Notes on Iran

Antique oriental rugs and interior design trends

2011-11-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

Antique oriental rugs and interior design trends

Decorating Your Home with Antique Oriental Rugs
When you think about upscale interior design, antiques and fine art are naturally the first items that come to mind. Antiques have an undeniable ability to add personality and character to the décor of any home. Because of their uniqueness many people opt to incorporate antiques into their living spaces. Whether it is something handed down through generations or found in an antique shop many homeowners make “antiquing” a hobby in order to add personal flair to their homes.

Tabriz Rugs

An antique is an item that is at least 80 – 100 years old and for the most part they are both decorative as well as collectible. An antique item is desired and collected because of its age, beauty, rarity, and use. One type of antique that many people collect for their homes are antique rugs. Funnily enough, many of the antique carpets are comparable and at times even cheaper in price than brand new rugs. Once you establish your budget, size requirements and overall look and feel your quest for the right piece begins!
Antique rugs may be found in many different looks and colors. The more “traditional” style carpets such as Tabriz, Kashan and Khorasan will usually have intricate patterns and can be found in a wide array of colors from the jewel tones to the light and airy. These types of pieces give a regal and elegant look to most rooms. However, modern design tends to be simpler in taste and style. Many of the designs in recent years favor a more minimalistic approach to the interior design. Incorporating antique carpets with subtle colors and a more abstract look (like arts and crafts or art deco) will go a long way and will add a warmth and texture to the space.

Another type of antique carpet that is often used in more modern settings are Moroccan rugs. Moroccan rugs are a fabulous way to invite warmth and create a bright and appealing atmosphere in your home. The simple tribal geometric patterns of these rugs (some of which are taken from the Tattoo designs of the Berber tribes) have been used for some-time to allow a sophisticated look to go with modern furniture. Many historic homes boast these vintage Moroccan rugs such as one of America’s most famous architects of the modern era: Frank Lloyd Wright.

Although, it is more traditional to display your antique carpet on the floor, it can also be displayed on the wall as a work of art (which the antique carpets and vintage rugs actually are). In the right lighting you will be able to see the artistry behind these artisanal antique rugs.
A rug tends to be the most expensive item in a room when decorating so it is imperative to get a piece that you will love for a long time. It is also important to purchase the rug from a dealer that you trust. A good dealer will provide you with information, images, and history of the rug as well as give you the option to trade in the rug for a different piece in the future. Be wary of dealers who tell you that the rug will be worth much more in “X” years because there is no way to estimate what any piece will fetch in the future as demands will always change to fit the ever-changing interior design trends. It is best to establish a good relationship with your dealer since down the line you might want to acquire a better piece or might simply want a different look.
So, why buy an antique rug? They clearly allow a very versatile and stylish look for your home decor. With their patina (that can only come with age), texture and their variety of colors and designs, they can liven up any modern, traditional or casual room and make your interior look picturesque and magnificent.
Over the years the trends, patters, and design of interiors have been reinventing themselves every few years but the demand and appreciation for antique oriental rugs has remained. Great antique carpets, just like great paintings will never go out of style and the demand has only increased over the years.

Kashan A Green Oasis

2009-06-19T16:44:00.001-07:00

Kashan A Green Oasis

Kashan, Iran Tehran, June 19, 2009: Kashan is the first of the large oases along Qom-Kerman Road that passes near the edge of a desert. Its attractiveness is mainly due to the contrast between the greenery of the oasis and the parched desert. The city flourished during the Sassanid dynasty, but was demolished during the Arab invasion with the exception of a few ancient buildings. It prospered again during the Seljuk rule and is known for its ceramics since then. Though it was destroyed again during the invasion of Mongols, it became an important town in the Safavid rule and Shah Abbas II made the city its capital. Some Safavid rulers, however, preferred to live in Kashan rather than in the capital. A local historian wrote that Kashan’s name is derived from “Key Ashian“ which means place of rulers, Iranchamber.com reported. Location Bound by Isfahan, Qom and Markazi provinces, Kashan is located near Ardestan and Natanz. Kashan has been overshadowed by Isfahan, but is considered one of the ancient cities of Iran. Archeological discoveries on the Siyalk Hillocks, which lie 4 km west of Kashan, have revealed that it was one of the primary centers of civilization in prehistoric times. Kashan has long been known as a flourishing center of arts and a cradle of Iranian artists. The cultivated, talented and dynamic people of this historical city have been famous as manufacturers of excellent glazed vessels and tiles, weavers of fine brocades, velvets and silk fabrics and creators of superb carpets and rugs. As producers of various handicrafts, Kashan has consistently ranked as outstanding exponents of numerous other arts and crafts. It also boasts of various historical buildings and sites, which attract both domestic and foreign tourists. Agha Bozorg Mosque This mosque as well as the theological school, Madraseh Agha Bozorg, is located in central Kashan. The mosque consists of two large corridors, one in front of the prayer niche and another by the entrance. It also has a courtyard with a garden and a fountain in the middle. The courtyard is surrounded by arcades. The corridor in front of the prayer niche has two minarets and a brick dome. The colors of arcades and corridor are mainly blue, red and yellow against a brick ground. Boroujerdi Residence This used to be a private home but now is open to public as a museum. The house was built in early 19th century and consisted of a vast courtyard, beautiful wall paintings and very unusual wind towers that help cool the house. Bagh-e Fin Bagh-e Fin is located a few kilometers southwest of Kashan, in the small village of Fin. It is one of the most famous gardens of Iran. This beautiful garden, with a large pool and orchards, was designed for Shah Abbas I as a classical Persian vision of paradise. The original Safavid buildings were rebuilt by Qajar dynasty, although the layout of trees and marble basins is close to the original. It is a pleasant spot to relax in. The garden is also notorious for being the site of the murder of Mirza Taqi Khan known as Amir Kabir, the minister of Nassereddin Shah of Qajar in 1852. Friday Mosque Friday Mosque or Masjed-e Jomeh, with its 11th-century prayer niche, was built during the Seljuk era and has been restored several times. One such renovation dates back to Timurid Dynasty and has a minaret with ancient inscriptions. Tabatabaie Residence The house was built in the 19th century and consists of a charming courtyard and beautiful windows with color glass panes. This used to be a private home but now is open to public as a museum. Tappe-ye Sialk The most significant archeological site in central Iran is the Sialk Mound. It was excavated by Gershman in the 1930s, which revealed that the site is more than 7,000 years old. Sialk was occupied from 4th millennium BC until 8th century BC. Probably, one of the most interesting findings are inscribed clay tablets dating back to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC. There are also records showing immigrants and conquerors passing through this region and settling near Bagh-e Fin. The artifacts uncovered are displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris and the archeological museum in Tehran. Officials are making efforts to publicize Kashan as an attractive tourism spot and the increasing number of visitors shows that they have been successful.

Obama admits US involvement in Iran coup in 1953

2009-06-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

"Obama admits US involvement in Iran coup in 1953
Jun 4 01:30 PM US/Eastern

US President Barack Obama made a major gesture of conciliation to Iran on Thursday when he admitted US involvement in the 1953 coup which overthrew the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

"In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government," Obama said during his keynote speech to the Muslim world in Cairo.

It is the first time a serving US president has publicly admitted American involvement in the coup.

The CIA, with British backing, masterminded the coup after Mossadegh nationalised the oil industry, run until then in by the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

For many Iranians, the coup demonstrated duplicity by the United States, which presented itself as a defender of freedom but did not hesitate to use underhand methods to get rid of a democratically elected government to suit its own economic and strategic interests."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.32cde4b38d55ae6af28266bb31a7221e.851&show_article=1

Mousavi will not resort to every ploy to win the election.

2009-05-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

Ex-MP urges Judiciary to stop mudslinging

Former MP Emad Afrough has urged the Judiciary to prevent any kind of mudslinging by presidential candidates or their supporters if any presidential aspirant decides to name his cabinet.

“Some of the candidates are afraid that upon introducing their cabinet, some individuals will resort to mudslinging against them and unfortunately this is not farfetched. The Judiciary power should take action whenever widespread mudslinging” happens, he told the Mehr News Agency on Saturday.

Ayatollah Taheri supports Mousavi candidacy

Ayatollah Hassan Taheri stated on Saturday that he supports presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Mousavi in the upcoming election. “We will be happy, pleased, and content if you win the tenth presidential election,” he said in a meeting with Mousavi in Isfahan.

Mousavi visited Ayatollah Taheri’s home during his visit to Isfahan Province. Mousavi emphasized that Ayatollah Taheri has played an important role in the Islamic Revolution.

Mousavi not to resort to any ploy to gain power

The Servants of Construction Party spokesman, Hossein Mar’ashi, stated on Saturday that Mousavi will not resort to every ploy to win the election.

“One of the most important reasons for supporting Mousavi is that Mousavi believes in the content of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will not resort to every effort to stay in power,” he told the MNA.

Mar’ashi added, “Preserving the Islamic Republic does not mean preserving its form, rather it means preserving the content of the Islamic republic… The content of the Islamic Republic means people should have freedom and the right to choose.”

Relations with Europe, U.S will be the hottest issue

The Islamic Coalition Party has issued a statement stating that relations with Europe and the U.S. will be the hottest issue for the next administration.

“Undoubtedly, our most important issue in the next administration is defining the new relations with Europe and the United States based upon wisdom and the system’s expedience and with an emphasis on resistance, perseverance, and maintaining the country’s independence,” part of the statement read.

The statement cited some goals that the next administration should realize and insisted that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is able to materialize those objectives if he wins the election. The ICP has previously announced its support for Ahmadinejad.

Mousavi ally opposes naming cabinet before election

Expediency Council member Majid Ansari stated on Saturday that naming cabinet before the election is not “expedient”.

“I do not agree with introducing the cabinet by the candidates before the election because (one) cannot introduce an inclusive cabinet in such a short time,” he told the MNA. Ansari supports Mousavi in the election.

Mousavi will try to resolve workers’ problems

Former MP Soheila Jelodarzadeh has said that Mousavi will try to relieve the problems of the working class. “Mousavi’s most important plan in supporting workers is to restore suitable conditions for working and production (sector) in the country,” she told the MNA in Semnan Province on Saturday. Jelodarzadeh, a defender of the labor class, leads the coalition of Mousavi’s supporters.

Mousavi looks for “peace of mind” in the society

Mousavi has stated that he will make efforts to bring about a “peace of mind” in the society.

“One of my slogans is freedom from fear … Fear does not have only a physical meaning, rather, peace of mind should be created in the society. This will not happen unless an administration’s most efforts go into resolving economic problems,” he said on national TV on Friday night.

Mount Damavand Iran

2009-05-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

Snow-covered Mount of Damavand, the highest peak in the Middle East (Photo by Oshin D. Zakarian)

Tanavoli’s “The Wall and the Script”, brings $218,500 Dubai

2009-04-30T04:05:00.000-07:00

Christie’s Dubai Sale Raises $4.8 Million on Trimmed Estimates

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By Ayesha Daya

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Christie’s International sold $4.8 million of art last night in Dubai, within estimates, after the auction house trimmed prices as the economy slowed and its previous sale missed targets.

The most expensive lot was Parviz Tanavoli’s “The Wall and the Script”, a bronze sculpture enveloped in Farsi script that sold for $218,500, compared with a $120,000-$180,000 estimate. A year ago, Tanavoli’s sculpture “The Wall (Oh Persepolis)” sold for 10 times as much, fetching a record $2.84 million in Dubai. Christies had estimated the art sale would tally $4.1 million to $5.9 million.

“Buyers are still active and works represent good value with re-adjusted estimates which still represent multiples of values of 2 to 3 years ago,” said Michael Jeha, managing director of Christie’s Middle East, in an e-mailed response to questions before the sale. “We have pitched our estimates conservatively and are sensitive to the environment in which we and our clients are operating.”

The proportion of lots selling at some international auctions has declined as buyers hesitate in the worst recession since the Great Depression, with Christie’s looking for cash from emerging markets in the Middle East, Asia and Russia to boost sales.

The auction was for art from the Middle East and North Africa. Christie’s said it was the first time works from Saudi Arabia had been offered in an international auction.

Christie’s previous Dubai auction of paintings in October raised $8.6 million, half its estimate of $15 million to $18 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ayesha Daya in Dubai adaya1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 30, 2009 02:49 EDT

Parviz Tanavoli on the Iranian Art Market

2009-04-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

04/21/09

Sculpture for oil: Iranian artwork in Christie's Auction

By Saghar Rafiee, Iran (Source: Mianeh)

While oil prices are rapidly dropping in global markets, prices in arts auctions have a different story. Iranian paintings, calligraphies and statues are becoming increasingly expensive as they were on sale in international auctions.

file photo, 2007

Previously, it was only the cinema which could bring fame to Iranian artists and filmmaker. Now, the floor is also given to Iranian artwork in auctions such as Christie's which is bound to change the economics of arts in Iran. In the Iranian arts market, no one is any longer surprised by the high prices of these works. Very few people would be astonished about the increasing rise of prices in artwork. In the first Christie's auction which was held in Dubai in May 2005, a painting by Farhad Moshiri and a photo by Shirin Neshat each hit the record of sales among Iranian artwork at a price of $40,000.

In the second auction which was held in February 2006, there were works by Mohammad Ehsai, calligrapher, Parviz Tanavoli, sculptor, and Farhad Moshiri, painter and graphic designer, hit the record of Iranian artwork sale in the world at $102000. In the third Christie's auction on 31st October 2008, Farhad Moshiri earned the highest amount after Ahmad Mustafa, the Egyptian artist. Moshiri's painting received a bid 7 times more than it was initially estimated and was finally sold at $600,000.

In the fourth auction, Iranian works hit the incredible record of $2.5 million and Iran had the highest sale in the fourth Christie's. In this auction, six artworks from Iran stood among the 7 most expensive items on sale. 'Persepolis' sculpted by Parviz Tanavoli, the Iranian sculptor, hit an unprecedented record of $2,500,000 as the most expensive item of this period of Christie's which is also a top first in Christie's history in the Middle East.

Sales for Iranian and Indian artworks of this auction were generally made on the phone from New York, London, Milan, Paris, Geneva, etc but 95% of sales for Arab artwork were done in person. According to figures released by Christie's Auction, 77% of buyers from this auction have been from the Middle East and Iran, 17% from Europe and UK and 6% from the US. In the fifth auction of Christie's on 28th October 2008, in the modern and contemporary category, Mohammad Ehsai's calligraphy painting was sold at $482,500 in a highest sale ever in a Christie's auction in Dubai.

Competition over owning works by renowned artists is a dream of many rich people. Nonetheless, the sale of artworks in Iran has a long history. According to Shahriar Adl, an expert on visual arts, about 500 years ago, before the end of the Timurid era and the beginning of the Safavid period, paintings by Behzad had a large number of buyers. Mughal empires who were contemporaries of Shah Abbas in India were patrons of art and spent lavishly on buying and collecting artworks.

