Hormuz Island’s Silk Road Legacy on Display at National Museum

Date: 28 October 2025 - 21:41

News ID: ۱۴۵۱۶۹

TEHRAN -- A new exhibition at the National Museum of Iran is casting light on the maritime crossroads that once linked the Persian Gulf to the far reaches of East Asia.
Entitled “Gift of Silk”, the national exhibition showcases an exceptional collection of ceramics, porcelains, and trade artifacts unearthed from archaeological excavations on Hormuz Island—a site long recognized as a pivotal hub along the Indian Ocean segment of the Silk Road.
According to Sepehr Zarei, deputy for Cultural Heritage at the Hormozgan Province Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, the exhibition features celadon wares from the 15th century CE (9th century AH) and blue-and-white Chinese porcelains from the 15th–16th centuries CE (9th–10th centuries AH).
These finely crafted pieces not only testify to Hormuz’s prosperity during the Islamic Middle Period but also reveal the island’s active role in the artistic and commercial exchanges between Iran, China, and India.
“Hormuz was once one of the most important ports on the maritime Silk Road,” Zarei notes. “The artifacts uncovered there illustrate the vibrant flow of goods, artistic ideas, and technologies that defined the cultural landscape of the Persian Gulf.”
The “Gift of Silk” exhibition is organized by the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism and the National Museum of Iran, in collaboration with the Golestan Palace World Heritage Site, the Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili Ensemble, and the Museum of Decorative Arts of Isfahan.
Together, these institutions have brought together artifacts that narrate centuries of interaction across both the land and sea routes of the Silk Road, highlighting Iran’s dual role as a mediator of civilizations and a center of artistic innovation.
Through displays of ceramics, coins, and ornamental works, visitors are invited to explore the layered stories of trade, diplomacy, and cultural adaptation that shaped connections between Iran and East Asia.
Running until November 12, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to encounter the material legacy of Hormuz, a small island whose archaeological record continues to reveal the grandeur of its past as a maritime jewel of the Persian Gulf.