National Museum of Mongolia: custodian of nomadic heritage

The National Museum of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar, directed by Lodoikhu Jargal, preserves 60,000 artifacts spanning prehistory to the 20th century. Founded in 1991 from the merger of the State Central Museum and the Museum of the Revolution, it occupies a 1971 building. Its collection includes Paleolithic tools, Bronze Age petroglyphs, 13th-century Mongol Empire plate-protected boots, shaman costumes, princely attire from the early 1900s, and the last khan's clothing. The museum also holds a photographic archive from the late 1800s onward. Recent excavations uncovered 800,000-year-old human remains, suggesting Mongolia as a cradle of humanity. The institution runs educational programs like Mongolian History Alive! (since 2000) and Hero workshops for children (since 2006), plus family tickets and a children's costume room. With 80,000 annual visitors (half foreign tourists, mostly students), it relies on ticket sales and Ministry of Culture funding. The museum has fostered international collaborations since 2008.