The Archaeology of Iran encompasses the following subjects:

Archaeological discoveries in Iran

Archaeological sites in Iran Some of the prehistoric archaeological sites of Iran are listed below: *Paleolithic **Hotu and Kamarband Caves **Darband Cave ** Qal'eh Bozi ** Do-Ashkaft Cave **Warwasi **Bisitun Cave **Kashafrud *Neolithic ** Tappeh Sialk ** Ganj Dareh ** Al ...

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Rock art in Iran Rock art in Iran includes archaeological petroglyphs, or carving in rock; rock art#pictograph, pictographs, or painting on rock; and rock reliefs. Large numbers of prehistoric rock art, more than 50,000, have been discovered in Iran. Dating back ...

Great Wall of Gorgan The Great Wall of Gorgan is a Sasanian-era defense system located near modern Gorgan in the Golestān Province of northeastern Iran, at the southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. The western, Caspian Sea, end of the wall is near the remains o ...

Hasanlu Lovers The Hasanlu Lovers are a pair of human remains found at the Teppe Hasanlu archaeological site, located in the Naqadeh in the West Azerbaijan Province of Iran. Around 800 BCE, the city of Hasanlu, located in north-western Iran, was destroyed b ...

* Islamic ceramics from the Susa site * Achaemenid inscription in the Kharg Island *

Achaemenid Persian Lion Rhyton The Achaemenid Persian Lion Rhyton (in Persian:"تکوک شیر غران") is an ancient artifact related to Achaemenians. A rhyton is a kind of vessel which normally terminates in the shape of an animal's head or horns. These vessels were common ...

Acropole Tomb The Acropole Tomb was excavated on 6 February 1901 by Jacques de Morgan on the so called acropolis in Susa. The Achaemenide burial was found intact and contained a high number of personal adornments, many of then made in gold. The burial dates ...

Apadana hoard The Apadana hoard is a hoard of coins that were discovered under the stone boxes containing the foundation tablets of the Apadana Palace in Persepolis. The coins were discovered in excavations in 1933 by Erich Schmidt, in two deposits, each dep ...

* Bardak Siah Palace *

Bushel with ibex motifs The Bushel with ibex motifs, or beaker with ibex motifs, is a prehistoric pottery art work originating from Susa, an important city in the Ancient Near East, located in modern-day Iran. The piece is thought to have been made during the Susa I per ...

Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...

Egyptian statue of Darius I The Egyptian statue of Darius I is a statue of Achaemenid ruler Darius I with Egyptian iconography and inscriptions. This is the best known example of in-the-round statuary that has remained from the Achaemenid period. Darius I is depicted wearin ...

Golden bowl of Hasanlu The Golden bowl of Hasanlu ( fa, جام طلای حسنلو) is a historical object made of gold. It was discovered by Robert H. Dyson in 1957 while excavating the site of Teppeh Hasanlu, near the city of Naghadeh, northwest of Iran ...

Luristan bronze Luristan bronzes (rarely "Lorestān", "Lorestāni" etc. in sources in English) are small cast objects decorated with bronze sculpture from the Early Iron Age which have been found in large numbers in Lorestān Province and Kermanshah in wester ...

* Musicians plate *

Narundi Narundi ( dna-ru-ti) or Narunde was an Elamite goddess worshiped in Susa. She is attested there roughly between 2250 BCE and 1800 BCE. Multiple inscriptions mention her, and it assumed she was a popular deity at the time. In later periods, she oc ...

Nazimaruttaš kudurru stone The Nazimaruttash kudurru stone is a boundary stone (kudurru) of Nazimaruttaš, a Kassite king of Babylon, c. 1307–1282 BC (short chronology). It was found at Susa and is now displayed at the Louvre. Some kudurrus are known for their portrayal ...

Parchments of Avroman The Parchments of Avroman (or Awraman) are three parchment documents, found in 1909 in a cave in the Hawraman region of Iranian Kurdistan. They were found in Tang-i Var, Kuh-e Salan Mountain, near the village of Shahr Hawraman. The documents were f ...

Parthian bas-relief at Mydan Mishan The Parthian bas-relief at Mydan Mishan is located kilometers south-west of Hamadan, and 2 kilometers west of the well-known Ganjnameh inscriptions of the Achaemenid Persian period. The relief, dating to the Parthian period, is reachable by cros ...

Persepolis Administrative Archives The Persepolis Fortification Archive and Persepolis Treasury Archive are two groups of clay administrative archives — sets of records physically stored together – found in Persepolis dating to the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The discover ...

