National Museum of the History of Azerbaijan

In June 1920, the Muzekskurs subdivision was created in the out-of-school affairs department of the People’s Commissariat of Education of the Azerbaijan SSR , which later received the status of a museum - the Educational Museum of the Native Land - Istiglal. In the future, the museum changed its name several times (for example, according to V. A. Shnirelman , in the 1920s it was for some time called the “Museum of the History of the Peoples of Azerbaijan” ^[3] ). Since July 1920, the museum functioned in the mansion of the famous oil industrialist and philanthropist G.Z. Tagiyev . On October 25, 1920 the museum was renamed the "State Museum of the Azerbaijan SSR ", and in May 1921 it already received its first visitors.

In the 1925-1960s, the museum was also used as the archaeological center of the Azerbaijan SSR. The leadership organized archeological expeditions in Nakhichevan , Gabala , Khojaly , Ganja , Mingachevir and other cities under the guidance of archaeologists Davud Sharifov, Evgeny Pakhomov , Isaak Jafarzade, Salekh Gaziev, Mamedali Huseynov ^[4] .

In 1968, a group of underwater archeology was created in the museum under the leadership of Viktor Kvachidze. The group conducted underwater archaeological research of the coastal part of the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian ^[5] .

The useful area of ​​the building is 3,000 square meters. m. Of these, 2,000 are reserved for a scientific exhibition, where on the basis of monuments of material and spiritual culture, genuine documents of the political history and socio-economic life of the country, the history of Azerbaijan from ancient times to the present is reflected.

For the first time, the museum had departments of history , ethnography , archeology , botany , zoology , applied and artistic art, public education, as well as the Azerbaijan Society for the Study of the Homeland and the Commission for the Protection of Ancient Monuments.

In 1925, as a result of the changes adopted at the board of the Commissariat of Public Education, the museum was restructured, as a result of which the departments of history - ethnography, art, biology , geology continued their activities. A rich library, including books on the Caucasus and the Muslim East, also continued to function.

In subsequent years, the museum underwent a number of structural changes. On March 31, 1936, the Council of People's Commissars decided to reorganize the Azerbaijan State Museum, create a museum with a historical profile and rename it the Museum of the History of Azerbaijan. The museum was transferred to the Azerbaijani branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences .

In the 40s, the museum’s exposition was partly in the Tagiyev’s mansion, and partly in the Shirvanshah’s palace . In 1953, all government offices were removed from the Tagiyev mansion, and in the spring of 1969, the Central State Historical Archive of the Azerbaijan SSR , and the building was completely transferred to the museum.

The expositions exhibited on the ground floor of the institution are archeological monuments belonging to the period of the Stone and Bronze Ages, of the early and late Middle Ages (the states of Karakoyunlu , Akkoyunlu, Safavidov ^[6] ). On the second floor are exhibits that date back to the mid-18th - early 19th centuries; including the period of the conquest of the Azerbaijani khanates by the Russian Empire from 1801 to 1828; the history of Northern Azerbaijan (1830-1870s); woodworking (XIX century), the First World War (1914-1918); the events of 1918 , the period of the existence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ^{[7] [8] [9]} , etc. The exhibitions also cover the socio-economic, cultural, military spheres of life of Azerbaijanis in different periods of history. ^[ten]

The archaeological collection of the museum is represented by materials from Mingechevir , Orenkala , Kul-tepe , Kabbalah, Nakhichevan, Ismayilli , Yaloylutepe , Shemakhi , Ganja, Baku. The museum also stores tools made of stone and obsidian, dating back to the Paleolithic , Mesolithic , Neolithic and Eneolithic periods . Among the finds of particular interest is a fragment of the jaw of an Azykh man from 300-350 thousand years old, which was discovered in 1968 in the Azykh cave ( Fizuli district ). The ethnography department of the museum includes carpets and rugs. ^[ten]

Most of the museum exhibits are exhibited in the house of the Azerbaijani philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev , which was built in 1895-1901 by the Polish architect Goslavsky . Here, in 2007, a special memorial museum-apartment was built. This museum consists of 9 rooms that have undergone restoration: Tagiyev’s personal office, eastern living room, library, dining room, billiard room, boudoir, dressing room and bedroom. ^[ten]

At present, the museum has 6 departments (the department of exposition and fund of the ancient and medieval period, the department of exposition and funds of the new period, the department of expositions and funds of the newest period, the department of numismatics and epigraphy funds, the department of ethnographic funds, the department of scientific excursions and mass work), as well as a laboratory for the restoration of museum exhibits, an decoration group, an exhibition security group, a production group, an exhibit reception and purchase commission, and a library.

Museum funds count over 300,000 items. 20,000 of them are on display, the rest is stored in scientific depositories - numismatic (over 150,000), archaeological (93,000), ethnography (9,000), weapons (2300), scientific archives (12,000), precious metals fund (15,000 ), negatives (10 254), the collection of rare books (4570). The museum publishes a collection of articles "Materials on the History of Azerbaijan".

In 2004-2007, restoration was carried out, as well as the reconstruction of the museum according to old sketches. Engineers from Italy also took part in the restoration of the building ^[11] .

In November 2005, the museum was given the status of a national according to the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers ^[12] .

On December 28, 2007, the opening ceremony of the National Museum of the History of the Azerbaijan Republic took place ^[10] .

At the beginning of the XXI century, the following were brought to the National Museum of History:

• medals of the Russian Federation “in memory of the 200th anniversary of the victory in World War II (1812)” (2013) ^[13]
• keshkul (bag of dervishes ) from the city of Tabriz in Iranian Azerbaijan, belonging to the first half of the twentieth century. (2017) ^[14]
• a bag made of carpets, sewn in the late XIX - early XX centuries. This bag was used to store blankets as well as mattresses. (2017) ^[15]
• six tenge of silver, which at one time belonged to the prince of the State of Shirvanshahs - Burkhan Aliye. (2018). ^[sixteen]

In 2014, a collection of archaeological finds was brought to the museum, in particular, items made of gold dating back from 4 thousand years ^[10] .

In 2014, the institution received new equipment for cleaning, as well as restoration of exhibits in laboratory conditions ^[12] .

On March 16, 2011, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan followed an order on additional measures to strengthen the material and technical base of the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan ^[17] .

• Azerbaijan
• Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiev
• Azerbaijan SSR
• History of Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijan architecture
• Joseph Vikentievich Goslavsky
• State Historical Archive of the Republic of Azerbaijan
• Numismatics
• Mammadali Huseynov

• Official website (azerb.) (Eng.)