Shahriar Adl says, "Visual arts works from India and China are still among the top sales of auctions. One cannot even say with certainty what kind of works by Iranian artists are sold best and well received by buyers. Although most of the works on sale in these auctions belong to contemporary artists, attention to more traditional works such as calligraphic paintings of Sedaghat Jabbari and Mohammad Ehsai, which are among the most expensive items in these auctions, reveal that buyers are more interested in works rooted in the ancient arts of Iran."

According to Parviz Tanavoli, it is now time for investors to turn their attention to investments in arts rather than the typical investments in properties. Parviz Kalantari is an artist whose clay works have been sold for the first time in Christie's auction. About the impact of these sales on the market of artwork in Iran, he says, "The good thing about inside Iran is that usually the galleries play the role of proxy between the painter and the audience; thus the painter only spends time on the painting. Another important aspect of it is that the artworks of artists inside the country are presented to the world of art globally. This aspect is more important to me. Of course, the economics of art is a very serious matter."

Parviz Tanavoli, the Iranian sculptor whose work titled 'Persepolis' was sold at the highest price in the fourth auction of Christie's in the Middle East, believes that it is still too early for Iran to achieve its rightful place in the global centres of art in the world. He says, "The success of Iranian artists in reputable auctions such as the Christie's will be an important impetus."

The buyer of this artwork is the private Iranian Bank, Pasargad, that bought Mr. Tanavoli's work at $2,000,841. Tanavoli says after his work was presented at Christie's, there was barrage of requests from buyers for his work. He expressed hope that this may be good model for other Iranian banks to invest part of their assets on art instead of buying properties, following the example of European and American banks.

Shadi Ghadirian is an Iranian photographer who pays particular attention to 'Iranian woman' in her works. One of her pictures is the image of a women clad in traditional chador, which has been sold at Christie's. Shadi Ghadirian says, "Right now, in Iran, there are two types of prices for art work: an Iranian price and a foreign price." This means that artists whose work is sold at Christie's auction have some of their works evaluated and sold at a price much lower than the one sold abroad and therefore, naturally, some buyers are after the Iranian price of these works. Shadi Ghadirian speaks about the reason for this waver of interest on Iranian artworks in auctions indicating the point that in the past couple of years, art centres and galleries have multiplied in Dubai, "As these galleries grow in number, so does the art work which goes in display and hence the good market for them. As regards, the rise of art works prices in Iran, I must say I am happy about it. This should have happened."

On the share of the artist from the sold item in auctions, Parviz Tanavoli says, "Usually, a small amount of the price belongs to the artist and creator, even though the item might have been sold by the artist before, but I do not thing this is the case in Iran." In auctions such as Christie's, Phillips and Sotheby's, they rarely deal with an artist personally. All these auctions work more comfortably with galleries. Therefore, a big percentage of the share would also go to the gallery owners." Ghadirian speaks about rumours of deals among gallery owner sellers and sometimes among artists themselves in these auctions. She says, "These kinds of deals have always existed all over the world and in history. This has nothing to do with only Iranian artists and their participation in such auctions in Dubai. This is not only about us, As far as it concerns us, this is a good thing. Either way, it means the rise of prices for Iranian artworks. In the past few periods, they did not ask for any work from me directly. They had taken my work from a collector who had bought the work from me many years ago. Therefore, I had no share in it. However, eventually, as a result of what happened, there was a change in the prices of my other works and this was, anyway, good for me."

Now, as the Iranian art is flourishing in international auctions, gradually markets open up for these works in Iran too. The 'Seven Outlooks', which is a collective gallery by seven well-known Iranian art galleries, launched a real auction in Iran. Following this event, other art institutions such as Saba Cultral and Art Institute and the Ministry of Culture followed suit. Nonetheless, reputation of international auctions is one important factor which may give a new direction to an artist's work.

There are also artists who take advantage of this opportunity for political attention to Iran as the name of Iran is mentioned in the media and they can present a different image of Iran to the world. Here, it is not the oil barrels which have a price fluctuation. After the memorable period of Iranian carpets, it is now time for Iranian paintings and sculptures to create new trade opportunities for Iran.

Saghar Rafiee is a journalist in Iran

About Mianeh: Mianeh is a new independent web-based initiative run as a project by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (iwpr.net) the award-winning non-profit media development organisation that works across the globe to platform local voices and promote international learning and engagement. Mianeh aims to be an open space for ideas, news and debate where writers in Iran can reach out to each other as well as to those outside the country who are interested in learning more about the vibrant and dynamic society that is Iran today.

... Payvand News - 04/21/09 ... --

Cave Hotel in Kandovan Iran

2009-03-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

Iran: Checking in to a hobbit's des res

In a cave hotel in northern Iran, Nigel Richardson finds Premier League football on the TV and a receptionist quoting 'Kubla Khan'.

By Nigel Richardson
Last Updated: 11:40AM BST 31 Mar 2009

1 of 3 Images

The Laleh Kandovan International Rocky Hotel has heated tile floors

The shrubs in the gardens of the hotel were swaddled in plastic and sacking against the cold. Freezing fog swirled like ectoplasm as my boots crumped up steep, snowbound steps. There was a valley below and a hillside above, but because of the fog I could only imagine what they looked like. Then, by a door in a rock, the bellboy put down my bag and produced a key. He opened the door and, kicking off our snowy boots, we walked into the hollowed-out middle of the rock. We were standing in a place that came pretty close to Tolkien's description of a hobbity des res at the opening of The Hobbit – "a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel… going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill" – although, admittedly, the front door was neither circular nor green.

Under our stockinged feet the heated tile floor was warm as pitta bread fresh from the oven and there was a flat-screen television in the corner. When I clicked the remote it bloomed to noisy, vivid life: Aston Villa versus Newcastle, live from Villa Park.

This probably isn't the strangest hotel in the world. To claim as much would no doubt be to invite a barrage of readers' letters detailing ocean-floor auberges or pensiones run by penguins. But the Laleh Kandovan International Rocky Hotel, in the province of East Azerbaijan in north-western Iran, is unusual in itself (not least because the receptionist quoted chunks of Coleridge's Kubla Khan at me as I checked out), and fascinating in terms of its location.

The hotel, which opened in 2007, is on the edge of the mountain village of Kandovan, 27 miles south of the city of Tabriz. The village is known for its cave houses – a population of about 700 live in hollowed-out rocks the shape of witches' hats, like the famous "fairy chimney" formations of Cappadocia in Turkey. Until the hotel opened, it was possible only to pay a day visit to Kandovan, where the inhabitants speak a Turkish dialect and are known for the frosty reception they give to outsiders.

Incorporated into caves that climb across the hillside, the hotel has 10 rooms so far, with another 30 planned, and a large restaurant. All the rooms have under-floor heating and some have whirlpool baths. There are Persian rugs on the floor and the walls have recessed lighting. The decor is stylishly minimalist, using plenty of tiles and letting the rough rock sides do the talking.

The opportunity to stay overnight – to try to get to know the village a little better than a day trip would allow – had been too good to pass up. Still, it was the dead of winter, a perverse time to come. Temperatures were well below zero and when we arrived, on a Saturday afternoon, the freezing, swirling fog blanked everything out.

Tempting as it was to stay in and watch the football, I set off for the village with my guide, Mr Sassan from Tehran. It was a five-minute trudge through a snowscape in which crows cawed among leafless walnut trees. "In September you see the men up these trees, calling in the walnuts," said Mr Sassan, "and the ladies below, catching them with the corners of their chadors." Somewhere over to our right, beneath a blanket of snow, lay the frozen river that is locally famous for its health-giving waters. Fruit and nut trees grow in profusion along its banks and their produce is exported around Iran. "The apples here are like the cheeks of young girls," Mr Sassan said wistfully.

Above the invisible river and the trees, Kandovan's extraordinary snaggle-teeth houses came into view, dotted across the gummy hillside. Their windows looked sketchy and random, as if they had been prodded through Plasticine with the end of a crayon.

Kandovan means "Land of the Unknown Carvers". No one knows how long people have lived here, nor who first had the idea of carving the soft rock, known as tuff, into houses. Some say the houses date from the 12th century, others that they pre-date Islam (7th century). There is even a theory that the surrounding region is the biblical land of Nod, where Cain was condemned to wander after murdering his brother Abel.

It remains a conservative and closed community. On the main street we passed a group of men – all bearded and wearing thin anoraks and baggy trousers – who watched us expressionlessly. Mr Sassan pointed out a sign in Farsi: "Dear Tourists. Please do not enter the people's houses. It is strictly forbidden. Your behaviour is the sign of your character."

A young bearded man wearing an astrakhan hat approached us. "Hello, goodbye," he said in English, adding in Turkish: "This is all the English I know." He introduced himself as Musa Kiani, said he was 22, and gestured us towards his open-fronted shop where nylon sacks and cardboard boxes were brimming with almonds, walnuts, dried fruit and medicinal herbs.

Musa extolled the properties of various herbs and Mr Sassan leered. "This is for if you want to have a good night with the wife," he translated, pointing at some dried green stuff. Almost everything, it turned out, was for if you want to have a good night with the wife.

Mr Sassan negotiated a price with Musa for a bag of walnuts. The next day, in Tabriz, Mr Sassan would compare the quality and price of walnuts and realise he had been diddled, but for now everyone was happy and we pulled off a coup – Musa agreed to show us his family cave house. As we climbed the muddy cobbled path of Haji Alley he hailed a man bottle-feeding a goat on his front doorstep and explained that people brought their animals indoors for winter.

Musa unlocked a green-and-white door (more promisingly hobbity, this) and invited us into a warm, whitewashed chamber. The floor was covered with rugs. A fridge, telephone and television were hidden beneath squares of embroidered material, as if modernity was faintly indecent. A sink had been hewn from the rock. The kerosene heater was hardly required, Musa said: once the house heated up, it stayed warm until spring.

It's true, this rock made of compressed volcanic ash is superbly impervious to the cold. It reached minus 4F (minus 20C) that night, but back in my burrow-like hotel room, with the lights turned low and the snow falling outside, I felt as snug and smug as a fictional creature in a popular fable.

The Laleh Kandovan International Rocky Hotel (0098 412...) has double rooms from about £150 a night, including breakfast. Magic Carpet Travel (01344 622832; www.magiccarpettravel.co.uk), which specialises in trips to Iran, can book the hotel, as well as organising visas, flights and tailor-made and group tours of the country.

Iran: Rafsanjani Not Down, Not Out - Brilliant Analysis

2009-03-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

17 Mar 2009
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/(parameter)/?id=97795&lng=en

Iran: Rafsanjani Not Down, Not Out

Aliakbar Hashemi Rafsanjani campaigning in 2005.

A triumphal state visit to Iraq aimed at isolating the Iranian radicals and an important re-election boost Rafsanjani's position in the hierarchy, but the fight is not over, writes Kamal Nazer Yasin in Tehran for ISN Security Watch.

for ISN Security Watch

Former Iranian president Aliakbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is no ordinary politician. Few individuals match him in versatility and sheer willpower. A leader of the underground political organization before the revolution and the country's leading politician afterward; the commander of the armed forces during the war; an apparent anti-reformist during the Khatami years; a badly defeated front-runner in the 2005 presidential race; and now the hardliners' implacable foe; Rafsanjani's career has seen many ups and downs in his half century of political trajectory.

During the reform era, his popularity rating was among the lowest of any living individual in the country, but after the hardliners' victory in 2005 and his subsequent reconciliation with the reformists, Rafsanjani's popularity is on the rebound. Today, he is universally recognized as the most important clerical foe of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his many backers. On top of this, Rafsanjani is positioning himself as a leading religious modernizer.

"In 2005, most people thought he was finished," said a veteran Iranian journalist to ISN Security Watch. "He was 71 years old and had been turned by the radicals into a symbol of everything that had gone wrong with the system. No one expected him to return to the top again."

Iranian Pres Ahmadinejad from Jewish Family

2009-03-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

Review of Iranian Jews' financial situation
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3686617,00.html

Jewish community in Iran is biggest in Middle East outside Israel, with some 20,000 people. Although Jews enjoy average standard of living compared to rest of population, like other religious minorities they suffer from discrimination. Nevertheless, they don’t want to leave
Doron Peskin

The Jewish community in Iran is the biggest in the Middle East outside Israel, with some 20,000 people – compared to about 80,000 before the Khomeini revolution.

This is one of the most ancient communities, with a history that goes some 3,000 years back. The Jewish community in Iran is concentrated in three cities – Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.

Like other minorities in Iran, the Jewish also suffer from discrimination, which is particularly noticeable in the economic area. The Iranian regime does not allow foreign elements free access to the Jewish community, making its economic situation difficult to analyze based on proven figures.

However, according to most of the information accumulated in the past few years, it appears that the majority of the Jewish community enjoys an average standard of living compared to the rest of the Iranian population.

The recent years have seen a drop in the average Iranian citizen's standard of living, despite the considerable increase in the revenues from oil. The high inflation the Iranian economy is suffering from has not skipped the Jewish community members.

Governmental clerical work – off limits

A significant number of the Jewish community members in Iran are independent, operating small businesses in the trade and retail fields. This is, among other things, a result of the fact that the Ayatollahs regime prevents the Jews from obtaining senior posts in government ministries, in commissioned ranks (Jews are drafted by the army just like the rest of Iran's citizens), in the legal system and in the education system.

Some of the Jews are employed by governmental bodies or state-owned companies, but their chances of being promoted to senior management posts are very small.

In general, the Jews' level of integration in the Muslim population, including in the economic field, is lower today than before the revolution.

In addition, despite public declarations on religious equality and a religious decree on the matter issued by Imam Khomeini, the Iranian law stresses the supremacy of Islam in different economy-related fields.

In inheritance laws, for instance, if a member of a Jewish family converts to Islam he is entitled to the entire heritage if the rest of his siblings remain Jewish.

Another example in this context refers to murder cases and compensating the victim's family. In such cases Iran acts in accordance with Islamic law and the principle of "money for the blood." In other words, the victim's family can leave the murderer free of punishment in exchange for compensation from him or his family. In today's Iran, the compensation given to a Jewish family in such a case totals 10% of the compensation given to the family of a Muslim victim.

Raising funds on internet

The Jewish community in Iran has adapted to the electronic era, and a special website helps the community raise funds to fulfill its needs. Donors from abroad, led by wealthy Iranian Jews who emigrated after the revolution, infuse millions of dollars every year to the community for charity purposes.

The donations funds help operate Iran's 30 synagogues and the Jewish hospital in Tehran. Incidentally, this hospital is considered a particularly good medical center in the Iranian capital and nearly 95% of its patients today are Muslims. Part of the medical staff is Jewish, and its entire budget is based on donations.

Recently, the hospital's offices even received a direct donation from the office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, as opposed to the hospital, Iran refrains from providing financial aid to the Islamic republic's Hebrew schools.

