Bannu Museum is a museum located in

Bannu District Bannu District ( ps, بنو ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Bannu Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It was recorded as a district in 1861 during the British Raj. It is one of 26 districts that make up the Khyber Pakh ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The museum was established by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and inaugurated in 2011 by Sayed Aqil Shah, Minister for Sports, Tourism, Archaeology, and Youth Affairs. The

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

of the museum was laid by the-then

Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( ur, وزیر اعلیٰ خیبر پختونخوا) is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government ...

Akram Khan Durrani Akram Khan Durrani ( ur, اکرم خان درانی, ps, اکرم خان دراني; born 2 March 1960) is a Pakistani politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in office since 2 Oc ...

, in 2006.

Excavation

The excavations were undertaken jointly by the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar ( ps, د پېښور پوهنتون; hnd, پشور یونیورسٹی; ur, ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a Public university, public research university located in Peshawar, Khy ...

and the Bannu Archaeological Mission including the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, and

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

at the sites of

Sheri Khan Tarakai Sheri Khan Tarakai is an ancient settlement site located in the Bannu District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It was occupied from approximately 5000 BC to 2500 BC. Excavations have shown that the settlement at Sheri Khan Tarakai was ...

, Lewan, and Akra from 1984 to 2001.

Collection

It consists of three galleries, namely the

Protohistoric Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

gallery, the Islamic gallery, and

Ethnological Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

gallery.

Protohistoric gallery

It contains artifacts from the Akra and

archaeological sites nearby. Human and animal

figurines A figurine is a small statuette that represents a human, deity or animal. Figurine or Figurines may also refer to: *Figurine (band), American electronica band *Figurines (band), Danish indie rock band *''The Figurine ''The Figurine: Araromire' ...

, stone tools, and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

seals have been put on display.

Islamic gallery

This portion contains more than 120 manuscripts of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and books of

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

with the majority of them being in the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

language. Some have been translated into

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. The Quran manuscripts are dated to the 11th century After Hijra (17th century AD), while the Hadith books were written some time in the 6th century AH (12th century AD).

Ethnological gallery

It displays the lifestyle and culture of various tribes of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, particularly those which reside in the Bannu region. Everyday items such as jewelry, arms, utensils, musical instruments, and clothes can ben seen on display. They shed a light on the tradition of the region during the 19th and 20th centuries.

References

External links

Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
{{Museums in Pakistan 2011 establishments in Pakistan Art museums and galleries in Pakistan History museums in Pakistan Museums established in 2011 Museums in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourist attractions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bannu District