Iran

The Parliament’s
Library
News
Iran's
New President,
Prolific Writer
The new Iranian president is an avid writer and
has so far written 17 works on politics, society and world issues.
Hassan Rohani was born on 12
November 1948 in Sorkheh,
Semnan. He is a politician, Muslim
cleric, lawyer, academician and
diplomat.
He has been a member of the
Assembly of Experts since 1999,
member of the Expediency Council
since 1991, member of the Supreme
National Security Council since
1989, and head of the Center for
Strategic Research since 1992.
Rohani has been also deputy
speaker of the 4th and 5th terms of
the Islamic Consultative Assembly
(Majlis) and Secretary of the
Supreme National Security Council
from 1989 to 2005. In the later
capacity, he was also heading Iran's former nuclear negotiating team and was
the country's top negotiator with three
EU countries of UK, France, and
Germany on Iran's nuclear program.
According to IBNA on 7 May 2013,
Rohani registered for the presidential
election that was held on 14 June 2013.
He said that he will restore the economy and improve Iranian foreign relations. As early vote counts began coming
in, Rohani took a large lead.
He was elected as President of Iran on
15 June. He took office on 3 August
2013.
Rohani has so far written 17 books
some of which are as follows:
National security and nuclear
diplomacy
National security and Iran's economic system
Political reflections on Islam; theoretical principles
Memories of Dr. Hassan Rohani
The Chronicle of planning and
hope
An introduction to the history of
Shia Imams
Learning about Islamic countries
The Islamic Revolution; roots and
challenges
Principles of Imam Khomeini's
political thinking
National security and foreign
policy
National security and the environment
The Islamic Legislative Power
(1994)
The Flexibility of Shariah; Islamic
Law (1996)
Rohani has also written various articles
published in numerous national and
international journals.
6
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Library
Parliament
Larijani
Congratulates New
Counterparts
Parliament Speaker, Ali
Larijani, in separate messages,
congratulated the new parliament speakers
of Bolivia, Singapore and President of the
Austrian Federal Council on their election
to the posts.
He underlined the significant role of parliamentary cooperation in expanding
friendly ties among nations and called for
development of bilateral relations. Larijani
hoped that parliamentary ties between
Iran and those countries will further
broaden. Meanwhile, Larijani also con-
gratulated his Vietnamese counterpart,
Nguyen Sinh Hung, on Tet Festival and
hoped that the New Year will mark the
establishment of peace, justice, welfare and
security for all nations and a blessed year
for the Vietnamese. Underlining the significance of parliamentary cooperation, he
voiced the Iranian Parliament's readiness
to further develop parliamentary ties with
Vietnam.
with Dr. Ali Larijani along with his delegation in Islamabad on the sidelines of 1st
PAECO countries.
She called for "close cooperation among
the PAECO countries to turn it into an
effective forum for finding solution to the
issues confronting its members", an official
statement said.
She said that the Economic Cooperation
Organization (ECO) region is a huge
repository of human resource and economic potential which if properly exploited could usher in era of progress and prosperity in the region. Fehmida also underlined the need to work together to overcome the issues and work jointly for the
welfare of the people of ECO region.
aimed at disrupting the Islamic Republic's
ties with Republic of Azerbaijan, urging
the two countries to further improve
mutual relations.
"I. R. Iran and Republic of Azerbaijan are
two friendly and neighboring countries,
and relations between the two states
should certainly be improved," Larijani
said in a meeting with the Speaker of the
National Assembly of Republic of
Azerbaijan Ogtay Asadov in the Pakistani
capital, Islamabad. Larijani added that
Tehran and Baku have many commonalties and expressed Iran's readiness to
expand relations with Republic of
Azerbaijan at different levels.
The Azeri parliament speaker, for his
part, warned against efforts aimed at damaging mutual ties and urged both sides to
remain vigilant.