Ahmadinejad's Jewish roots

Several weeks ago, the Iranian president was slammed for allegedly hiding his Jewish roots. Mahdi Khazali, the son of one of the most prominent Muslim clerics in Iran, published a special article on the republic's Jewish community on his blog. In the article, he wrote that the Iranian president was a descendant of the Jewish Saborjian family from the village of Aradan.

Khazali said that the president's harsh attacks on the Jews, Zionism and Israel were aimed at covering his origin. He stated that the president's Jewish family changed its name to Ahmadinejad in order to hide its Jewishness and help its sons pave their way in the Iranian society.

The correct fact in this story is that Ahmadinejad did change his surname, and according to his relatives this was done for "religious and financial reasons."

Even if they claim is wrong, it appears to point to the current situation in the Iranian society, in which Jews are limited in terms of their economic chances due to their religion.

Financial incentives unhelpful to emigration

Iranian Jews' emigration levels in the past few years are tiny. This may be the result of their fear of the authorities' attitude towards those left behind, or the fact that the Jewish community in the country is growing old and prefers what it has in Tehran over the unknown in Israel.

In any event, the financial incentives initiated by the State of Israel and offered to Iranian Jews by organizations abroad in order to emigrate have been publicly rejected by the community heads.

At the time, the community leaders issued a harsh statement expressing their discontent with the thought that "their nationality can be negotiated".

This statement may have been dictated by the Iranian regime, but statistical figures show that between the end of 2005 and the end of 2006 only 200 Jews agreed to emigrate from Iran in return for those same generous incentives.

Those who emigrated stated that their main reason for leaving Iran was the poor economic situation they suffered from rather than the political situation.

The good ol' Shah days

The Jewish community in Iran did not experience economic distress during the Shah's days. Before the Khomeini revolution Jews were considered the leading businessmen in Iran, and were part of the business elite. Jews held key positions in the oil and banking industry and in the legal system.

The Iranian Jews' financial and social situation improved under the Pahlavi dynasty's reforms from the 1920s. The Jews were not restricted in their freedom of occupation choice, and the protection fee they were forced to pay was canceled.

In addition, the ghettos in which the Jews lived before the Shah rose to power began to disappear. In Shiraz, the historic center of Jewish life in Iran, only 25% of the Jews continued to live in the Jewish neighborhood (ghetto) as of 1977.

The Jews rushed to integrate in the Iranian society and channel the opportunity given to them to the economic field as well. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Jews established themselves as Iran's leading carpet merchants.

Due to the increased demand for Persian rugs in Europe, the Jewish merchants went on regular trips to the leading capitals in the European continent and expanded their commercial ties there. As opposed to the European authorities, the Pahlavi regime protected the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s.

In the 1950s Tehran thrived, and the immigration of Jews to the Islamic republic grew stronger. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Persian rug exports industry was controlled by Jewish-owned companies. The market had seven or eight companies with an export volume of $75-80 million, and two times more companies whose volume of sales abroad was estimated at $25-45 million a year.

In 1960 the Shad established full diplomatic ties with Israel. The commerce between the two countries was quickly expanded, and delegations of Israeli businesspeople visited Iran often. Israeli companies even won bids for Iranian projects, but this ended all at once in 1979.

Immediately after the revolution, the Jewish community was terrorized. The most famous incident was related to one of the community's wealthiest members and a local philanthropist, who was hanged immediately after the revolution after being accused of "having ties with the traitors and the nation's enemies".

Dozens of the Jewish community members were executed later on suspicion of "economic corruption". Simultaneously, the private property of many Jewish businessmen was confiscated, prompting the wealthy people among them to emigrate.

Doron Peskin is head of research at Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd.

Rick Steves documents Iran at personal level on PBS show

2009-01-17T07:07:00.001-08:00

Published: Saturday, January 17, 2009

Rick Steves documents Iran at personal level on PBS show

By Sharon Wootton
Herald Columnist

Tired of the majority of photographs and TV clips portraying Iranians as only angry people burning U.S. flags or building nuclear reactors?

Or maybe you're just curious about this country that's the size of Alaska. Then turn on the hourlong "Rick Steves' Iran" (KCTS, 10 p.m. Tuesday).

Steves' outstanding travelogue shows slices of Iranian culture, religion, environment, and people from 21st-century cities and very old country towns.

The Herald columnist's approach is to mostly stay away from the current politics of the two governments while providing the structure of history and culture.

He says upfront that although the Iranian government required that they travel with a guide (who often took photographs of the crew while filming) and placed restrictions on what he could cover, the restrictions were looser than he expected.

Given some of the conversations that he held with Iranians, those restrictions didn't seem to threaten Steves' ability to interact with people nor to silence the Iranians' opinions. The Iranian people were friendly and fascinated by Americans making a TV show about them.

"I have never traveled to a place where I had such an easy and enjoyable time connecting with people," Steves later wrote.

He packs much into his hour. The majority of Iranians are Persians. Persians are not Arabs and don't speak Arabic, but Farsi. Much of the signage in Tehran is in Farsi and English. Mile-high Tehran is a modern city of 14 million people with notorious traffic and a subway system equal to those in Europe. The country has a mix of chador-covered women and those in modern dress (with head scarves).

We learn that the national museum has fewer than expected exhibits, because most of the treasures were looted in the past for Western museums or destroyed.

The show takes viewers into beautiful mosques, across deserts, by ruined castles, and showcases the splendor of the Persian empires, including elaborate, colorful mosaics and Persian carpets, one of which took a master weaver more than a year to make.

Steves did include some more recent history, including the Western-backed Shah of Iran, fear of American meddling, the Islamic Revolution and restrictive Islamic law. It is not, he points out, a democratic nation.

There are large anti-Israel and anti-American murals on the walls, but at street level, there is curiosity and delight with talking to Americans.

But the Iranians that Steves talked to made it clear that they differentiated between the people of the U.S. and the government. According to Islam, visitors are a gift of God.

"Iran" may help many viewers overcome stereotypes, or at least absorb a broader sense of that country.

And Iran wants more tourists, Steves said. His show, which is being aired nationwide, may motivate some to travel to Iran, even if you have to travel with a guide.

Kouhrang Potential Tourist Hub

2008-09-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Kouhrang

Potential Tourist Hub

Kouhrang is among the most beautiful towns of Chaharmahal-Bakhtiyari province. It hosts various springs such as Deimeh, Parak (some 75 km from the provincial capital Shahr-e Kord), Sardab, Morvarid and Kouhrang mineral water (Chelgard), as well as natural attractions such as Choma Cave and Inverted Tulips Plain, Mehr News Agency reported.
The town’s verdant landscape and natural attractions appeals to most urban tourists.

Inverted Tulips Plain
This plain is situated 12 km from Chelgard in the vicinity of Bano-Staki Village. It extends over 3,400 hectares and is filled with the magnificent flora of mainly red and yellow inverted tulips. The flower blossoms from April to May and brings hordes of visitors from far and near.

Kouhrang Waterfall
The waterfall has been created from the water released by Kouhrang’s first tunnel. The tunnel was built in 1954 to transfer the water of Kouhrang Spring and other adjacent springs to Zayanderoud River.
Efforts to transfer water from this region date back to a long time ago. During the reign of the Safavid Dynasty, efforts for creating a fissure in the mountain and transferring water failed.

Chelgard Ski Resort
This 800-meter-long ski resort is located near the town of Chelgard and on the slopes of Karkonan Mountain. The resort has been divided into two sections: one for men and another for women.
It is one of the most famous ski resorts in the Zagros mountain range. Adequate snowfall, suitable access road and favorable climatic conditions attract hundreds of skiing fans every year.
Many resorts have developed around mineral springs known as spa towns. Hence, Kouhrang can be referred to as a spa town.
Kouhrang Mineral Spring

This spring originates from the slopes of Zardkouh Mountain and flow into Kouhrang Lake, subsequently joining Zayandehroud River through Kouhrang’s first tunnel. The beautiful scenery surrounding the spring and the nomadic tribes living in its vicinity enhance the region’s beauty. These and other features have increased Kouhrang’s potential as a tourist hub.

Iran’s Achaemenid tablets

2008-09-25T09:29:00.001-07:00

Restoring Relics

A special team has been formed to search the archives of state institutions to locate documents to prove Iran’s ownership of Achaemenid tablets currently kept at the University of Chicago.
Announcing the above, Omid Ghanami, director general of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) for legal affairs, said the archives of ICHHTO have been surveyed completely and the team of experts is searching the archives of the Customs Administration, Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Office, CHN reported.

False Claims
The official emphasized that documents obtained so far reveal that Iran had loaned the Achaemenid tablets to the university.
“ICHHTO wants to win in the US court dealing with the case and secure the return of tablets to Iran,“ he said.

The exact date of the court hearing has not been announced.
Defense attorneys of nine US nationals made baseless accusations that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and provided Hamas with weapons and ammunition in the 1997 bombing in Beit-ul-Moqaddas in a federal lawsuit filed against Iran in Chicago.
Iran did not show up at the court, which it considered incompetent, and the judge issued a default judgment and sentenced Iran to payment of huge sums of money as compensation.
In order to collect the compensation, the attorneys of the plaintiffs called for confiscation and auction of Iran’s cultural and historical assets kept at a few American museums, universities and institutions, including the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute.

Excavations
In 1937, joint archeological excavations were undertaken by the Iranian government of the time in cooperation with the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute at Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis). A large number of cultural and historical relics were found.
The parliament of the time had passed a law in 1930 authorizing joint archeological excavations and permitting foreign institutions to take some of these findings with them for research activities.

Until the final days of the former monarchical regime and the early days of the Islamic Revolution, American and French archeological groups carried out excavations in all parts of the country and took artifacts on loan.
The Islamic Republic is determined to prove the Iranian origin and ownership of these artifacts and bring them home.

Turkmen March in Tehran

2008-09-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

12 months ago: Iranian Turkmen parade during large-scale military parades to mark the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran that sparked the bloody 1980-88 war, in Tehran, Iran on Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. Threats and economic sanctions will not stop Iran's technological progress, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Saturday at a large parade featuring fighter jets and radar-avoiding missiles designed to show off the country's military might.

Caspian Sea: An Overview

2008-09-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Caspian Sea: An Overview

Caspian Sea, the largest landlocked lake in the world, is located in northern Iran. The Iranian Caspian coast, including the three littoral provinces of Gilan, Golestan and Mazandaran, with its thick forests and large-scale rice paddies presents a striking contrast to the dry inner plateau of Iran.
According to Medlem-Spray website, the three picturesque provinces are bound by Caspian Sea in the north and Alborz Range in the south. The landscape is divided into a multitude of valleys whose rivers drain into the sea.
There are several roads connecting Tehran to the three provinces, all through breathtakingly beautiful scenery, across the mountains or alongside rivers. One of the roads from Tehran to Chalous on the Caspian coast, winding north across the rugged Alborz mountains, passes the popular ski resort at Dizin.

With their tropical climate in summer and mild winters, beautiful sandy beaches and scenic beauty, the three provinces are very popular among Iranians as a holiday and weekend resort. Numerous holiday and residential complexes and private villas dot the landscape.
The total area of Caspian Sea is 435,000 square kilometers or one-fourth the size of Iran.

Nomenclature
Caspian Sea has been called the Hyrcanian, Abaskun, Jorjan, Khorasan, Tabarestan, Mazanderan, Xvalyn and Khazar, with the last three names used in Persian, Azeri and Turkish languages. The most populous parts, namely the southern and western Caspian coasts, belonged to Iran until the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD.
Culturally and linguistically, they retained their Iranian character in the following centuries, but in the Middle Ages, the population became fused with the incoming waves of Turkic nomadic tribes, and these immigrants accounted for an increasingly large component of the ethnic makeup.

Coastline
Caspian Sea’s coastline is 6,397 km long, of which more than 900 km is along the Iranian side. About 128 large and small rivers flow into the sea from Iran and Sepidroud, Shalman, Shafaroud and Tonekabon are the largest rivers. The highest salinity level reaches 12.7 ppt (about 1/3 of the ocean salinity) during summers. The average water temperature in the coastal regions throughout the year ranges from 15.9 degrees centigrade to 17 degrees centigrade. Temperature difference between the coldest area in the north and the warmest area in the south is 4 degrees centigrade during winter and 16 degrees in summer.
Fish Species
There are over 120 fish species in the southern part of Caspian Sea, which are commercially divided into sturgeons and bony fishes. The bony fishes are also divided into sardines and other species. The main commercial species are as follows:
Sturgeons: Beluga (Huso huso), Russian sturgeon (Acipenser guldenstadti), Iranian sturgeon (A. persicus), and Sevruga (A. stellatus). The Iranian caviar--a famous and exclusive product worldwide--is produced by these species.
Bony fishes: Kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum), Mullets (Mugil auratus and M. saliens), Carp (Cuprinus carpio), Bream (Abramis brama), Pike-perch (Lucioperca lucioperca), Roach (Rutilus rutilus) and Salmon (Salmo trutta caspius).

Sustainable Fisheries
Iranian Fisheries has put great emphasis on development of sustainable fisheries. Large sums of money are allocated for the preservation of sturgeons. Because of their importance, fishing sturgeons, caviar-producing species, is only the responsibility of the state-run Iranian Fisheries.
It also monitors methods to prevent overfishing and damage to fish stocks. For example, beach seining is the only allowed fishing system for licensed cooperatives to catch bony fishes other than sardines. In order to prevent illegal fishing, marine guards control activities in the Caspian Sea.
Iranian Fisheries has established Iranian Fisheries Research and Training Organization to extend technical and scientific support to fisheries-related activities.
Funds are allocated to researches on identification and conservation of fish stocks. Millions of fingerlings are produced annually by Iranian Fisheries and released to ensure the sustainability of different fish species in Caspian Sea.
The fingerlings of the following species are produced by Iranian Fisheries: Rutilus frisii kutum, Acipenseridae and Abramis brama.

Threats to Biodiversity
Caspian Sea is connected to the open sea through the Volga River. This makes it very vulnerable to the effects of industrial pollution. Oil exploration activities by the Caspian Sea littoral states have increased in the past decade.
There are also international plans to transfer oil and gas through underwater pipelines in Caspian Sea. These activities will certainly have adverse effects on the marine and coastal ecosystems of Iran.
On the domestic front, development of coastal communities, the sewage flowing into the coastal waters and polluted rivers threaten the coastal ecosystems. Population increase and unemployment in the region also increase illegal fishing. Manmade barriers and obstacles close the migration routes of fishes, leading to the destruction of many spawning grounds.
These problems should be addressed to protect the fish species as well as the livelihood of fishermen living along the Caspian coastline.

