Yakut state United Museum of history and culture of the peoples of the North named after E. M. Yaroslavsky

Sakha Republic
Lenin Ave., 5/2, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk
Phones: +7 (4112) 42-51-74
Web site: http://yakutmuseum.ru/

The Yakut state United Museum of history and culture of the peoples of the North has a unique collection of about 130 thousand exhibits.

The expositions are very diverse. Among the most popular exhibits are the bones of ice age animals: mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, bison, musk ox and ancient horse. In the Museum you can see a unique skeleton of the Tirekhtyakh mammoth, one of the few complete skeletons of adult mammoths found in the world, perfectly preserved, despite the fact that it is more than 30 thousand years old.

The unique Yakut nature is perfectly represented: the harsh Arctic desert, tundra, the famous Verkhoyany mountains, the Aldan highlands.

Part of the exhibition is devoted to human adaptation to the harsh conditions of Yakutia. It contains archaeological finds that testify to the life of people from the Paleolithic era to the XVII-XIX centuries.

Ethnographic collections are interesting. They tell about the culture of the peoples of Yakutia-Yakuts, Evenks, Yukagirs, Russian old-timers - and introduce one to their way of life and traditions. A visual representation of the life, rituals and culture of the indigenous peoples of Yakutia is created.

The archeology section of Yakutia presents stone, bone and wooden tools of people from the Paleolithic to the iron age. Among them is the Neolithic archaeological site of Kangalas burial. It consists of skeletal parts, weapons, household items and shell ornaments that belonged to a man who lived in the Tuimaada valley about 2,900 years ago.

The idea to create a Museum in Yakutia, which would contain collections related to nature and local culture, was first proposed by the Secretary of the Yakut regional statistical Committee in 1887. Local residents actively supported this initiative. Wealthy people began to make donations, and in parallel, a collection of materials was announced. The Museum was opened in 1891.

Among the exhibits were objects of worship, ancient life of the local population, attributes of Russian explorers and much more, but this was not enough for a real exhibition. However, in 1909, thanks to donations from wealthy merchants, the Museum had a two-story building. The work of organizing archives and materials was done by political exiles. On the eve of the October revolution, there were already about 19,000 systematized exhibits in the Museum's collections.

The Museum was fully operational in the mid-20s. At the same time, he was given the name of Emelyan Mikhailovich Yaroslavsky.

During the great Patriotic war, the Museum organized exhibitions dedicated to the heroic struggle of the Soviet people against the fascist invaders, selfless work in the rear, and held themed evenings. In the post-war years, large-scale work began to expand the Museum network of the Republic of Yakutia, and the first branch of the Museum was opened-the house-Museum "Bolsheviks in Yakut exile".

The Museum expanded significantly in 2004. At the same time, the current exhibition was developed and placed. Now it is considered one of the largest in the North-East of Russia and conducts active research activities.

One of the most famous exhibits is named "Grandfather of the Museum". This is the skull of a fossil bison. This discovery was the impetus for the creation of the first Museum in Yakutsk in 1887.

In the 1930s, the Museum organized archaeological expeditions, during which the Museum staff collected huge, previously little-known material from ancient Yakut graves of the XVIII century, which allowed them to look at the past of the Yakut people in a new way.

The Yakut Museum actively cooperates with foreign museums and periodically organizes exhibitions in Canada, Germany, Romania, Austria, Mongolia, France, Japan, and Poland.