Museum Of Islamic Archaeology And Art Of Iran
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The National Museum of Iran ( fa, موزهٔ ملی ایران ) is located in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. 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 and 1972, respectively. The institution hosts historical monuments dating back through preserved ancient and medieval Iranian antiquities, including pottery vessels, metal objects, textile remains, and some rare books and coins."Otraq.com, Iran's Tourism Guide"
It also includes a number of research departments, categorized by different historical periods and archaeological topics.


History

The brick building of the Museum of Ancient Iran was designed by French architects
André Godard André Godard (21 January 1881 – 31 July 1965) was an archaeologist, architect and historian of French and Middle Eastern Art. He served as the director of the Iranian Archeological Service for many years. Life Godard was born in Chaumont. ...
and
Maxime Siroux Maxime Siroux (25 October 1907 – 26 January 1975) was a French architect and archaeologist. He worked with Andre Godard in Iran for many years. The design of the Tomb of Hafez The Tomb of Hafez (Persian: آرامگاه حافظ), commonly kno ...
in the early 20th century, and was influenced by
Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
vaults, particularly the
Taq Kasra Tāq Kasrā ( ar, طاق كسرى, translit=ṭāq kisrā), also transcribed as ''Taq-i Kisra'' or ''Taq-e Kesra'' ( fa, طاق کسری, romanized: ''tâğe kasrâ'') or Ayvān-e Kesrā ( fa, ایوان خسرو, translit=Eivâne Xosrow, links=, ...
at
Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...
. Its construction, with an area of about , began in 1935 and was completed within two years by Abbas Ali Memar and Morad Tabrizi. It was then officially inaugurated in 1937.Nokandeh, Jebrael (ed.) 2019. A Survey of the History of Iran on the Basis of Iran National Museum Collections, Second edition, Iran National Museum with the contribution of Baloot Noghrei Institute, Tehran The
Museum of the Islamic Era The Museum of the Islamic Era ( fa, موزه دوران اسلامی) is one of the museums of the National Museum of Iran, located near of Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran, Iran. Most of the objects in this museum are selected from the works of s ...
was later built with white
travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
on the grassy grounds of the Museum of Ancient Iran. Firouz Bagherzadeh, director of the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, hold a series of symposiums on Iranian archaeology in this building. It has gone through quite a few hasty interior changes, and was still being remodeled when the
1979 Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
swept the country. While the Museum of Ancient Iran always had a clear mandate to show archaeological relics, as well as some rare medieval textiles and rug pieces, the newer complex began to also feature the exquisite Amlash pottery from prehistoric
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
regions of Iran. This followed some modern works, and the repeated gutting and remodeling of the interior. The Museum of Ancient Iran consists of two floors. Its halls contain artifacts and fossils from the Lower, Middle, and Upper
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
, as well as the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
,
Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and  ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
, early and late
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, and
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
s I-III, through the
Median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
,
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
,
Seleucid The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
,
Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
, and
Sassanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
eras. The newer complex consists of three floors. It contains various pieces of pottery, textiles, texts, artworks, astrolabes, and adobe
calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
, from Iran's
post-classical era In world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade ...
.


Ancient Iran Museum

The permanent exhibition covers a surface area of some 4,800 square meters on two floors and a basement, containing selected artifacts in chronological order, from the Lower Paleolithic period (ca. 1,000,000 years ago) to the end of Sasanian times (651 CE). The first-floor galleries contain prehistoric objects including Paleolithic, Epipaleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic artifacts. The ground floor galleries contain historic objects including Bronze Age, Elamite, Iron Age, Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanian artifacts The oldest artifacts kept at the museum are from
Kashafrud Kashafrud Basin(کشف‌رود) is an archaeological site in Iran, known for the Lower Palaeolithic artifacts collected there; these are the oldest-known evidence for human occupation of Iran. Kashafrud includes a cluster of sites which are lo ...
, Darband, and Shiwatoo, which date back to the
Lower Paleolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in ...
period.
Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
stone tools made by
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...
s are also on display at the first hall of the Museum of Ancient Iran. The most important Upper Paleolithic tools are from
Yafteh Yafteh is an Upper Paleolithic cave located at the foot of Yafteh Mountain in the Zagros Mountains range, located northwest of Khoramabad in western Zagros, Lorestan Province of western Iran. Description Yafteh has yielded the largest number of ...
, dating back about 30,000 to 35,000 years. The Paleolithic personal ornaments, clay, and human figurines from the early village communities such as 9,000-year-old human and animal figurines from Sarab mound in
Kermanshah Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
, the earliest evidence of administrative technology and writing from the 4th millennium BC, Persepolis stone reliefs and capitals, Parthian life-size bronze statue of the "Shami Man", the natural mummy of a man called "Salt Man", are among the important objects in the museum.


Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran

The Museum of Islamic Archaeology and Art of Iran covers some 4000 square meters with three floors is a part of the National Museum of Iran. Its octagonal plan is inspired by the Sasanid palace at Bishāpur. The museum building was designed by architect Eugene Aftandilian, and its construction began in the 1940s and was completed in the 1950s. The building was initially used as an ethnography museum and for temporary exhibitions. After a period of renovation, the building was reopened in 1996 as the Museum of the Islamic Era. In the summer of 2006, another phase of restoration and reconstruction began, and the new museum was reopened in 2015. The ground floor is designated as the auditorium and the temporary exhibitions hall. The Islamic artifacts are on display chronologically on the first and second floors. The second floor contains the early Islamic, Seljuq, and Ilkhanid periods and the first floor houses the holy Qurān hall, and artifacts of the Timurid, Safavid, Afshār, Zand and Qajar periods.


Exhibitions

The ground floor of the newer complex has been dedicated to contemporary exhibitions. Temporary exhibition galleries are featured two or three times annually and usually run for about one to two months. One of the most successful exhibitions, entitled ''Evidence for Two Hundred Thousand Years of Human-Animal Bonds in Iran'', ran from August to October 2014."The Guardian's report about exhibition"
/ref> The exhibition was mainly about the relation and coexistence of past human societies and various animal species in Iran, since the late Lower Paleolithic to modern decades.


