de amplasarea motivului ghirlandei de ieder\u0103 pe g\u00e2tului vasului, \u0219i nu pe um\u0103r, a\u0219a cum apare la exemplarele produse \u00een centrele din Pergam, renumite \u00een antichitate pentru ceramica lor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valoarea acestei amfore este dat\u0103 at\u00e2t de frumuse\u021bea, c\u00e2t \u0219i de starea ei de conservare. \u00cen prezent sunt cunoscute numai trei exemplare de acest tip descoperite pe teritoriul Rom\u00e2niei \u0219i aflate \u00eentr-o stare de conservare at\u00e2t de bun\u0103: primul provine din necropola tumular\u0103 de la Histria, al doilea este piesa prezentat\u0103 aici, iar al treilea a fost descoperit un an mai t\u00e2rziu, tot la Tomis, \u00een timpul cercet\u0103rilor arheologice desf\u0103\u0219urate pe amplasamentul fostului Combinat de Panifica\u021bie Dobrogea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presiunea p\u0103m\u00e2ntului a fragmentat vasul, \u00eens\u0103 aproape toate fragmentele au putut fi recuperate \u00een timpul cercet\u0103rii arheologice. Restauratorul Valentina Luiza Ionescu i-a redat forma original\u0103 printr-un proces minu\u021bios de cur\u0103\u021bare, conservare, asamblare \u0219i completare. Dat\u0103 fiind raritatea \u0219i buna stare de conservare, at\u00e2t aceast\u0103 amfor\u0103 de mas\u0103, c\u00e2t \u0219i exemplarul similar descoperit un an mai t\u00e2rziu tot la Tomis \u0219i-ar merita locul \u00een viitoarea expozi\u021bie permanent\u0103 a Muzeului de Istorie Na\u021bional\u0103 \u0219i Arheologie Constan\u021ba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Memory Preserved in Clay: A Table Amphora from Ancient Tomis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The beauty of an archaeological artefact lies not only in its form or craftsmanship, but also in the journey it has travelled to reach us. Buried for millennia beneath the streets of present-day Constan\u021ba, it preserves the echo of long-forgotten gestures, of ritual practices, and above all, the memory of the people who once used it. In this way, every archaeological object becomes a bridge between past and present, offering us the opportunity to better understand the daily life, beliefs, and funerary customs of the inhabitants of ancient Tomis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Museum’s Exhibit of the Month for July 2026 is one such testimony: a Pergamene-type table amphora, which offers a glimpse into the lives of the people of Tomis, their customs, and the ways in which they honoured their dead. The amphora was discovered ten years ago, on 7 July 2016, during a preventive archaeological excavation conducted at 21A I. G. Duca Street, near its intersection with Mamaia Boulevard. The vessel formed part of the grave goods of a cremation burial dated to 168\u2013150 BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its placement within the grave was almost certainly deliberate. In the Greco-Roman world, wine occupied an essential place both in everyday life and in funerary ritual. For the ancient Greeks, the consumption of wine was regarded as a hallmark of civilisation, since wine production implied the practice of agriculture. During the symposion – the ritual drinking banquet – one participant, usually the host, served as the symposiarch, determining the quantity of wine allotted to each guest, as drunkenness was considered unacceptable. To prevent excess, wine, which in antiquity was considerably stronger than today, was never consumed undiluted. Instead, it was mixed with water in vessels known as kraters or table amphorae. The example presented here was deposited in the grave together with a complete wine-serving assemblage consisting of three lagynos-type jugs, a relief-decorated bowl, and a bronze ladle. Ancient written sources also describe the custom of extinguishing the embers of the funeral pyre with wine, a practice that may explain why these objects were placed alongside the cremated remains of the deceased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The amphora is distinguished by the elegance of its shape and the refinement of its decoration, executed in the style conventionally known as West Slope. Its matte black gloss\u2014a vitreous coating resembling enamel\u2014contrasts beautifully with the ornamental motifs painted in white and beige pigment and with the delicate incised lines that reveal the natural colour of the clay beneath. Around the neck of the vessel runs a graceful ivy garland, while the shoulder is adorned with palmettes, creating a harmonious decorative composition characteristic of Hellenistic workshops. At the base of the handles are small applied clay pellets highlighted in white paint. The lower part of the vessel is embellished with a row of white dots and two incised bands that expose the reddish hue of the ceramic fabric. The amphora was most likely produced in a West Pontic workshop, as suggested by the placement of the ivy garland on the neck rather than on the shoulder, where it appears on examples manufactured in Pergamon, the renowned centre of Hellenistic pottery production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The significance of this amphora lies not only in its beauty but also in its remarkable state of preservation. At present, only three examples of this type are known from the territory of Romania to have survived in such excellent condition. The first was discovered in the tumulus necropolis of Histria; the second is the vessel presented here; and the third was unearthed one year later, also at Tomis, during archaeological excavations carried out on the site of the former Dobrogea Bread Factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although centuries of pressure from the surrounding soil had fractured the vessel, nearly all of its fragments were recovered during the excavation. Conservator-restorer Valentina Luiza Ionescu painstakingly restored it to its original form through a meticulous process of cleaning, conservation, reassembly, and reconstruction. Given both its rarity and its exceptional state of preservation, this table amphora, together with the similar example discovered a year later at Tomis, would undoubtedly deserve a place of honour in the future permanent exhibition of the National Museum of History and Archaeology Constan\u021ba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exponatul lunii iulie 2026 poate fi admirat \u00een format fizic la sediul muzeului din strada Arhiepiscopiei nr. 7, municipiul Constan\u021ba, \u00eencep\u00e2nd de joi, 16 iulie\u00a0 2026, timp de o lun\u0103.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bibliografie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Valentina Luiza Ionescu, Octavian Mitroi, Restaurarea unei amfore de mas\u0103 de tip pergamenian (Restoration of a Pergamon Type Table Amphora)<\/em>, Pontica 50 (2017), p 515-521);<\/p>\n\n\n\n Octavian Mitroi, 7 iulie \u2013 Un morm\u00e2nt de incinera\u021bie elenistic de la Tomis. Povestea descoperirii, <\/em>fil\u0103 \u00een calendarul istoric \u201eAst\u0103zi la Constan\u021ba\u201d al MINAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/minac.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EXPONATUL-LUNII-IULIE-2026-2-1024x1024.png\")