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Salt Museum opens in Nakhchivan

26 April 2018 15:07 (UTC+04:00)
Salt Museum opens in Nakhchivan

By Kamila Aliyeva

Nakhchivan, a centre for health tourism, thanks to the salt caves of the Duzdag Mountain and various mineral springs, opened the Salt Museum in Duzdag Hotel on April 25.

The museum was established by the Order signed by Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov on September 12, 2017. Over the past period, measures have been taken to implement the order.

Addressing the event, Chairman of the Nakhchivan branch of the Azerbaijan’s National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), academician Ismail Hajiyev, on behalf of the intelligentsia and scientific community of the autonomous republic, expressed gratitude to the chairman of the Supreme Assembly for attention and concern for the field of research and propaganda of the history of Nakhchivan.

The chairman of the Supreme Assembly, Vasif Talibov, described the opening of the Nakhchivan Salt Museum as an important event, and congratulated participants and future visitors of the museum.

“The history of Nakhchivan is linked to the history of extraction of Nakhchivan salt. In order to study the history of Nakhchivan, first of all it is necessary to study the history of Nakhchivan salt. Duzdag was of great importance in the formation of Nakhchivan as a city. Some 5,000-7,000 years ago, there were no valuable metals and money in circulation,” he said.

The formation of the city of Nakhchivan began 5,000-7,000 years ago since the beginning of salt production here, according to the chairman.

“This was also written by historians of various countries. Thus, in the second century Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy, in the 16th century Arab scientist Al-Sharifi, in the 19th century Russian scientist Konstantin Nikitin and our local historians who conducted research in subsequent periods, noted that the formation of the city of Nakhchivan is connected with the Prophet Noah and the extraction of salt in their writings,” he said.

National leader Heydar Aliyev created the Nakhchivan branch of the National Academy of Sciences to study the history of Nakhchivan, set important tasks in this area, Talibov noted.

“After all, the history of Nakhchivan is a significant part of the Azerbaijani history. During the past period, important measures were taken in the field of studying the history of Nakhchivan, research work was carried out. Studies of the history of the Nakhchivan salt was conducted, exhibits, which are presented in the exposition of the Museum of Salt, were collected,” he said.

It was noted that the Nakhchivan salt, which has not lost its importance today, is widely used in everyday life, industry, nature, human health, and various products are manufactured from it.

Annually, thousands of people are being treated at the Duzdag Physiotherapy Center. All this again shows the great importance of Nakhchivan salt.

The most important task is to study and bring to the future generations the history of Nakhchivan salt.

Therefore, the history of Nakhchivan should be thoroughly studied and henceforth, the Nakhchivan branch of ANAS, the relevant state structures and representatives of the intelligentsia should expand research on the connection between salt mining and the creation of the city, collect archival materials, write new books and scientific articles.

Talibov instructed the Nakhchivan branch of ANAS to carry out archaeological excavations related to the Nakhchivan salt, hold international conferences dedicated to the culture of Duzdag, present information about the composition of the Nakhchivan salt in the museum, and sell products from the salt of the Nakhchivan masters.

The event participants then viewed the museum, which features 81 exhibits, as well as various models made of salt, books, newspapers, and a collection of documents.

Nakhchivan, one of the oldest regions of Azerbaijan, is home to the famous salt caves of Mount Duzdag, located at a height of 1,173 meters above sea level. Those who suffer with respiratory disease find great results of treatment procedures here.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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