Opening of the updated exhibition of artifacts

Opening of the updated exhibition of artifacts

Today, on the 9th of February, the Museum Studios “The City Beyond the Rapids” updated the exhibition of artifacts found during the survey of the washed-up areas of the Dnipro River. These areas appeared due to the Russian aggressor’s undermining of the Kakhovska hydroelectric dam. Three display cases contain about 80 artifacts representing different historical periods, ranging from the Bronze Age, the Scythian Age, the Middle Ages, and the Cossack period. Here one can see the fragments of molded ware and ancient Greek amphorae, Bronze Age dagger, stone tools (grinder, millstone, grain grater), sling-stone, plaques, arrowheads, items of Cossack-era weapons (the barrel of the fuzja, flint for rifle locks, bullets), the fragment of a mirror, bracelet, blacksmith’s hammer, etc.

 After Russian troops blew up the dam of the Kakhovka HPP, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine instructed the ministries, including the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, to assess the damage and scale of the tragedy. On behalf of Oleksandr Tkachenko, the then Minister, a working group was created in which Maksym Ostapenko was also involved. As a result, together with the representatives from the Defense Forces, it was decided to form a group of military personnel who had worked in museums and institutions to protect cultural heritage before the war. Among them were representatives from Khortytsia National Reserve. Hence, with the assistance of the Defense Forces, it became possible to survey areas of great historical and archaeological value. All finds were processed and recorded; some are on display at the Museum Studios, “The City Beyond the Rapids.” 

All these exhibits, especially the ceramic materials of antiquity from the Scythian era, testify to the ancient and turbulent life in the lower regions of the Dnipro and the intense civilizational contacts of our ancestors, which refutes the old Russian-Soviet historical narratives about the “wild field”, which began to populate and develop only with the participation of the Russian state.

 We look forward to seeing everyone interested in the history of Ukraine and our region at the exhibition.

 We would like to remind you that the Museum Studios “The City Beyond the Rapids” are located in the very center of the city of Zaporizhzhia, Tsentralnyi Boulevard, 3 (“House of Shoes”, 2nd floor). The Museum Studios are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (except Monday and Tuesday).

Make your leisure time engaging and productive. The exhibition will be open until mid-April.