Displaced Glory: Archeology and Nationalist Architecture of Twentieth-Century Iran

Displaced Glory:

Archeology and Nationalist Architecture of the 20^th century Iran

During the closing decades of the 19^th century and early decades of the 20^th century Iran has experienced a storm of nationalist sentiments. Informed by the few historical artifacts at hand, limited written and oral history, epics and recent orientalist scholarships about ancient history of Iran, the nationalists called for saving Iran motherland and restoration of its ancient glory. Upon his ascendance to power, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1925-1941) adapted a nationalist rhetoric and supported the project of reviving the ancient dignity of Iran.  Archeology, as a scientific field that helped the recovery of the past gained a special importance, and came under the direct control of the state. It was under his rule that in 1931 the first scientific excavations in Persepolis began under the supervision of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

The emphasis of archeology on the value of material remnants of the past and its special attention to the reconstruction of selective distinct ruins helped materialization of the existing myths of the glorious pre-Islamic period.  The results of archeological excavations in the form of photographs of recovered monuments and reconstructions of the ruined artifacts provided a scientific emblem of the past and contributed to their mass-distribution in newspapers, books and postal cards as elements of national pride.Promoted as symbols of Iranian-ness, these icons became commodities that were used and abused in various realms of art and culture. In the process of vivid re-construction of the past, production and consumption of the past in architectural forms became a means towards extending the ancient glory to the present and future. Between 1933 and 1936 the façade of governmental buildings were adorned with icons borrowed from the latest recovered artifacts at the Persepolis.   

Through examination of selected state-buildings constructed between 1933 and 1936, and their contextualization in the discourse of archeological practice and contemporary discussions of Iranian nationality, heritage, and identity, I illustrate the impact of the unique place of archeology, as a scientific practice, on introduction of certain icons to the nationalistic architecture of this period. Furthermore I argue that appearing on the facades of modern buildings, these icons were dislocated, decontextualized, and stripped of their original meanings; instead they were loaded with an “invented” new meaning that was to glorify the contemporary nation rather than the time period they belonged to.