Herat National Museum

Herat National Museum

Heart national Museum is in a major city of Afghanistan Heart in the north west of the country.  It came into existence in the year 1925 under the order of Amanullah, one of the kings of modern Afghanistan.

It is inside the fort called “qala ikthyaruddin” whose history goes back to 330 BC in the time of arriving of the Alexander the Great in the Afghanistan. Including the museum area the whole building was destroyed many times in the history due to the war and fights of different rulers, thus this landmark is representing the ups and downs of ancient history of Afghanistan.

In 1976 to 1979 UNESCO worked to restore the building including the museum. In 2006 to 2011 it was again restored by Aga khan trust for culture with the help of other organizations including German and United States of America but the collection of historical pieces and artifacts is still in progress under the German archeological institute.

Today this national museum has become one of the most tourist attracting landmark in the country with a great political and cultural importance as the building was under the use of ancient rulers for various purpose like someone had used it as prison or others had been using it as their headquarters in their era of rule.

The museum contains a collection of around 1100 items in which there are mostly books, manuscripts and handicrafts but only 250 are displayed.

The National museum of Heart is in long rectangular chamber in the fort. It is a big preservative of Afghan script writing, calligraphy, painting and making of book and paper back. The building is a big construction according to the Timuri culture with big wall around it.

Now it is under the care of Ministry of information and culture of Afghanistan.

Herat National Museum