Iran's Pyramid the Ziggurat of Choghazanbil

2008-08-13T06:05:00.001-07:00

Ziggurat of Choghazanbil

Majestic and Beautiful

The large Choghazanbil ziggurat is one of the ancient monuments in Iran registered on the World Heritage List.
Built by the Elamites in approximately 1250 BCE, it resembles the architecture employed in the Egyptian pyramids and Mayan edifices, Cais.soas.com reported.

Background
The ziggurat of Choghazanbil is a sacred building of ancient times. The pyramidical edifice was originally five stories high, but at present only three floors remain.
The Elamite Dynasty built many such edifices in ancient Persia, the most important of which is the ziggurat of Choghazanbil in Khuzestan province.
The Choghazanbil edifice is the only surviving ziggurat in Iran and one of the most important remnants of the Elamite civilization, which thrived in Iran. The earliest known presence of Elamites has been recorded at Awan (now called Shoushtar, a town in Khouzestan province).
According to the chronicles of the Old Testament, an ancient king named Kedor Laomer in Elam succeeded in extending his domain as far as Palestine (Genesis, Chapter 14).

Location
Choghazanbil is located in Khouzestan province 30 km southwest of Shoush (Susa), the famous capital of Elam near Dez River which bifurcates from the large Karoun River. The edifice and the town bearing the same name have been built on a natural earth mound, as it overlooks the adjacent plains. When the sky is clear, the two important Elamite cities, namely Shoush and Shoushtar, were visible from that elevation.
The ziggurat was located at Choghazanbil because of the region’s proximity to Shoush, trade routes and Mesopotamia.

Nomenclature
The original name of this town and its ziggurat was Dur-Untash which, according to the inscriptions discovered at the foundations of the ruined building in that town, derived its name from Untash-Gal, the Elamite king (1275-1240 BCE) who was the founder of that town. This name has been repeatedly mentioned in Elamite and Assyrian inscriptions.
The word `Dur’ in the Akkadian and Elamite languages means a town or an enclosed and distinct region. Ziggurat in Sumerian language means ascending to heaven and has its root in the Elamite word Zagratu.
The highest story of the ziggurat was called Kukunnu or Kizzum which name was ascribed to all the stories.
Choghazanbil means a hill-like basket (Zanbil), because in the Dezfouli or Lori dialect Chogha means a hill.

Significance
Based on surviving records, the money for building that town and edifice was not procured from military victories and plunder or from collection of tributes and taxes but through trade with other regions.
Choghazanbil was the religious capital of that time and the main residence of Untash-Gal.
The architectural method used by the Elamite architects focused on making the best use of sunshine in winter and profit from the local winds and shadow in summer.
The significance of the scientific and cultural achievements of Elamites and their contribution to other civilizations can be better understood when we learn that the first wheeled pitcher (the first wheel) was apparently invented by human beings at Elam.
Also, the first arched roof and its covering, which involve a very important technique in architecture, were invented by the Elamites and used in the mausoleum of Tepti-Ahar around 1360 BCE (unearthed in the excavations made at Haft Tappeh) nearly 1,500 years before such arches were used by the Romans.

Excavations
Based on a contract signed with Nassereddin Shah, the Qajar king, with France, a French archeological team was sent to Khuzestan in 1895. But this team had based its headquarters in Shoush. However, in 1935, Brown, a New Zealand citizen who was seeking oil, while flying over that region was surprised to spot a huge earthen pile.
During the same period, one of the geologists of the oil company discovered an inscribed brick that referred to Choghazanbil and took it to the French archeological team in Shoush. Thus the Iranian government permitted R. de Mecquenem, the representative of Louvre Museum in Paris and head of the French archeological team in Shoush, to excavate the Choghazanbil area for five years. De Mecquenem started his investigation during 1936-39, but the main excavation was commenced by R. Ghirshman in 1951.
Until 1962, Ghirshman succeeded in conducting nine stages of consecutive excavations with 150 workers and removed 200,000 sq. meters of earth from the site by wagons and rail in34 months. He succeeded in unearthing the ziggurat from the depth of the earth.
Recently, an Iranian archeologist said evidence indicates the existence of a ziggurat older than the 3,000-year-old counterpart at Choghazanbil and Haft-Tappeh in Khuzestan province.
The Persian daily Toseh reported geophysical studies are underway in the area.
“The second stage of seismic studies at Choghazanbil and Haft-Tappeh will resume from September 22,“ archeologist Hamid Fadaei said.
He noted that the theory of other ziggurats around Choghazanbil and Haft-Tappeh, put forward by renowned Professor Negahban before 1979, has gained strength in light of the current studies.
“Deh-e No is a hill where ancestors of Ontash Nepirisha, the ruler of Orantash had been living 6,000 years ago or 4,000/5,000 years before Christ,“ he said.
A brick has been unearthed from the hill with inscriptions indicating that there are ziggurats at Deh-e No preceding the one at Choghazanbil.
The ziggurat’s beauty and majesty attract thousands of local and foreign visitors every year.

Iran exhibits Parviz Tanavoli artworks

2008-07-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Iran exhibits Parviz Tanavoli artworks
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:39:24

Parviz Tanavoli

Iran's Persian Art museum has mounted an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by the celebrated artist Parviz Tanavoli in Tehran.

The event, Tanavoli's first solo exhibition in six years, displays some 54 artworks dating from 1963 to 2001.

Parviz Tanavoli has held numerous international solo exhibitions in Austria, Britain, Germany, Italy and the US.

His works adorn the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Seoul Olympic Park and the cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.

'The Wall (Oh Persepolis)' by Parviz Tanavoli

Tanavoli's 'Wall (Oh Persepolis)' fetched 2.84 million dollars at Christie's international auction of modern and contemporary art in Dubai, breaking the record for a Middle Eastern artwork.

Tanavoli's Tehran exhibition will run until Aug. 3, 2008.

TE/HGH

Mamasani , Fars, Iran

2008-07-18T05:01:00.001-07:00

Mamasani Down
History Lane

Throughout history, Mamasani has hosted different civilizations and nations. Located in the highlands of Fars province, it lies strategically between empires that existed in the region, notably Elam and Persia .
Mamasani was also part of the capital city of the Achaemenid monarch, Cyrus the Great.
Situated 158 km from Shiraz , it is bound by Sepidan in the north, Bushehr and Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad in the west, Kazeroun and Bushehr in the south and Shiraz in the east, CHTN reported.

The name Mamasani goes back to the ancient Mohammad Hassan’s tribe. Since Lori dialect is prevalent in the region, the name has changed to Mamdhassan, Mamasan and Mamasani.
Historians believe that the ancient name of the district was Anzan or Enshan that transformed into Anbouran and Shulestan. Finally, the name changed to Mamasani during the rule of Safavid Dynasty (1501-1736).
Artifacts and manuscripts remaining from 8000 BC to 3000 BC reveal that Iranian civilization originated in Mamasani.

Abundance of forests and rangelands, rich water resources and soil, fertile plains and diverse climatic conditions led to the establishment of prehistoric civilizations in the district.

Language
The language spoken by most inhabitants of Mamasani is Lori, which goes back to the Sassanid period.
Some of the nomadic tribes of Mahour Milati region speak Turkish. These tribes belong to the Qashqaei tribe.
However, the residents of Arab Khanimeh and Kakhak villages speak Arabic while they can also speak Lori fluently.

Major Finding
At the end of the second season of archeological excavations at Saravan in March, it became evident that a major center of Achaemenid Dynasty (648-330 BC) was situated in the area.
The Iranian head of the Iran-Australia archeological team, Alireza Asgari, said the major accomplishment of the second season of archeological diggings was discovery of an edifice extending over an area of 1,500 square meters and 14 meters in height.
Asgari noted that studies conducted in the vicinity of the edifice show that at least two other buildings existed next to it during the Achaemenid era. One building was situated south of the edifice and the other to its east.

Prehistoric Times
Throughout history, Mamasani was the link between Khuzestan, Kohkilouyeh, Zagros, Bushehr and the Persian Gulf . In fact, the prehistoric cultures and civilizations of the neighboring provinces can be sought in Mamasani through scientific research.
The prehistoric sites remaining in the area date back to 8000 BC to 3000 BC. They are mostly hills, such as Nourabad, which belongs to 4500 BC and has been registered as national heritage.
Other sites include Tall-e Bakhtiyari, which is located 3 km from Nourabad and belongs to 5000 BC, and Dimeh Meel that dates back to 4000 BC and Kouzehgaran.

Historical Era
Some of the historical sites of Mamasani include Goornegoon bas-relief dating back to 2400 BC, Fahlian Silent Tower built in 700 BC, Davood Dokhtar Silent Tower of 650 BC, Achemenid palaces of Saravan Village belonging to 500 BC, Meel-e Ejdeha Fire Temple of 120 BC and Mansourabad Dam of Sassanid era (226-650).
There are sites and edifices belonging to the period marking Islam’s advent in various parts of Mamasani, among which one could cite Khafrak City in Shuseni and the city of Chahar Bazaar.
Historians consider Mamasani as an important center during the Islamic period.

Tourist Attractions
In addition to hosting historical and religious sites, Mamasani has beautiful natural attractions, such as the evergreen valley of Bouvan, which is covered with oak and almond trees, and Haft Berom lakes.
It has temperate weather and is verdant during February, March and early April.
Farmlands enhance the natural beauty of the region. Even nomadic tribes who live in the area add to the colorful landscape of the region.
One of Mamasani’s tourist attractions is the tomb of Imamzadeh Seyyed Alaeddin Mohammad in northeast Nourabad. It is the burial place of one of the sons of Imam Mousa Kazem (AS) and his daughter. The tomb consists of an old and new building.
Another tourist attraction is the Goornegoon bas-relief in Se-Tolen Village , which belongs to the Elamite Era (2700-539 BC). This rocky bas-relief depicts two figures, one ’God’ and one ’Goddess’ sitting among their worshippers. Meel-e Ejdeha or Dimeh Meel is a square-shaped stone tower on the slopes of Shirmard Mount in a region called Dimeh Meel, 10 km west of Nourabad. The tower, which was apparently a fire temple, is 7 meters in height and 3 meters wide.
Furthermore, relics remaining from the Achaemenid era in Saravan Village , 12 km from Nourabad include pillars with lotus decorations and resemble those of Persepolis .

Khansar Land of Inverted Tulips

2008-07-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Khansar Land of Inverted Tulips

Khansar in northwest Isfahan province is located about 150 kilometers from the city of Isfahan. The name Khansar comes from the Avestan language. Khun means spring and sar means place, so khansar means place of the spring.
Its geographical location is 33¼13’ north latitude and 50¼19’ east longitude while its altitude is 2,250 meters above the sea level.

According to Isfahanportal.ir, it’s area is 900 kmÃ, and it includes 18 towns, 3 villages and one central city. This city is located to the northwest of Esfahan, to the east is Golpayegan, and to the southwest it is within the limits of Faridan. It is situated on both sides of a narrow valley through which the Khansar River, some 4 meters wide at this point, flows in a north-easterly direction to Qom. The town and its gardens and orchards straggle some 10 km along the valley which has a mean breadth of scarcely 1 kilometer.

Khansar is a small county with a population of about 40,000. It is situated in a green valley. Snowy in winter and mild in summer, it enjoys many natural sights. It also is a religious city and has good weather.
The city has diverse flora, the most important being the inverted tulip. Average maximum temperature of Khansar during summer is 31¼ centigrade and the average minimum on summer nights is 24¼ centigrade.

Attractions
The most important places worth seeing in this city are hot springs and mineral waters in Golestan Kooh, Sarcheshmeh park, Cheshmeh (Spring) Omid, east of Khansar, the Zoroastrian temple in Tir Kooh, Baba Pir , Baba Mohamed Castle, Shahzadeh Ahmad, Jame Mosque, House of Abharis and Mariam Beygom School in Khansar city.
An attraction of Khansar is Golestan Kouh (literally ’flower mountain’) which is very pleasant in May when the area is covered by inverted tulips. Golestan Kouh is located on the Khansar-Isfahan road some 15 kilometers from Khansar. Hiking and skiing in the nearby mountains is very popular.
Another place of interest is Sarcheshmeh Park with beautiful mountain springs. Many tourists visit the area each year.
Khansar is also among the cities with a long history. Religious sites in the city include Shazdeh Ahmad and Emamzadeh Seyyed Saleh. It has many districts such as Vadasht, Payehtakht, Bidhend, Sonqan and Chaharbagh.
Khansar is located not far from the Iran’s Central Kavir (desert). It is surrounded by the Zagros Mountain range which is the source of Anarbar River (Qom River).

History
The city’s heyday dates back to the Safavid reign (1501-1722/1736 AD) when Isfahan was the capital of Iran. It is famous for carpet-weaving and other handicrafts. Carpet weaving was very popular in Khansar during the Safavid era when Persian art reached its zenith in Isfahan. Other handicrafts of the city include pottery, textile and dye industry.
The city’s fabric industry produces high quality cloth. The inlaid works of Khansar Grand Mosque is exemplary.
Khansar has been a scientific and educational center since the time of the Safavid dynasty and many great Shi’ite scholars were educated there. It has been a centre for training thinkers, poets, and especially theologians for centuries.

Sassanid Rise & Fall

2008-06-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Sassanid Rise & Fall

Many legends surround the origins of the Sassanid dynasty (226-650 AD) and the role of its eponymous founder in ancient Persia. One tradition relates that Sassan was a prince who married the daughter of the king of Persis and whose son, Papak, the father of Ardeshir I, overthrew his grandfather to claim the throne.

According to Iranvisitor website, another tradition states that Sassan was a shepherd working for King Papak who was given the king’s daughter’s hand in marriage after the king had a dream that their son would grow up to rule the world. Still, another has Sassan as a high-ranking Zoroastrian priest in the city of Istakhr near Persepolis. It is, therefore, unclear what relation Ardeshir I (226-241 AD), the first Sassanid king, bore to the founder of the dynasty.

Expansion
On claiming the kingship of Fars after the death of his father, Ardeshir I quickly began to expand his territory by taking over the surrounding provinces like Isfahan, Kerman, Susiana and Mesene in quick succession.
This brought him into conflict with the Parthian suzerain king, Artabanus IV, and war began between the fading Parthians and the invigorated Sassanids. In 224, Artabanus was killed in the fighting and it was only left for Ardeshir to begin taking over the territories of the now-defunct Parthian Empire.

Ardeshir moved west, intending to reunify the Persian Empire of the Achaemenids from whom he claimed direct descent. He successfully captured Mesopotamia and made Ctesiphon his winter capital, but his progress was eventually halted by the Romans at the Euphrates River. Like Darius before him, the rule of Ardeshir was occupied with protecting his borders from powerful enemies and putting down the internal strife that had resulted from the fall of the previous monarch.
The son of Ardeshir, Shapur I (241-272 AD), continued his father’s work in battling the Romans. In 244, Shapur signed a very advantageous peace treaty with the usurper Emperor Philip of Syria, but war resumed in 251 and Shapur conquered Armenia, invaded Syria and plundered Antioch.