Pakistan Parliament Speaker Thanks
Larijani for Support
Parliament
“Iran, Azerbaijan
Must Further
Improve Relations”
Iran Parliament Speaker, Ali
Larijani, lashed out at efforts
Parliament
Speaker
Underlines
Regional
Cooperation
Parliament Speaker Ali
Larijani underlined the necessity of cooperation among the regional
states for the establishment of peace and
security in the region. Speaking at a meeting with Pakistani Minister of Population
Welfare Firdous Ashiq Awan here in
Tehran, Larijani said that regional countries with common historical roots and a
history of lasting democracy should have
further cooperation in the field of security in order to help restore peace and security to the region. He added that foreign
forces presently in the region are not after
restoration of peace and security. The
Iranian official pointed to the latest terrorist attacks in Pakistan, and reiterated that
"Attacks have become an excuse for foreign powers to meddle in the regional
affairs." Elsewhere, Larijani voiced
Tehran's continued support for flood-hit
Pakistani nation, and stressed that Tehran
would spare no efforts to help the government and people of Pakistan to cope with
the disaster. Pakistani minister, for her
part, thanked Iran's support for Pakistan
and added that Iran was among the first
three countries which rushed to Pakistan's
aid after floods devastated large parts of
the country. Iran has sent a total volume of
5,300 tons of aids and assistance to
Pakistan during the past few months.
Parliament
Pakistan Parliamentary Speaker,
Dr. Fehmida Mirza, thanked
Iranian Parliament Speaker, Dr. Ali
Larijani, for his unflinching support for
making her initiative of forming the ECO
Parliamentary Assembly (PAECO) a reality.
She made the remarks in her meeting
News
Parliament
7
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Library
News
Parliament Library
Parliament Library
Venezuelan
Ambassador
Visits Parliament
Library
The head of Parliament's
Library,
Museum
and
Document Center, Dr. Rajabi, has
called for expansion of cooperation
among libraries in a meeting with
Venezula's Ambassador to Tehran.
In his visit to Iran Parliament
Library on July 7th, Amenhotep
Zambrano, Venezuelan Ambassador
in Tehran, referred to expanded political relations between Iran and
Venezuela and called for expansion of
cultural ties.
The head of Parliament's Library, Dr.
Rajabi, made note of US hostility
against both Iran and Venezuela and
emphasized the sharing of common
experience for facing cultural aggression. He also called for holding bilateral exhibitions aimed at further cultural exchange and acquaintance.
Venezuelan ambassador and his
deputy visited different parts of
Library, including manuscript section
and museum. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Rajabi handed a CD of the
proceedings of Iran's National
Parliament from its establishment in
1906 up until Pahlavi era to Venezuelan
Ambassador.
In a Meeting with Dr. M. Rajabi:
Armenian Ambassador Calls for
Cultural Cooperation
Armenian Ambassador to
Tehran, Grigor Arakelian and
Dr. Mohammad Rajabi, head of
Parliament's Library called for expansion
of cultural cooperation between Iran's
Parliament Library and Armenia's cultural centers.
Ambassador Arakelian visited the
Parliament's Library on June 19th, and
met with head of the Library, Dr. Rajabi.
In addition to visiting different parts of
Library, its publishing house as well as the
Museum and the Document Center,
Arakelian was briefed on digitalization of
the library and the 10-months process in
which all manuscripts were digitalized.
Also, the Ambassador eagerly viewed
manuscripts written in Armenian language, as well as a volume of the Holy
Quran from Topkapi Museum.
When visiting the Iranology and Islamic
Studies section of the Library, the
Ambassador was shown the available
resources related to Armenia and he
showed interest in those materials being
scanned and used by Armenian cultural
centers. He was briefed by the manager of
Iranology section on its history and available sources. Next, the Ambassador
signed the memorial notebook of the
Library.
Ambassador Arakelian congratulated
the election of Iranian new president,
also making note of the early congratulation message of Armenian President
to Iranian people and to the presidentelect for the election of Dr. Rohani.
"We would like to find documents,
sources and manuscripts which are related
to Armenian people, language, scientists,
and culture in general and in this regard,
we would like to have interaction and
cooperation with the Parliament's
Library." said the Ambassador. The comment was welcomed by the head of the
Parliament's Library, Dr. Rajabi, who
added "We are happy of having friendly
relations with Armenia and Armenian
people". Rajabi further described that
presence of Armenian ethnicity in Iran as
"a unique opportunity" to expand cooperation with Armenia and to boost bilateral
activities for further cooperation.
Dr. Rajabi made note of the achievement
of the Parliament's Library in collecting
and preparing the documents of negotiations of Iran's National Parliament from
its establishment in 1906 to the end of
Pahlavi era; a collection which is available
on CD. He then noted that all about
Armenia can be extracted from this collection. Armenian Ambassador Grigor
Arakelian then took turn to give a brief
overview on Armenia's Parliament
Library and Armenia's National Library,
mentioning that the latter contains Persian
and Ottoman manuscripts. Dr. Rajabi
then expressed his willingness for receiving digital version of those manuscripts
and magazines about history of Iran from
Armenia's National Library.
