The exhibition opened on April 5 in Portugal and continued for two months. Portuguese Culture Minister Isabel Pires de Lima, several artistic and cultural figures, and more than 25 Portugal-based representatives of Asian, European, African, and Islamic countries attended the opening ceremony.

“7000 Years of Persian Art” displayed a total of 178 rare historical masterpieces collected from various museums across the country.

It opened in Austria on November 22, 2000 at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it stayed for almost six months, and then went on display in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain.

The exhibition covered a wide period, including clay figures from the 7th millennium BC as well as early Islamic era painted ceramic vessels from the 10th century CE.