In this digest, we will tell you about an international book salon that has kicked off in St. Petersburg, a unique finding gold coins from the era of Alexander the Great discovered by archaeologists in Kerch, and the "Russian Seasons" cultural project that will open in Uzbekistan on Sunday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2023) In this digest, we will tell you about an international book salon that has kicked off in St. Petersburg, a unique finding gold coins from the era of Alexander the Great discovered by archaeologists in Kerch, and the "Russian Seasons" cultural project that will open in Uzbekistan on Sunday.
The 18th St. Petersburg International Book Salon, the most diverse book fair in the region, opened at Palace Square in the historic center of the city on Thursday.
The grand opening was followed by the plenary session "Life in the history textbook: how literature helps in the formation of a new worldview," the organizers said.
The main topics of the book salon, whose business program includes about 150 events, is the 320th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, the status of the city as the cultural capital of the CIS-2023, as well as the Year of the Teacher and Mentor.
"Entrance for visitors � both to the exposition of the salon, and to all 3 events remains free. Meetings with authors, autograph sessions, discussions and round tables will be held daily in the lecture halls," the organizers said.
The event will run though Sunday.
Archaeologists have discovered a hoard of 30 gold coins from the era of Alexander the Great during excavations at the settlement of Mirmekiy, which was part of the Bosporus kingdom and is located on the territory of modern Kerch in Crimea, the director of the East-Crimean Historic-Cultural Museum-reserve, Tatyana Umrikhina, told Sputnik.
"During excavations, a hoard of 30 gold coins in a small earthenware jar was found. Twenty-six coins from the era of Alexander the Great, four of his feeble-minded brother Philip III Arrhidaeus, who inherited the throne," the museum head said.
All coins are staters, each weighing about 8.5 grams (0.3 ounces), and all are preserved in excellent condition. The front side depicts the head of the goddess Athena in a Corinthian helmet, on the reverse � the winged goddess of victory, Nike, carrying the mast of a ship and a wreath in her hands.
"The context of the finding suggests that the treasure was made in a city house in the last two decades of the 4th century BC. The discovery of such a treasure can be considered unique, since before that, similar coins were found here very rarely and one at a time. The finding is the largest hoard of early Hellenistic staters in the Bosporus," Umrikhina added.
Mirmekiy is an ancient city founded by the Greeks in the middle of the 6th century BC. on the shore of the Kerch Strait; the city was part of the Bosporan kingdom. The best find archaeologists have made in Mirmekiy is the "Myrmekion sarcophagus" � a marble sarcophagus with reliefs from the 2nd century AD, discovered in 1834. This is the largest and most artistically interesting sarcophagus of the Northern Black Sea region.
The "Russian Seasons" international cultural project will kick off in Uzbekistan on May 21, with a program including more than 20 events, the Russian Embassy in Tashkent said on Thursday.
"'Russian Seasons' will start in Uzbekistan on May 21. The opening ceremony of the international cultural project will be held on the stage of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi in Tashkent," the diplomatic mission wrote on Telegram.
As part of the project's large-scale program, more than 20 events of various formats are planned throughout the year: concerts, performances, master classes, film screenings.
The project, named after the fabled early 20th-century performances by the Serge Diaghilev ballet company in Paris, was launched in 2017 by the Russian Culture Ministry in Japan. It is aimed at presenting the best of Russian culture to an international audience.
