Memorial Museum of M. Kopeev
The Memorial Museum of Mashhur Zhusup Kopeev is a spiritual space resonant with the country's independence, developing and flourishing alongside it. The museum, which has formed its own history of development, reveals the life journey and creative legacy of Mashhur Zhusup, and conducts scientific research work. The hall displaying manuscripts and personal belongings of the outstanding and wise personality of Mashhur Zhusup not only delights visitors but also serves as a platform for the implementation of socially significant cultural projects aimed at renewing and developing the museum.
The museum houses valuable items that the poet himself used during his lifetime. These unique relics are national treasures. All of them have been preserved by the descendants of Mashhur Zhusup Kopeev-his children and grandchildren-and have reached our days. The personal belongings that belonged to Mashhur Zhusup hold special value. It seems as if the warmth of his hands and the spiritual aura of the poet are preserved in them. The most valuable relic is the Quran Karim, which the poet always carried with him in his life. It has survived along with its case.
Another valuable item is the korzhyn (bag). While nomadic peoples typically carried food and supplies in a korzhyn, Mashhur Zhusup carried books, papers, and manuscripts in it.
It is also known that Mashhur Zhusup was a berkutchi-a hunter with a golden eagle. He had his own golden eagle, cared for by his beloved grandson Toleubai Sharapiev. To this day, a tomaga-a leather band worn on the head of the eagle-has been preserved.
Particular attention is drawn to the magnificent samovar. During the active trade on the Great Silk Road, merchants brought this large copper samovar. Its lid bears the inscription: “Samovar of His Imperial Majesty.”
The carpet is also well-preserved. This is not just any carpet. Before his death, Mashhur Zhusup said that his body would not decay, even if it was not laid to rest in the ground. Following his passing, according to this prediction, the body was not buried but placed in the lower chamber of the mausoleum. When he was carried out of the house, he was wrapped in this very carpet. His descendants have carefully preserved it to this day. Therefore, this carpet is an invaluable treasure.
The main large hall is dedicated to the life path and creativity of Mashhur Zhusup. The next hall features a stone sculpture of the thinker, his copper basin and copper kettle, a frequently seen photo of a tubeteika with an owl feather, a 10-liter copper samovar used by the family, a large round brown wooden bowl for meals, glasses, a black wallet for money, pocket watches, a painted red soup bowl with a floral pattern, a kumys bowl, a blue tea bowl with a white floral design, a spoon, and other personal belongings.
The Museum of Mashhur Zhusup Kopeev was opened in 1977 in a specially designated room behind the building of the secondary school in the village of Zhana Zhol. Prior to this, on the initiative of Mashhur Zhusup’s grandson-Toleubai Sharapiev, war veteran Nagi Akhmetov, and Amangel'dy Omarov-personal belongings of the saint were collected in one of the rooms of Sharapiev Toleubai's house, and a small museum was opened. The museum at the school also exhibited materials about the early stages of the formation of the village of "Zhanazhol," its development as a collective farm and state farm, photographs and biographies of war veterans, household items and crafts.
In 1981, the House of Culture was built in the village of Zhanazhol, and the museum moved to the second floor of the building. In 1986, by decision of the board of the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR, the museum was awarded the title of "People's Museum." In the same year, the Minister of Culture Uzbekali Zhanibekov, who specially visited the museum and the Eskeledin Gorge, announced the construction of a new museum of Mashhur Zhusup in an eastern architectural style. According to the design by architect R. Nauymov, with the participation of the "Agropromstroy" trust, the new museum building was commissioned in 1993.
In 2016, a separate room was allocated to the museum on the first floor of the cultural and hotel complex built next to the mausoleum of Mashhur Zhusup in the Eskeledin Gorge. The museum had two exhibition halls: an art gallery and a hall showcasing the rich literary and historical heritage of the great thinker and the items he used during his lifetime. The work on creating the museum's exhibition was carried out by the Pavlodar Regional Museum of Local History named after G. N. Potanin. At that time, the museum had over 700 exhibits, of which 93 were in the main collection.
The construction of a new separate museum dedicated to Mashhur Zhusup began on August 20, 2018, and was completed on December 15 of the same year. The work was carried out on the instructions of the chairman of the board of JSC "Samruk-Energo," Zholamanov Bakhytzhan Toleuzhanovich. The initiative for the new museum's construction and the author of the appeal to Bakhytzhan Zholamanov was Mashhur Zhusup's grandson-Kazhmukan Pazylov.
The new museum consists of three halls, has a hall and entrance corridor, one utility room, and a small electrical panel. The large hall contains 9 stands and 8 tambours dedicated to the life path and creativity of Mashhur Zhusup, with his sculpture installed in the center. The next room is a conference room or reading room, where a book exhibition featuring the works of Mashhur Zhusup and books gifted to the museum has been organized. A television is mounted on the wall, and video materials have been collected.
As part of spiritual and cultural cooperation with other museums, copies of 29 ancient manuscripts of Mashhur Zhusup were acquired from the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan. Of these, 25 are manuscripts; the others are books titled "Who Owns Saryarka," "One of Our Amazing Observations Over a Long Life," and two editions of "Khal-akhual." These books have been kept in the scientific library's collections since the 1950s. As of today, the total number of exhibits in the museum's main collection has reached 811 units.
In the summer and autumn, the museum operates without days off from 9:00 to 19:00. In winter and spring, it operates from 9:00 to 18:00, with Monday as the day off. The museum is located in the Eskeledin Gorge of the Bayan-Aul district, next to the mausoleum of Mashhur Zhusup, 25 kilometers from the village of Zhana Zhol.
The entrance fee for visiting the museum is 150 tenge. For pensioners-100 tenge, for schoolchildren-100 tenge.