Tehran, National Museum

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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 Urartian 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.

100 pictures related to this museum

Tepe Sialk, Early first millennium beak pot (2)	Persepolis, Queen's Quarters, Inscription XPf, Persian text (Tehran copy)	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject spltj3 (OP. Sparda = Lydia)	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject pls (OP. Parsa = Persis)
Persepolis, Hall of 32 Columns, Plaque	Grey ware from Khurvin	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief (Proskynesis scene)	Iranian Azerbaijan, Disk with a deity with two wild animals
Tepe sialk, Jar from the fourth millennium BCE, decorated with ibexes	Susa, Inscription A2Sd	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject 3lm'yn3 (OP. Armina = Armenia)	Hamadan, Achaemenid rhyton
Persepolis, Tripylon, Staircase	Persepolis, Treasury, Weight DWc	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Prince	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject skdy (OP. Sugda = Sogdia)
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject hlhdy (OP. Gandâra = Gandara)	Achaemenid nobleman	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Darius	Susa, Inscription A2Sb
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject m'dy (OP. Mâda = Media)	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject hlw3 (OP. Haraiva = Aria)	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Darius on his throne	Tepe Hesar, Figurine
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject sk3tl3 (OP. Skudra = Thrace)	Persepolis, Tripylon, Lamassu capital	Hellenistic portrait of a queen	Susa, Hellenistic portrait of a Muse
Persepolis, Apadana, Dog's head	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject slng (OP. Zranka = Drangiana)	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Great Magian	Tepe Hisar, Late Bronze Age phial
Persepolis, Apadana, Inscription XPg	Choga Zanbil, Ziggurat, Doorknob (Tehran)	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Pharnaces	Persepolis, Inscription XPh ("Daiva inscription")
Susa, Sassanian portrait	Ardashir II (Hormizd I), coin	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject t3 tjmhw (OE. Tjemehu = Cyrenaica)	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Darius' flower
Susa, Inscription DSy	Susa, Statue of Darius, once erected in Egypt, but later brought to Susa.	Hamadan, Achaemenid cup with relief of a winged lion	Peroz I
Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Guards	Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a lady with flowers	Susa, Statue of Darius the Great, Belt with akinakes	Persepolis, Palace of Darius, Doorknob with inscription DPi
Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief	Susa, Handle of a Parthian coffin	Persepolis, Treasury, Statue of Penelope	Valkash
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject 3Sw3l (Assyria)	Persepolis, Portrait of an Achaemenid woman or beardless prince	Persepolis, Queen's Quarters, Inscription XPf, Babylonian text	Persepolis, Palace of Darius, Relief of a sphinx
Choga Zanbil, Inner Court, Statue of a cow	Susa, Statue of Darius the Great, Base with sema-tawy (front)	Bahram V	Head of a bronze statue of a Parthian prince, found at Shami, Khuzestan
Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Weapon carrier	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Guard, Weight	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject Hgr (Hegra, i.e., Arabia)	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject kmt (OE. Kemet = Egypt)
Sari, Sasanian plate	Amulet of Bes from Iran	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject pltiiw3 (OP. Parthava = Parthia)	hndw3y (OP. Hinduš = India)
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject ch3rs3m' (OP. Uvârazmîy = Chorasmia)	Susa, Inscription A2Sd	Susa, Statue of Darius, Darius' name as cartouche: drjwS	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject '3ylm "Chiefs of Irem" (Elam)
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject t3 nhsy (Kush)	Hamadan, Achaemenid torque	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Guard, "Apple"	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Incense burners
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject m'g (Maka)	Yazdgard I	Iranian Azerbaijan, Stone weight	Hamadan, Sasanian dish
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject sg?shkš (OP Sâka = Scythians)	Tepe Sialk, Cup from the first millennium	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject b3b3l (Babylonia)	Hamadan, Achaemenid statuette of a bull
Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject s3htjl (OP. Bâkhtriš = Bactria)	Susa, Relief of Artabanus IV	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject gdpdk3y (OP. Katpatuka = Cappadocia)	Royal Warrior
Yazdgard II	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Darius' stool	Bahram IV	Susa, Statue of Darius, Subject sdgw3? (OP. Thataguš = Sattagydia)
Damghan, Sasanian relief	Susa, Inscription A2Sb	Persepolis, Apadana, Northern Stairs, Central Relief, Weapon carrier, Akinakes	Susa, Statue of Darius the Great, left-hand side of the base
Susa, Stone fish	Choga Zanbil, Ziggurat, Inner gate, Lock with Inscription	Tepe Sialk, Cup from the fourth millennium decorated with a human figure	Susa, Statue of Darius the Great, Base with sema-tawy (rear)