Tehran, National Museum

Q1631008

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

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