Founded 136 years ago, the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan was formerly known as the Lenin Museum and is one of the oldest museums in Central Asia. The museum has four floors that showcase over 250,000 exhibits, including 60,000 archaeological, 80,000 numismatic, and 16,000 ethnographical items. The collection spans Uzbekistan’s history from primitive times to the present day. Guided tours are available.
Simple, but monumental, almost square in plan, this building looks light and is well visible from all sides. It has four above-ground and two underground floors with an introductory hall and exposition rooms (on the two upper floors). The overhanging upper part of the edifice is lined with openwork Panjar-style panels, which simultaneously serve as enclosing structures and sun protection.
The museum’s collection accounts for more than 250,000 exhibits in the field of archaeology, history, and ethnography, dating from the Stone Age to the present day, asserting Uzbekistan as one of the key centers of Eastern civilization. The displayed artifacts, found in the country, are unique and include ancient ceramics and fabrics, a large number of ancient coins and burial relics, as well as some rare archival materials, manuscripts, historical documents and photographs. The Muslim section of the museum features calligraphy pieces and regal edicts dated from the Tamerlane dynasty to the last emirs of Bukhara.
Many of the exhibits of the Museum of History of Uzbekistan have a worldwide reputation – such are the state of Buddha dated the 1st century AD, which was found in Surkhandarya region and the large bronze Saxon cauldron decorated with statues of animals made in the 4th – 5th centuries BC.
The scientific library of the Museum features unique ancient volumes and thousands of books, magazines, and newspaper binders. The museum publishes historical books, monographs, collections of articles, catalogs of exhibits, albums and teaching aids for schools on the permanent basis.
The museum has a gift shop where you can buy pieces of folk art of Uzbekistan – miniatures, carpets, ceramics, and the national fabrics.