Dynastic Struggles
The period between the death of Shapur I in 272 and the accession of Shapur II in 310, saw a series of dynastic struggles with the Romans, which culminated in the three sons of Hormizd II (302-309 AD) being respectively murdered, blinded and imprisoned.
The throne was reserved for an unborn child being carried by one of his wives. The child king Shapur II (310-379 AD) was therefore crowned in utero and born king.
Once the young Shapur II was old enough to rule, he began wars that both expanded and strengthened the empire. In the west, the Romans were pacified and Armenia was once again under Persian control. In the east, the Kushans had been defeated and Persian rule extended to the borders of China.

New Order
Further centralization occurred under Khosro I (531-579 AD), also known as Anurshirvan, the Just. Khosro was perhaps the greatest of the Sassanid kings, his rule ushering in the second period of Persian greatness under the Sassanids.
Through systematic taxation, town building, and military and bureaucratic reform, Khosro brought new order to the empire. With the Roman Emperor Justinian, Khosro struck a very profitable deal by which he received a large quantity of gold in return for peace, though he was, it would appear, genuinely in favor of ending the war which he considered to be senseless in any case.
Peace enabled the intellectual life of the empire to flourish and many learned men of different nationalities enjoyed the patronage of the king, who himself had a keen interest in history and philosophy.
By the time Khosro II (591-628 AD), grandson of Khosro I, had ascended the throne, war with the Romans (now Byzantium) had restarted. His army captured Syria and Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
Khosro also went on to campaign successfully in Egypt and these initial successes won him the title of Khosro Parviz (Khosro, the Victorious). It was during this period that the monumental reliefs at Taq-e Bostan were carved on such a confident scale.
However, Khosro II lacked the wisdom of his grandfather and his court was characterized by wastefulness and pomp. Though it is true that Firouzabad and Ctesiphon were magnificent cities and the arts were flourishing as never before, his despotism and indolence had aroused much opposition.
Toward the end of his reign, Byzantium retaliated under the emperor Heraclius and made deep inroads into Persian territory. Khosro II fled from the advancing armies without offering resistance and a subsequent palace revolt led to his imprisonment and murder at the hands of his son and heir Kavadh II.
Kavadh II died within months of ascending the throne after having put his father and 18 brothers to death. The fratricide in the royal family had by then reached such proportions that there were no men left to succeed the throne. This paved the way for two Sassanid princesses, Pouran-Dokht and Azarmi-Dokht, to rule the declining empire.
The last Sassanid king, Yazdegerd III (632-652 AD), was no more than a boy when he came to power and was dominated by his powerful advisers. It was now no longer the Romans who threatened his tightly organized armies. The Arab army pressed Yazdegerd III to flee northeast to what is now Turkmenistan. He was murdered in 652 while on the run.
The victories of Arabs at the decisive battles of Qadisiya and Nahavand in 642 signaled the end of the Sassanid dynasty and the beginning of Islam’s inroad into Persia.

Qajar Dynasty

2008-06-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Qajar Dynasty

The Qajars belonged to a Turkman tribe that held ancestral lands in present-day Azerbaijan, which was formerly part of Iran. In 1779, following the death of Karim Khan Zand, the Zand dynasty ruler of southern Iran, Agha Mohammad Khan, a Qajar leader, set out to reunify Iran.
According to Perspolis website, Agha Mohammad Khan established the Qajar dynasty by defeating numerous rivals and controlling all of Iran.
By 1794, he had eliminated all his rivals, including Lotf ’Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and had reasserted Iranian sovereignty over the former Iranian territories in Georgia and the Caucasus. In 1796 he was formally crowned as shah and established his capital at Tehran, a village near the ancient city of Rey (now Shahr-e Rey).
Agha Mohammad was assassinated in 1797 and succeeded by his nephew, Fath Ali Shah.

Fath Ali Shah (1797 to 1834)
Fath Ali Shah ruled from 1797 to 1834. Under Fath Ali Shah, Iran went to war against Russia, which was expanding from the north into the Caucasian mountains, an area of historical Iranian interest and influence.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Iran recognized Russia ’s annexation of Georgia and ceded to Russia most of the north Caucasian region. A second war with Russia in the 1820s ended even more disastrously for Iran, which in 1828 was forced to sign the Treaty of Turkmanchai acknowledging Russian sovereignty over the entire area north of the Aras River (territory comprising present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan ).
Fath Ali was succeeded in 1834 by his grandson Mohammad Shah, who fell under the influence of Russia and made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Herat. When Mohammad Shah died in 1848, the succession passed to his son Nassereddin.

Nassereddin Shah (1848-1896)
During Nassereddin Shah’s reign, western science, technology, and educational methods were introduced into Iran at the behest of his advisor Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir.
Nassereddin Shah tried to exploit the mutual distrust between Great Britain and Russia to preserve Iran ’s independence, but foreign interference and territorial encroachment increased under his rule. He was not able to prevent Britain and Russia from encroaching into regions of traditional Iranian influence. He took huge foreign loans to finance expensive personal trips to Europe.
In 1856, Britain prevented Iran from reasserting control over Herat, which had been part of Iran in Safavid times but had been under non-Iranian rule since the mid-18th century. Britain supported the city’s incorporation into Afghanistan, a country Britain helped create in order to extend eastward the buffer between its Indian territories and Russia ’s expanding empire. Britain also extended its control to other areas of the Persian Gulf during the 19th century.

Constitutional Revolution
When Nassereddin Shah was assassinated in 1896, the crown passed to his son Mozaffareddin Shah who was a weak and ineffectual ruler.
Royal extravagance and the absence of revenues exacerbated financial problems. The shah spent two large loans from Russia, partly on trips to Europe. Public anger fed on the shah’s propensity for granting concessions to Europeans in return for generous payments to him and his officials. People began to demand curbs on royal authority and the establishment of the rule of law, as their concern over foreign, and especially Russian, influence grew.
The shah’s failure to respond to protests by the religious establishment, the merchants, and other classes led the merchants and clerical leaders in January 1906 to take refuge in mosques in Tehran and outside the capital to avoid any arrest. When the shah reneged on a promise to permit the establishment of a “house of justice“ or consultative assembly, 10,000 people, led by the merchants, took sanctuary in June in the compound of the British legation in Tehran.
In August, the shah was forced to issue a decree for establishing a constitution. In October, an elected assembly convened and drew up a constitution that provided for strict limitations on royal power, an elected parliament or Majlis with wide powers to represent the people, and a government with a Cabinet subject to confirmation by the Majlis.
The shah signed the constitution on December 30, 1906. He died five days later. The Supplementary Fundamental Laws approved in 1907 provided, within limits, for freedom of press, speech, and association, and for security of life and property. The Constitutional Revolution marked the end of the medieval period in Iran.
Mozaffareddin’s son Mohammad Ali Shah (1907-09), with the aid of Russia, attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish the parliamentary government. After several disputes with members of the Majlis, in June 1908 he used his Russian-officered Persian Cossacks Brigade to bomb the Majlis building, arrest many of the deputies, and close down the assembly. Resistance to the shah, however, coalesced in Tabriz, Isfahan, Rasht, and elsewhere. In July 1909, constitutional forces marched from Rasht and Isfahan to Tehran, deposed the shah, and reestablished the constitution. The ex-shah went into exile in Russia.
Ahmad Shah, who succeeded to the throne at age 11, proved to be incompetent and was unable to preserve the integrity of Iran or the fate of his dynasty. The occupation of Iran during World War I (1914-18) by Russian, British, and Ottoman troops was a blow from which Ahmad Shah never effectively recovered.
With a coup d’Žtat in February 1921, Reza Khan (ruled as Reza Shah Pahlavi, 1925-41) grabbed political power. Ahmad Shah was formally deposed by the Majlis (national consultative assembly) in October 1925 while he was in Europe, and that assembly declared the termination of the Qajar rule.

Iranian Head Coverings for All Seasons

2008-06-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Head Coverings for All Seasons

In ancient Iran , a head covering represented the profession, race and social rank of the person. Used for ornamentation or one’s comfort, head coverings or hats include the crown, including closed, open or integrated crowns, which were worn by kings, diadem or Deihim, Basak (the straight cap), Dastar (turban-like cap), Bashlogh (hood), and egg-like felt caps.
Hats also distinguish a social class, tribe or nationality, Cais-soas.com reported.

Early Uses
A head covering had special significance for Iranians in ancient times. Its use dates back to cavemen who used it to protect themselves from the vagaries of weather.
Different types of hat and cap were developed, modified and perfected with the growth of human civilizations to suit geographical and social conditions.
Hat was used as an ornamentation device to beautify the body and satisfy one’s aesthetic cravings and religious beliefs.
The hat was used in special religious rites and ceremonies as a sign of devotion and humility.
The head cover used by the bride is a striking example. Symbolizing modesty and chastity, it is currently used mainly for decorative purposes.
Certain professions also call for a special type of cap, dress or uniform to provide for the worker’s safety and meet the specific needs of a profession.

Ancient Times
The ancient Medians or Persians resorted to simple decorations as symbolic images. A careful examination of such images leads us to divide them into human, plant, animal, abstract images or a mixture of such elements.
The ancient world was a mysterious world of celestial and terrestrial wonders mixed with human fear, hopes and myths.
Ancient images were symbolic in nature and represented authority, rank, religion, ritual, gild, or features such as bravery.

Designs
Hats in ancient times incorporated images and designs that signified specific meanings.
Water Lily (Niloufar): Water lily is considered an eternal and sacred flower, and represents Mehr (the sun) and Mithra (worship). As a result, the flower and the stalk or the simple lily with its petals in a circle or hoop has been used in Iranian fabrics during the Parthian, Sasanid and even Islamic periods.
Image of Sun: The sun (Mehr) enjoyed a special symbolic significance in ancient Iranian religious rites. An example of use of sun is its round disk with rays divided into three directions all of which were placed in a hoop. One most famous symbol was the sun chariot.
The importance of the sun (Mehr) in religious rites was such that many experts consider the crown (and even the wedding ring) as its manifestation.
Serrated (toothed) Towers: Serrated towers were other symbols used in ancient times, and such designs represented ancient temples. An example of serrated tower is shown in the mosaic bas-relief Khozi soldiers’ dress in the Louvre Museum . In these images, one can see quadrangular images. Inside the quadrangle, one can see three serrated towers rising from a mound. These three towers represent Varjavand or a combination of Ahura Mazda (Zoroastrian), Mithra and Anahitian religions.
Geometric shapes included a pyramid or round checkered additions which were either used in the margin or as the background, and also used to adorn ritual hats.
In the decoration of hats in ancient Iran , one does not see human or animal images.

Types of Hats
An examination of images of bas-reliefs in ancient buildings and objects leads us to divide Persian hats into crowns, diadems (Deihims), Basaks, straight caps, Dastars, Bashloghs and egg-like felt caps.

Crown
Crown was a special head cover used by governors. The crown represented special power bestowed to the king from heaven and each part of its ornaments symbolized the beliefs and religions of the time.
A majority of crowns were serrated and the serrations were in the curves and symbolized towers, battlements or perhaps Mehr (the sun). The crown was so respectable that the court would hardly thrust its upkeep to everyone.
The crown was divided into three groups: closed, open and integrated crowns. The closed crown (a crown covered at the top) was composed of a headstall and an arch and its edges and sides were decorated by gold. The closed crowns were either wholly made of metal or non-metal material.
In non-metal crowns, the frame was made of non-metal matter and a metal part was mounted on it. The metal crown was either fabricated by casting or by engraving the metal.
Sivaris was a type of crown used during the Achaemenid period. This was a tall and serrated golden crown decorated by gold leaves and colorful jewels. The Achaemenid crowns were either closed or open crowns and were excessively worn by kings. The king’s crown was taller than other crowns and its walls had symbols of the temples of the time.

Basak
Basak is a circular ring made of flowers and branches or metal ring made of flowers. It might be considered as a special sort of diadem. So far, the real application of Basak has not been discovered, but in the past there was a sort of Basak that looked like a rope from distance. Such Basaks were mostly used by military officers. Many bas-reliefs of soldiers in Persepolis adorn the Basak.
Basak was either made of metal or felt. The non-metal felt Basak was worn during hunting and war to prevent the hair from being disturbed. The Basak was worn by the king, his courtiers, military officers and even ordinary people.

Straight Cap
This was an inverted cone cut at the base and made of felt and scented by gums and other fragrant material. These were either split or simple caps. The simple straight cap was used as replacement for the crown for daily affairs of kings.
The difference between split and simple straight cap was in the shears on the body of the cap. Apparently, the split sheared caps were worn by soldiers. What is particular about this cap is the image of Ahura imprinted on it.
A comparison of the straight caps known as Parsi caps with those worn by the Assyrians shows that the Achaemenid straight cap was a modified version of the Assyrian one.

Dastar (Turban-like cap)
The real purpose of Dastar is not known. This was a pointed felt cap or hood or shawl which was wrapped over the head and neck or a sort of felt cap. Its true rank is not known because the Dastar was worn by servants and maids. Right now in many places, including Kurdestan, the natives wear a sort of cap on which the Dastar is wrapped.

Bashlogh Hood
This is a felt cap which has special strings hanging behind the ear and back, which narrows as it descends lower. Behind the arch of the Bashlogh, there was an additional piece which was folded in the front. It was worn by Median armor wearing officers. The Bashlogh with slight modifications is still woven in Kurdestan.

Egg-Like Felt Cap
This cap was known as Median cap. The only ornament on the egg-like felt cap is a lace at the edge of the cap. The images surviving in Ghalayechi Hill in Bukan from Manayian period as well as crowns from the Sassanid period has revealed that a diadem was worn on the felt cap. The felt cap was worn by Achaemenid warriors and Median officers. A similar cap is still being worn by Iranian nomadic tribesmen.

Head-Scarf
This headscarf worn by women in ancient times reaches as far as the ankles. The Dastar was worn by Achaemenian women and is still used by Zoroastrian women.
The corners of this shawl-like Dastar were not wrapped under the neck. It was placed on the lady’s head in a manner that covered all her hair or it was hung like a tail at the back. The Dastar was generally worn with a diadem or Basak, and was the scarf popularly used by the Iranian women in the past.

A Village of Wonders Masouleh

2008-06-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

A Village of Wonders

Masouleh

Masouleh is a village in Iran’s Gilan Province. Historical names for the village include Masalar and Khortab. It was founded in the 10th century AD. Masouleh is approximately 60 km southwest of Rasht and 32 km west of Fouman. It is 1,050 meters above sea level in the Alborz mountain range, near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.
The village has a difference in elevation of 100 meters. The first village of Masouleh was approximately established around 1006 AD, 6 km northwest of the current village, called Old-Masouleh (Kohneh Masouleh in Persian). People moved from Old-Masouleh to the present site because of Pestilence and attacks by neighbors, CHN reported.
Masouleh-Rood-Khan is the river passing through the village with a waterfall 200m away from the village. Many other springs are found around Masouleh that is also surrounded by forests from valley to mount. Fog is a key feature of this area.

