Museum of Earliest Known Wheat Culture Opens in Turkmenistan
Topic: Turkmen Traditions
15 July 2005. An inauguration ceremony of the National Museum of Ak Bugdai (white wheat) Wheat was held in the settlement of Anau, near Ashgabat, today.

As the Ashgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports, Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov attended the ceremony which was timed to Grain Holiday to be marked Sunday in Turkmenistan. The head of state warmly congratulated the participants of the ceremony on the museum opening and fulfilling by Turkmen grain growers of the commitment to harvest 3,100 mln tons of grain.

The new museum, designed to immortalize the famous sort of Turkmen wheat “Ak Bugdai”, was built by Turkish Polimeks company. The three-storey building of the museum is 21 m high. A giant golden wheat ear framed by a two-circle wreath made of smaller ears hovers over the building. A fountain complex built in front of the face side of the museum, fitting harmoniously to the natural landscape, accomplishes the general ensemble. The museum occupies 32,000 square meters, including 18,000 square meters of the park zone. There is a conference hall for 200 people, office rooms, guest rooms and rest rooms for the museum’s employees, a storage room, telecommunication and information centers, a cafe and other special rooms on the ground floor of the museum.

The museum’s exposition is graphic evidence of deep roots of Turkmen agriculture born, according to scientists, some 10,000 years ago. The materials about the American archaeological expedition in Turkmenistan led by Professor Rafael Pampelli organized in the beginning of the last century take special place at the exposition. Findings made by Pampelli’s expedition proved that inhabitants of ancient settlements situated near modern Ashgabat were the first people in the history of mankind to grow wheat and barley and bake bread from white wheat flour. Seeds of wheat that survived in the layer of coal in the southern mound of Anau found by Rafael Pampelli’s expedition in 1904 are the main exhibit of the museum. Members of the joint Turkmen-American expedition, continuing exploration of Anau mounds, managed to find the whole range of such specimen this spring.

Demonstrating a rarity exhibit to representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited to Ashgabat, Saparmurat Niyazov noted a huge historical significance of the discovery made by archaeologists. Speaking about special services of Rafael Pampelli, the president also noted the high level of today’s Turkmen-American relations and expressed gratitude to the long-standing partners of Turkmenistan, famous “John Deer” and “Case” companies, for their harvesters and other equipment that are being successfully used on the country’s fields.

Saparmurat Niyazov also thanked all foreign guests present at the ceremony for their participation in festive events.

Internet newspaper Turkmenistan.Ru