Shami statue The Shami statue is one of the main surviving works of Parthian art. It is currently in the National Museum of Iran (Inv. no. 2401) and was found at Shami (modern Khūzestān Province), where there was an ancient sanctuary. The bronze statue is 1 ...

Statue of Hercules in Behistun The Statue of Hercules in Behistun (or Statue of Heracles/Herakles in Bisotun, Persian: تندیس هرکول) is located on Mount Behistun, Iran. It was discovered in 1958, and is the only extant rock sculpture from the period of Seleucid control ...

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin is a stele that dates to approximately 2254–2218 BC, in the time of the Akkadian Empire, and is now at the Louvre in Paris. The relief measures 200cm in height (6' 7") and was carved in pink limestone, with cuneif ...

Ziwiye hoard The Ziwiye hoard is a treasure hoard containing gold, silver, and ivory objects, also including a few gold pieces with the shape of human face , that was uncovered on in Ziwiyeh plat near Saqqez city in Kurdistan Province, Iran, in 1947. Prove ...

Archaeologists

Roland de Mecquenem (archaeologist) Roland de Mecquenem (20 August 1877 – 1957) was a French archaeologist who took part in the excavations of Susa in Iran. He was a graduate of the École des Mines. From 1913 to 1946 he was the director of excavations of the ''Mission Arch ...

Frank Hole Frank Hole (born 1931) is an American Near Eastern archaeologist known for his work on the prehistory of Iran, the origins of food production, and the archaeology of pastoral nomadism. He is C. J. MacCurdy Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at ...

* Geneviève Dollfus *

Roman Ghirshman Roman Ghirshman (, ''Roman Mikhailovich Girshman''; October 3, 1895 – 5 September 1979) was a Russian-born French archeologist who specialized in ancient Persia. Ghirshman spent nearly thirty years excavating ancient Persian archeological ...

Wolfram Kleiss Wolfram Kleiss (1930–2020) was a German archaeologist who spent many years of his life in Iran researching and excavating archeology. Biography He was director of the German Archaeological Institute in Tehran. He retired in 1995. and died in 2 ...

Jean Perrot Jean Perrot (1920 – 24 December 2012) was a French archaeologist who specialised in the late prehistory of the Middle East and Near East. Biography Perrot was a graduate of the Ecole du Louvre where he studied under two experts in Syrian arc ...

Henry T. Wright Henry Tutwiler Wright (born 1943) is an American archeologist and educator. Wright has had significant contributions to the field of archaeology through his fieldwork, publications, and teaching. He serves as the Albert Clanton Spaulding Distingui ...

Iranian archaeologists

Kamyar Abdi Kamyar Abdi ( fa, کامیار عبدی; born 1969) is an Iranian archaeologist. He is the editor of the Iranian ''Journal of Archaeology and History'', a research associate at the Iranian Center for Research on Humanities and Cultural Studies, a ...

(born 1969) Iranian; Iran, Neolithic to the Bronze Age * Abbas Alizadeh (born 1951) Iranian; Iran *

Massoud Azarnoush Massoud Azarnoush (25 March 1945 – 27 November 2008) was an Iranian archaeologist. He was born in Kermanshah. He received his MA from the department of archaeology at University of Tehran in 1972 and his PhD from the University of California, Lo ...

(1946–2008) Iranian; Sassanid archaeology *

Fereidoun Biglari Fereidoun Biglari ( fa, فریدون بیگلری) () is an Iranian archaeologist and a museum curator. Career Fereidoun Biglari is co-founder and head of the Paleolithic department in National Museum of Iran which established in 2001. He is ...

(born 1970) Iranian Kurdish; Paleolithic *

Touraj Daryaee Touraj Daryaee ( fa, تورج دریایی; born 1967) is an Iranian Iranologist and historian. He currently works as the Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies and Culture and the director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies at the U ...

(born 1967) Iranian; ancient Persia (Iran) *

Seifollah Kambakhshfard Seifollah Kambakhshfard ( fa, سیف‌الله کامبخش‌فرد; March 21, 1929 – November 28, 2010) was an Iranian archaeologist, who specialized in archaeology and Ancient History of Iran. Education and career summary Born in Tehran, ...

(1929–2010) Iranian; Iron Age Temple of Anahita *

Yousef Majidzadeh Yousef Majidzadeh ( fa, یوسف مجیدزاده, born 1938) is an Iranian archaeologist and director of the excavations at Ozbaki, Qabristan and Jiroft. He is a native of Tabriz. In 2007, Majidzadeh presented a seminar in Kerman entitled “J ...

