The Odesa Archaeological Museum ( uk, Одеський археологічний музей) is one of the oldest

archaeological museums Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. It was founded in 1825; the current museum building was completed in 1883 according to a design by Polish architect Feliks Gąsiorowski. The museum's address is 4 Lanzheronivska Street, 65026,

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

, Ukraine.

History

Founded in 1825 as the "Odessa City Museum of Antiquities" by Ivan Blaramberg. Its development was facilitated by the Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities, which had the right to conduct

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

in the south

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. * The first director of the museum was Ivan BlarambergБларамберг Иван Павлович — археолог
сайт «Белгород-Днестровский и Затока
12.12.2013, сайт «Пантикапей» * In 1913-1919 the museum was headed by Boris Varneke * In 1930-1932 the director of the museum was Mikhail Boltenko * In 1936-1937 Tikhon Vnukov was the director of the museum * In 1959-1961 Moses Sinitsyn headed the archaeological museum. Since 1997, the Odesa Archaeological Museum has functioned not only as a museum but also as an institute for scientific research into the archaeology of early human settlement in the Northern

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

region and the archaeology of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. The museum conducts expositions, restorations and publishing activities.

Exhibition activity

The main fund of the museum is the largest collection of sources on the ancient history of the Northern

coast, it has more than 170 thousand archaeological sources of ancient history of

southern Ukraine Southern Ukraine ( uk, південна Україна, translit=pivdenna Ukrayina) or south Ukraine refers, generally, to the oblasts in the south of Ukraine. The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern ...

from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with ...

to the

, including 55 thousand coins, the only collection of monuments in Ukraine of Ancient Egypt, the largest collection of ancient rarities in the country. The best examples of ancient sculpture are exhibited in the lobby of the building, specially built for the Public Library in 1883. The first two halls display materials covering the period from the advent of man to the

second millennium BC The 2nd millennium BC spanned the years 2000 BC to 1001 BC. In the Ancient Near East, it marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. The Ancient Near Eastern cultures are well within the historical era: The first half of the mil ...

. Of particular interest are finds from settlements and cemeteries of the Humelnytsia, Trypillia, and Usatovo cultures, burial mounds, and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

treasures, such as the Antonivsky Treasure. The "Golden Pantry" of the museum exhibits real things made of precious metals, the oldest of which date back to the beginning of the second millennium BC. Decorations from

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

and

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...

cemeteries, medieval burials of nomads, and products of Slavic craftsmen attract attention. Out of the 50,000 coins stored in the museum, the rarest of gold and silver minted in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium' ...

, and

Kyivan Rus Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

are on display. In particular, the "gold coin" of Prince Volodymyr, one of the two in Ukraine and of 11 known, is on the display. The collection of Egyptian antiquities is the third largest in the

former USSR The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

. Wooden and stone

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...

, funeral utensils, stone slabs and fragments of

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to ...

with

hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

are of interest here.

Research activities

The museum conducts extensive archaeological researches on many monuments of the Eneolithic and

Bronze Ages The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

(for example, the settlement of the late Trypillia culture Usatovo, Mayaki). Monuments of the Early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

in the lower reaches of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

(Orlivka-Kartal),

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

- on the banks of the

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and t ...

estuary (the city of

Nikonion Nikonion ( grc, Νικώνιον; la, Niconium) and Nikonia ( grc, Νικωνία) was an ancient Greek city on the east bank of the Dniester estuary. Its ruins are located 300 meters to the northwest of the modern village Roksolany, in th ...

), Odesa Bay - Tiligula are also studied. The museum expedition is conducting research on Snake Island. The scientific activity of the museum is reflected in numerous publications, scientists of the museum maintain active scientific ties with ukrainian and foreign colleagues. Joint research activities are conducted with specialists from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and others. The museum participates in exhibitions abroad. In the 1920s and 1930s there was a postgraduate course at the museum, in which future famous Odesa researchers studied (Virkau M.M., Sinitsyn M.S. and others).

Gallery

File:Pottery of ancient Greece in Archaeological Museum of Odessa.JPG,

Pottery of Ancient Greece Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has ex ...

File:Marble bull Niconium.JPG, Marble bull, Niconium File:Terracotta bronze Bosporan Kingdom.JPG, Terracotta and bronze figurines,

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus ...

File:Funeral stele Olbia.JPG, Funeral stele from

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age ...

File:Head of Hera from Olbia.JPG, Head of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

from Olbia File:Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus Archaeological Museum of Odessa.JPG, Ancient Egyptian

References

External links

Odesa Archaeological Museum - official website

Ukraine Travel Guide
{{authority control Museums in Odesa Archaeological museums in Ukraine History museums in Ukraine Science and technology in Odesa Institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine NASU department of history, philosophy and law National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Art museums established in 1825 1820s establishments in Ukraine 1825 establishments in the Russian Empire Educational institutions established in 1883 1880s establishments in Ukraine 1883 establishments in the Russian Empire Neoclassical architecture in Ukraine Research institutes in Ukraine