Museum

10.11.2001

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On the 12th of November the greatest museum complex in Turkmenistan and the Middle East opened its doors in Ashkhabad, combining the collections of the former museums of history and ethnography, regional study and fine arts. Luxurious in all its aspects, the project is an example of the fruitful cooperation between Turkmenistan and Turkey. The leaders of the two countries, Saparmurat Niyazov and Suleiman Demirel, took part in a solemn ceremony of its opening.

About 500,000 exhibits are displayed in the new museum. It boasts a full collection of Turkmenistan’s most significant architectural finds of the XX century; a large number of ancient Turkmen carpets and rugs; examples of national dress and fabrics; traditional household equipment; musical instruments; weapons; jewelry; orders and medals, and historical documents. Its unique collection of paintings, drawings and sculptures includes not only Turkmen fine arts but also masterpieces of some Russian and Western European artists of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries. The collection includes early paintings, watercolors and icons among its exhibits. Moreover the museum reveals the variety of Turkmenistan’s landscape: its flora and fauna, fossils and rare geological finds.

Turkmenistan’s National Museum was «born» on the January, 5, 1998. On that day the President of the country signed a statement setting out its future. The construction of the building was already completed, but work to equip the interior and shape its displays was still to come. The museum traces its roots back to the XIX century and a small amateur collection of household artifacts and examples of Turkmen workmanship, which were displayed at the Russian industrial exhibition in Nizhni Novgorod in 1896. The exhibits were returned to Ashkhabad and used to found the Transcaspian Regional Museum, 100 years ago, on of March, 17, 1899. It soon became the single center for the study of local nature, ethnography and history, with natural history as its main direction for a long time.

As the years passed, the museum changed names and moved from one place to another. But what was badly needed was a venue where the exhibits could be shown off to their best advantage, free of any provincial cramming and squalor. Priceless treasures were kept for decades in storage conditions, which, politely speaking left much to be desired. No-one knows how many rare exhibits were lost during this period, when museum funds were disorganized and restoration of artifacts was non-existent. But this was only part of the problem. The museums of Turkmenistan were unable to become museums in the full sense of the word. They were simply warehouses packed with exhibits, or modest collections, a far cry from being scientific centers or «temples of the muses».

That the real «temple» has been built only now, towards the end of the century, is to a large extent due to the vision of President Saparmurat Turkmenbashi, who helped plan the project from its conception through to its layout and facilities.

According to the ideas of the head of state, embodied in the work of Turkish architect Jan Onai, this unusual structure was built on a high site in Berzengi — a new business district in the south of Ashkhabad, near the picturesque foothills of Kopetdag. The super modern complex of 30 000 square meters was erected by the Turkish firm «Uchgen» in record time. Just one and one-half years passed between the laying of the foundation stone and completion of the project.

Anyone approaching the museum for the first time is confronted with a three-story building, crowned by a central heavenly-blue dome consisting of 16 semi-spherical sides, each symbolizing one of the Turkic states founded over the centuries. The dome is supported by five 19-meter pillars — symbolizing the number of velayats (districts) in the country. The vertical atrium emphasises their height (19 meters). On the roof, five small light-blue domes surround a central dome. At the museum’s entrance, five small fountains surround a larger one at the center of a square.

On the first floor, on both sides of the central entrance there are four conference halls, and outside are four summer amphitheaters intended for drama productions, which adjoin the building on its different sides.

Inside, the architect chose Finnish granite and bronze for decorating the bases and caps of pillars. For facing the facades and external galleries, uniy stone — a strong and beautiful material from Turkey, — is used. The museum’s complex engineering system includes independent emergency power and water supplies, electronic temperature and humidity regulation, and a reliable security system. In a word, every care has been taken to ensure that Turkmenistan’s invaluable relics are housed safely. Now they are accessible for everybody, and visitors can view its galleries and halls at their leisure, enjoying the full spectrum of the national culture.

Let’s take a small excursion through the museum and its halls.

On the first floor, to the left of the center of the building, where a sculpture of the state emblem is installed on a high foundation, is the HALL OF INDEPENDENCE, illustrating the modern development of the country, along with a range of costly presents given to Saparmurat Turkmenbashi, and donated by him to the museum.

