Memorial Museum of Abu Ali Ibn Sino

About

The museum stands in the village of Afshona in the Bukhara region, where Abu Ali Ibn Sino — known in Europe as Avicenna — was born in 980. It opened in 1980 for the millennium of his birth.

The display covers the full range of his work: medicine, philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, music. The halls hold replicas of tenth- and eleventh-century medical instruments, reconstructed from descriptions in his own writings, and facsimiles of his principal books: The Canon of Medicine, The Book of Healing and The Book of Knowledge. Archaeological finds, ceramics and coins of the Samanid and Karakhanid periods set out the world he grew up in.

One section deals with medicine in practice: models of early pharmacies, vessels for storing remedies and reconstructed treatment scenes, showing how knowledge turned into a physician's craft.

The complex includes not only the halls but a monument to the scholar and teaching spaces. Medicinal plants used in traditional healing are grown on the grounds.

After the 2006 refurbishment the museum gained a conference hall and programme spaces, and it now hosts academic meetings and themed events.