Photographs from the 1956–1957 Season of Japanese Archaeological Investigations in Iran

The present database registers a selected corpus of photographs taken by the Tokyo University Iraq-Iran Archaeological Expedition, headed by the late Professor Namio Egami, during fieldwork in Iran between 1956 and 1957. These photographs document a wide range of expedition research activities in Iran, including excavations, site reconnaissance surveys, and museum studies. Sources for the everyday lives of local people are also included. As the expedition was first dispatched from Japan to investigate the archaeology of the Middle East, its photographic records retain their historical significance and highlight its scientific contribution. Furthermore, considering the rapid changes in the cultural landscape of Iran over more than half a century, the corpus should be of value for research in ethnography and history.

We have already published comparable catalogs by region, such as Photographs from the 1957 Survey of Historical Monuments in Syria (UMUT Material Reports 107, 2016) and Photographs from the 1956-1957 Seasons of Japanese Archaeologial Investigations in Iraq (UMUT Material Reports 125, 2021). The present volume is the third one of this series.

Although the Tokyo University Iraq-Iran Archaeological Expedition is given a name including “Iraq-Iran,” the first they investigated was Iran, where they conducted the first archaeological excavations in Southern Iran, in September 1956, before the commencement of the more substantial ones at Telul-eth Thalathat, Iraq, in October 1956. From a historical perspective, their one-month preliminary research in Iran formed the foundation for subsequent Japanese collaboration with Iran. As such, the photographs documenting what the first Japanese team saw and considered important would make an important archival record to understand the development of Japanese studies in Iran, the region in Southwest Asia closest to Japan.

This database was created using a grant-in-aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (#21HP8007).

For the publication history of the photographs, please consult the following literature.