The Swat Museum is a museum in Mingora, Pakistan. It is on the road that goes between Mingora and Saidu Sharif in the Swat District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
History Of Swat Museum
The Italian Archaeological Mission to Swat and the Wali of Swat came up with the idea for the museum in 1959. It would hold the Wali’s personal collection of items. Later, it was made bigger with help from the Japanese government. But the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 did a lot of damage to it. Because of the war between the Pakistani government and the Taliban in 2007, the museum had to close and its contents were moved to Taxila. This was a good move because in February 2008, a bomb burst nearby, killing many and doing a lot of damage to the museum. The museum got back the 2,700 items in July 2011, and on December 11, 2014, a new museum that can withstand earthquakes opened.
Collection
The museum has Gandharan statuettes and friezes that show scenes from the life of the Buddha. It also has seals, small reliquaries, and other treasures, most of which are from Butkara No. 1 and Odigram. There are also artifacts from before Buddhism and an ethnic gallery with traditional Swati jewelry, textiles, and furniture that has been made. A stone “board” game of the kind that is still played in the valley today was recently found at the Buddhist Complex of Amluk-Dara.
