OnThe museum first began to display its treasures to the public in 1974. Its exhibition hall was opened in 1977, during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Turkmen oil. On January 1, 1986, the museum was transformed into the “Museum of History and Local Lore”. The new, white marble building of the museum was solemnly opened and put into operation on October 10, 2011, with the blessing of our Honorable President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. Here, the findings found as a result of excavations in the cities and villages of Ancient Dehistan, located in the Balkan region, and in the areas of the ancient Sumbar valley are exhibited. The museum’s vaults store about 7.5 thousand museum treasures. The revival section provides a comprehensive description of the development of the region’s economy, agriculture, industry, culture and other sectors through photographs, information, documents and treasures. The nature section describes the unique beauty of the subtropical corners of Western Turkmenistan, mountainous and desert areas, and the sea coast. The only camel footprints preserved in stone in the world, and fragments of a 270 million-year-old tree that turned into stone from the Paleozoic era amaze visitors to the museum.

The archeology section displays interesting information about ancient archaeological monuments that tell about the life of the primitive people of Western Turkmenistan, such as the Jebel Cave, Dam-Dam Cheshme Caves, Uzboy Cultural Monuments, Shehitburun, and Aktam Docks. The ethnography section presents the experience and skills gained by our ancestors who lived in Western Turkmenistan in livestock farming, farming, oil extraction, fishing, hunting, and crafts. The work of masters who make weapons, sew turbans, turbans, and sosun, the national costumes of women, men, and children, distinguished by their peculiarities specific to the people of the region, as well as carpets and felt products are the main treasures of the section. The wooden “houses on legs” built by the Turkmen people living in the Caspian region also have a special place in the museum exposition.