He also emphasized that Iran
Parliament's Library is ready to interact
with Armenian libraries on its collection
of Armenian sources and magazines in
order for both sides to benefit from a more
comprehensive and complete collection.
The Two also exchanged views and information about Pahlavi and Armenian
languages and their mutual effect on
each other. "Researches on ancient Iran
have been written in Pahlavi, a language
closely related with and similar to
Armenian language" Said Dr. Rajabi. In
this regards, Ambassador Arakelian
pointed out that from 11000 words in
Armenian language, 1411 words have
roots in Persian language.
Finally, it was agreed that a
Memorandum of Understanding be
prepared for official relations between
Iran Parliament's Library and
Armenian libraries, in order to have
cooperation in different areas. At the
end of the meeting, Dr. Rajabi presented a CD of the Proceedings of Iran's
National Parliament to Armenian
Ambassador.
8
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Library
"Iranology" Session at
Parliament Library
The Parliament Library held a
session on "Iranology in the
World of Knowledge" which was attended by Dr. Bert Fragner, the Director of
the Institute of Iranian Studies of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences; Gholam
Ali Haddad-Adel, head of the Iranian
Academy of Persian Language and
Literature; Mohamamd Rajabi, the
Director of Parliament Library, Museum
and Document Center as well as a group
of scholars and academicians..
While delivering a speech at the session,
Fragner emphasized on the significance
of the Iranian civilization in the view of
the western scholars and urged for more
cooperation between the Iranian cultural
institutions with the Austrian counterparts and said "Scholars who work in the
field of Iranian studies, love Iran" adding
"The concept of Iranology emerged in the
west, and particularly in Europe, in the
19th century. The field was established
since the Europeans liked to study the
world and the East. The orientalists'
opinions accompanied political and economical objectives".
"Compared with an Iranian, a foreign
Iranologist is like a dwarf against a person. I always tell my students that whoever studies Iran, is fond of Iranian culture,
language and civilization as well as its literature. Finding the oldest language and
that which one is closer to the contemporary era are significant. For instance
some ancient Persian epigraphs were in
Avestan which is an old language and a
branch of Sanskrit. Accordingly, a competition started then in the world for
finding the oldest Indo-European languages other than Persian when Saka and
Sogdian were discovered", he added.
Fragner went on to say that Persian language is significant for Germans and thus
the Iranologists studied the works of classic literature particularly the Shahnameh
and Divan of Hafez which they believed
could help them learn the authentic
Persian language.
"In the late 18th and early 19th century,
orientalism or Islamology found another
concept as well, and the scholars studied
the texts since they intended to understand the Bible or the language of Jesus;
accordingly Arabic became significant as
well. The method was also used for
understanding Quran. The Christian
Science founded orientalism or
Islamology, Persian and Turkish languages were considered branches of
Arabic. In the late 19th and early 20th
century, issues related to Iranian culture,
arts and literature spread in Germany
while in U.K. many adored Persian art,
language and literature", he noted. Bert
Fragner is the Director of the Institute of
Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy
of Sciences in Vienna. He received his
PhD in 1970 with his thesis "Hamadan
during the early Islamic period."
He travelled to Iran in 1964 and 1965
and studied Iran and its history by
notable scholars such as Iraj Afshar, Jafar
Mahboub and Zabihullah Sotoude. The
Austrian Iranologist also received Iran's
Dr. Mahmud Afshar Historical Literary
Award for his lifetime of research and
activities on Iran's history and culture.
Parliament Library
Iran-Egypt
Library Relations
Nipped in the
Bud
Iran's proposal to seal agreements and establish ties with
Egypt's Ancient Library of Alexandria
has been dropped due to unrest the
Cairo is experiencing, senior cultural
official said. Head of the National
Library and Archives Organization of
the Islamic Republic of Iran said Tehran
proposed development of ties with
Egypt in terms of library relationships
last February which was dropped due to
the uprisings and political turmoil
Egypt is experiencing. Eshagh Salahi
stated that the proposal from Iran
included cataloguing manuscripts as
well as digitalizing works.
"Unfortunately, the proceedings to
expand ties have been halted currently
due to the political difficulties Egypt is
undergoing," said Salahi.
