Hulbuk Fortress. Photo: Asia-Plus Tajikistan.
Over the past period, 120 new historical and cultural heritage sites have been identified in Tajikistan. The country now has more than 3,500 such monuments, Sherali Khojazoda, director of the Agency for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage under the government of Tajikistan, told journalists, according to Asia-Plus.
Khojazoda also highlighted several projects overseen by his agency. Restoration work has been completed at the Khoja Nakshroni site in Tursunzade and the Muhammad Bashoro site in Panjakent, while restoration of the Muminabad Fortress in Khatlon Region is still ongoing.
He added that, on the instruction of President Emomali Rahmon, archaeological excavations were carried out at the recently discovered Bibikhonum monuments in Bokhtar. In addition, for the first time in the history of independent Tajikistan, experts conducted similar excavations at Hulbuk, an archaeological complex in Khatlon Region.
As a result, specialists uncovered more than 190 artifacts, including examples of jewelry, numismatics, glassmaking, ceramics, seals, and epigraphic heritage. According to the agency’s director, an archaeological base will be established at Hulbuk on a one-hectare site that has already been developed.
Overall, the agency’s archives have been supplemented with 220 site passports, while more than 1,500 copies of academic and literary works donated by leading scholars of the country have been added to its library.
The press conference also addressed projects timed to the 35th anniversary of Tajikistan’s independence, which the country will mark in September. With the participation of local entrepreneurs, construction is currently underway on a two-story building for the State Institute of Ethnology of Istaravshan and an “Archaeological Base.” In Hisor, the design of an administrative building for the city’s State Institution for Historical and Cultural Heritage has been completed, with construction planned to be finished in time for the anniversary celebrations.
