Heydar Aliyev Foundation presents Shamakhi Historical Museum with unique engravings

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation  has presented the Shamakhi Historical Museum with three unique engravings from the 17th century, which were found in Europe, purchased and delivered to Azerbaijan.

This is an engraving by three travelers who visited their time in Shamakhi.

The event was held as part of the Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Art, and Spirituality, which opened in Shamakhi on September 27.

The festival, organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, is held in Azerbaijan for the first time on September 27-30.

Addressing the event, the head of the Sabayil Executive Authorities, Asif Asgarov welcomed guests to the ancient land of Azerbaijan, the city of Shamakhi - the homeland of Nasimi - and expressed his appreciation to the Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva and the Ministry of Culture for implementing the project that is so important in the cultural life of the region and the country.

"Today is one of the most wonderful days in the history of Shamakhi. The First Nasimi Festival brought a great celebration of poetry, art and spirituality to our land. Our land has always been famous for its enlighteners, philosophers, poets and writers, including Khagani Shirvani, Seyid Azim Shirvani, Abbas Sahhat , Mohammed Hadi, Mirza Alakbar Sabir and others. On behalf of the Shamakhi residents I express my gratitude to all the organizers of the festival, for us it is a great honor and happiness," said Asgarov.

The Minister of Culture Abulfaz Garayev noted that the Shamakhi Historical Museum is notable for its exposition and modern approach to the museum business.

"The presentation of three unique engravings of 17th century to the Shamakhi Historical Museum by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is a significant event, as it allows the museum to be included in the list of world museums," the minister said.

Among the unique engravings are pictures of Shamakhi from the book of the German geographer Adam Olearius, who, as part of the delegation of  the Schleswig-Holstein duchy (now in Germany and Denmark), stayed twice in Shamakhi on the way to Persia (from December 30, 1636 to March 28, 1637) and on the way back (from February 20 to March 30, 1638). Then his observations were included in the book "Description of a trip to Muscovy and through Muscovy to Persia and back." The third miniature from the editions of the Dutch publisher Alfred Tupper "On the exotic places of the planet", one of which featured a view of Shamakhi.

There is also the description of the trips of the Dutch sailor Jan Streis, who lived in Shamakhi for over a year - from September 8, 1670 to October 30, 1671. He saw the city after the earthquake of 1668 and left clear descriptions of its buildings. The most interesting is that in these engravings one can see the greatness of Shamakhi of that time, a large number of buildings, mosques, flat streets, developed infrastructure of the city.

The head of Shamakhi Historical Museum Maleyka Kamilova conducted for the guests an informative tour around the museum, which was founded in 1945, and reorganized in 2008. Currently, the halls of the museum and the stock storage contain more than 9,000 exhibits. The most ancient exhibits of the museum date from the early Bronze Age (35-33 centuries BC) - these are ceramic dishes, jugs and tools of labor found in stone tombs.

A new exposition in the museum is presented in the form of a story about the history of important events from the life of this region. In particular, there will be a section dedicated to the strongest earthquake in the history of the city of Shamakhi, which occurred in 1667 and the city was virtually destroyed. According to historians, the number of victims was from 40 to 80 thousand. This event greatly influenced the appearance of the city, which was on the Great Silk Road.

Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts and Spirituality is held under the slogans "Beyond the Limited Self", reflecting the philosophical views of the poet, and "I am a Particle, I am the Sun" which are the poet’s lines.

The project is implemented on an international scale with the participation of world-famous performers, philosophers, scientists who write about spirituality in modern society, as well as professionals, amateurs in this field and young people, including interactively with the general public of the audience.

For the first time, registration for such a grandiose festival is held through the official website www.nasimifestival.live rather than via ticket sales and invitations.