"National Museum of Mongolia"

A brief history of the National Museum of Mongolia Mongolia’s first museum was opened to the public in 1924. The collections started at that time were for a national museum, whose building no longer exists. In the socialist period, all collections of historical, ethnographical, natural history and paleontological were housed in the building of the State Central Museum, which was built in 1956. Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mongolia began to transform toward democratic policies and an open-market economy and as a result of those changes, the management of museums was redeveloped and some earlier museums were reopened. In 1991, the National Museum of Mongolian History was established by merging the collections of two museums: the State Central Museum and Museum of Revolution. In 2008, the National Museum of Mongolian History was elevated in status to a national museum hence our current name. The present building of the National Museum of Mongolia was built in 1971, when it was constructed as the Museum of Revolution. A significant responsibility for preserving Mongolian cultural heritage lies with NMM. On display are historical, ethnographical and cultural objects ranging from Mongolia’s ancient past, dating back to around 800 000 years ago, to the end of the 20th century, allowing the public cultural and educational opportunities to experience first-hand how Mongolians lived in historical times. The museum storage facility additionally holds over 50 000 historical and ethnographical objects.The historical collection is subdivided into 3 areas: archaeological; medieval history of Mongolia; and modern historical objects and photography, recordings, and documents. The ethnographical collection is subdivided into jewellery and accessories; costumes; musical instruments; kitchen tools; Mongolian ger and furnishings; animal husbandry equipment; and religious items relating to Shamanism and Buddhism.

During the Neolithic period, people began to bury the dead by placing them in a seated position in special underground holes, reflecting their belief in an afterlife. Such burial sites have been found in the eastern part of Mongolia.

The  archaeological  artefacts  of  this  hall  relate  to  the history  and  culture  of  the  political  entities  that  were established from the  3rd century BCE onwards. The first powerful empire was established  by  the  Hunnu  (3rd century BCE – 1st century CE), which was succeeded by the  Turk,  Uighur  and  later  the  Khidan  Empire  (6th – 12th century CE).

On display here are the costumes of Mongolia’s ethnic groups together with state ceremonial attire, seasonal dress, jewellery and accessories. Mongolia has more than 20 ethnic groups originating from two nationalities: Mongolian and Turkish. Most of the items displayed date  from the 19th or 20th century,  though  the  origin  of many  ethnic  groups  can  be  traced  back  to  the  13th century.

Silver, coral, amber, turquoise  and lapis lazuli ’Shuren tatuurga’ or coral headdress: The headband of black cotton bears eleven silver plaques cleverly fitted together and is decorated with red coral beads and coloured enamels in yellow, turquoise, lapis blue, and amber. Below the headband is an intricate network of small coral, silver, and turquoise beads, beneath which is yet another, even finer, fringe of similar 

In the 13th and 14th centuries Mongolians conquered more than fifty countries and united almost half of the world’s population. They occupied territories  from Siberia to South Asia,  from the Korean Peninsula to Bulgaria. This exhibition hall presents the Great Mongolian State 1206 - 1260 and the Mongolian Empire, which consisted of : the Golden Horde State, Tsagadai Khanate, Il Khanate and the Yuan Dynasty.This hall also introduces visitors to the ancient capital Kharkhorum and to battle equipment, armour and ceremonial banners of  the Mongolian Empire. The origin and development of  Mongolia’s unique national culture and heritage is here illustrated through chronological displays of more than 300 historical, cultural objects. The end of this hall holds portraits of  Chinggis Khan, Ogodei Khan and Khubilai Khan.

This is the first literary document concerning the Mongols. It is an invaluable treasure for historians, linguists, ethnographers and ethnologists engaged in the field of oriental studies. It is believed to have been written in the year 1240. The identity of the author still remains unknown. The copy of the Secret History of the Mongols, which has survived to modern times, was transcribed in Chinese characters from some original manuscript in one of the Mongolian scripts. Some scholars believe it to have been in the Uighur script, others proposed Pags-pa script, and only a few think that it was originally recorded in Chinese characters. This copy was written in about the 14th century and contained Mongolian text (in Chinese phonetic transcription) and the Chinese translation. The first European to discover this manuscript was the Russian sinologist Palladij. In 1866 he translated the Chinese part of the Secret History into Russian - with considerable shortening. The name of this work in the Russian translation was “An Old Mongolian Tale about Chinggis Khan”. After that, the full text of the Secret History was  was published by S. A. Kozin in Leningrad (1941), E. Haenisch in Berlin (1948), and P. Pelliot in Paris (1949). Other important works were the dictionary of the language used in The Secret History of the Mongols (E. Haenisch, 1962) and the index to the manuscript compiled by Igor De Rachewiltz (1972).

