Herat National Museum

Herat National Museum was established in 1925 by order of King Amanullah. During the war and under the Taliban, many of the more than 3000 objects were lost. Statues, manuscripts and miniature paintings from the famous Herati school were destroyed and hundreds of coins stolen. Governor Ismail Khan shifted the objects 1993 from the citadel into another building that was opened as museum in autumn 2004. In 57 showcases, about 1000 archaeological and ethnographical objects are on display. Most exhibits come from Herat Province, but some are from neighbouring regions. They present but a narrow picture of the long cultural heritage, reflecting the lack of archaeological research. A new National Archive with manuscripts was inaugurated in autumn 2005 next doors.

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The objects mainly comprise pottery and metal vessels, but also some glass items, coins, architectural decoration pieces, ethnographic objects, and historical photographs of monuments.

The most ancient objects are flint arrowheads, stone columns, alabaster and chlorite vessels, copper daggers, razors, and spearheads from Badghis and Tashkurgan that date back to the late 3rd millennium BC, when the Bactrian-Murghabo Cultural Complex flourished further northeast. Most exhibits date to the 10th to 13th cent., i.e. the time before Herat became political and cultural capital of the Timurid empire in 1409 under Shah Rukh and Queen Gawhar Shad. This unexpected proportion is matched by the many pre-Timurid sites discovered during the survey. Architectural decoration pieces, coins, jewellery, weapons, and ethnographic objects complete the overview.