(born 1938) Iranian; Jiroft culture (Iran) *

Sadegh Malek Shahmirzadi Sadegh Malek Shahmirzadi ( fa, صادق ملک شهميرزادی) (24 April 1940 - 12 October 2020) was an Iranian archaeologist and anthropologist. Career Shahmirzadi is the author of over 60 research articles and books. Shahmirzadi's book, ' ...

(1940–2020) Iranian; ancient Persia (Iran) * Marjan Mashkour (born 19??) Iranian; zooarchaeology of Europe and the Middle East *

Ezzat Negahban Ezatollah Negahban ( fa, عزت‌الله نگهبان; March 1, 1926 – 2 February 2009) was an Iranian archaeologist known as the father of Iranian modern archaeology. Biography Prof. Ezat O. Negahban was born Ahvaz, Iran. After graduating f ...

(1926–2009) Iranian; Iran * Shahrokh Razmjou (1966) Iranian; Achaemenid Archaeology *

Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is the British Museum's Curator of Middle Eastern coins. She is Joint Director of the International Parthian Coin Project, The Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum (SNP), and Joint Editor of the SNP series. Curtis was born in Tehran ...

(1951) Iranian; the British Museum's Curator of Middle Eastern coins *

Alireza Shapour Shahbazi Alireza Shapour Shahbazi (4 September 1942 Shiraz - 15 July 2006 Walla Walla, Washington'') ('' fa, علیرضا شاپور شهبازی) was a prominent Persian archeologist, archaeologist, Iranology, Iranologist and a world expert on Achaemenid a ...

(1942–2006) Iranian; Iran *

Parviz Varjavand Parviz Varjavand ( fa, پرویز ورجاوند, alao Romanized as "Parviz Varjāvand"; 5 January 1934 – 10 June 2007) was a notable Iranian archaeologist, researcher, university professor and politician who was a prominent member of Iran Natio ...

(1934–2007) Iranian; ancient Iran (Persia)

Archaeological institutions in Iran

* Society for the National Heritage of Iran *

Museum of Ancient Iran The Museum of Ancient Iran is the first Iranian museum and is located at the western part of Mashhq Square in Tehran. A French architect, named André Godard, started the construction of the museum on May 11, 1934 by the order of Reza Shah. The ...

National Museum of Iran The National Museum of Iran ( fa, موزهٔ ملی ایران ) is located in Tehran, Iran. It is an institution formed of two complexes; the Museum of Ancient Iran and the Museum of Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran, which were opened in 1937 ...

* Zagros Paleolithic Museum * Iron Age museum

Archaeological cultures in Iran

Traditional water sources of Persian antiquity Most rivers in Iran are seasonal and have traditionally not been able to supply the needs of urban settlements. Major rivers like the Arvand, Aras, Zayandeh, Sefid and Atrak were few and far between in Persia. With the growth of urban settleme ...

Palaeolithic Era in Iran {{short description, Persian Stone Age The Palaeolithic Era in Iran is the prehistory of Iran in the period from c. 800,000 BCE to c. 11,000 BCE and can be divided into the Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic periods. Low ...

* Bus Mordeh phase * Kura-Araxes culture *

Baradostian culture The Baradostian culture was an Upper Paleolithic flint industry culture found in the Zagros region in the border-country between Iraq and Iran. It was preceded by the Middle Paleolithic Mousterian culture, directly overlying it without an interven ...

Talish-Mugan culture The Mughan culture or the Talish-Mughan culture is an archeological culture of the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age epoch (end of the 2nd – beginning of the 1st millenniums B.C.) in the Mughan plain and the Talysh Mountains in northwest Ir ...

* Trialetian Mesolithic *

Zarzian culture Zarzian culture is an archaeological culture of late Paleolithic and Mesolithic in Southwest Asia. The period of the culture is estimated to have existed about 18,000–8,000 BCE. It was preceded by the Baradostian culture in the same region ...

Gutian people The Guti () or Quti, also known by the derived exonyms Gutians or Guteans, were a nomadic people of West Asia, around the Zagros Mountains (Modern Iran) during ancient times. Their homeland was known as Gutium ( Sumerian: ,''Gu-tu-umki'' or ,''G ...

Jiroft culture The Jiroft cultureOscar White MuscarellaJiroft(2008), in: Encyclopedia Iranica. "For archeological accuracy the terms "Jiroft" or "Jiroft culture" employed to define a specific ancient Iranian culture and its artifacts should only be cited within ...

References

{{Asia topic, Archaeology of

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Archaeology of Iran Archaeological museums in Iran Archaeological cultures in Iran Archaeological discoveries in Iran