Unique Architecture
Masouleh architecture is unique. The buildings have been built into the mountain and are interconnected.
Courtyards and roofs both serve as pedestrian areas similar to streets. Masouleh does not allow any motor vehicles due to its unique layout. It is the only village in Iran with such a prohibition.
Moreover, the small streets and many stairs simply wouldn’t make it possible for vehicles to enter.
The spectacular architecture of Masouleh is well-known as “The yard of the above building is the roof of the below building“.
Yellow clay coats the exterior of most buildings. This allows for better visibility in fog.

Buildings are mostly 2 stories (1st and ground floor) made of adobe, rods and bole. Small living room, big guest room, winter room, hall, WC and balcony are usually on the 1st floor. Cold closet, barn and stable are located below attached to the upper floor by several narrow steps inside the building.
There are four main local communities namely: “Maza-var“ (meaning: beside the Mosque) at the south, “Khana-var“ (meaning: beside homes) at the East, “Kasha-sar“ (meaning: stretched on top) at the North, and, “Assa-mahala“ (meaning: Assad community) at the West. Apparently down-town is the market (bazaar) area and also the main mosque of the village, named: “O-ne-ben-ne Ali“.

This village is almost eight hundred to a thousand years old. The existence of numerous graveyards in and outside of the village shows its old texture. The storied and terracing plan is in parallel to the mountain slope. Combination of such architecture with natural landscape has rendered it a national and international tourist center.

Kurdestan is located in western Iran and bordering Iraq

2008-06-26T07:53:00.001-07:00

Kurdestan Attractions Galore

By Sadeq Dehqan

Located in western Iran and bordering Iraq, Kurdestan is a green province spread over 28,203 square kilometers.

Natural Features
The province’s mountainous areas extend from Qezelozan Valley to mountains of southern Zanjan. It has large plains, with the highest called Obatu situated at an altitude of 2,200 meters to the north of the provincial capital, Sanandaj.

The highest mountains of the region are Shahneshin in northern Bijar, Sheida in the central part of the province and Panjeh Ali, which is located between Qorveh and Saqqez.
Baneh and Marivan experience the highest annual precipitation in the province with about 800 millimeters while Sanandaj registers the lowest at 400 millimeters. The province boasts of oak forests and different types of trees due to its suitable humidity level.
The province has suitable habitats for mammals and different species of birds as well as marine species because of its diverse climatic conditions, special topography, abundance of water resources and suitable flora.
Kurdestan has 5 first grade, 10 second grade, 16 third grade and three fourth grade hunting zones, in addition to Bijar Protected Zone’s hunting zone. The zone is the only natural reserve located in the northeast of the province and covers an area of 23,000 hectares.
The zone is host to many permanent and seasonal spas. It is also rich in terms of wildlife, with a diverse species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Gazelle, brown bear, boar, wolf and rabbit are also found in the zone. Among the birds of the region one could refer to partridges and gray herons.
Marivan Lake, which is located in the area, is the main habitat of otter in Iran.

Culture and Traditions
Kurdestan has a rich culture and civilization.
Different variations of the Kurdish dialect are spoken in the province. The Urami variation was the language of the province until a few decades ago.
Before the advent of Islam, the residents of the region practiced Zoroastrian rituals. Traces of this culture are detectable in their rituals and music. However, at present, most inhabitants of Kurdestan are Sunni, belonging particularly to the Shafei sect.
Kurds traditionally prefer to wear their local costumes to maintain their cultural identity. Even during the early days of the former Pahlavi regime when Reza Shah ordered all people of the country to wear modern clothes, Kurds resisted this order and did not change their attire.
The Kurdish dress of women is colorful and derives inspiration from the natural surroundings. While Kurdish women wear long dresses decorated with needlework, Kurdish men wear loose pants, boots and a head covering. They also use belts made of colorful cloth.
The cultural attractions of Kurdestan include songs and dance, which have been preserved since ancient times. Kurdish music pertains to different moods, but it is mostly known for its fast and lively rhythm.
Kurdish music is played during funerals, wedding processions and even sickness. It can easily make a listener sad or jubilant.
A visit to any of its cities is worth a trip.

Iran safe and sound for tourists

2008-05-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

'Iran safe and sound for tourists'
Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:30:07

Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei

Head of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization says the country is one of the most secure places for the world tourists.

"In spite of neighboring war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran enjoys security and peace," CHTN quoted Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei as saying.

Unfortunately Western media by publishing negative propaganda against Iran are working hard to present an untrue image of the Islamic Republic.

Rahim-Mashaei further called on tourists to visit the country and personally witness Iran's security.

He also emphasized the role of Iran as an ancient country that stands as the forerunner of many modern phenomena like modernism and urbanism.

Googad Citadel near Golpayegan Isfahan Iran

2008-05-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Googad Citadel Relic of the Past

Googad Citadel which is located near the city of Golpayegan (in Isfahan province) dates back to about four centuries.
The only written document that has been left from the citadel belongs to about 130 years ago.
This document indicates that half of the citadel was built by a person named Ali Khan who gave his share of the citadel to his wife as dowry.
According to K.domaindlx webstie, Googad Citadel and the city of Golpayegan was located en route Silk Road. This is why the citadel was called Alikhani Citadel for some time. Golpayegan has a minaret which is about 18 meters high and it was used as a guide for passengers in the past.
The citadel was used as a caravansary for businessmen during peace time.
Aqa Mohammad Khan, the Qajar king, has also spent several days in the citadel while he was returning from one of his wars.
The citadel is currently used as a luxury hotel nowadays.
A room currently used as a special suite was designated for kings.
Doves acted as an alarm system for of the citadel so that special openings were considered for the doves to settle in the citadel’s wall and whenever they heard strange sound they also began to make noise.

The Role of Women in Ancient Persia

2008-05-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Women in Ancient Persia

The study of women’s status in ancient Persia, as mentioned in Zoroastrian texts such as the Avesta, shows that at a time when many women in the world were deprived of their basic rights, women enjoyed social and legal freedom and were treated with great respect.
According to Presstv, Avesta texts ask both genders to share responsibility and take decisions together. They are equally praised for their good deeds rather than their gender, wealth or power.
In ancient Persia, women could take the throne in case the king passed away and the crown prince was still a minor. One such woman was Pourandokht, the first Persian queen regent in Ctesiphon. Ancient scriptures describe her as a wise, just and good-natured woman who did her best to revive the Sassanid sovereignty.
Avestan texts address the issue of leadership and tell us that a ruler may be a woman as well as a man.

Equal Responsibility
Zoroastrian texts advise parents to encourage their offspring to tread the path of knowledge and explain that women have an equal responsibility in the dissemination of knowledge and science.
“Whatever a man or a woman knows that is good and right, not only should they practice, but inform others to perform accordingly“. (Yasna 41/2)
Female members of the ancient Persian society were allowed to participate in religious ceremonies and sometimes even head the event as the priest.
Persian women were free to choose their spouse and Zoroaster urged them to make their decision based on wisdom.
Regarding young couples, they are advised to remain faithful, share their joy and sorrow, to adhere to the principles of love and to try to surpass one another in truth and righteousness.
Social Role
Reference has also been found on the role of Persian women in society. According to Greek historian and biographer Plutarch, Persian women were active members of their society and good fighters.
There were numerous female fighters among the ranks of the Sassanid army. They have been described as excellent and competent soldiers.
According to Pahlavi texts such as the Din-Kard, women could manage their property, represent their husbands at court, chair courtrooms and perform religious ceremonies.

Ancient documents found at Persepolis, Susa and other Mesopotamian cities show that both noble and common women enjoyed economic independence in Persia.
They owned property, were involved in managing their assets, had employment opportunities and earned wages.
Although noble Persian women had to act within a defined framework set by the king, they also enjoyed economic independence and had control over their wealth.
Women were allowed to visit their estates and administer their assets individually or with the help of their husbands.
Ancient documents mention common women by the title bestowed upon them due to the nature of their work. The level of skill determined a female manager’s title.
The highest-ranking female workers were known as Arashshara (great chief). They managed female and male workers, and received the highest salary among their peers.
Historical documents show that male and female workers received equal pay and there were an equal number of workers from both genders.

Eram Garden Idyllic

2008-05-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

Eram Garden Idyllic

The idyllic Eram Garden (Bagh-e Eram) in Shiraz (in Fars province) is a striking location for visitors with a variety of plants, as well as a historical mansion.
Although the exact date of the garden’s construction is not known, historical evidence suggests it was constructed upon the order of Seljuk monarch Sultan Sanjar as many other gardens were established during his reign.
According to Presstv, like many other historical monuments in the southern city of Shiraz, it was restored and repaired by the Zand kings (1750-1794).
During the late Zand Dynasty, the garden was owned by Qashqaei tribal chiefs. A Qashqaei tribal chief, Mohammad Qoli Khan ordered the construction of the original mansion in the early eighteenth century, planting the garden with different trees, including cypress, pine, orange and persimmon trees.
During the reign of Nassereddin Shah of Qajar Dynasty, Mirza Hassan Ali Khan Nasir-ul Molk bought the gardens from Qashqaei tribes and constructed the present pavilion which was designed by a famous Shirazi architect, Mohammad Hassan.
The decoration of the pavilion was completed by Hassan Ali Khan’s son Abolqassem Khan who inherited the garden after his father.
The garden finally went to Abolqassem Khan’s son Abdullah Qavami who sold it to Qashqaei tribes once again.
The beautiful three-story pavilion of the garden was constructed according to Safavid and Qajar architectural style.
The lower story of the mansion has been particularly designed for relaxation during the hot summer days. The ceiling of this structure is beautifully adorned with colorful tiles. A small stream also passes through the story, connecting to a large pool in front of the building.
The middle story has a large veranda erected on two pillars behind which stands a magnificent hall. On the two sides of the hall are two corridors each having four rooms and two small terraces. The front sides of the pillars are decorated with tiles showing images of horse-riders and flowers.

The upper story consists of a large hall whose windows open to the main veranda. It is also surrounded by two corridors leading to two terraces.
On the entablature of the building there are three arched (semi-circular, crescent-shaped) pediments ornamented with tilework.
The middle pediment, being larger than the other two, shows Nassereddin Shah (a famous Qajar king) riding on the back of a white horse.
Around this picture, some scenes based on storied from the works of Ferdowsi and Nezami (two famous poets) can be seen.
One of the small pediments represents an image of Darius the Great (the founder of the Achaemenid Dynasty) as represented in Persepolis monuments.
And finally the third pediment illustrates a deer being hunted by a panther.
The garden with its beautiful flowers, refreshing air, tall cypresses (a stately, beautiful cypress tree there known as sarv-e naz which is said to go back to 3,000 years ago) and fragrant myrtles is a major tourist destination particularly during spring.
Now a property of Shiraz University, it has been turned into a botanical garden and is open to the public as a museum. The mansion has also been assigned to the university’s Faculty of Law.
It has been named after a legendary garden called Eram in southern Arabia, built upon an order of Shaddad, an Arab king, to compete with Paradise.

June 4 marks the 17th death anniversary of the Imam Khomeini

2008-05-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

A view of Imam Khomeini Mausoleum in Tehran. June 4 marks the 17th death anniversary of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution. (Photo by Mahmoud Hajmohammadi)

The Arg-e Karim Khan in Shiraz A Legacy of Zandieh Era

2008-05-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Arg-e Karim Khan A Legacy of Zandieh Era

Arg-e Karim Khan (Citadel of Karim Khan) was the palace of Karim Khan, a king of the Zandieh Dynasty. Built in 1180 AH, it is located to the northeast of Shiraz near the Shohada Square.

For building his palace, Karim Khan invited the most skilled stonecutters, architects and artists of his time. He also bought the best type of construction materials from different cities of the country and also from abroad.
According to Tachar website, the citadel has an area of 4,000 square meters and is in the center of a compound extending over an area of 12,800 square meters.

The architectural style used in this edifice is both military and residential, as the citadel was the residence of the king and had to have high security. Hence, the exterior walls, which essentially resemble the walls of a garrison, are quite tall. The citadel consists of four high walls connected by four 14 meters round brick towers. The lower section of the exterior walls is three meters in width. It is shaped like an incomplete cone and its width at the top reaches 2.8 meters. In the upper section of the wall, there is a small chamber, which housed soldiers and guards.
The palace’s entrance hall is rather large. It has one door which opens to the horse stable and another door, which opens toward the roof. Compared to similar buildings, the hall does not have many decorations. There were special rooms for the groom, which were destroyed throughout centuries.
There is a small courtyard adjacent to each of the four towers of the building. In one of them, there is a special room for the king’s servants. In the main courtyard, which covers an area of 93.6 meters by 12.8 meters, there is a stairway to the second floor.

The citadel is rectangular, on each side of which is a 15-meter brick tower. Between the northern, southern and western sides is a large balcony, which consists of a hall and two large chambers. In front of each of the three balconies there are two sturdy stone columns, each of them nine meters high. As is customary in the architectural style of the Zandieh era, a four-sided pond was constructed in front of each of the balconies.
The eastern side of the citadel is a high wall in the middle of which the entrance door is located. On top of the entrance gate there is a beautiful painting depicting a scene from the battle between Rostam and the White Demon (mythical personalities of the masterpiece of poet Ferdowsi, ’Shahnameh’ or ’book of the kings’). Colorful enameled tiles are used in the painting. This is a feature added during the Qajar era. The shah’s private bath and the residence of his bodyguards are situated behind the eastern wall.
The walls of the quarters are made of stone and baked clay is used in other parts of the building. Interior decorations include marbles of Yazd and Tabriz and large mirrors bought from Europe. Herbal colors are used in the ceilings’ ornaments.
During the Qajar period, the citadel was used as the governor’s seat. It was converted to a prison during the reign of Reza Shah, the first Pahlavi monarch. Renovation of the building in contemporary times started in 1977.

Abgineh Museum

2008-05-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Abgineh Museum

Abgineh or glass museum in the city of Tehran was the residence and office of former Iranian Prime Minister “Ahmad Qavam“ (1876-1955 AD) until 1951. Later, the Egyptian Embassy in Tehran took over the building and handed it over to Iran’s Bank Tejarat.
According to Allmuseums website, since 1976 a group of Iranian and Austrian architects refurbished the building and converted it into a museum which was opened on 1989.The decorations of the building include brickworks of the exterior facade and interior plaster cutouts, mirror works and inlays.
As one of the Iranian famous museums, Abgineh Museum comprises several halls, workshops and a library. Artworks and handicrafts exhibited in this museum include three collections of porcelains, glassworks and crystals.

