Artifacts

Massive gold armlet from the Oxus Treasure, with terminals in the form of winged griffins originally inlaid with glass and colored stones.

Sumptuous golden drinking cup from the Achaemenian period, found in Hamadan Ornamented with a stylized winged lion.

Drinking cup from Achaemenian period

Cuneiform script, gold tablet discovered by German Architect Freidrich Krefter, Apadana Palace Pesepolis, 1933. Inscribed in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian, it identifies Darius I as the builder of Apadana.

Fluted bowl, Achaemenid, reign of Darius I or II, 522–486 B.C. or 432–405 B.C.

Amphora silver, used for wine at banquets. This is like the one carried by the Armenian delegate at Apadana wall relief

Gold Belt Buckle Achaemenid

Historical Places

Apadana, PerspolisPersepolis was burned by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. Only the columns, stairways, and door jambs of its great palaces survived the fire. The stairways, adorned with reliefs representing the king, his court, and delegates of his empire bringing gifts, demonstrate the might of the Persian monarch.

Persepolis was burned by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. Only the columns, stairways, and door jambs of its great palaces survived the fire. The stairways, adorned with reliefs representing the king, his court, and delegates of his empire bringing gifts, demonstrate the might of the Persian monarch.

Apadana, Persepolis

Persepolis, stairs to the palace

Persepolis

Reliefs, Palace of Darius I

Darius on his throne with the crown prince Xerxes, Persepolis

Reliefs depicting representatives of the 28 nations of the Persian Empire

Tomb of Ardeshir II ‘Artaxerxes II’

Making offerings, Eastern Apadana Staircase

Cyrus the Great
(559-529 BC)
( Kourosh in Persian )
This is a replica of a Bas-Relief found in Pasargade, the capital city of Persia founded by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the Great was the first Achaemenian Emperor. He founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian Tribes- the Medes and the Persians. Although he was known to be a great conqueror, who at one point controlled one of the greatest Empires ever seen, he is best remembered for his unprecedented tolerance and magnanimous attitude towards those he defeated.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great

Darius the Great
(521-486 BC)

Tomb of Darius the Great

Darius I (the Great), ruled 521-486 BCE. The empire of Darius the Great extended from Egypt in the west to the Indus River in the east thus earning the title Darius the Great. The major satrapies or provinces of his Empire were connected to the center at Persepolis, in the Fars Province of present-day Iran. The Royal Road connected 111 stations to each other.

Nader Shah (King Nader), the founder of Afshar dynasty, ruled from 1736 - 1747 A.D. Nader Shah’s tomb and museum is located in a beautiful garden setting at the heart of the city of Mashhad in Khorasan providence. It is a major tourist attraction and is located less than a mile north of Imam Reza’s Haram (Shrine) at a major intersection.

The Citadel of Karim Khan (Arg Karimkhani), Shiraz

Shiraz’s other key monuments are located on the south bank of the Khoshk River. The imposing citadel of Karim Khan with its four circular towers dominates the city center. This well-preserved fortress was part of the royal courtyard in the time of the Zand dynasty. Today, it houses the municipal offices and is not open to visitors.

Bam Citadel “Arge Bam”, Bam

Once a famous citadel and a strategic stronghold, the old Bam has been built on a huge rock mass at the northeast of the living town, and is a city mounded in the red clay of the Great Iranian Desert, Dashte Kavir. It is called “Arge Bam” meaning Bain Citadel. It is located southeast of the city of Kerman. It consisting of two parts. It is similar to a large medieval European castle, except that the material is not stone but brick. It is surrounded by a more than three kilometer long crenellated wall supported by dozens of towers for the defense of the town.

Shahyad Monument, Tehran

Shahyad Monument was the symbol of the country’s revival. The Shahyad Tower was a striking national monument and audio-visual theatre complex. Its name: Shah (king) and Yad (remembrance) was intended to remind coming generations of the achievements of modern Iran under the Pahlavi Dynasty. Hossein Amanat was the young architect with a few months after completing his architectural studies at the University of Tehran. He succeeded in arousing the interest of a famous research company and was awarded the first prize in the competition for the decoration of the Shahyad Square

Shahyad Monument during construction

Gonbad Kavoos

Pole Khajoo, “Khajoo Bridge”, Esfehan (built during Safavi period)

Khajoo Bridge plan

Chehel Sotoon “Forty Pillars”, Esfehan (built during Safavi period)

This great Savavid Palace was one of nearly 300 built in Isfahan when it was the capital of Iran. It was largely completed under Shah Abbas II (1642-1667), although work may have started on the palace as early as 1598, and is said to derive its name from the pillars which dominate the verandah.

Mount. Damavand near Tehran, Iran

The ever graceful Mount Damavand is the only Iranian symbol free from the constraints of history and ideology. Empires, governments and tribes have come and gone. Religions have fallen in and out of favor. And amidst all this social instability, Damavand, has been a tower of stability and constancy for Iran and all Iranians.