The cultural official further added that
the Egyptian library was supposed to
consider the draft proposal sent by Iran
to augment library relations between
the two counties.
9
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
Parliament Library
News
The Parliament’s
Library
Parliament Library
Taghvim al-Boldan Published at
Parliament Library
The Persian Translation of
Taghvim al-Boldan written by
Abol-fadaBirjandi was published at
Parliament Library with the cooperation of Safir-e Ardehal publication.
Taghvim al-Boldan was written by of
the greatest Islamic geographer in 1011th century.
It was translated into Persian by
Abdol-Ali Birjandi (10 CE). It is included precious geographical information
about the cities and villages.
Taghvim al-Boldan has been corrected
by MirhashemMohaddes and Yousef
Beigbababpour based on several manuscripts in 186 pages.
Taghvim al-Boldan is available at
Parliament Library.
Parliament Library
Tunisian Ambassador Visits
Parliament Library
On Sunday June 30,
2013 the Ambassador of
the North African country of
Tunisia visited the Library, Museum
and Documents Center of the
Islamic Consultative Assembly and
met with the Director, Dr.
Mohammad Rajabi. Ambassador
Khalid Al-Zaitoun was briefed
about aspects of the achievements
taken place in the Library of the
Parliament.
The two sides exchanged views on
various issues including the need for
cooperation in the field of librarianship
and culture between the two countries.
Dr. Rajabi agreed with the comment
made by the Ambassador of Tunisia that
“ although there have been cooperation
between the two nations in the past, nevertheless the relationship should have
been much stronger.”
Dr. Rajabi, introduced the Library of
the Iranian Parliament as "one of the
largest libraries of its kind in the world
which started its activities since the
Iranian Constitutional Revolution of
Consultative Assembly have been
well kept in the Library, and we
have succeeded to publish them in
the CD format" said Dr. Rajabi.
Furthermore he stressed that "the
debates and proceedings are
accessible via the website of the
Majles Library: www.ical.ir."
Dr. Rajabi further added "The
Iranian libraries are in contact
with the European, American and
Asian libraries and we're following up our relationship with
North African libraries especially
libraries in Tunisia."
1906". He continued to say that in terms
of printed materials, old manuscripts
and periodical publications, it is "one of
the most prestigious libraries in the
world".
"All documents pertaining to National
Consultative Assembly, the Senate
(Pahlavi era) and the Islamic
The Director of the Library, Museum
and Document Center of the Islamic
Consultative Assembly expressed his
hope that "because of the existing similarities and commonalities between the
two countries the bilateral relations
would grow much stronger in the near
future."
Chairman of the Parliamentary Library
said: "The library has been successful in
publishing more than 400 titles. Some of
10
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
Library
News
The Parliament’s
Parliament Library
A Specialized Library Themed on Middle East
The specialized library of the Center for Scientific
Research and Middle East Strategic Studies accommodates 6000 Persian, 3500 foreign and 2200 Arabic book
titles.
The library's curator Masoud Eskandari said: "The Center
for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies is the
first center in Iran which kicked off its activities in 1988 in
order to research the field of political sciences and international relations. The center also concentrates on Middle
Eastern Studies."
According to library, ,muesum and document center of Iran
these publications have been published
in cooperation with other cultural institutes abroad, such as a precious manuscript of the Holy Quran in the Topkapi
Palace Museum of Istanbul, Turkey.
Referring to the publication of the
Library Journals, Dr. Rajabi said, "4 journals are being published by the Majles
Library by the names of Payam-e
Baharestan, Name-ye Baharestan, Asnade Baharestan and Matbouat-e Baharestan
now. The Library will soon publish two
new magazines entitled Baharestan-e
Honar and the international bi-monthly
Journal of the Parliament’s Library.
The Tunisian Ambassador Khalid AlZaitoun appreciated the hospitality
extended to him by the Parliament
library and expressed hope that “Library
relationship between the two countries
needs to be improved in the future”.
He continued: “library relationship
between two countries should be much
better than the Past.”
He added that with Spanish invasion of
Tunisia, the big library of the city, namely Al-Zaytuna Library was burned and
its precious heritage was vanished. Due
to existence of Persian books in Tunisia,
parliament, the center's library holds books and journals
themed on political sciences, international relation and and
law, economics, social sciences as well as culture and history.