Porcelains
The magnificent collection of porcelains exhibits a thorough history of ceramics and porcelains made in Iran from the dawn of history until today. It also provides a bulk of information about the evolution of porcelain and its production technique. Major centers of porcelain making in Iran, including Kashan, Rey, Qazvin, Gorgan and Neishabour are also introduced.
Visiting this museum, you learn about simple and colorful glazed porcelains and the art of decorating them with calligraphic designs, paintings of plants and animals and geometrical designs over and under the layer of the glaze.
Some of these porcelains enjoy paintings on the basis of proverbs and old mythical and folk tales.

Glassworks
Glassworks exhibited in the museum date back to the first and second millennia BC until modern times. In this section the glass works production technique including the sand molds, cutting and pressing equipment are introduced. The painting method on the glass is also exhibited.

Crystals
On the ground floor hall of the museum, crystal and flint glass samples of 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited. All these samples are mostly cut and made in Europe.
Specialized Library in the northwestern courtyard of the museum, the newly constructed building of the library is visible. This specialized library contains almost 4,000 books on archeology and the history of art. A hall is also allocated to exhibit the glassworks and porcelains made by contemporary artists and craftsmen. Workshops to teach production of glassworks, crystal cuttings, porcelains and their painting are also provided.

Qara Kelisa Awaiting UNESCO Registration

2008-05-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Qara Kelisa Awaiting UNESCO Registration

Qara Church, near Chaldoran city in West Azarbaijan province, has been proposed by Iran for UNESCO registration, deputy head of West Azarbaijan’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said on Monday.
Alizadeh also told reporters that the church is one of the biggest historical holy sites in the world and deserves to be enlisted for registration as an international heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), reported IRNA.
Qara Church (St. Tataous Cathedral) is the first Christian monument and Tataous had been one of Jesus Christ’s (PBUH) evangelists.
Badarak rites are annually held at the church in summer and attended by foreign Armenians and Armenians residing in Iran.
He said that natural events have caused damages to the church that has been renovated.
Qara means black in Azeri language and Qara Kelisa means Black Church.

Iranian/Persian Brick

2008-05-23T12:29:00.001-07:00

Brick Evolution

With all its inevitable imperfections, brick and pattern begins with the preliminary observation of a renewed popularity of the architectural use of bricks, in the context of which craftsmen and artists have been able to construct walls, adorned with patterns derived from their creative minds and that these patterns are different from those used in the past eras, as to constitute a class of their own.

According to Caroun website, since a long time ago, bricks have been inseparable elements of wall construction, thus acquiring a particular status in the history of architecture as the building material par excellence. Ever since they were invented in Babylon, the manufacture of bricks, whether sun-dried or fired, became common practice, developing steadfastly throughout the world.
Clay is available in most regions of the planet, providing the best building material, which all of the people soon put to good use, first mixing it with water and trampling it into a uniform paste, and then molding it into rectangular blocks, which they left to dry in the sun and later on took to kilns for firing. The hard, durable latter form could be readily used in building houses or other monuments. Thus, the simplest building materials available to rich and poor alike were none but raw bricks (Khesht) and baked bricks (Ajor).

History of Brick Making
It is generally believed that the art of brick making originated about 5000 BC. The inhabitants of the banks of Nile had noticed that the layer of alluvial deposits left behind every year by the tumultuous waters soon dried and cracked into large and small ’cakes’, about four to five centimeters thick, which could be used in construction of walls.
Thanks to the eagerness of man’s mind for progress and innovation, it was a first step in casting mud into regularly shaped molds letting the blocks dry hard in the sun and utilizing the resulting bricks instead.
And soon, searching means for making these more solid, cattle dung was mixed with the clay mud; later on, in order to prevent the bricks from cracking, while losing their water contents, cut straw was added in about the same proportion as clay with its myriad blades acting as tiny “reinforcement rods“ (the straw was first dipped in water, which softened in fibers, making the mixing process easier on skin).
Ever since baked bricks were invented, they constituted one of the principal building materials which were soon used in huge quantities, in all parts of buildings.
Scholars unanimously believe that the undisputed master artisans in the field were from East. Those early architects faced an arduous task, when they came to adopt appropriate dimensions and proportions for the molds to be used.
In other words, this was an artistic problem, which required reflection. The alluvial “cakes“ of the Nile banks had been used as such, roughly stacked atop one another, whereas in making bricks, whether raw or baked, thought was to be given to the proper alignment and interlocking of individual bricks, to their resistance under burden, etc.
The best model adopted was the cubic two-widths-long, which was made in various sizes all over the world. As for their thickness, this varied in the course of time. At first, bricks tended to be quite large, and proportionally very thick, but gradually became thinner. These were in turn subdivided into various fragments, each bearing a name of its own. The form of bricks varied from one region to another. Moreover, for want of widespread literacy, these appellations were propagated orally, undergoing inevitable alterations in different regions. Eventually, they were transferred from one generation to another. It was only when the cultures of various countries could be recorded in written form that they became uniformly standardized.

Bricks in Persian Architecture
Iranian architects also made the best use of bricks. In Susa (Shush), the prosperous capital of Elamites, brick architecture soon prevailed. The archeological excavations made on this pre-historic site have uncovered illustrated porcelain, which speak to the long-lasting importance of the region as well as clay tablets dating back to 1700 BC which include various documents and contracts.
Darius the Great, of the Achaemenid dynasty had the Palace of Susa erected in 494 BC. This brick monument was an expression of the great civilization, which had arisen in western Iran and transfigured the country. Thus it appears that, throughout the world, bricks have long formed the base of every building.
Situated in semi-tropical region, with average temperature around 40 degrees Celsius, Iran displays sharp variations of temperature between its northern and southern regions and therefore building materials have to be chosen in accordance with the local climate.
An unfortunate trend of covering the facade of buildings with stone slabs became popular all over Iran for a while, regardless of their low resistance to temperature variations, which exposed them to rapidly hot weather in summer and freezing cold in winter. Used empirically, with low level of technical know-how, these proved unfit for the purpose.
Meanwhile, relying on the progress of technology, manufacturers active in various fields began experimenting with all sources of natural and synthetic materials with which to construct buildings. But their products, notwithstanding the propaganda failed to yield good results and were soon abandoned. And yet again bricks, the traditional building material of every land, replaced them all. Thus, after a while, a renewed interest in bricks appeared, but this time, the artists’ tastes had evolved. Brick facades proliferated in various cities, and architects were able to give vent to their creativity in decorating interior and exterior of the buildings with this material.
Since ancient times, bricks have essentially been molded blocks of clay mixed with water and eventually hardened by the fire. But, the evolution of this process varied from country to country. In Iran, bricks were first baked in cylindrical pit kilns, which were soon replaced by tunnel kilns. These remained in use until the advent of modern technology, when all kinds of quite different baking methods were used.
It is also noteworthy that by relying on advanced chemical technologies, efforts are being made for producing bricks of desired colors, which also can be more solid and resistant to corrosion.

Gardens Paradise Of Persia

2008-05-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Gardens Paradise Of Persia

The symbol of eternal life for ancient Iranians was a tree and a stream flowing beneath it.
Iranians considered tree planting a sacred occupation and spent a lot of time in their gardens, Press TV reported.
Historical accounts tell us about gardens named paradise and filled with all things fair and good that the earth can bring forth.

The Persian paradise garden gets its name from the old Persian word Pairadaeza, meaning an enclosed area. Subsequently, the English word paradise has its roots in the old Persian word Pairadaeza. The Achemenid idea of an earthly paradise eventually penetrated other cultures and was later translated into Latin as Hortus Conclusus, the enclosed garden, which came to symbolize the Garden of Eden.
The first writer to make reference to a Persian garden using the word ’paradise’ was the Greek narrator Xenophon. The word appears in Avestan text only in the form of Pairadaeza.
The Old Testament describes pleasure gardens as sacred enclosures rising in terraces planted with trees and shrubs, forming an artificial hill such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Not only were palaces and temples enclosed within gardens, but every city had private and sometimes public gardens which were open to all during Persian New Year celebrations.
Persian gardens were places where shade and cool water could be privately enjoyed. They were places of spiritual solace, meeting places for friends and formal adjuncts to the houses or palaces they surrounded.

Function
For more than three thousand years, the Persian garden has been the focus of Iranian imagination, influencing the country’s art as well as literature. The lavish use of flowers in such gardens inspired the weaving of floral designs into what are known as garden-carpets.
Persian gardens influenced garden design around the world and became the foundation of Islamic and later European garden traditions, an example of which can be seen in the Mogul gardens of India namely the Taj Mahal in Agra.
The paved and tiled Andalusia courtyards with arcades, pools and fountains testify to their Persian roots.

It is reputed that the main design patterns for the Versailles Gardens has replicated the outlines of the paradise gardens of Pasargad and provided inspiration for the gardens of the Louvre.
According to historical accounts, gardens were primarily hunting-parks with fruit-trees grown for food. The bronze works dating back to 1000 BC unearthed in Lorestan province are adorned with trees next to streams.
In the first phase of excavations at ruins of palaces in Persepolis the gardens were ignored. However, the scientific excavations later on proved the presence of gardens.
Palaces scattered according to no specific rules and raised above three terraces with large open stairways brought to the mind of garden archaeologists the simplest form of Persian garden; a rectangle of water, with enough of a flow to give it life and movement, and a raised platform to view it from.

Ancient Gardens
Further excavation in Pasargad led to discovery of the first monumental garden, at least in western Asia, securing a place for Persian gardens in the history of garden design.
Archaeologists discovered garden accords with the traditional Persian garden plan known today as Chahar Bagh.
Considering the fact that the Achemenid monarch ’Cyrus the Great’ was known as the “King of the Four Quarters“, it can be asserted that later-day Persian gardens owed their origins to the novel garden plan of Cyrus.
The Chahar Bagh plan is a quadrangular/rectangular canal pattern in which waterways or pathways are used to quarter the garden, a layout intended to bring to mind the four rivers of the Garden of Eden.
All Persian gardens have vertical lines in their design, a central structure built on the highest point of the garden, a main waterway, a large pool in front of the structure to reflect the building, and a close relationship with nature.
Earth, water, vegetation and atmosphere are the most important elements in gardens. Underground water canals called Qanats (aqueducts) irrigated the gardens which were often built on slopes to facilitate the natural flow of water or create artificial waterfalls.
Trees and flowers are planted in gardens based on their usefulness; therefore, a Persian garden has more fruit trees, then shade trees and finally flowers.
Achaemenid inscriptions bear witness to the importance of symmetrical designs in Persian gardens. The Chahar Bagh School stresses the necessity of planting trees and flowers in rows.
Fruit trees bring to mind rebirth and spring; strictly aligned sycamore trees, the symbol of eternal life, provide shade while roses, jasmines and other flowers intoxicate people with their heavenly scent.
The most basic feature of a Persian garden is an area, which excludes the wildness of nature, includes the tended greenery of the garden and makes elaborate use of water in canals, ponds, rills and sometimes fountains.
A recurring theme in many gardens is the contrast between the formal garden layout and the informality provided by free-growing plants. Persians placed great importance on having their tombs surrounded by woodlands and gardens. According to historical accounts, the tomb of ’Cyrus the Great’ was enclosed by four gardens and a grove.
This tradition has continued to the present time and can be seen at the graves of prominent Iranian figures such as the poets Hafez and Sa’di in Shiraz.
The resting place of Hafez, a famous tourism hub, pleases the eyes of visitors with its cypresses, poplars, cedars flowering shrubs and rose bushes.
Persian gardens are pleasances of water, meadow, trees and flowers in which buildings take a subordinate position.
To this day, the size and beauty of these gardens continues to amaze visitors sitting under the shade of cypress trees to enjoy looking at the sky reflected in the central pool while breathing the sweet aroma of beautiful flowers.

Sabalan A Paradise Mountain

2008-05-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Sabalan
A Paradise Mountain

Azarbaijan plateau is a mountainous area located to the northwest of the Iranian plateau. Ardebil province is situated to the east of the plateau.
Due to its mountainous terrain and being situated en route Mediterranean air currents, Ardebil has regions covered with snow nine months a year and various springs.
According to Persian daily Iran, the huge and volcanic Mount Sabalan comprises several mountains such as Saein, Narmiq and Qooshadagh. Sabalan is cone-shaped. The main summit of the mountain (4,811 meters) ranks second after Damavand.
Sabalan is also called ’Savalan’ in Azari language. This mountain range has been of paramount importance since a long time ago. The people of Ardebil have been viewed as very brave since the time Aryans migrated to Persia.

Sabalan’s history has been full of ups and downs. The grandeur of Sabalan has been outlined in the folkloric literature of the people of Azarbaijan. One version of the folkloric literature of the region cites Sabalan as one of the seven large mountains of paradise. History also recalls that mausoleums of many pious men and a few prophets are located in Ardebil. It is said that over 2,000 years ago prophets climbed the mount for the purpose of fulfilling their rituals and praying. This is why a large number of nomadic tribes and villagers climb the mount all the way up to its summit every year in order to pray and thank the God Almighty for His blessings.
In the eyes of the regional people, especially local tribesmen, Sabalan is not just a summer resort or a pasture, but rather a symbol of courage and pride and also a shelter for the oppressed people.
Based on historical and geographical resources, the ancient prophet Zoroaster, who was born in Azarbaijan in 640 BC, left his birthplace to seek shelter in Sabalan at the age of 30. He stayed in the mountain for 10 years in order to pray. Meanwhile, historians suggest different Zoroastrian tribes, such as Goor, Kavoor and Gir, sought shelter in one of the peripheral summits of Sabalan, called ’Hezar Magh’.

Several objects d’art of Zoroastrians, such as a golden chalice, which was used for drinking the lake’s water, have been found in Sabalan’s summit. Other artistic works found in the summit include spoons and needles made from bones, wooden combs, objects in the shape of knives made from bones and a small inscription. These works were scattered all over the summit.
Furthermore, bas-reliefs and stone statues of animals have been found around the summit, all of which hint at the ancient history of the mount.
The exact history of Sabalan is not clear yet. It is high time more comprehensive researches were conducted on the history of the ancient mount.

Zaki Khani Caravansary in Zarqan Renovated

2008-05-23T10:37:00.001-07:00

Caravansary Renovated

In line with the drive to renovate Fars province’s historical and cultural buildings, Zaki Khani Caravansary, located in Zarqan, has been renovated.
Zarqan Municipality and the provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department co-sponsored the renovation.

The caravansary has one square-shaped courtyard. It seems that it originally had four balconies. However, today only the western balcony remains, the Persian daily ’Iran’ reported.
There are four halls around the building. The architectural style used shows that symmetry was heeded by its builders in the most pertinent manner. This is quite evident in the design of the decorative arches of the edifice.
The brickworks of the building are reminiscent of the architectural style prevalent from the era of Seljuk to Safavid. The building’s ceiling is still in a good shape despite the passage of a few centuries. The main construction materials used are brick and stone. Plaster is used for the interior decorations. The caravansary was registered as national heritage in 2006.

