National Museum of Iran

The National Museum of Iran Tehran

National Museum of Iran

The National Museum of Iran (موزهٔ ملی ایران) in Tehran opened in 1937. The National Museum was Iran's very first museum and houses Iran's foremost collection of archaeological and cultural treasures.

In all, the National Museum of Iran has over 300,000 exhibits.

The National Museum of Iran comprises two institutions in separate buildings: the Museum of Ancient Iran and the later Museum of the Islamic Era.

The Museum of Ancient Iran was designed (and until 1960, also curated) by the French archaeologist and architect Andre Godard. The two-floor building was built to resemble the palace of Ardeshir I in Firuzabad and the red brick entranceway and dome are reminiscent of the Sassanid and Arsakid styles.

The main building houses a collection of artefacts from prehistoric Iran to the end of the Sassanid period, including pottery dating from before 10,00BC, Elamite artefacts discovered at Susa and Chogha Zambil and a wealth of Achaemenid period decorations from Persepolis. A copy of the stela carved with Hammurabi's Laws serves as a reminder that the original, now in the Louvre, was discovered in Iran.

A rather bizarre exhibit is The Salt Man, discovered in Zanjan, which is the head and foot of a salt miner who died in the 3rd or 4th century CE and whose remains have been preserved by the salt in which he was working.

National Museum of Iran, Tehran. — Museum of Ancient Iran, Tehran

Museum of the Islamic Era

An extension built in 1997 houses treasures from the early years of the Islamic era to the present. At the heart of the collection are handwritten copies of the Holy Quran displayed in an atmosphere of quiet reverence and spirituality along with other complementary elements of a mosque, such as an altar prayer chamber.

Other handwritten books include the poetic works of Ferdowsi, Nezami Sadi and Hafez. The uppers floors of the building chart the flourishing of Iranian art in fields such as pottery, glassware, miniature painting, carpets, metal engravings, textiles and calligraphy.

The National Museum of Iran also hosts temporary exhibitions.

Access

National Museum of Iran (in Farsi)
Emam Khomeini Avenue
30 Si-e-Tir Street, Tehran
Tel: 021 6670 2052
Hours: 9am-6.45pm

Imam Khomeini Station on lines 1 and 2 of the Tehran metro is a short walk from the National Museum of Iran as is Hasan Abad Station on Line 2. The National Museum is close to the Golestan Palace, which is south east of the National Museum across City Park.