In the occasion of the centenary of the conclusion of the archaeological concession treaty between Iran and France (1897-1997), an exhibition, under the heading Jacques De Morgan's mission, was held in Louvre Museum in Paris. The exhibition began on October 15, 1997 for three months. On behalf of the government of his country Jacques de Morgan, a French archaeologist entered into negotiations with the king of Iran (Mozaffareddin Shah) and signed a treaty on May 15, 1897, according to which archaeological excavations were entrusted to France.
In the above exhibition one can see the biography, history and the missions of De Morgan to various parts of the world, the original copy of the Archaeological Treaty signed by Mozaffareddin Shah in French and Farsi, the miniatures of faces of Qajar kings, De Morgan's excavations in Malaysia, Armenia and Iran. Furthermore, paintings of Pascal Coust (a French painter) of Iran, paintings of Susa excavations and other French archaeological activities are seen in the exhibition.
In the following account you can see a brief history of archaeology in Iran up to 1930, so that you can see what has been done with the heritage of the Iranian forefathers.
Since the Safavides dynasty and the establishment of relations between Iran and Europe, the ancient arts and works of Iran have attracted the attention of Europeans. The westerners were enchanted by arts and the cultural heritage of our country from the time when various groups of religious missionaries, antique dealers, tourists, merchants, military men, ambassadors, orientalists and, to put it in modern words "Western Iranologists" came to Iran, particularly the bazaar of Isfahan, the capital of Safavides dynasty, turned into the center of activities of antique dealers. 

By writing their memories accompanied with some images and pictures of the cultural heritage of Iran, and also through taking fine objects of Iran to their own country, the above groups attracted the attention of their politicians and influential men to be able to satisfy their imperialistic designs. Furthermore, imports of these objects helped to increase artistic and archaeological collections which were, and still are, the pastime of some of the western people. 

Every day a valuable object from Iran’s heritage would leave the country by various ways and means in return for a small sum of money and found its way into museums or back rooms, or in modern terminology private collections. 

The situation has reached such a stage that signs and examples of past history of Iran can still be found in all big museums of the world today, and that private collections get richer from Iranian heritage regularly (owners of the private collections sometimes sell some of their works at exorbitant prices). 

At the end of the war between Iran and Russia, a great amount of war damages were taken to the residence of the Russian general Paskwitch. Some of the war spoils were in the form of gold and precious stones and others in the form of artistic, historical and cultural objects. They adorned and enriched Saint Petersburg's museums. Qajar kings also presented the Iranian past cultural heritage as gifts to western ambassadors and emissaries and envoys. In addition to that the kings, in order to secure and provide for the expenses of their kingdom, pleasures, revelries and of their trips to Europe, sold a part of relics or gave an unbridled liberty to foreigners to plunder the cultural heritage through granting exclusive excavation, archaeological concessions, in return for a small sum of money. With the same motivations, many groups came to Iran one after another. The first mission that came to Iran was a British one led by William Oseley. He came to Iran after the trip of Mirza Abolhasan Khan Ilchi, Fathali Shah's ambassador to British Court (James Morier was a member of that mission). Roaming round Iran and acting as the eyes and ears of the British government, Oseley carried out excavations and discovered Shahpur cave, and had Shahpur statue prepared by stone cutters and took it back to England. It is now kept in British National Museum. It accords very well with the old saying: "If a thief has a torch in his hands, he can steal better objects and goods." 

What did the the French do?
After the British, the French men started working in Iran. In the field of recognition of artistic and ancient works, one should mention Pascal Coust (architect) and Eugene Flanden (painter). On behalf of the French Academy of Fine Arts, these two French men, together with Edward de Sassi, the French Ambassador, came to Iran. During their two years stay, they discovered Tsephon Arch, Kangavar, Hamedan, Firoozabad, Fasa, Naghsh Rostam, Pasargad and Persepolis archaeological relics, and published the results of their efforts in their travel diary together with relevant pictures. But the excavation of Susa archaeological works was carried out by William Kennet Loftus, an Englishman. He is the first person to have obtained an accurate information about Susa, particularly Apadana hall. His excavations near the tomb of Daniel Nabi incurred people's wrath and was left incomplete. Twenty years later (1881), a French couple by the name of Marcel and Jeanne Diolafoa continued Loftus' excavations. 

Having carried out an extensive research in Dezful and Susa he went to France. In 1882, he published the results of his work, entitled "The ancient Arts of Iran", and showed the results of his excavation to Jules Ferry, the Minister of Education. The latter dispatched Diolafoa to Iran again to carry out further excavations there. 

During this trip, he was accompanied by two other engineers, named Charles Bobin and Frederique Husse. Dr. Toulousan obtained the necessary permission, and it was decided that half of the findings should belong to France. Diolafoa, his wife, and the two engineers began their work in Susa. The outcome of their excavations was 35 tons of ancient objects which were transported from Susa to Basra. A few months later the French people got acquainted with the heritage of Iranian ancestors displayed in Louvre Museum. Marcel Diolafoa published more than 8 books about arts and ancient monuments of Iran. 

Plundering or archaeology?

During the last few years of his reign, Nasereddin Shah gave permission to some Europeans to carry out investigations, so a number of groups started working in the country. The heads of these missions presented some of the objects they found to the Shah and the courtiers and took the rest with them abroad. In some provinces such as Khuzestan and the central regions, the governors and the owners carried out excavations themselves and amassed wealth. A little while later as the Iranian government could not guarantee the security and safety of the missions, so it issued orders that excavations should cease. Since the time of Diolafoa mission, the French were waiting for better and more favorable conditions to sign a contract for excavations. In the end, Nasereddin Shah in 1895, granted archaeological concessions to the French government. According to the contract the sum of 10,000 toomans (50,000 Francs) was offered to the Shah, and it was agreed that half of the findings should belong to the French government, and out of the rest one third to the Iranian government and two thirds to the land owners. Luckily, because the Shah did not want to incur people's wrath, so the religious sites were not included in the contract. 

Anyhow, an archaeologist by the name of Jacques de Morgan (1857-1924) led the French mission. He was busy carrying out anthropological and mining research in Armenia for two years starting from 1886. In 1889, he was sent on a mission to Iran by the French Ministry of Education to carry out geographical, geological, linguistic and anthropological surveys. De Morgan carried out his research in Mazandaran, and Guilan particularly Rasht, then went to south of Russia to do comparative work. But the Russian government did not allow him to do research, so he went to Tabriz, Urmia, Kurdistan and to Kermanshah. In 1892, he succeeded in discovering oil in Sar Pole Zahab. Then he set out for Lorestan, Dezful, Susa and the part of Bushehr, then to Egypt and returned to France. De Morgan took a lot of objects to his country some of which he donated to Saint Germain Atelier. He prepared 620 photos, 3 big maps of Iran, a complete map of north of Iran and a map of Kurdistan.
In 1889 he went back to Iran again as the Director General of the French Archaeological Mission, and continued with excavations in Susa, and established the first excavations installations. He sent valuable objects back to France and induced his government to enter into negotiations with the sick and penniless Mozaffareddin Shah. So the exclusive excavation concession was granted to France in 1900. De Morgan was the head of French mission in Iran for 15 years. (Iran Chamber Society)