Civilizations

Before gold became money, it was a symbol of power and holiness. From the tombs of the pharaohs to the golden cups of the Achaemenids, gold always sat at the heart of civilizations, wherever power wanted to look eternal.

The flesh of the gods

The first civilizations used gold not for buying and selling, but for holiness and power. In ancient Egypt, gold was called “the flesh of the gods”: a metal that did not decay or die, and so was worthy of the immortality of gods and pharaohs. Tutankhamun's golden mask, thousands of years later, still shines as it did on the first day.

That permanence made gold a symbol of what does not perish. Kings wanted their power, like gold, to stay safe from the wear of time.

Gold was the language of power before it became the language of trade.

Lydia and the birth of the coin

In the land of Lydia — rich in gold from the river Pactolus — something happened that changed the world: the first coins were struck. You will read this story in more detail in the hall of Money, but for now, know that Lydia was a bridge between East and West, and that its gold transformed the trade of the ancient world.

Iran: from the daric to today

In ancient Iran, gold held a special place. The Achaemenids made golden cups and ornaments whose splendour became legendary. Darius the Great struck the gold daric, a coin so trusted that it was accepted across the known world and stood as the emblem of Persian imperial authority.

This ancient bond between Iran and gold continued through the centuries, from antiquity to today, when gold still plays a strong part in Iranian culture, economy and even ritual. In this hall's annex, you can take a journey through five eras of Iran's history with gold — from Cyrus to our own time.

The metal beneath the image

And the story did not end with Iran and Lydia. Rome had the aureus, Islam the dinar, Byzantium the solidus. Empires came and went, and each made its own coin the standard of the world. That is the point: coins changed their names and their images — the metal beneath the image, never.