Officially the South Kazakhstan Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, this is the main museum of the city and the best single overview of the region's past. The collection runs from Saka burials and Silk Road archaeology through the Kazakh khanates and Russian colonisation to Soviet industry and independence.
The most rewarding sections are the early ones: gold and bronze artefacts from the Saka and Wusun nomads, fragments of medieval Otrar pottery, and a good ethnographic display of yurts, costumes and saddlery. Labels are in Kazakh and Russian; English is patchy but the staff are helpful. Closed Mondays.