Ancient Iran

Worked metal is one way into this room. Iran’s mineral resources and connections with neighbouring regions supported long histories of making and exchange. Material associated with Luristan sits within a wider display reaching through Achaemenid, Parthian and Sasanian periods. The Oxus Treasure and Cyrus Cylinder are among the gallery’s highlights. They offer different kinds of evidence, one through precious objects and the other through a royal inscription on clay. Keep their particular places and periods in mind rather than treating everything here as the product of one empire. Plaster casts from Persepolis add a view of monumental sculpture. They reproduce carved forms from an ancient royal centre whose original remains are in Iran. More Persepolis casts appear on the East stairs, where the building fragments form part of a different display setting.