The Museum of the History of Uzbekistan - Tashkent
The Museum of the History of Uzbekistan offers its visitors a unique opportunity to trace the development of civilization in Central Asia over many centuries. The journey begins with the Stone Age and the creation of the first state formations on the lands of Uzbekistan, and continues through to modern times.
Many of the exhibits are renowned far beyond the borders of Uzbekistan. Among these treasures are a large bronze cauldron from the 4th-5th centuries BC, decorated with animal figurines, and a magnificent Buddha statue from the 1st century, discovered in the Surkhandarya region. The museum boasts an impressive collection of ancient ceramics and textiles. In addition to a significant collection of ancient coins, the museum houses over 250,000 valuable exhibits, including unique items of numismatics, ethnography, and archaeology, as well as documentary materials, ancient relics, and works of fine art.
The exhibits displayed in the museum confirm the fact that the first ancient centers of Eastern civilization originated in Uzbekistan. It houses unique archaeological and ethnographic exhibits, a numismatic collection, rare authentic documents, and works of high art. The museum also displays important archival materials, manuscripts, photographs that depict important milestones in the life of the Uzbek people. Visitors are particularly interested in the exhibits from the Timurid era, which eloquently demonstrate the extraordinary flourishing of civilization during the Middle Ages: science, architecture, poetry, crafts, etc. flourished rapidly.
The Museum of the History of Uzbekistan is rightfully considered one of the oldest museum institutions in Central Asia. Its founding date is July 12, 1876. At that time, it was called the People's Museum of Turkestan. Within a relatively short period, the institution was replenished with a significant number of exhibits thanks to the initiative of public organizations and many private individuals. In addition to the main exhibition, the museum displays its collections at various foreign exhibitions, for example, it participated in the 1900 show in Paris and in 1906 in Milan. The traveling museum participated in the opening of museum complexes in Samarkand and Fergana. Later, from 1919, it worked under the name: the State Museum of Turkestan (later the Main Central Asian Museum). Throughout the 20th century, it often changed its address and name. Now the museum is located in a specially equipped building in the heart of the city. The museum has a souvenir shop where you can buy Uzbek fabrics, ceramics, carpets, etc. as souvenirs.
The entire domestic history of the peoples of Uzbekistan is associated with the struggle for the country's independence, which is vividly reflected in the nature of the museum exhibits. This is very acutely and brightly reflected in the expositions that are dedicated to the period of the formation of independence.
The emergence and formation of the oldest statehood effectively demonstrate samples of crafts, written documents, and monetary units. The country's artistic culture is represented in a collection of craft masterpieces and exhibits of fine art. Here you can see exhibits made of bronze and ceramics, cult objects, various ornaments and ethnographic materials, for example, a duplicate of the sacred Avesta, etc.
By studying monuments of art, we can conclude that the technologies for making craft products in ancient times and the Middle Ages reached a high level. Nowadays, Uzbek masters are trying to revive the best traditions of their ancestors, preserving ancient technological secrets.
