Department of Archaeology

‌Archaeology is one of the first majors of University of Tehran; it was submitted to the university council under the title "Antiquities" one year after the establishment of the university, i.e. in 1935. Teachers like Amineh Pakravan, Said Nafisi, Gholamreza Rashid-Yasemi, and Fredrik Crafter, a German teacher who worked as an assistant excavating Persepolis, taught at the university. The first Archaeology graduate of University of Tehran was Fereidoon Tavaloli, a prominent contemporary poet who defended his thesis in 1964. Up to 1971 it took three years to complete the degree and students had to take twenty-five courses including history, archaeology, linguistics, and general courses. In 1964 Archaeology became an independent department in the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences and Dr. Isa Behnam, as the first head of the department, undertook the task of guiding the teachers and students of Archaeology. In 1965 the educational system of University of Tehran was changed from yearly to semestral and during the years 1966 and 1967 the number of core, specialized, and elective courses was increased to 100 credits.
After Dr. Behnam Dr. Ezatolah Negahban, who was one of the first Archaeology graduates of University of Tehran, became the head of department and retained the position up to 1976. Dr. Negahban who, aside from his position in the university, was the deputy dean of Archaeology Administration, played a major role in the students' education and acquaintance with fieldwork. As an example, the excavation of Marlik Hill and Qazvin Plain, performed jointly by University of Tehran and Archaeology Administration, can be mentioned. During these excavations the students, early in their participation in the Archaeology boards, would become familiar with the theoretical and practical fundamentals of excavation. Dr. Negahban established the Archaeology Institute of University of Tehran in 1338 and endeavored to introduce the Master of Archaeology. In 1970, as the courses of Bachelor and Master of Archaeology were subjected to changes, practical courses were included in the curriculum so that the students would learn the scientific and practical research methods of Archaeology during one semester. These courses were such designed that the students would muster enough experience in the procedure leading from applying for and receiving excavation license, financial planning, and managing an Archaeology board to describing and analyzing the discovered works. Also Dr. Negahban, in order to familiarize the students with the fundamentals of fieldwork and new approaches, set to develop international affairs so that some students could study abroad. Masoud Azarnoosh, Haydeh Eqbal, Hamid Khatib Shahidi, Jalaledin Rafifar, Seyed Mansour Seyedsajadi, Mohamadsaleh Salehi, Hasan Talaei Moqanjouqi, Abas Alizade, and Hekmatolah Molasalehi were among the students who were dispatched to study abroad and who assumed positions in scientific and educational organizations in post-Revolution years. Between the year 1961 and the Revolution, along with Dr. Negahban, a number of scientific and cultural elites taught in the Archaeology Department of University of Tehran; Mahdi Mohaqeq, Ehsan Naraqi, Alinaqi Vaziri, Mahdi Bayani, Ibrahim Pourdavoud, Bahram Farahvashi, Malekzadeh Bayani, Mohsen Moqadam, Parviz Varjavand Naseri, Simin Daneshvar, Manoochehr Sotoodeh, Abas Zamani, Qolamali Shamlou, Hend Sadeq Kooros, Yousef MAjidzadeh, and Sadeq Malek Shahmirzadi were among those.
After the shutdown of universities, effected during the 1980 cultural revolution, Archaeology teachers, that is Aliakbar Karegar Sarafraz, Qolamreza Masoumi, Abdullah Qaregozloo Sani, and Fakhri Daneshpourparvar, set to revise the Archaeology curriculum of University of Tehran and, finally, the new curriculum was submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education on April 26, 1986. According to the new curriculum, the completion of degree would take four years, each year consisting of two credit-hour-based semesters. This curriculum, which is still being used by Archaeology departments of universities all around the country, includes courses which are taken during seven semesters and the last semester is allocated to excavation and other practical courses.
The Ph.D. curriculum of Archaeology was submitted on October 22, 1995 and some of the graduates of universities abroad were recruited by the department to teach specialized courses. Since the aforementioned date, doctorate degree has had three fields, Prehistoric, Historical, and Archaeology of the Islamic Period, and the students have had to present and defend a dissertation. For Master of Archaeology, likewise, these three fields have been anticipated. The curricula of the three levels are now through the last stages of revision and interdisciplinary courses have been added to them.