However, 80% of the sources are about Middle East countries
and its developments, he added. The specialized library of the
Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic
Studies accommodates 6000 Persian, 3500 foreign and 2200
Arabic book titles. Moreover, it is house to 60 theses, 80 articles and 30 journals.
The Center also holds reference books and encyclopaedias in
Persian, and other languages.
Persian literature and poetry are much
respected amongst Tunisian people, even
Persian language and literature is being
studied in Tunisian colleges and universities. Many graduates in Persian language also have important political positions in the country.
Tunisian Ambassador said that the
Cultural Week of Iran will be held in
Tunis in next December, and the first
Culture Week of Tunisia was held in Iran
in last November in which the Tunisian
Ministry of Culture donated a few books
to Iran.
He said, in introducing the National
Library of Tunisia: “National Library of
Tunisia was established with the support
of the French government by passing a
law in 1885, initially it was called the
"French Library" but later became
known as the Public Library”.
The library collection was collected
through people donations activities. But
the National Library was literally formed
as DarulKutub Al-wataniyyah after the
independence of Tunisia in 1956.
Manuscript collection of the National
Library of Tunisia which some of them
dated back to fifth century AD includes
25000 volumes of manuscripts and
10000 periodicals. More than two-thirds
of them are in Arabic.
5000 manuscripts in cooperation of the
Iranian National Library will be restored.
Due to passing the necessary training
and expertise towards restoration of
manuscripts with leathern cover, manuscript restoration experts have specific
skills in repairing manuscript in Tunisia.
It is supposed that Tunisian experts,
therefore, transfer their experiences in
the field of manuscript restoration to
Iranian staff and workers.
It is noted that according to the
Tunisian Ambassador and head of the
Library of the Parliament, an agreement
is supposed to be prepared to make the
relations between the Majles Library on
one hand and the National Library of
Tunisia, Al-Zaytuna Library and
Kairouan Library on the other hand formal and two parts can cooperate with
each other in various fields. At the end of
the visit, Dr. Rajabi presented a sumptuous book of the Library publications to
the Ambassador of Tunisia.
After two sides finished their conversations Ambassador Khalid Al-Zaitoun
visited the various parts of the Library.
11
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Library
News
Publications
Publications
"Iran's
Archaeological
Atlas"
The first volume of Iran's
Archaeological Atlas was
unveiled by Iran Cultural Heritage,
Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
Cultural Heritage news Agancy
(CHN) reports that the atlas contains
research findings and archeological
studies conducted by researchers
over 150 years on various historical
eras of Iran.
The Atlas, prepared over a span of
three years, shall serve as the main
research database for archeological
studies and researchers.
Iran's Archeological research Center,
as a subsidiary of Iran Cultural
Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism
Organization, have developed the Atlas
in which 45,000 archeological areas
have been covered.
The "Peace Route"
Unveiled
Poupeh Mahdavi Nader,
writer of “The Peace Route”
and the first female Iranian
cyclist who made a worldwide tour,
said that she cycled the globe to convey
the message of love, friendship and
world peace, and raise funds for
Iranian orphans and underprivileged
children.
As IBNA reported PoupehMahdavi
Nader was the first Muslim female
cyclist going around the world with the
motto: "In the name of love, friendship
and global peace."
She started her journey some ten
years ago in April, 2003 in order to
gather support and raise funds for
orphaned children and the needy,
communicate with the youth in various countries and bringing their message to those in Iran as well as observing the manifestations of God on
earth. Her trip ended 16 months and 4
days later.
Talking about her book, she said that
the work is, in fact, a memoir which
holds several photos as well. The book
is indeed my trip's photos and memories, which was made for love, friendship and peace, she says.
Mahdavi Nader added: "A few hours
before my trip was to start, at 8 a.m.,
the U.S. bombing of Iraq began. So
instead of biking through Turkey and
Greece, I took a plane to Rome."
There, she went directly to the
Vatican, where she hoped to meet Pope
John Paul II. The Holy Father wasn't
available, but on Apr. 11, she had an
audience with Archbishop Renato
Martino, president of the Pontifical
Council for Justice and Peace, and by
Mostafa
Boroujerdi,
Iran's
Ambassador to the Vatican.
Later that day she rode her bicycle
out of St. Peter's Square on an unusual
journey that later took her to France
and England, across the Atlantic by
plane to Boston, then again by bicycle
south to New York and Washington.
