The hill of Dvin and its environs have been inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC. During the excavations of 1958, a settlement of Late Bronze and Early Iron periods was discovered under the 10th -13th-century medieval cultural layer of the citadel in Dvin.

Excavations opened workshops and cultic structures of the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, with a metal workshop and four sanctuaries. The latter were large structures with stone bases and walls made of unburnished clay. Flat roofs rested on wooden columns.

In the first half of the 8th century BC, Dvin and numerous settlements of the Ararat Valley were ruined due to the invasions of these territories by King Argishti I.

The Exhibition presents:

• a selection of exceptional finds from archeological excavations of Dvin
• astonishing clay altar steles of complex compositions with traces of “eternal” fire, which were placed inside the sanctuaries, built in the architectural traditions of pre-Urartian dwellings
• black-polished utensils, large storage vessels (karas) and clay vessels used to carry out ceremonies
• phalluses and sculptural portraits of stone, symbolizing fertility.