The museum was opened in 2001 on the basis of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography named after A. Donish of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan. The basis of the Museum's exposition consists of materials accumulated over sixty years of archaeological expeditions of the Institute. Its collection includes tens of thousands of unique examples of ceramics, stone, metal and glass items, jewelry, household items, sculpture and paintings, which date back to a huge period of time - from the Stone Age to the late Middle Ages. There is also a Golden Pantry, where rarities made of gold and a numismatic collection numbering several tens of thousands of coins, both gold, silver, bronze and copper, are stored. The most ancient exhibits of the museum are artifacts from the site of the primitive man Kuldar, dating back 950 thousand years. The museum is proud of artifacts from the Eneolithic and Bronze Ages from the agricultural settlement of Sarazm (Pendzhikent district, Sughd region). Unique are the finds of the Hellenistic period from the Temple of Oxus, excavated at the site of Takhti-Sangin (Kubadian district, Khatlon region) on the banks of the Amu Darya River. The golden fund of world culture includes a unique clay statue of Shiva Parvati (5th century AD), charred wooden sculptures - columns and panels, wonderful wall frescoes of ancient Penjikent (V - VIII centuries AD), presented in the museum. The wall paintings of palaces, temples and monasteries from other regions of Tajikistan like Bundjikat, Ajinateppa, Kalai-Kafirnigan and Khulbuk are no less interesting. One of the Museum's most striking attractions is the "Buddha in Nirvana", an almost 13-meter high clay statue, which is considered to be the largest ancient monument of Buddhism in the world today. It was opened in the Buddhist monastery of Ajinateppa near the city of Bokhtar in southern Tajikistan. The exhibition and funds continue to be replenished with unique archaeological materials from scientific expeditions of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography. A. Donish and international archaeological expeditions, in which scientists from Russia, France, Germany, Italy and others take part. Separate collections of the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan were presented at vernissages in Germany, Austria, Spain, and France