She visited numerous other countries
including Japan, New Zealand, China,
the Netherlands and Oman.
She also arrived in Saudi Arabia to
perform the Hajj pilgrimage and later
left for India, Jammu and Nepal. While
in Nepal, Mahdavi Nader climbed the
5,545-meter high Kalapatar Mountain.
The Iranian cyclists then left for
China and South Korea, where she
attended the peace festival before finishing the world voyage.
Mahdavi Nader arrived in Tehran on
a flight from Beijing.
“There were times during my trip
that I went four days with no money,
but I don't give up so easily. Despite all
the hardships on my path, I have also
experienced God's heaven on this
earth," she says.” You can see the light
of God in everything, and in all people."
Her book is released in 156 pages by
12
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
Library
Publications
Publications
"Metalworks of Mosul School
in Safavid Era "
Historiographic
Analysis of
Shahnameh
As the first comprehensive
academic research on a
branch of Islamic Art conducted by an
Arab Muslim researcher, "Metalworks
of Mosul School in Safavid Era" was
translated to Persian by Mohammad
Afrouq and Masoud Ahmadi and published by Jamal Honar in 1000 copies
and 227 pages. Written by the Iraqi
researcher, Salah Husayn Al-Ubaydi,
the book is a survey of different types of
metalwork including metal vases,
astronomical instruments, candlesticks, stoups, pans and other
metal artworks of Mosul during the Safavid Era.
Metal Arts flourished during the fifth to seventh hijri
centuries of the IranianIslamic centuries. The art
made room for more creativity of Iranian artists of the
time who could apply various
techniques and instruments of
their time.
They were not only the most
beautiful artworks of their time but
also the best in terms of practicality.
This is the first valid academic
research on an important branch of
Islamic art by an Arab Muslim
researcher, especially when almost all
sources are written by western
researchers or Orientalists.
Through sophisticated analysis of pictures and images inscribed on these
artifacts, Al-Ubaydi proves his mastery
over Islamic history and culture.
Publications
For the first time, the
Persian Translation
Persian translation of the
novel "Nocturne Voyager" by
of Italian Novel Italian
the Italian writer Maurizio Maggiani
published by the Afsun-e Khial
"Nocturne Voyager" was
Publications in Tehran.
Translated by Asmar Musavinia, the
novel, which is a labyrinthine narration of war and life, is about a zoologist
who travels to a desert in Algeria. He
recounts the memories of the Balkan
wars, where he sojourned for his
research for the Algerians.
Musavinia has previously translated
into Persian "Serafino Gubbio's
Journals" by the Italian writer Luigi
Pirandello.
"Shahnameh and Recent
Researches: on historiography,
art and Iranian society" was translated
into Persian by Mahmoud Fazeli Birjandi.
The Book consists of five excellent
essays written by foreign scholars on
Shahnameh and the history of Iran from
antiquity to the Safavid Era. "Shahnameh
Belongs to the Samanians or the
Qaznavid?" by Ghazaleh Dabiri makes a
survey of the origin of Shahnameh in both
periods emphasizing on the oral tradition
of the stories. "Why Was the Shahnameh
Illustrated?" is another superb article by
Oleg Grabar who believes that the first
Shahnameh miniatures were made about
300 years after its composition but the art
came to its height during the Mongol
Period. "An Analysis of the Story of
Siavash and His Similarity to the God of
Vegetation", penned by Maryam Nemat
Tavoosi, is a comparative study of
Shahnameh in the light of Iranian folklores. Marianna Shreve Simpson's article
on Alexander's Journey to Mecca according to Shahnameh miniatures, and Galina
Lasikova's work titled "Houshang the
Dragon-Hunter at the Court of Safavid
Kings" are other articles in this volume,
the latter a research on exquisite clothes
kept in Russian and American museums
as samples of fine pieces of cloth presented by Safavid kings to the Russian
Court.These articles were previously published in the English Journal of Iranian
Studies on the occasion of the Shahnameh
Millenium in 2010. Fazeli Birjandi is
researcher of Iranian history and doctoral
student of Iran's History after Islam.
"Shahnameh and Recent Researches" is
published by Payan Publishing House in
136 pages and 1000 copies.
13
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
The Parliament’s
The Parliament’s
Library
Publications
News
Encyclopedia of
Imam Reza to be unveiled
Publications
Prominent
Children's Books
Rendered into
Arabic
The Arabic renditions of
five children titles published
by the Institute for the Intellectual
Development of Children and Young
Adults (IIDCYA) have been published
in the Iranian book market.