Stone 1275Khugshin Teel.  Hairhan dulaan, Uvurhangai aimagThis monument bearing Chinese inscription describes the building of a fortified city by Khubilai Khan’s soldiers during the period when Khubilai and Arigbuh were fighting for kingship. The castle was named ‘Suriig badruulagch tsergiin hot’ but locals call it the Ruins of Khugshin Teel. It was discovered by the Russian explorer P. Kozlov in 1926.  It is known that a monument bearing a Chinese inscription was set up in the fifteenth year of Khubilai Khan’s Yuan Dynasty, giving a date for the foundation of the castle of 1275.

Mongolian nomadic culture is a truly distinctive way of life. Since ancient times the natural & climatic conditions of Mongolia were mostly suited for nomadic animal husbandry & hunting. Mongolians also made use of native flora, carried out land cultivation,  engaged in fishing &  developed specific handicrafts.After Buddhism spread across Mongolia in the 16th century a portion of the population settled down permanently or semi-permanently as monastic complexes were built. Nevertheless, the nomadic way of life & traditions carried on. This hall discusses the most important objects and tools in nomadic animal husbandry & all the surrounding social & cultural activities based on a nomadic lifestyle.

Painted wood, felt, skin, wool and hair ropeFirst half of the 20th century The ger (yurt/felt tent) is the traditional house of Mongolians. There are two types, Turkic and Mongolian. The Mongolian ger is the dwelling of the majority of Mongolian people, the Mongolians of northern China and also the Mongolians of Lake Baikal in Russia, who moved there in ancient times. The size of a ger depends on the number of wall sections; pre-20th century Mongolian gers generally had four wall sections. Birch and willow wood is used for the frame and the covers are made from felt. The ger exhibited here was made in the 1940s and has five wall sections. The wood is painted a brown-red colour with the outside of the door given decorative patterns. Inside the ger a stove is situated in the centre and on the north side a pair of chests with religious ritual items on them. In the north-eastern side is a bed. The eastern part is meant for kitchen utilities, the western part holds horse-riding equipment such as saddles and bridles. A bag for airag, fermented mare’s milk also hangs on the wall. The door of a ger is always positioned to face the south.

40 x 75 cmSecond half of the 20th centuryOne of the five domesticated animals of Mongolia is the two-humped camel, raised by herders of the steppes and Gobi desert. The saddle cushion - tohosh is primarily used for riding a camel and made from felt that is quilted with coloured cloth and fibres. In some places the felt is covered with hide and leather. In recent times tohosh are being made from sheep’s wool which is coloured and woven to produce the saddles and embroidered with different kinds of patterns & designs. Most of the saddles include stirrups attached with a leather strap.

First half of 20th century Tea which is hard and compacted into bricks is broken down into small portions using a hammer and mallet and then further pounded in a wooden mortar. There are various sizes of mortars and they are generally made from cedar, birch and blackwood. The mouth and the bottom of pestles are decorated with patterns.Khuhuur-leather bag for airag Skin, wood, wool rope72 x 88 cm    Beginning of the 20th centuryMongolian people widely consume dairy products from the five domesticated animals, and one of the milk products is airag. The khuhuur is used for preserving all animal’s milk, although the airag is chiefly kept in a wooden bucket or leather bag. The bag is made from cow hide which has been smoked to consolidate it. An empty khuhuur is usually kept in the kitchen area, while a khuhuur holding fermented mare’s milk should be kept on the west side of a Mongolian ger. The khuhuur exhibited here is made from the hide of a single cow and is the biggest standard size.

For  about  200  years,  from  the  17th  to  the  beginning  of the 20th century, Mongolia  was under the dominion of Manchu rule (Qing Dynasty).

After civil wars in both Russia and China broke out in 1919, the Chinese decided to dissolve Mongolian autonomy. Mongolian resistance groups were formed, including the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP). With the support of the Bogd Khan Jibzundamba, this organisation sent representatives to Russia in July 1920. D.Sukhbaatar, a member of the MPP, carried a petition bearing the Bogd Khan Jibzundamba’s stamp hidden inside his riding crop. The Bolsheviks agreed to support Mongolia and the MPP organized a government and armed forces. S.Danzan was the Party leader and Damdinii Sukhbaatar was the head of the military.

When in the late 1980’s the Soviet Union went through fundamental political changes (Perestroika) and the communist system finally collapsed, it signalled equally important changes for the Mongolian People’s Republic. Sensitive to the developments in their communist neighbourhood Mongolia’s national consciousness was awakened. People all over Mongolia established political groups and clubs with the objective to call for social justice, freedom and democratisation. A great number of parties were founded, their names showing the already broad range of topics people felt needed to be addressed. Among others there were the Democratic Socialist Union, New Progressive Union, Mongolian Social Democratic Party, Mongolian National Democratic Party, Free Labour Party, and Mongolian Green Party. In December 1989, the Mongolian Democratic Union (MDU) was formed and Sanjaa Zorig, a teacher of the National University of Mongolia was elected as a “General Coordinator” of the MDU.