All the glittering treasures in the world, for no one to see

The idiosyncrasies of the Iranian regime has gone some way to non Iranians forgetting the madness of the Shah prior to the revolution. That madness is fairly well evidenced by the ridiculous nature of the Pahlavi jewellery collection, open for all to see in a vault in the basement of the national bank in Tehran. After handing over my phone, keys, belt and anything else metal, I was subjected to the closest pat-down search I have ever had, delivered with a happy smile from under the moustache of the security guard. Then across in to another building, past one group of people - bank workers? - sitting around having tea, through another metal detector, down some stairs and past another group sitting around having tea, past another security guard in a skivvy and Iran's national costume - the suit jacket, finally through a vault door about three foot thick and on the other side of a group of people having some tea, there it is was....a darkened room filled with more gold, precious stones - including the Darya-i-Noor (the world's biggest diamond) and the ridiculous golden globe - a 14 kg globe of the world, covered in a mosaic of precious stones marking out the world's landmasses and seas. Sadly no cameras are allowed, so there are no photos to show. Which is in stark contrast to the Glass and Pottery museum, where for 2 hours I was the sole visitor - free to take as many photos as I like. I was transfixed by much more mundane objects recovered from various archaeological sites across Iran. Objects created and used - possibly they sat on the top shelf in the pool room, but no doubt they were dragged out and used when special guests came to visit.




I couldn't help but think about how the glittering objects, often only ever used or seen once like the coronation tiara, created at such expense and precision to reflect light and bedazzle, are locked away in a dark room underground, only visible for two hours a day. Unable to be revealed in their glory - or even photographed for sharing. Meanwhile, the more prosaic items, created to be used, and then likely discarded, or lost in the mist of time, are well lit, almost touchable - on display for all to see, and photograph to share.