Панҷакент, Uzbekistan
This interesting museum of local history has recently been rehabilitated and should not be missed. ''Abu Abdullo Rudaki'' was a famous poet of the 10th century. He lived in Panjakent for a while and later became the national hero of Tajikistan. Among the exhibits in the museum are frescoes from the
ancient city of Panjakent depicting a banquet, a battle, and daily life scenes; statues of Zoroastrian divinites and a wooden statue of a dancing woman. Apart from showing artifacts and frescoes of the archeological site nearby the city, it also features exhibits from ''Sarazm'', a neolithic site a few kilometers further west. There excavators found proof human settlement as old as 5500 years and - most notably - the richly decorated remains of a young woman referred to as the ''princess of Sarazm''. The museum has 8 halls. The ''first hall'' is devoted to the history and culture of ancient ''Sarazm'' with exhibits illustrating the beginnings of farming and city building in the area. The ''second hall'' shows findings from Panjakent from the 5th to 8th cent AD. In the ''third hall'', artifacts from the period of the Somonid empire are at display. The ''forth hall'' is devoted to ''Rudaki'', the founder of Tajik literature. The ''fifth hall'' shows objects of Tajik ethnography: clothes, embroideries, copper and bronze dishes, clothes from the 19th and 20th centuries. The ''sixth hall'' refers to the establishment of the Soviet power in Tajikistan, the ''seventh hall'' to the indepen
Listen to the audio guide for Rudaki Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off