Museum of History and Ethnography in Quba

Quba District History and Ethnography Museum — a museum located in Quba district, in the park named after Nizami Ganjavi. The museum has a large number of exhibits reflecting the history of both Azerbaijan and Quba district and of interest to tourists.

Since 2024 the Quba History and Ethnography Museum is headed by Mehriban Aliyeva, mother of Ravan Aliyev, a martyr of the Second Karabakh War.

1924–1943

The foundation of the museum was laid by the prominent intellectual and religious figure Ahmad Afandi Chelebizade. In 1924 he created a history museum in the madrasa where he taught, collecting materials related to the history of Azerbaijan. Most of the exhibits belonged to Ahmad Afandi himself. In addition, he maintained contacts with administrations, organizations, and individuals, obtaining a number of items for the museum. Among these items were ancient manuscripts and books, carpets and carpet products, examples of folk applied art, jewelry items, etc.

In August 1932, at a meeting of the Quba District Executive Committee, a special issue concerning "the organization of a museum in Quba city" was discussed. At the meeting, theses and a plan-project prepared by specialists for the organization of the museum were reviewed. Both documents contained recommendations on the organization of the museum's exposition as well as its approximate structure.

The plan-project shows that the first section of the exposition is devoted to the nature of the district. Here various maps of the district and the former Quba uyezd, as well as mounted specimens of flora and samples of useful minerals, are displayed.

The following sections are devoted to the region's history, culture and ethnography. The section names are: "Ancient cultural monuments of the former Quba district", "Materials belonging to the period before the formation of the Quba khanate", "The conquest of the Quba khanate by the Russian tsarist regime", "The commissariat period", etc.

The exhibition also included an "Ethnography" section. In this section, alongside Azerbaijanis, materials about the lives, customs, crafts, especially the widely spread carpet art and copper-smithing of the minority peoples living in the region were displayed. The exhibition also contained materials reflecting Quba's culture, education and economy in the 1920–1930s.

By the order of the People's Education Commissariat on 14 May 1935, Ahmad Chelbizada was appointed director of the Quba History Museum. In 1937 he became a victim of repression and the museum was closed. In 1943 the Quba public appealed to the Central Committee with a letter regarding the opening of a history museum. By the order of the Azerbaijan SSR People's Commissars' Soviet dated 04.21.1943, a decision was made to establish a museum in Quba. The museum began operating in August 1944 in the building at 93 Erdebili Street, the present residence of the prominent scholar and thinker, poet Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov.

1943–present

From 1943 to 1958 the museum functioned as a base museum of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, from 1958 to 1965 on a public basis, and since 1965 it has operated under the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan.

This building, constructed in the early 19th century, was registered as a historical monument by the decision No. 225 of the Azerbaijan SSR Council of Ministers dated 14 May 1981.

Because the last 4 halls of the museum that had been used for many years were in a dilapidated condition, the museum exhibition was closed to visitors by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from 05.05.2010.

In 2012, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan began construction of a new museum building in accordance with modern standards on the territory of Nizami Park in the city of Quba. In 2014 the construction of the building was fully completed and layout work was carried out in the exhibitions. On 2 May 2015, the opening ceremony was held with the participation of the Minister of Culture, Abulfaz Garaev.

Features

The total area of the building is 1620 m². It consists of 1 basement and 3 floors. More than 10 000 exhibits are preserved in the main and auxiliary collections of the museum.

Basement: – 3 collection rooms, 1 dining room, 1 utility room, 1 utility warehouse, 1 pump room.

First floor: – Guard room, coat rack, mass‑education department, 3 service rooms, 1 collection room, 1 teaching room.

Second floor: – Director’s office, reception room, lounge, 5 exhibition halls.

Third floor: – 1 conference hall, 1 service room, 4 exhibition halls.

Information in the exhibition halls on the second floor: – Hall 1: Nature of Quba, information about the museum, information about Quba, various hunting scenes, objects reflecting the daily life of ancient peoples – Hall 2: Description of ancient Quba, description of the legend of Prophet Moses and Haji Baba, model of the Agbil tomb – Hall 3: Clay objects found during archaeological excavations, ancient types of weapons – Hall 4: Description of Khan’s couch, portrait of Fatali Khan, ancient types of weapons, medieval warrior clothing – Hall 5: Ethnography section – lifestyle in the 18th–19th centuries, women’s clothing of the 19th century, examples of Quba folk craftsmanship (metalworking, copper work, carpet weaving).

Information in the exhibition halls on the third floor: – Hall 1: victims of the 1937 repression (Quba), about the first museum director, section on Quba intellectuals, section on war veterans, about the first intellectual women of Quba – Hall 2: corner about A. A. Bakıxanov, art section – Hall 3: display of household items made of brass and copper, information about carpet weaver Zibeyda Şeydayeva, who has 100 years of work on the planet, etc. – Hall 4: display of Quba carpets, women's clothing of the 19th century, numismatics, decorative items made of silver Two branch museums operate under the museum: the memorial house museum of A. A. Bakıxanov located in the village of Amsar and the Martyrs Museum located in the city of Quba.