Departments


Gallery

File:Iran Bastan Museum, National Museum of Iran, Tehran.jpg, Museum of Ancient Iran, part of the National Museum of Iran. File:Chart-NMI-English -.jpg, Organizational chart of National Museum of Iran File:Teheran entree musee national.jpg, The entrance of the Museum of Ancient Iran, part of the National Museum of Iran. File:Museum of Islamic Art and Archaeology of Iran, National Museum of Iran.jpg,
Museum of the Islamic Era The Museum of the Islamic Era ( fa, موزه دوران اسلامی) is one of the museums of the National Museum of Iran, located near of Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran, Iran. Most of the objects in this museum are selected from the works of s ...
, part of the National Museum of Iran. File:Marlik cup iran.jpg, An Iron-Age gold cup from Marlik, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Marlik, Iron Age, Gilan, National Museum of Iran.jpg, An Iron-Age animal statue from Marlik, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Chopper, Kashafrud, Iran, Lower Paleolithic, National Museum of Iran.jpg, A chopper from the Lower Paleolithic, found at
Kashafrud Kashafrud Basin(کشف‌رود) is an archaeological site in Iran, known for the Lower Palaeolithic artifacts collected there; these are the oldest-known evidence for human occupation of Iran. Kashafrud includes a cluster of sites which are lo ...
, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Biface (trihedral) Amar Merdeg, Mehran, Ilam, Lower Paleolithic, National Museum of Iran.jpg, A trihedral from the Lower Paleolithic, found at Amar Merdeg, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Boar, clay figurine, Neolithic Period, Sarab, National museum of Iran.jpg, A clay boar figurine from the Neolithic period, found at Tepe Sarab, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:31756-Tehran (8012466233).jpg, The
Saltmen The Saltmen (Persian: مردم نمک mardom-e namak) were discovered in the Chehrabad salt mines, located on the southern part of the Hamzehlu village, on the west side of the city of Zanjan, in the Zanjan Province in Iran. By 2010, the rema ...
, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Clay human figurine (Fertility goddess) Tappeh Sarab, Kermanshah ca. 7000-6100 BCE Neolithic period, National Museum of Iran.jpg, A clay figurine of a fertility goddess found at Tepe Sarab, dating back to the Neolithic, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Chlorite object Jiroft, Kerman ca. 2500 BCE, Bronze Age I, National Museum of Iran.jpg, A chlorite object with the Master of Animals motif from Kerman's
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 ...
, dating back to Bronze Age I, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Bull with elamite inscription - Late 2nd millen BC - National museum of Iran - inventory number 3213.JPG, An
Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
ite bull statue, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:National Museum of Iran Darafsh (1176).JPG, The Statue of
Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
queen
Thermusa Musa (also spelled Mousa), also known as Thea Musa, was a ruling queen of the Parthian Empire from 2 BC to 4 AD. Originally an Italian slave-girl, she was given as a gift to the Parthian monarch Phraates IV () by the Roman Emperor Augustus (). Sh ...
, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (59).JPG, The statue of a Parthian nobleman, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Persepolis - statue of a mastiff.jpg, A Persepolitan mastiff statue, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (45).JPG, The statue of Darius I, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Sassanid nobleman, Hajiabad, Fars, Iran, National Museum of Iran.jpg, A statue of a
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
nobleman from
Hajjiabad, Fars Hajjiabad ( fa, حاجي آباد, also Romanized as Ḩājjīābād and Hājīābād) is a city and capital of Zarrin Dasht County, Fars Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is ...
, kept at the Museum of Ancient Iran. File:Ceramic bowl decorated with slip beneath a transparent glaze and designed by anthropic figure with bull head Golestan, Gorgan 9th century CE, Early Islamic period.jpg, A 9th-century ceramic bowl from Gorgan, decorated with slip beneath a transparent glaze, designing an anthropic figure with bull head, kept at the
Museum of the Islamic Era The Museum of the Islamic Era ( fa, موزه دوران اسلامی) is one of the museums of the National Museum of Iran, located near of Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran, Iran. Most of the objects in this museum are selected from the works of s ...
. File:Khalyan iran national museum.jpg, A 19th-century
hookah A hookah (Hindustani language, Hindustani: (Nastaleeq), (Devanagari), IPA: ; also see #Names and etymology, other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco ...
, kept at the
Museum of the Islamic Era The Museum of the Islamic Era ( fa, موزه دوران اسلامی) is one of the museums of the National Museum of Iran, located near of Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran, Iran. Most of the objects in this museum are selected from the works of s ...
. File:Seljuq gallery, Museum of Islamic Art and Archaeology of Iran.jpg, The Seljuq Gallery of the
Museum of the Islamic Era The Museum of the Islamic Era ( fa, موزه دوران اسلامی) is one of the museums of the National Museum of Iran, located near of Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran, Iran. Most of the objects in this museum are selected from the works of s ...
. File:Watercolor painting Signed by Abu al-Hassan Qaffari (Sani al-molk) 18th century CE, Qajar period, National Museum of Iran.jpg, An 18th-century watercolor painting signed by Abol-Hasan Qaffari (Sani-ol-Molk), from the Qajar period, kept at the
Museum of the Islamic Era The Museum of the Islamic Era ( fa, موزه دوران اسلامی) is one of the museums of the National Museum of Iran, located near of Imam Khomeini Square, Tehran, Iran. Most of the objects in this museum are selected from the works of s ...
.


See also

*
Reza Abbasi Museum The Reza Abbasi Museum (Persian: موزه رضا عباسی ) is a museum in Tehran, Iran. It is located in Seyed Khandan.http://www.allmuseums.com/english/reza_abbasi_museum.html The museum is named after Reza Abbasi, one of the artists in the Sa ...
*
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, ( Persian: موزه هنرهای معاصر تهران), also known as TMoCA, is among the largest art museums in Tehran and Iran. It has collections of more than 3,000 items that include 19th and 20th centur ...
*
List of museums in Iran This is a list of museums in Iran. See also * Tourism in Iran * History of Iran * Culture of Iran * List of museums * List of museums in Tehran References {{Asia topic, List of museums in Museums Museums Iran Museums Iran Ir ...


References


External links


Official website of Iran National Museum

Official website of Journal of Iran National Museum


* Virtual Tour of Iran National Museum

* Virtual Tour of Iran National Museum

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum Of Iran Museums in Iran Museums established in 1937 Museums in Tehran Cultural infrastructure completed in 1937 * Architecture in Iran Museums of Ancient Near East in Asia Islamic museums Archaeological museums in Iran