According to the public relations
and international affairs office of the
institute, books entitled as 'Uncle
Noruz' by Farideh Farjam and
Mahmoud Moshref Tehrani, 'Poet and
the Arab Sun' by Sirous Taherbaz are
translated into Arabic by Fayaz Alimat
and have been published by the center.
Furthermore, the 'Snowman' by Jabar
Baghcheban and 'The Deer and Birds'
by Nima Youshij have been translated
by the same translator into Arabic.
Ahmad Haeri has also translated
The Minister of Culture
and Islamic Guidance said
the first volume of the Encyclopedia of
Imam Reza will be unveiled in the near
future. As IBNA reported as many as
420,000 works have been accumulated
as contents of the encyclopedia of
which more than 60% has been
approved by supervisors and editors
of the project, said Husseini addressing a meeting with the board of
trustees of Imam Reza CulturalArtistic Foundation.
He added that the first volume of
the encyclopedia will be released by
the anniversary of Imam Reza’s (8th
Shia imam) birthday.
He also called on restoring Imam
Reza's residence point in Marv, and
asserted that the remains of the place
will be repaired for visitors to see the
place.
He further stated that Razavi news
agency will be launched to disseminate
updates about Imam Reza Festival.
Publications
Iran University Press Offers 540
Titles on Basic Sciences at TIBF
Iran University Press (IUP)
has presented over 1,000 book
titles at the 26th Tehran International
Book Fair of which 540 titles are on basic
sciences. Speaking with IBNA, public relations manager of IUP stated that of the
presented items, 100 titles are new releases. As Maryam Taherian stated, basic sciences cover the greatest range of academic topics. In addition to basic sciences, the
institute has offered 220 titles on engineering, 110 titles on biology and medicine,
390 titles on humanities, 17 titles on sociology and 14 titles on architecture and
arts.Iranian Wheat: a Research Approach
by Hassan Ebrahimzadeh, et al.,
Geography, Economy of Space and
Ground Logistics by Hassan Sadough, and
English for Students of Natural Resources
by YousefEfraniFard are some of the titles
presented by IUP at the 26th Tehran
International Book Fair.
She further added that the books presented at the book fair are sold with at least
15% discounts. The 26th Tehran
International Book Fair was held at
Tehran's Grand Imam Khomeini Prayer
Ground until May 11 2013.
Hassan Tehrani's 'Hear from the Reed'
into Arabic.
So far many works published by the
institute have been released in various
languages.
14
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
Library
News
The Parliament’s
Publications
First Academic Book on the
Romanticists of Iran
The book 'Iranian Romanticism: a survey of the
romantic movement in contemporary Persian Poetry'
is penned by Behzad Khajat to hit records of the first fully academic work on the influence of the Romantic School on Persian
poets.
As Iran book news agency reported Romanticism as a philosophical literary and artistic movement in the world history of
culture emerged during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to revive the sensual and the emotional in western arts.
Romantic artists tried to realize their personal ideas unfettered
by traditional or classic frameworks.
Romanticism emerged first in England and then in Germany
and France and finally throughout Europe as a reaction to the
bourgeois society of the enlightenment. The romanticists paid
attention to their personal dreams and thoughts more than any
other artificial or unnatural drive; what they wrote was a reflection of the dream world. The romantic thought was first discussed in Jean Jacque Rousseau's Social Contract and John
Lock's Contemplations. It also owes much to the ideas of Hegel
and Schlegel. The movement also had deep effects on some contemporary Iranian literary and artistic movements. Poets such as
Fereydoon Tavalloli, Nima Youshij, Nader Naderpour, Esmail
Shahroudi, Sohrab Sepehri, Mohammad Zahri, Siavash Kasraei,
Hamid Mosaddegh, Golchin Guilani, and Pejman Bakhtiari
were among them. "Iranian Romanticism" is the first research
work ever written on this subject. In order to accomplish this
Behzad Khajat has cited about 170 sources and reviewed almost
all poems by Iranian romantic poets. The first chapter defines
the school and its characteristics and introduces the main figures
in these; the philosophy of romanticism, however, is missing in
the chapter.
