Description of the attraction
The Archaeological Museum in Bagan is an ideal place to explore the history of Myanmar. In 1902, T Seong-ho, superintendent of what is now the Department of Archeology, National Museum and Library, built a museum to the north of Ananda Temple, displaying the inscription stones and archaeological sites found in the vicinity of Bagan.
The museum was opened in 1904. It was small, its collections were not systematized. On an 8.16 acre site south of the Gavdavpalin Temple in Old Bagan, a building was erected on October 1, 1979, which now houses the museum. The museum complex consisted of an octagonal structure, which housed collections of ancient artifacts, and three sheds, where there was space for stones with texts, stone sculptures and other archaeological finds of a large size.
At the beginning of 1995, the sheds were destroyed, and next to the octagonal building for museum needs, another, more modern, was built.
The Archaeological Museum of Bagan has 10 exhibition halls. Each contains thematic collections. In one room you can see objects from the Bagan Palace, in the other - literary historical monuments, in the third - images of Buddhas, etc. There are wall murals and paintings depicting pagodas and monuments from the period of the Bagan kingdom.
Among the treasures of the Archaeological Museum is the original Myazedi stone with an inscription in four languages of the peoples who inhabited Myanmar in ancient times. This writing pattern is unique. It is believed that the inscriptions were made in the years 1112-1113. Two almost identical stone blocks with inscriptions were discovered in 1886-1887 in the immediate vicinity of the Myazedi Pagoda. Currently, one of the stones is installed next to the pagoda, and the second is kept in the Archaeological Museum. Scientists managed to read the inscription in the dead language Piu, used by the eponymous people who lived in Myanmar before the Burmese.
