Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand ( Uzbek: ''Afrosiyob-Samarqand shahar tarixi muzeyi'') is a museum located at the historical site of Afrasiyab, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world and the ancient city that was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century. Museum building and the archaeological site are located in the north-eastern part of the city of

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

in the

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n country of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

. It bears the name of

Afrasiab Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi. The mythical king ...

, mythical king and hero of

Turan Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...

. Permanent exhibition of the Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand is focused on the history of the city itself as well as the surrounding region. The museum building was designed by

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

architect Bagdasar Arzumanyan in 1970, at the time when

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз� ...

was still part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The opening of the museum was dedicated to the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the city of Samarkand. Thematically, the museum is divided into five rooms dedicated to different periods of life in the fort of Afrasiyab. The museum was conceived as the place that will share the story about the founding of the city of Samarkand, its subsequent history, as well as the settlement of Afrasiyab. The museum features a variety of exhibits, including not only artifacts found during excavations in Afrasiyab and Samarkand but its wider region as well. Among the artifacts one can find the remains of ancient

swords A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon. Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to: Places * Swords, Dublin, a large suburban town in the Irish capital * Swords, Georgia, a community in the United States * Sword Beach, code name for ...

ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

and other sharp objects,

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

, ancient

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

and

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

and other ancient objects of everyday life. Museum exposition consists of more than 22 000 unique exhibits. One notable exhibit are the uniquely preserved

Afrasiab murals The Afrasiab murals, also called the Paintings of the Ambassadors, is a rare example of Sogdian art. It was discovered in 1965 when the local authorities decided to construct a road in the middle of Afrāsiāb mound, the old site of pre-Mongol Sam ...

of Samarkand palace belonging to the period of

Ikhshid ''Ikhshid'' ( sog, xšyδ, ) was the princely title of the Iranian rulers of Soghdia and the Ferghana Valley in Transoxiana during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. The title is of Iranian origin; scholars have derived it variously from ...

Dynasty from the 7th-8th centuries. In December 2015, as a part of cultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, Azerbaijani pavilion was opened at the Afrasiab Museum. Azerbaijani Pavilion exhibits objects that present

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan mədəniyyəti) combines a diverse and heterogeneous set of elements which developed under the influence of Turkic, Iranic and Caucasian cultures. The country has a unique cuisine, literature, folk art, ...

, samples of material culture, national dress, including hats and

kalaghai Kelaghayi ( az, Kəlağayı), also known as "chārqad" ( from Persian چارقد), is a traditional Azerbaijani women's headgear. It is a square-shaped silk head scarf with special prints on it. In November 2014 at the 9th session of UNESCO's ...

, books about the culture and the

Azerbaijani carpet Azerbaijani rugs ( az, Azərbaycan xalçaları) are traditional rugs made in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani rug is a handmade textile of various sizes, with a dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbai ...

weaving traditions.

Artifacts

File:Afrasiab, elongated skull 600-800 CE, Afrasiab Museum.jpg, Elongated skull excavated in

, 600-800 CE File:Afrasiab - details from The Ambassadors' Painting 3 - great procession.JPG, Detail of the murals, commissioned by the king of Samarkand,

Varkhuman Varkhuman, also Vargoman (Chinese: 拂呼缦 ''Fúhūmàn'', c. 640-670 CE) was an Ikhshid (King) of Sogdia, residing in the city of Samarkand in the 7th century CE. He succeeded King Shishpin. He is known from the Afrasiab murals of Afrasiyab in ...

References

{{coord, 39.6693, N, 66.9934, E, source:wikidata, display=title Buildings and structures in Samarkand Museums in Uzbekistan