Arrows, axes, lances and maces made from flint, bone, iron and other materials, which date from the 5th millennium B.C.E. up to the 19th century, were displayed at an exhibition of side arms and harnesses that was opened at the National Army Museum on the occasion of 20 years of the National Army’s foundation. The visitors will be able to admire a collection of about 1 500 side arms until October 1, Info-Prim Neo reports. The ancient weapons are a private collection of Petru Costin – a promoter of the national values who gathered the historical items together with his son Andrei Costin. “It is an honor to mount this extraordinary exhibition on Moldova’s territory. The exhibits have bee collected during 40 years. Some of them were bought, while others were donated or found. All of them are precious and unique,” said Andrei Costin. The items are classified into five categories: hitting, cutting and distance throwing arms, thrusting and throwing arms, iron lances, distance throwing arms, and hitting and cutting arms. Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta said the exhibition was necessary as the items reveal the past of this territory. He handed over a medal of devotion to the homeland to the collector for contribution to promoting the national values. National Army Museum head, Lieutenant-Colonel Vitalie Ciobanu said that no museum of Moldova has such type of items in such a large number. “These exhibits are priceless as they are exceptional,” he stated. On the same occasion, Vitalie Ciobanu launched the monograph “Organization of the military institution in Moldova”, which is a study of all the stages by which the National Army was constituted. “The book describes the events that happened on the territory between the Prut and Nistru in 1989-1990, when the people demanded founding the National Army. It also relates such events as the constitution of the parliamentary commission on state security and military matters, the Military Department, the Ministry of Defense and the armed conflict on the Nistru,” said the author, who had worked on the book for many years. On September 3, the National Army of Moldova celebrates 20 years of the creation.