A window to the past
By: Kaona Sejdiu
It is important to know the history and culture of your nation,
therefore 2 weeks ago I decided to visit the National Museum of Kosovo in
Prishtina. To be honest I’ve never thought I could end up visiting a museum because
I wasn’t a huge fan of antique things. Well, let me say that I’ve changed my
mind even though I would never take the initiative to visit it if it wasn’t for
Professor Blerta. The museum is located near ‘Skenderbeu Square”, so it took me
and my friend 20 minutes from the faculty to arrive there. I nearly ‘died’ from
the high temperatures until I arrived at the museum, but here I am…ready to share
my experience and the things I’ve learned throughout this visit.
As we entered the Museum, there were some visitors inside the hallway.
At first, I was a bit confused and I thought I needed someone to explain to me
more in details. Then, I heard a voice of a woman who said “Hello, can I help
you” and I felt very relieved. She was the museum guide, a young and fluent
woman who offered us her help to explore the museum and to inform us more details about the things we were surrounded by at the museum. She told us that
the first floor was about ‘The Antique Dardania’ and there were included periods such as the Neolithic Period, the
Antiquity, the Copper, Bronze and Iron Age, Roman Period etc. Then she
continued to show us some axes, some needles, some vessels that were used for
religious rituals etc. As the guide was explaining the Copper Age, something
that was interesting was the Illyrian’s burial ritual; when a person died,
the Illyrians used to burn his body, and after that, they put his ashes on a
vessel and then buried the ashes with the whole vessel. Also, the Roman Period should be emphasized because during that period there were also some kind of tear bottles which are called 'lotore' in Albanian, and they were used when a person died, so the mourners filled small glasses or cups with tears and placed them in burial tombs.
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| The vessels used in Illyrian's burial rituals
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The tear bottles, Roman Period.
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We went upstairs then and the museum guide told us that the 2nd floor is all about Kosovo’s
history; from the Ottoman Period until the history of recent times when the Albanians faced the Serbian aggression. Once I entered the room, suddenly it started to be colder and I was having a strange feeling. At the entrance, there were some weapons, swords and clothes from ‘The League of Prizren’. Then, the rest of the space was mostly dedicated to the Kosovo Liberation Army which was actually my favourite part of all the things I’ve seen there. There were 7 flags divided based on 7 operative zones. A little further there were some pieces of evidence of Serbian aggression, which got me in tears. There were some clothes of the women that were raped by the Serbian soldiers, a table which is called in alb. sofra which contained some offensive writings made by Serbs, some drug syringes which they used to drug women etc. Also, I saw Adem Jashari’s motorcycle, some communications tools of the Kosovan Army, Hamez Jashari’s weapon etc. Then the guide showed us The Period of Peaceful Resistance led by Ibrahim Rugova. It was very interesting for me to see for the first time Rugova’s personal things, as well as to learn that he won the international prize “Homo-Homini”. I ended my visit in the best possible way by having the opportunity to see the Declaration of Independence and also the flags of all the states that have recognized Kosovo.
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| Photo by: Hatixhe Zeqiri |
This visit gave me a lot of strong emotions and also has made me realize that history isn’t boring at all. You learn interesting things, you gain knowledge about historical facts and events and also you win an unforgettable memory. You can have all these benefits at once, so in case you’re in Kosovo, The National Museum is A MUST! 😀
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