MERU NATIONAL MUSEUM

Meru traditional girls’ hut

It’s called muthimbere in Kimeru and by its front side where the door was it was fitted with two breasts like mud protrudings on either side purposely for warriors to know their rightful place when they visited a homestead in their search for life time partner.

Meru traditional homestead at Meru Museum

The first ever stone building in Meru town is the current Meru national museum. Its construction began in 1914 and ended in 1917 and it was the administrative office of the first Meru district commissioner Mr. Edward Butler Horne alias Kangangi. It was constructed in the British architectural design, which was the fashion of constructing houses during those times.

The main museum gallery has three sections displaying natural history; cultural history and human evolution/early man exhibitions. Then there is the open air exhibitions which include a typical Kimeru homestead; snake pit; crocodile pond; tortoise pen and fish pond. Other exhibitions include caged deadly snakes and primates. Kimeru herbal garden displaying different traditional Meru herbs makes the museum to have a forest look like scene. Incase you have never seen tortoise eggs, just be assured they are of the same size and look like those of a domestic chicken and in the Meru national museum they are plenty and displayed in an information board of reptiles.

Statues in Meru Museum

Snake Pit in Meru Museum