Tehran, National Museum

I think that one of the problems with modern museums is that they try to evoke some kind of mysterious atmosphere: in poorly-lit rooms, you can see only a couple of objects lying there, beautifully spotlighted, just looking mysterious. The illumination allows you to look at it from one point of view, but not from other angles. Photography is almost impossible. In other words, you cannot study the objects.

I get the impression that museums are now leaving this cul-de-sac, and return to decent displays. The Archaeological Museum of Tehran has never succumbed to ill-directed aestheticism, and this makes it, easily, one of the better museums dedicated to ancient culture.

This does not mean that there are no beautiful objects. The first part, dedicated to the Neolithicum and Bronze Ages, culminates in the pottery from Susa, which is just splendid. Recently, this part has been redesigned; several objects from the important excavations at Jiroft have been inserted, to name but one change.

Passing along a nice sculpture of a bovine from Choga Zanbil, you will reach the Iron Age, where you will find an Assyrian and an Urartaean inscription, and countless small objects. They are interesting, but your attention is drawn by the great relief next to it, from the northern stairs of the Apadana in Persepolis. Next to it, about half-way through the exhibition, is the statue of Darius from Susa (more…). I visited the museum yesterday with an Egyptologist, who was fascinated by the hieroglyphs.

There are some other Achaemenid remains, including several inscriptions (like this one) and some fine art. Here, you will also see a Penelope in wet-drapery style, taken to Persepolis by either Xerxes or Mardonius.

Compared to the Achaemenid age, the Greek, Parthian, and Sasanian ages are a bit underrepresented. From the Greek age is a fine bust of a Muse, from the Parthian age is a splendid bronze statue of a prince (one of the few remaining bronze statues from Antiquity), and from the Sasanian age are the spooky salt men and some mosaics from Bishapur, made by Antiochene artists.

The museum has a treasury that contains precious objects, made of silver and gold, but it is often closed. Asking for permission to get there is futile. In this aspect, the Tehran Museum suffers from the same error as western museums: it creates obstacles for students. I think this is inexcusable. There is simply no reason why a museum should hide its entire collection from people who have made an effort to get there.

This being said, the Tehran museum is really something special. Next to it is the museum of Islamic Art, which has not been open for quite some time; I remember that I liked it very much. Around the corner you will find the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, situated in a building that is inspired by the Persepolis Apadana; and around another corner, you will find a charming museum dedicated to fine art made of glass. If you have only one day in Tehran, spend it in this part of the city.

This museum was visited in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.

95 pictures related to this museum

ch3rs3m' (OP. Uvârazmîy = Chorasmia)	Bahram V, coin	Apadana, dog's head	Inscription DSy
Inner Court, Statue of a cow	Persia's great magian	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, "apple"	sg?shkš (OP Sâka = Scythians)
Statue of Darius the Great, left-hand side of the base	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief	pls (OP. Parsa = Persis)	Pharnaces
Yazdgard II, coin	Tripylon, lamassu	Disk with a deity with two wild animals	gdpdk3y (OP. Katpatuka = Cappadocia)
Persepolis, Palace of Darius, doorknob	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Darius, flower	Darius' name as cartouche: drjwS	pltiiw3 (OP. Parthava = Parthia)
Mosaic of a lady with flowers	Persepolis, Hall of 32 Columns, Plaque	Hellenistic portrait of a queen	Handle of a Parthian coffin
Statue of Darius the Great, base with sema-tawy (front)	s3htjl (OP. Bâkhtriš = Bactria)	m'g (Maka)	kmt (OE. Kemet = Egypt)
Stone fish	Persepolis, Treasury, weight DWc	Inscription XPg	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Weapon carrier
Inscription A2Sd	Sari, Sasanian plate	Relief of Artabanus IV	sk3tl3 (OP. Skudra = Thrace)
Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Guards	Ardashir II (Hormizd I), coin	Tepe Hisar, Late Bronze Age phial	Cup from the first millennium
'3ylm "Chiefs of Irem" (Elam)	Yazdgard I, coin	Statue of Darius the Great, base with sema-tawy (rear)	Damghan, Sasanian relief
Achaemenid woman (or a beardless prince)	Doorknob frotm Choga Zanbil (Tehran)	A sphinx	Early first millennium beak pot
Postern Gate, lock	Valkash, coin	Jar from the fourth millennium BCE	Statue of Darius, once erected in Egypt, but later brought to Susa.
hndw3y (OP. Hinduš = India)	t3 nhsy (Kush)	Tepe Hesar, Figurine	3Sw3l (Assyria)
Statue of Darius the Great, belt	Darius	Persian crown prince	Royal Warrior
Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Incense burners	Grey ware from Khurvin	Bahram IV, coin	slng (OP. Zranka = Drangiana)
XPf, Babylonian text	Statue of Penelope, found in the Treasury of Persepolis	skdy (OP. Sugda = Sogdia)	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Darius, stool
XPf, obverse: the "Harem Inscription"	spltj3 (OP. Sparda = Lydia)	m'dy (OP. Mâda = Media)	The "Daiva inscription" (XPh)
hlhdy (OP. Gandâra = Gandara)	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, the guard's "bag"	Tripylon, staircase	A2Sd
hgr (Arabia	Achaemenid nobleman	A2Sb	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Darius on the throne
Cup from the fourth millennium	b3b3l (Babylonia)	Hamadan, Achaemenid rhyton	3lm'yn3 (OP. Armina = Armenia)
t3 tjmhw (OE. Tjemehu = Cyrenaica)	hlw3 (OP. Haraiva = Aria)	Weight from Azerbaijan	Central Relief of the North Stairs of the Apadana, Persepolis, now in the Archaeological Museum in Tehran (Iran).
Sassanian portrait	Persepolis, Apadana, Central Relief, Weapon carrier, akinakes	A2Sb, inscription	Hellenistic bust of a Muse
Peroz I, coin	sdgw3? (OP. Thataguš = Sattagydia)	Head of a bronze statue of a Parthian prince, found at Shami, Khuzestan