ANJOMAN-E ĀṮĀR-E MELLĪ (AAM), The National Monuments Council of Iran, established in 1301 Š./1922 to promote interest in and to preserve Iran’s cultural heritage. The first phase of AAM activity extended from 1301 Š./1922 to 1313 Š./1934, under the leadership of Moḥammad-ʿAlī Forūḡī. In 1304 Š./1925 Reżā Khan Sardār-e Sepah, the future Reżā Shah became the honorary president, and the constitution, drawn up in 1301/1922 was formally circulated. In the same year, the AAM issued its first two publications: a list of historic monuments in Iran, compiled by Ernst Herzfeld, head of the German Institute of Oriental Archeology, and a lecture on archeology in Iran by the same author. The AAM’s first major project, the construction of the Ferdowsī mausoleum (Ārāmgāh-e Ferdowsī) in Ṭūs, was begun in 1307 Š./1928. It was completed in 1313 Š./1934, the year of the Ferdowsī millenary, with funding from private and public sources. For the next ten years the AAM ceased activity; it was revived in 1323 Š./1944 with a revised constitution in order to undertake the construction of a mausoleum for Ebn Sīnā at Hamadān in conjunction with his millenary, in 1370/1951. Between 1944 and 1961 the AAM was also responsible for building the new Saʿdī mausoleum at Shiraz and the Nāder Shah mausoleum and museum at Mašhad. These projects were financed by royal donations, fundraising in schools, lotteries, excise taxes, private and municipal grants, and government credits. After 1340 Š./1961 the AAM’s financial base was strengthened by a special levy on cement factory output; its activities, included the construction of mausoleums for ʿOmar Ḵayyām and Kamāl-al-molk at Nīšāpūr, Ṣāʾeb Tabrīzī at Isfahan, Bābā Ṭāher at Hamadān, Shaikh Rūzbehān Baqlī and Shah Šoǰāʿ at Shiraz, Mollā Ḥosayn Wāʿeẓ Kāšefī at Sabzavār, and Kamāl-al-dīn Behzād and Kamāl-al-dīn Ḵoǰandī at Tabrīz; the repair of the mausoleums of ʿAṭṭār at Nīšāpūr and Shaikh Abu’l-Ḥasan Ḵaraqānī near Besṭām and of Adīb-al-mamālek Farāhānī, Waḥīd Dastgerdī, and ʿEbrat Nāʾīnī at Šahr-e Ray; and the placement of tombstones over the graves of Sayyed Jamāl-al-dīn Wāʿeẓ Eṣfahānī at Borūǰerd and Īraǰ Mīrzā Jalīl-al-mamālek at Šemīrān. Between 1343 Š./1964 and 1347 Š./1968, the Ferdowsī mausoleum was rebuilt to correct improper foundations; a library, a museum, and other facilities were added, and the garden was doubled in size and linked by a tree-lined avenue to the tomb site (boqʿa) of Moḥammad Ḡazālī. In 1351 Š./1972 the AAM undertook the construction of a memorial building in the Tabrīz cemetery to commemorate the poets Ḵāqānī, Asadī Ṭūsī, Ẓahīr Fāryābī, Homām, and Qaṭrān, and the martyr Āqā ʿAlī Mīrzā Ṯeqat-al-eslām (d. 1330/1911). Work was also begun on a memorial for Amīr-e Kabīr at Hazāva near Farāhān and mausoleums for Sībūya (Sībawayh) and Abū ʿAbdallāh b. Ḵafīf at Shiraz, Ebn Yamīn near Šāhrūd, Nezārī Qohestānī at Bīrǰand, Rażī Ārtīmānī near Tūyserkān, Aḥmad Neyrīzī at Neyrīz, and Awḥadī at Marāḡa. A memorial was also erected at the house of Sayyed Jamāl-al-dīn “Afḡānī” in Asadābād near Hamadān. In cooperation with the Directorate General of Archeology the AAM also engaged in the restoration of historic monuments until 1965, when this function was transferred to the National Organization for the Conservation of Ancient Monuments, although the AAM continued to provide financial and technical assistance. The AAM has also commissioned public statues, including those of Ferdowsī, Ebn Sīnā, Saʿdī, Nāder Shah, and ʿOmar Ḵayyām, and has published over 100 volumes by and about these and other major figures in Iranian history.
Bibliography:
ʿĪ. Ṣadīq, Yādgār-e ʿomr, Tehran, 1340- Š./1961-, II, pp. 201-33; III, pp. 108-16.
Majmūʿa-ye entešārāt-e qadīm-e anǰoman, Tehran, 1351 Š./1972, pp. 1-14, 235-45.
Gozārešhā-ye sālīāna-ye Anǰoman-e Āṯār-e Mellī, mss. in AAM files, 1345- Š./1966-.
Ḥ. Baḥr-al-ʿolūmī, Kār-nāma-ye Anǰoman-e Āṯār-e Mellī, Tehran, 1355 Š./1977.
(ʿĪ. Ṣadīq)
Originally Published: December 15, 1985
Last Updated: August 5, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 1, p. 83
ʿĪ. Ṣadīq, “ANJOMAN-E ĀṮĀR-E MELLĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/1, p. 83, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/anjoman-e-aar-e-melli-aam-the-national-monuments-council-of-iran-established-in-1301-s (accessed on 30 December 2012).
