Many antiquities and treasures of the glorious civilization of Iran are exhibited in the most famous museums, all over the world. In this series of articles Iranian civilization, culture and artworks exhibited in other countries are named and introduced.
The British Museum has always been considered one of the most important and richest museum in the world. This museum, which has nearly 7 million monuments and antiquities, is a treasure trove of the world’s most valuable antiquities of different civilizations.
Among the 94 halls at the British Museum that display worldwide works, Room 52, with nearly 13,000 Iranian antiquities, is one of the museum’s most important halls for its audience. So much so that by referring to the main site of this museum and introducing each of these rooms, we come across this headline: “Room 52: Iran, main center of ancient culture”.
The museum website describes the room as follows: “Iran was rich in valuable natural resources, especially metals, and played an important role in the development of civilization and trade in the ancient Middle East. Room 52 attempts to show these ancient connections and the development of local and distinctive cultures of this region, just like the culture of Lorestan around 1400 BC.”
“In the sixth century BC, Cyrus the Great founded a powerful Persian empire that eventually spread from Egypt to Pakistan,” the site notes. Objects on display from this period include the Cyrus Cylinder and the Amu Darya Treasure (Oxus). “Also, various clay and gypsum statues and tablets from Persepolis are displayed in Room 52 and on the eastern stairs of the museum.”
The museum finally explains: “The later periods of the Parthian and Sassanid empires revived Iranian culture. The unique antiquities of this period are also exhibited in silver and glass vessels.”
The presence of genius works such as the Cyrus Cylinder, the Golden Treasure of the Amu Darya, the silver plates of Sassanid musicians and dancers, the golden bracelets of Homa the goat and the bird, the golden chariot of four horses, the Sassanid silver cups, a lithograph about the destruction of Susa, and thousands of invaluable artifacts in this museum are just a small part of the antiquities, which according to the museum itself, were brought to the museum with the help of famous archeologists and orientalists to the museum, like “Ernst Herzfeld,” “Friedrich Krafter,” “Aurel Stein,” “Sir Gore Ouseley” have taken out of Iran, either directly or through dealers.
Finally, a simple glance at the great museums of the world such as the Louvre, the British Museum, the Armitage Museum, the Berlin Museum, the New York Museum, and many books of world history and civilization proves that the role of Iranian culture and art in the memory of world history and civilization is undeniable.
Cyrus Cylinder, or Cyrus Charter, is a baked clay tablet written in 538 BC by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenids. Excerpts from another copy of the cylinder’s text on two pieces of clay tablets have recently been identified in the British Museum’s Babylonian Collection, which is a remnant of an archived version of the same cylinder. The first half of this tablet is written in the language of the Babylonian chronicles, and the last half is written in the language and words of Cyrus in Akkadian (New Babylonian) cuneiform. The cylinder was found in 1258 A.D./1879 AD in the shrine of Agile (Temple of Marduk, the great Babylonian god) in ancient Babylon and is housed in the British Museum in London. The secretary and writer who copied the text of Cyrus’ cylinder were Marduk, but the secretary’s name who wrote the original text is not clear.
The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered by Hormozd Rassam in March 1879 during his excavations in Babylon on a hill called Imran. It was later revealed that the north of the hill is the site of the Temple of Egil, but since it was buried underground at the time, it is not clear how far the cylinder was found from the temple, but it is thought that the cylinder was found in the middle of a huge wall, south of Imran. This point plus the shape of the cylindrical shape of the clay cylinder shows that this cylinder was placed inside a wall as a prefabricated cylinder. In Iran, this cylinder was first translated from Akkadian to Persian by Professor Abdul Majid Arfaee.
The gold chariot drawn by four horses; this antiquity is one of the antiquities of the Achaemenid period found in the treasures of Amu Darya. This relic is the four-horse chariot, ridden by two men in Achaemenid clothes.
For this chariot and other relics of Jeyhun’s treasure, the date of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE has been suggested, when the mighty Achaemenid kingdom raised its flag over lands from the Indus Valley to the Nile. Treasures along the Oxus River in present-day Tajikistan are believed to be part of the ancient Takt-e Quwad Hill (Ghobad), a passage on the northern shores of the river, have been found between 1877 and 1880 AD, in unscientific excavations. Many relics may have been scattered or even melted. It is believed that the relics belong to a place of worship in the Achaemenid era and were taken to that place by the people of the region as offerings or vows. This collection was first displayed in 1900 AD in the golden jewelry hall of the British Museum.
Golden lion bracelet: This bracelet is one of the ancient relics of the Achaemenid period. This bracelet is adorned with two lion cubs standing symmetrically facing each other. The golden lion bracelet of Achaemenid era had precious stones and jewels on it which have been removed. This bracelet is one of the hundreds of remnants of the Amu Darya treasure.
For these antiquities, the history of the fifth and fourth centuries BC is suggested, when the powerful Achaemenid kingdom raised its flag over lands from the Indus Valley to the Nile River. The treasure is found along the Oxus River in current Tajikistan, from the ancient Takht-e Qowad hill.
Griffin is considered to be one of the important examples of the art and style of ancient East. It seems that at first, these shapes were made by Egyptians and after them the people of Mesopotamia, Ilam and West Iran have carved it on their musical instruments. The eagle and the lion each had magical powers and ruled their territory. When combined, they became an invincible sanctuary for shrines with different names and characteristics in each ancient culture.
The lithograph of the destruction of Susa or the Assyrian lithograph of Banipal is one of the ancient monuments written on the occasion of the Assyrian conquest of the Elamites in 647 BC. In this relief, the Assyrian troops are destroying the temple with a double-edged pickaxe, and flames are also rising from the city of Susa. Several Assyrian soldiers are also extracting its treasures. This artifact is housed in the British Museum in London.
A part of the Assyrian inscription of Banipal, written on the occasion of the destruction of the city of Susa, reads: “I conquered the great and holy city of Susa, by the will of the gods of Assyria. I entered the temples of Susa and plundered all that was made or gold, silver and other precious material. I destroyed all the temples of Ilam, turned the city of Susa into ruin, and spattered salt on its land. I took all the girls and women captive. From now on, no one will hear the joy of the people and the hooves of horses in Ilam.”
