National Museum of Iran

What it is

The National Museum of Iran is Iran's principal and largest archaeology museum. It stands on 30 Tir (Si-e Tir) Street, off Imam Khomeini Street, in central Tehran, within Tehran Province.

The museum is made up of two separate buildings on a single campus. The older of the two is the Museum of Ancient Iran (Muze-ye Iran-e Bastan), a brick building covering prehistory through the pre-Islamic Sasanian era. The newer is the Museum of the Islamic Era, a white-travertine building displaying post-Islamic-conquest art and artifacts.

According to figures published by Wikipedia, the institution holds over 3 million objects in total, with roughly 300,000 on display. These figures come primarily from a single source and were not independently corroborated, so treat them as indicative rather than exact.

History and significance

The Museum of Ancient Iran was designed by the French architect Andre Godard, with Maxime Siroux. Construction began in 1935 and the building was completed and inaugurated in 1937, the year the museum was established. The building covers about 11,000 square metres.

Its design is Sasanian-inspired brickwork, and its entrance arch is modeled on the Taq Kasra, the Arch of Ctesiphon. The later Museum of the Islamic Era building is faced in white travertine, with an octagonal and cruciform entrance inspired by Bishapur.

What to see

The Museum of Ancient Iran presents material spanning prehistory to the Sasanian era. The Museum of the Islamic Era displays post-conquest art and artifacts, including pottery, textiles, manuscripts, calligraphy, and astrolabes, across several dynasties: the Ilkhanid, Seljuk, Timurid, Safavid, and Qajar periods.

Signature exhibits include:

• The Salt Man (Salt Man No. 1, comprising a head and left foot), a naturally mummified miner recovered from the Chehrabad salt mine in Zanjan and dated to the Sasanian era, roughly 1,700 years old.
• Achaemenid material from Persepolis, including stone reliefs and administrative tablets.
• A major collection of Luristan (Lurestan) bronzes, including items from the Mohsen Foroughi collection.

Other notable pieces include the statue of Darius the Great, from Susa; a Parthian bronze prince statue about 194 centimetres tall; Marlik gold work and animal-form cups; Bishapur mosaics; and a plaster cast of the Code of Hammurabi.

The present display status of individual items can change. Whether specific objects such as the Salt Man, the Darius statue, or particular Persepolis tablets are on view at the time of your visit was not verified, so check on arrival.

How to visit

The museum is generally open daily from 9:00. As of June 2026, opening hours could not be pinned down precisely: sources variously cite 9:00 to 17:00 year-round, and longer hours (such as 9:00 to 19:00 or later) in spring and summer with shorter winter hours, plus reduced hours on Fridays and holidays. Confirm current hours directly with the museum before visiting.

The foreign-visitor ticket was reported at about 1,000,000 rials (100,000 tomans), roughly US$7, as of June 2026. Some sources cite higher figures, and ticket prices change frequently with Iran's currency fluctuations, so confirm the current rate on arrival or via the official site.

Allow roughly 1.5 to 2 hours to see both buildings. Photography is permitted without flash.

Getting there

The museum is on 30 Tir (Si-e Tir) Street, near the Imam Khomeini metro station in central Tehran. 30 Tir Street is part of the city centre and has a pedestrian section.

Nearby

The museum stands on 30 Tir (Si-e Tir) Street, off Imam Khomeini Street, in central Tehran, among other institutions in this part of the city.