Bridge Labs · Lab 002
Persia, a Museum of Materials
Five thousand years, twelve halls. Each hall is built from the material of its age.
Scroll to climb through time: the oldest layer comes first, and every layer brings you closer to today.
Hall 1 · The Iranian Plateau · c. 3200–2000 BC
Painted Clay
گِلِ نقش‌دار · فلاتِ ایران
Hands-on exhibit
Spin the goblet
A goblet from the Burnt City shows a goat leaping toward a tree in five pictures. Spin it and the goat moves: the idea behind every animation.
Hall 2 · Elam · c. 2000–540 BC
Brick & Bitumen
آجر و قیر · ایلام
Hands-on exhibit
Raise the ziggurat
Build the ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil level by level and read the Elamite inscription pressed into its bricks around 1250 BC.
Hall 3 · Pasargadae · c. 550–530 BC
White Stone & Water
سنگِ سپید و آب · پاسارگاد
Hands-on exhibit
Plan a paradise
Lay stone channels on a slope and let the water run. Wherever it reaches, trees grow, and the four-part Persian garden appears.
Hall 4 · Babylon and the Cyrus Cylinder · 539 BC
Glazed Brick
آجرِ لعابی · بابل و منشور کوروش
Hands-on exhibit
The Cyrus Cylinder, word by word
Turn the clay, rake a light across it and read all 45 lines word by word, in English and Persian.
Hall 5 · The Empire · c. 522–486 BC
Gold & Road
زر و راه · شاهنشاهی
Hands-on exhibit
Race the message
Send a message from Sardis to Susa: about 90 days on foot, about nine by relay couriers. Place the stations yourself, then turn a gold daric in the light.
Hall 6 · Persepolis · 518–330 BC
Grey Stone
سنگِ خاکستری · تخت جمشید
Hands-on exhibit
Climb the Apadana stairs
Walk the relief of the Apadana staircase: 23 delegations with their gifts. Tap each one to learn where it came from and what it brought.
Passage · 330 BC
Ash
Alexander set fire to Persepolis. The empire fell; the culture did not.
Hall 7 · The Parthians · 247 BC–AD 224
Silver
نقره · اشکانیان
Hands-on exhibit
Carry the silk
Take a caravan from China to Rome. At every stop the goods change hands and the price climbs; see where the Parthians stood.
Hall 8 · The Sasanians · AD 224–651
Carved Stucco
گچ‌بری · ساسانیان
Hands-on exhibit
Play chatrang
Play the ancestor of chess by its old rules: the counsellor moves one square diagonally and the elephant jumps two. The game still ends in shāh māt.
Hall 9 · The Age of Scholars · 9th–13th century AD
Paper & Ink
کاغذ و جوهر · روزگارِ دانشمندان
Hands-on exhibit
Measure the Earth like al-Biruni
Look at the horizon from a mountain top, read how far it dips and work out the radius of the Earth, the way al-Biruni did.
Hall 10 · Isfahan · 15th–18th century AD
Glazed Tile
کاشیِ لعابی · اصفهان
Hands-on exhibit
Build a girih
Fit the five girih tiles edge to edge into patterns that never exactly repeat, like those of the Darb-e Imam shrine (1453).
Hall 11 · The Carpet · 5th century BC to today
Wool
پشم · فرش
Hands-on exhibit
A picture made of knots
Weave a medallion on a grid of knots and see that every knot is a dot, just as every digital photo is made of pixels.
Special · part of Hall 12 · Yalda night
Yalda
یلدا · بلندترین شب
Hands-on exhibit
Stay up through the longest night
See how long the night is in your city on Yalda, then make a wish and open the Divan of Hafez for a fal, as many Iranian families do on this night.
Hall 12 · Today · Today
Mirrors & Words
آینه و واژه · امروز
Hands-on exhibit
The moment of Nowruz
Work out the exact moment of the new year for any year and any city, and see where the sun stands at that instant.
The trailer
How to visit
Climb through time
Start with the oldest layer, 5,000 years ago, and work your way up to today. Every hall links to the next.
Try one thing
Each hall has one hands-on exhibit you can finish in about five minutes.
Know what you are looking at
Every hall separates what is real from what is reconstructed, and lists its sources.
About the museum
Persia, a Museum of Materials is a Bridge Labs project. It shows rather than claims: objects, texts and sources come first. It is about culture, not current politics, and every hall is published in English and Persian.
- Show, don’t claim
- Every claim has a source
- Culture, not politics
- English and Persian