The second floor is entirely dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. The first three halls feature displays in chronological order. THE HALL OF ANCIENT HISTORY presents a collection of flint tools from the Mesolithic era (50 000 years B.C.), used by primitive people in Western Turkmenistan, along with Neolithic ceramics and ornaments from the first human settlements along the northern slopes of Kopetdag. There are also objects made from clay and metal, semi-precious stones and bone, witnessing the high level of development of the early agricultural civilizations of Jeitun, Altyn-Depe, Namazg, Anau etc. They represent the northern complex of old-eastern culture most famous in Babylon and Assyria.

The place of honor in this hall is occupied by Margiana, a unique Bronze Age civilization discovered by archaeologists in the Karakum desert to the north of the modern town of Bairamali, which was a fertile delta of the river Murgab about 3000 years ago. There was a set of settlements with mighty towers and monumental sanctuaries.

THE HALL OF ANTIQUITY covers the eventful period of history from the Akheminidic period (VI-IV centuries-B-C.) to the first centuries A. D. Parphian culture II-I cent. B.C. dominates here, which became the largest empire of the East, competing with Rome itself.

Full collection of ritons — special horn-like vessels made of ivory featuring magnificent art — is represented alongside a number of other exhibits. All of them were found in Ashkhabad’s suburbs, at excavations of Old Nisa — residence of Parphian kings from the Arshakid Dynasty. Marble sculptures, and silver, gold and bronze items from Parphian Nisa are outstanding examples of art closely connected with the Hellenistic tradition.

In this hall one can see exhibits from other regions of antique Turkmenistan — from Khorezm (in the north), the Kushansk empire (along the Amu Darya river) and primarily from Merv, the largest archaeological site in all Central Asia, which has yielded a number of discoveries — from buildings to coins and tiny gems.

THE HALL OF THE MIDDLE AGES tells about the Sasanidic epoch, which was linked to a new growth in the culture of the ancient Central Asian oases. These artifacts look mysterious, but were extremely functional. Several Buddah images and a wonderful painted vase from Merv attract the eye in particular.

Most of the exhibits in this hall date from the middle ages, which came to Turkmenistan after the Arabian conquest in VII century. The heyday of this culture came with the Seldzhuck empire (XI-XII cent.).

ETHNOGRAPHY is represented in two halls on the second floor and in one hall on the first floor. Between them is the giant carpet — «Saparmurat Turkmenbashi». A collective of carpet-makers wove its 266 square meters of classical Tekin design in just five months.

Household objects, women’s, men’s and children’s national costume, examples of Turkmen weapons, musical instruments, hand-written books and displays of traditional life from the XVIII-beginning of XX centuries are displayed in the ethnographic halls.

Turkmenistan’s famous handcrafted carpets of dyed sheep’s wool are the finest masterpieces of its national art. Dark red and brown shades dominate, with ornaments and colors differing depending on the local traditions of different Turkmen tribes and regions: Tekin, Yomud, Kerki, Gyzylayat etc.

But another important place in Turkmen national art belongs to female dress, and primarily bridal costumes.

The brightest examples of this tradition are embroidered fabrics, and gilded silver jewelry featuring precious stones, stamping and engraving. Special silver ornaments were also made for the famous Akhalteke horses, which played a major role not only in the nation’s history, but also as the focus of a cult. Sets of Turkmen arms, medieval military ammunition, a restored zergyar’s workshop (jeweller’s workshop), children’s toys, etc, are of special interest here.

THE HALL OF NATURE completes the museum. Turkmenistan is very rich in mineral fossils and all their variety is represented in this hall of the museum. One can see fossils of the Paleozoic era and ammonite fossils which are millions of years old, mountain rock samples, and representatives of Turkmen flora and fauna, including andemics of a kind only found in Turkmenistan.

But contrary to most people’s idea of a museum as being concerned only with exhibitions, we should remember the displays are actually only a small part of the facility’s work.

First of all, the museum is a scientific research institute, whose functions include acquisition, storage, study and popularization of important samples of natural history, and physical and spiritual culture — primary sources of knowledge about the development of nature and society.

In a statement about the National Museum of Turkmenistan, authorized by the decree of the President of the country, an approach to defining the essence of the museum is precisely formulated. To fulfill the tasks assigned to it, the National Museum will conduct research into the history of Turkmenistan and the study of its arts, using national and international technologies.

Not only tourists and expatriates working in Turkmenistan hurry to see the beautiful building and its exhibits. It attracts great interest from Turkmen themselves. There is no doubt that the funds spent by the government on the museum’s construction and upkeep will reap unmatched spiritual rewards. And if a treasury of national culture like the museum ranks alongside a state’s priorities, it proves the land has not just an unforgettable past, but also an even greater future.

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