One of the unusual items in the collection of the Volgograd Regional Museum of Local History is a flat basin. This exhibit dates back to the 14th century. Presumably, it was used in the Golden Horde town of Beljamen. The settlement was located in the territory of modern Volgograd Region. It is believed to have been destroyed at the end of the 14th century, during Tamerlane’s campaign.

The inside of the basin is covered in engraved plant, geometric, and zoomorphic decorative patterns. It clearly did not belong to a commoner: common people in Ulus Jochi did not have a large number of utensils. As a rule, the set was limited to a cauldron, a cooking pot, a jug for water and bowls. The only cutlery was a knife.

Tableware was mainly made of clay. The richer citizens had entire sets made of bronze, silver or even gold — trays, cups, bowls, jugs and plates. Eating a meal was of great importance to the nomads. An example of rich ceremonial tableware is the bronze basin, which is displayed in the museum exhibition.

Archaeologists have found utensils that were covered with Arabic and Persian well-wishing inscriptions. The texts included the words “happiness”, “good luck” and “success”. All-cast items have also been found amongst the metal utensils.

Silver cast vessels could have a spherical shape and engraved simple patterns on the inside of the bottom. Researchers have also found cone-shaped bronze cups. Some of the massive bronze vessels had horizontal paddle-shaped handles on the sides.

During excavations, archaeologists encountered small cast vessels, and utensils made of a single sheet of bronze or low-grade silver, as well as riveted and welded items made of several sheets. These were large truncated conical bowls, bowl-shaped vessels with flat bottoms and curved edges, flat shallow pans, cups with a spout bent inwards, teapots, strainers and ladles, lids for vessels, and handles molded in the form of animal heads.