Achaemenid Dynasty

2008-05-23T10:08:00.001-07:00

Achaemenid Dynasty

The Achaemenid dynasty arose from the ashes of the Elamite Empire in the 7th century BC. After the Elamite stronghold of Anshan had fallen to the Assyrians, it was King Teispes of Persia (reigned 675-640 BC) who took control of the city. It was his father, Achaemenes, who had trained and organized the army that made this possible and gave his name to the dynasty.

King of Babylon
According to Iranvisitors website, Cambyses (reigned 600-559 BC), the grandson of Teispes, already ruled over a sizeable kingdom when he married a Median princess and united the two royal lines. Thus, when his son, Cyrus II (reigned 559-530 BC) overcame the Median army of Astyages in 550 BC, he spared the Median capital of Ecbatana and was easily accepted as ruler of the combined lands and forces of both Persia and Media. On the site where he overcame Astyages, Cyrus established the Persian capital of Pasargad.
From this stage, Cyrus II began a conquest that resulted in the largest empire of the ancient world. The empire remained intact for two centuries until the successors of Alexander of Macedonia divided it among themselves.
Starting in the west, Cyrus halted the advance of the Lydian forces of Croesus and gained control of large parts of Asia Minor including the Lydian capital of Sardis and the wealthy Ionian cities, thus gaining access to the Aegean Sea.
Moving toward west, Cyrus captured Bactria, Sogdia, campaigned in India and seized Syria and Palestine. He took the city of Babylon in 539 BC, naming himself ’King of Babylon’.
Under Cyrus, the conquered nations were given a considerable amount of autonomy; some kingdoms were obliged to provide conscripts.
Cyrus died while battling in Central Asia. He left the throne to his son Cambyses II (reigned 528-522 BC). His body was cremated at Pasargad in 528 BC where his original tombstone is still lingering.
The Bisotoun inscription tells us that Cambyses, fearing the possibility of rebellion, had his own brother killed in secret before embarking on his Egyptian expedition.

He is also said to have exhumed the corpse of the last pharaoh of Egypt and violated it in unspeakable ways despite his efforts to appear as an Egyptian pharaoh, just as Cyrus had presented himself as the King of Babylon.
Cambyses II was not, however, to return from his Egyptian exploits. In 522 BC, news of a rebellion spread throughout the kingdom and he was forced to cut short his stay in Egypt. As written in the Bisotoun inscriptions and the histories of Herodotus, a certain Magian priest named Gaumata usurped the Achaemenid throne, claiming that he was Smerdis, the son of Cyrus that Cambyses had put to death.
The absence of the true king and the repealing of three years of taxes and military service by Gaumata made it easy for the impostor and his allies to take power.

King of the Empire
Hearing the news, Cambyses began his journey homeward but only reached as far as Syria where he apparently died either of an accidental wound caused by his unsheathed sword or deliberately by his own hand. On his death, a general named Darius took over the leadership of the returning expedition and led the army against the forces of Gaumata.
Gaumata reigned for seven months before he was surprisingly killed by Darius and six of his allies at a Median stronghold to which the seat of government had been moved. This moving of the capital and the repealing of taxes and military service suggests that Gaumata was a Mede with little attachment to Persia.
After some debate, Darius was crowned as king of the empire. The reign of Darius I (reigned 522-486 BC) was an enlightened one. He enacted reforms of government, taxes and coinage and had roads and granaries built Ð all of which served to vitalize the Persian state and usher in an era of prosperity. The construction of new capital cities at Persepolis and Susa also date back to era of Darius I.
During wartime, Darius led expeditions eastward to India and westward as far as the Danube, waging a series of ultimately unsuccessful campaigns against the Greeks. Neither did his successors, Xerxes I (reigned 486-465 BC) and Ardeshir I (reigned 465-424 BC), managed to defeat the Greek army. It was not until Darius III (reigned 335-330 BC) that the Achaemenids succeeded against the Greeks and it was Darius III who was eventually defeated by the conquering army of Alexander of Macedonia.
At its peak, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Pakistan in the East to the borders of Greece in the west and from the southern steppes of Russia to Egypt, Libya and the Arabian subcontinent.
Achaemenid Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world. A total of 28 different nations lived under one rule and spoke in the international language of Aramaic.

The Age of Elamites

2008-05-23T10:04:00.001-07:00

The Age of Elamites

The Iranian Plateau did not experience the rise of urban civilization in the late 4th and early 3rd millennia on the Mesopotamia, but the lowland Khuzestan where the Elamite Civilization emerged.
Geographically, Elam included more than Khuzestan; it was a combination of the lowlands and the immediate highland areas to the north and to the east. Elamite strength was based on an ability to hold these various areas together under a central government, which permitted the maximum interchange of the natural resources unique to each region.
According to Iranvisitor website, the Age of Elamites is divided by historians into three distinct periods:

1. Old Elam (2600-1900 BC)
Earthen tablets record the names of two dynasties dating from this period, the Awan dynasty (2600-2100 BC) and the Simash dynasty (2100-1900 BC). Wars with Mesopotamia, particularly the city of Ur, had already begun, both sides wishing to safeguard their access to raw materials. Records state that the Sumerian king Shulgi of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (created 2094-2047 BC) captured Susa but Elam eventually rebelled and in turn overthrew the Sumerians.

2. Middle Elam (1900-1100 BC)
Wars between Elam and Sumer continued during this period. In 1746 BC the world’s first lawmaker, Hammurabi, crushed Elam and captured Susa. Before long, however, his son, Samsuiluna, was badly defeated by King Kutir Nakhunte I of the Elamites that was remembered 1,000 years later in an inscription of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal.
In the 13th century BC another king of this period, Untash Gal, built the city of Choghazanbil on the banks of the Ulai River. The kings of Elam, known as ’god-rulers’, had strong links with religion and would come to the city for important religious ceremonies.
The relative weakness of the Assyrian Empire at the beginning of the 13th century BC inspired King Shutruk-Nahhunte to move to Babylon. He captured the city and seized the Stela inscribed with the laws of Hammurabi, removing it to Susa where it was excavated some 3,000 years later.
However, Elamite power in central Mesopotamia was never well consolidated and King Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon (created 1124-1103 BC) eventually resulted in the defeat of Elamites that effectively brought an end to the Middle Elam period.

3. Late Elam (800-620 BC)
Of the three centuries between the end of Middle Elam and the beginning of this new period, we know nothing at all. By the time Elam reappears in the archeological record, the central authority of Susa has receded and separately ruled principalities are in the ascendancy.
The 8th and 7th centuries BC saw a new wave of Assyrian expansion and attempts by Elam to interfere with Mesopotamian affairs, often in alliance with Babylon. However, limited successes in this policy were not enough to prevent Assyrian advances. Meaningful central authority had almost totally collapsed by the time the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal destroyed Susa. He went on to destroy Choghazanbil, killing almost the entire population of the city.

UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad Unauthorized Meetings with Iran

2008-01-31T05:58:00.000-08:00

U.S. envoy debates Iranians - a no-no
by Maggie Farley & Paul Richter (source: Los Angeles Times)
Thursday, January 31, 2008

WASHINGTON — America's sometimes-freewheeling ambassador to the United Nations ran afoul of his superiors by taking part in unauthorized debate with two high-ranking Iranian officials during a conference of world leaders last week in the luxury Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland.

Zalmay Khalilzad made an unscheduled appearance Saturday at a World Economic Forum discussion of Iran's controversial nuclear program, whose participants included Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Mojtaba Samare Hashemi, a top advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Khalilzad did not veer from the U.S. position, but broke rules that permit Bush administration officials to discuss issues with Iranians only under limited circumstances and with advance approval.

"Ambassador Khalilzad's appearance with the Iranian foreign minister and presidential advisor was not authorized," said a State Department spokesman, who declined to be identified while discussing a personnel issue. He said officials would speak to Khalilzad about the infraction.

Video of the 78-minute discussion has been posted on the World Economic Forum website and on YouTube. But State Department officials were taken by surprise when they received questions about it Tuesday afternoon.

Iran analysts have speculated that the administration may be extending feelers for a dialogue with Tehran after an intelligence report concluded in December that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons quest in 2003. But Khalilzad's spokesman said the Davos encounter was not meant to open a conversation with Iran on its nuclear program.

"The panel was not instigated by the State Department," Khalilzad replied in questions about the appearance in an email Tuesday. "It was a multi-lateral setting--in which we made our points and they made their points. There were no handshakes, no side meeting. We do it in [the UN General Assembly] and other multi-lateral settings. No change in policy."

The moderator, International Crisis Group president Gareth Evans, said that Khalilzad was not listed on the Davos program because he was a last-minute addition to the panel after Sen. Gordon Smith and Sen. Joe Biden cancelled.

" As far as I'm concerned he was an excellent addition," Evans said. "Not that he rose to any of my invitations to respond in a way that might actually get us a negotiated solution rather than just talking about its desirability - but that was hardly unexpected in a public forum like this." Evans said there was no tete-a-tete afterward.

U.S. officials have limited discussion with Tehran in an effort to isolate the Iranians for their refusal to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at halting their uranium enrichment effort. American officials have said that open discussions with the Iranians undermine the U.S. effort to pressure Tehran.

Khalilzad is known in the diplomatic community as an affable ambassador who does not always follow the administration's rules.

U.S. officials were left red-faced last month when he circulated a U.N. Security Council resolution supporting Mideast peace efforts begun in November at a gathering in Annapolis, Md. Khalilzad was forced to withdraw the resolution after Israeli officials complained that they did not want Security Council involvement in the talks.

Khalilzad, a former ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, is one of the few U.S. officials who has had personal contact with Iranian counterparts. While ambassador to Afghanistan, he orchestrated Iran's help in establishing a transitional government in Kabul. While in Iraq, he engaged Iran on security issues.

When he arrived at the U.N. last year, Khalilzad said he had no instructions to engage the Iranian ambassador to the world body, but that he also had no instructions to avoid him.

Past U.N. envoys have had to step carefully when dealing with Iran. In 2006, former Ambassador John Bolton was instructed to deliver a message to the Iranian ambassador that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was willing to meet with Iranian officials if the government suspended uranium enrichment. Bolton said he called Iran's ambassador, Javad Zarif to set up a meeting, but Zarif told him he was instructed by Iran not to meet. Bolton's chief of staff donned sunglasses and a trench coat and dropped off a letter at the mission so each side could say they fulfilled their duties.

"If you confront someone in a social situation or in an elevator you are expected to be polite and then extricate yourself from the conversation in an adult kind of way. You are not supposed to be impolite to people but you are not supposed to engage in debate with them either," Bolton said.

Carpet exhibit promoting Iran exports

2007-08-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

Carpet exhibit promoting Iran exports
Monday, August 27, 2007 - ?2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, August 27 (IranMania) - Iran exported over $10 mln of handwoven carpet during 2000-2003, managing director of Tehran International Exhibitions Joint Stock Company said, Iran Daily reported.
Speaking at the 16th Persian Carpet Grand Exhibition, Hamid Qavam-Shahidi stated that Germany, the US and Italy were the top importers of handmade Persian rugs in the past six years.
He noted that the exhibition helps boosting Persian carpet exports given that many deals are expected in the event.
Over 400 major Iranian and foreign companies and merchants are taking part in the weeklong event which opened on Thursday and will run through Aug. 29.
The official said that export of handwoven Persian carpets would increase if rugs meet the taste of customers and are marketed properly.
Bahram Hazrati, a carpet exporter, told Iran Daily?s Farzaneh Shokri that Persian carpet industry plays an important role in job creation and bringing in hard currency revenues for the country.
Hazrati was named exemplary exporter of West Azarbaijan province in 2004.
He noted that carpet exports from the northwestern province grew by 312% in the year to March 2007.
Hazrati cited the reason for such jump in exports as producing carpets according to the tastes of foreign customers in the United States, Europe and Arab countries.
Iran is the world?s top exporter of handwoven carpets. However, exports have declined in recent years due to the emergence of rivals from India and Pakistan.
Indian and Pakistani carpet weavers imitate Iranian designs and use low-quality raw materials to create inexpensive carpets.

Zanjan to Host 1st Azeri Music Summer Festival

2007-08-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Zanjan to Host 1st Summer Festival

First Summer Festival will be held in Zanjan province from August 23-28 as part of efforts to introduce the province’s cultures and traditions.
Announcing this, secretary of the festival Hamid Azarshab told Iran Daily’s Farzaneh Shokri that all 35 provinces will take part in the event by presenting their cultural and tourism achievements in the fields of music, traditional sports, cultural traditions in different areas as well as the comic and satiric programs performed in the cities.
Identifying provincial capacities to attract investments is one of the main objectives of the festival, he noted, adding that taking advantage of relevant achievements of researchers, which will help the strategic development of the provinces, is also on the agenda.
Commenting on the programs of the festival, Azarshab further said that commercial exhibits as well as the ones featuring Zanjan province’s achievements in various fields such as handicrafts will be held during the event.
Organizing genuine Azari music concert, pop music concert as well as comic and theater programs are among the other programs, he said.
Zanjan Summer Festival will also include alpine cycling contests, rallies and kite festival exclusively for children, he said.
The objective of the festival is to promote tourism in the province, he said, noting that it will give the experts a chance to discuss the latest cultural and research findings.
http://www.iran-daily.com/1386/2908/html/art.htm

28th anniversary of Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari’s Death

2007-05-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

Ayatollah Motahhari Helped Enrich Society

Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari

TEHRAN, May 2--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday the thoughts of Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari continue to enrich society.
Speaking at a memorial service to mark the 28th anniversary of Ayatollah Motahhari at Science and Technology University, the president said the justice-seeking behavior of Iranians has raised thousands of people like Ayatollah Motahhari, Mehr News Agency reported.
“At present, a specific source of thoughts is manifested in Iran which is contributing to the development of all Muslim nations. The secret behind our success and fulfillment of divine purposes is to continue on the path of Ayatollah Motahhari,“ he said.
Referring to the necessity of Ayatollah Motahhari’s thoughts for society, Ahmadinejad said Motahhari himself was one of the achievements of Islam in the new millennium.
“We are more obligated today than before. We should try to prepare a draft to disseminate his thoughts to other countries. We should focus on conquering the peaks of science because we have learnt this from Motahhari that we can achieve this,“ he said.
“Since many university students were Ayatollah Motahhari’s followers, his memorial ceremony should be held in universities.“
Ayatollah Motahhari has written many books in different fields and commented on a large number of social issues.
The president also said Motahhari understood Islam completely and tried to teach it to the society.
Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Tabatabaei were two of Motahhari’s eminent teachers.
“Motahhari knew the true meaning of justice and endeavored to establish a just world all his life,“ he said.
Ahmadinejad said Islam and Iran are inseparable and people attempting to achieve their vested interests by raising a controversy over such issues should know that Iranians have an Islamic culture and soul.

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