Iran National Museum

Iran National Museum

 

Majestic and magnificent, the memory of time immemorial, sits hand in hand with the moments Persian history began, shining in every corner under the impressive roof of the National Museum of Iran. From the legendary lures of the Stone Age to the dawn of Modernism, The Ancient Museum hosts Iran’s culture, identity, and genuine self. A stylistic monument that artistically reflects the ethos of its invaluable objects. From the very stunning ruby entrance vault inspired by the legacy of the Sassanid Empire and the Palace arch in Tisophon to an amazing crystal piece that dates back more than a million years, The Mother” museum of Iran acts as a symbolic heritage that silently and mysteriously triggers the mentality of all the visitors to initiate meanings. The marble inscription above the very entrance arch marks the imaginative taste of the Iranian talent simultaneously incorporating “science and mysticism” as the great Persian poet Mohammad-Taqi Bahar quotes.

 

The red-brick edifice is the first building of the complex that offers the Paleolithic heritage belonging to the 4th century BC. While entering this two-story construction, the section that would marvelously attract the viewers is the second level where human and animal clay figures and the protected ancient ceramics bring the visitors to the heart of the exalted Pre-historic Iran. This is while the first floor reveals the formation and centralization of the historic phase of civilization.

 

Notably, what we might consider the advent of literacy and the script culture, together with the emergence of the art of painting from the fourth millennium to the end of the Sassanid period is the eye-catching view of the first floor. Surprisingly, the first example of animation work in the world also sits here. Astonishingly, the artifacts belonging to the Middle-Paleolithic era related to the existence of Neanderthal humans in the plateau of Iran can be also found here. The life-size statue of Darius the great, busts of the great Persian kings, and a mummy of a Salty Man, together with a clay statue of a female figure named Venus, are among the rare treasure of this section of the construction. The glamorous madder red clay bowls that date back to the fifth millennium BC do beguile the enthusiasm of the eager onlookers.

 

Wonderfully, there are four men painted on one of the pots with the ascending arms dancing in a ritual-like posture. This area of the museum invites the observers to set up a journey to the heart of Iran’s ancient civility where the Homo sapiens appeared during the Paleolithic period. The oldest cutting tools affirm the emerging and growing urban culture of Lan in this very period.

 

Interestingly, the second wing of the complex focuses on the Islamic collections. Its octagonal body is reminiscent of the elegance of the Sassanid style. Seven colorful halls which anchor the early period of the Islamic era are in the neighborhood of the galleries embracing the ingenuity of the Seljuks and the Ilkhanid periods collected in hundred and seventeen shelves. Exceptionally, the Qurans that the visitants would see here are the ones written on the skins of the deer. The vibrant textiles of Isfahan, the golden royal cups and plates, the antique manuscripts like that of the renowned Persian poet Nizami, the Persian blue ceramics, Teymoori miniatures, Safavid golden rugs, Paintings belonging both to Zand and Qajar dynasties, mirror and inlay arts, are among the rich reserve of this floor.

 

Besides this section, a precious library with exceptional stone manuscripts on archaeology acts as a grand epic aiming at the quest for the genuine heroic spirit of a prominent nation. More than the pompous grandeur of the archaeological pieces, Persian love, and romance are also generously offered to the sightseers in the dazzling front yard of the museum with a blue-tiled pond around which galleries of handicrafts take the spectators back to the cradle of civilization.

 

The journey to this spectacular collection is a journey to the origin of passion, enthusiasm, excitement, and integrity of Iranian perception that has been continuous with the Iranian generation and sounds consistently alive and endless. It sounds as if the Iranian phoenix (Simorgh) flies everywhere in this mythical corner, floating around the engraved piece of the public feast of Persepolis, soaring proudly above the law code Molage of King Hammurabi, three thousand years Marlik cup of the royal hills, and finally turning round the majesty of the Bronze soldier statue of the Ilami dynasty and regally lands on the silvery shoulders of the bust of Cyrus’s daughter. The outside narrow windows of the sidewalls of the building create a rhythmic melody of light that bestows a mystic atmosphere of faith and focal devotion to the illustrious items that serenely sing the song of Persian music. What exactly stands in front of the visitors, is a set of stairs that symbolically suggest the transcending soul of Iranian essence.

 

The iron-age gold cup, the Paleolithic chopper, the clay boar figurine of the Neolithic era, the clay figure of the fertility goddess, the Elemite bull statue, the butt of the Parthian queen and nobleman, the Persepolis mastiff statue, the statue of the Darius I, and the watercolor painting of the Qajaar period, pottery vessels, metal objects, textile remains, and some rare books and coins are samples of the rich heritage of Lan plateau gathered together in the greatest and oldest museum of the Capital.

 

Just decide to visit Tehran and include the museum tour that is located in the very center of the traditional site of the city. Enjoy the beauty of its vicinity, the art of its expert French architect André Godard and Maxime Siroux, and the dream-like ambiance that smells like history itself. Taking a walk to the Grand Bazar of Tehran in the neighborhood of the museum would end your journey in an aromatic experience that speaks of Iran s Rose and Saffron Gardens with the colorful rugs and spices that animate the memory of Shahrzad’s Thousands and One Night. Just look at the traditional restaurants around the museum and sit to sense the unforgettable taste of Persian rice and all other types of Persian cuisines. The journey that already got started by looking at the signs of Persian art, poetry, and craftsmanship would end in forming a hypnotized sensibility triggered by the higher force of Iranian culture that functions as a coded stage of Persian theatre with the roles acted by every single object coming from different historical epochs.

 

Iran National Museum in one word shows an exterior that truthfully reflects the inner contents. Every bystander would astonishingly ask this question himself what is there that made this place look so beautiful? Whether this is because of the architecture? Its items? Its location? Or all of these factors together? But the specific charm that draws the viewers is not because of the breathtaking visual grace of the spot, it comes rather from the mesmerizing truth of the fanciful existence of Iran which has only lent a piece of its supreme magnanimity to the National Museum in Tehran which acts as the symbolic heritage and a mnemonic of the nation’s self-image.