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With its rich art and archaeological collection, the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum of Islamic Art) is one of the world’s leading research institutions dedicated to the material culture of the Middle East and neighbouring regions. Our manifold research, conservation, and exhibition projects amount to an especially probing investigation of the urban legacies of the Near and Middle East. The collection’s artefacts of most relevance to this particular area of research stem, for the most part, from various large excavations. The excavation of the famous caliphate capital of Samarra in Iraq (undertake in 1911 and 1013) is considered tio be the birth of Islamic archaeology, and was further sepplemented by finds from the Sasanien capital Ctesiphon in Iraq, the Abbasid capital of Raqqah in Syria and the Mongolian summer palace Takht-e Soleyman in Iran.
More than fifteen external scholars and research assistants are currently busy working with our own staff on various projects associated with the museum’s collections. These research endeavours cover such areas as scholarly interpretation and contextualization, technical analysis and materials, restoration and conservation, and documentation. An overarching goal for all research endeavours is the visitor-oriented display of artefacts and information when the new permanent exhibition opens after renovation work on the Pergamonmuseum has been completed. Interdisciplinary collaboration with various project partners is absolutely essential for research in these areas to be successful.
The Museum für Islamische Kunst is a member of: