What will the treasures of Andijan Museum tell about? For example, about a thin and flat Karakhanid coin.

An economic crisis raged in the era of the Karakhanids, the metal was expensive and scarce. But the masters managed to mint up to 30 words on one coin. As a rule, these were surahs from the Quran so that people would never forget the precepts of the Prophet Muhammad.

A treasure of 180 such coins was discovered while digging a ditch in Khojaabad district. This find became part of the unique collection of Andijan Museum. The World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan is working on the creation of a unique illustrated book of the series “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan in the Collections of the World”, which will include the museum’s rarest exhibits. The book will consist of six sections and will tell in detail about the archaeological, numismatic, arts and crafts collections, manuscript heritage and masterpieces of fine art stored in the museum. Readers of the book will have a unique chance to learn the history of these ancient artifacts and see their images.

Just imagine, the territory of Uzbekistan was already inhabited by people 1 million years ago. Archaeological research allows us to make a bold assumption that our region is one of the centers of anthropogenesis, that is, the origin of a man. Several studies point to Central Asia as the region from which, most likely, later people settled in Europe, Siberia and North America. How did our distant ancestors live? What did they do, were fond of, how did their culture and traditions develop? It will soon become possible to touch the secrets of antiquity and learn more about the life, traditions, beliefs of people of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Eneolithic eras.

In addition, the book will include the history of the development of pottery in Andijan region, the history of iron production and metalworking, the development of needlework, wood carving and ornamental painting, national embroidery, calligraphy, carpet making and national clothes.

As the curator of the album book, candidate of art criticism Shakhlo Abdullayeva said, the rarest exhibits of the numismatic, manuscript funds, as well as the collection of decorative and applied arts of the museum are planned for publication. Among the unique manuscripts of the fund, we can mention the 54-page “Devoni Adam”, the 20-page “Devoni Mahmud”, the 160-page “Devoni Afghan”, which were copied by the famous calligrapher and artist Mirza Ibrahim Subkhi in 1937. “These books attract attention with their elegant decor. At the same time, they are a vivid example of the fact that the traditions of calligraphy and illumination of a handwritten book, as a reflection of the immortal traditions of the art of Oriental literature, were not lost in the 20th century, having received a worthy continuation”, Shakhlo Abdullayeva notes.

A unique exhibit of the museum is a bedspread created at the beginning of the 20th century by an Andijan craftswoman. Lines of medieval love lyrics of the peoples of the East are applied to it.

Nazokat Usmanova, UzA