Iran National Museum
The Iran national museum located in Tehran, Iran. The National Museum of Iran is one of the must see Tourist sights in Tehran, This museum is the combination of two museums, the old Muze-ye Iran-e Bastan (“Archaeological Museum of Iran”, a break, Sasanian revival building designed by André Godard and inaugurated in 1937), The second structure, built on the grassy grounds of the old Archaeological Museum, went through quite a few, and hasty changes of the interior, and was still being remodeled when the Islamic Revolution swept the country in 1979.
Subjects inside the Iran national museum
The oldest artefact in the museum are from Kashafrud, Darband and Ganj Par, sites that date back to the Lower Paleolithic period. Mousterian stone tools made by Neanderthals are also on display in the first hall. The most important Upper Paleolithic tools are from the Yafteh Cave, dating back approximately 30,000-35,000 years. There are also 9,000 year old human and animal figurines from Teppe Sarab in Kermanshah Province among the many other ancient artifacts.
Among the finds from Shush , there’s a stone capital of a winged lion, some delightful pitchers and vessels in animal shapes, and colourful glazed bricks decorated with double-winged mythical creatures. A copy of the diarite stele detailing the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, found at Shush in 1901, is also displayed – the original being in Paris.
Exhibits from Persepolis include a magnificent human-headed capital; a cuneiform inscription proclaiming the might and godly affinity of Xerxes; and a striking frieze of glazed tiles from the central hall of the Apadana Palace. Also on display are a famous trilingual inscription from the time of Darius I; a bull-headed capital and carved staircase; a statue of a sitting dog that looks like it was carved just weeks ago; and four foundation tablets inscribed in cuneiform.
One of the more startling exhibits is the Salt Man from Zanjan. He’s thought to have been a miner who died in the 3rd or 4th century AD, but whose white-bearded head, leg in a leather boot and tools were preserved by the salt in which he was buried. More comical is a bronze statue Parthian prince ‘Shami’ found in Khuzestan, whose cheesy moustache looks out from a head obviously made separately from the much larger body. Look also for the impressive selection of Lorestan bronzes , dating back to the 8th century BC.