Another problem in the theoretical framework is that in order
to elaborate on the ideas of Schlegel, Hegel or Rousseau, Khajat
refers to second-rate sources. And while the poems of Hossein
Pejman Bakhtiari as a significant Romanticist poet are neglected, his elaboration on Esmail Shahroudi as a revolutionary
romanticist is a positive quality - a poet that in spite of his avantgarde innovations had been taken for granted by the critics and
researchers alike. 'Iranian Romanticism: A survey of the romantic movement in contemporary Persian poetry' is penned by
Behzad Khajat and published by Bamdad-e-No in 1650 copies
and 237 pages. Khajat holds a PhD degree in Persian Language
and Literature and now teaches at Islamic Azad University of
Mahshahr.
Publications
Golden age of Greece Introduced in
‘The Age of Pericles’
Qoqnoos publisher has published a new volume in the
'World History' series entitled 'The Age
of Pericles'. The book is penned by Don
Nardo and translated by Fatemeh Eiji.
IBNA reported.
The Age of Pericles covers the events
of 479 to 431 B.C., the golden age of
Greece during which Athens comes to
its full political and cultural flourish.
The book emphasizes the stunning role
of Pericles in such an era in the history
of Greece and his cultural endeavors.
Pericles was the most prominent and
influential Greek statesman, orator, and
general of Athens during the Golden
Age-specifically, the time between the
Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He
was descended, through his mother,
from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family. Pericles had
such a profound influence on Athenian
society that Thucydides, his contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the
first citizen of Athens". The period during which he led Athens is sometimes
known as the "Age of Pericles".
Pericles promoted the arts and literature; it is principally through his efforts
that Athens holds the reputation of
being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that generated
most of the surviving structures on the
Acropolis. This project beautified the
city, exhibited its glory, and gave work
to the people. Pericles also fostered
Athenian democracy to such an extent
that critics call him a populist. The first
print of 'The Age of Pericles' penned by
Don Nardo and translated by Fatemeh
Eiji is published in 1500 copies by
Qoqnoos.
15
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Library
News
Publications
Publications
Allameh Jafari's
Books
The English translation of the
Intelligible Life and the Human
Genome Project by the late Allameh
Taghi Jafari will be soon released. Ali
Yeganeh, executive manager of Allameh
Jafari Publications, stated that in 1992 the
Bioethics at the UNESCO Headquarters
in Paris issued a call for opinions on the
ethics of Human Genome Project to the
thinkers of various countries. The same
was sent to Allameh Jafari by the
UNESCO headquarters in Iran. The
Allameh's response came in the same year
giving rise to a number of new issues
about human nature and theoretical as
well as philosophical topics about human
beings. He had also intended to write a
complementary sequel to the response,
but failed to do it before his untimely
death. The book is now rendered in
English and is being published as the
Human Genome Project. Yeganeh went
on to add that the book further encompasses a response by the Allameh to
another question posed by the UNESCO
about a 1989 call for opinions from
UNESCO headquarters in Vancouver,
Canada. The English rendition of the
book is arranged in 143 pages and will be
published.
The other book, Intelligible Life, entails
Allameh Jafari's meticulous scrutiny of
the philosophy of human life and the
related issues. The book has previously
been published but the institute has
decided to release its English rendition in
Iran for interested Iranian researchers.
History of Ancient
Iran & Lorestan
Following 8 years of research,
the first volume of "A brief
account of the history of ancient Iran and
Lorestan" was released in 148 pages.
According to Mashallah Biranvand, the
author, the book is about the ups and
downs of the history of Iran as well as
Lorestan- from the ancient times till the
end of the Pahlavid era and briefly sheds
light on Iran's history, the establishment of
the first governments in Iran as well as
Lorestan during the Mongols Ilkhanate.
"The scholars of each era must convey
the true and logical history for the young
generation", Biranvand said.
Publications
"Heritage of Old Tehran"
The second volume of the
series "Tehran Past & Present"
titled "The Heritage of Old Tehran:
Unknown Architectural Treasures", has
been released. Written by Hamid Reza
Norouzi Talab, the bilingual series introduce various aspects of life, art and the
architecture of the capital city of Iran. "The
book is a historical, cultural, pictorial
encyclopedia of Tehran in English and
Persian", said Norouzi Talab.
Although the city's history dates back
3000 years ago and its current huge population makes it the top on the list of the
world's metropolises, Tehran is a fairly
young city compared to other cities in
Iran. Tehran was the capital city of the
Qajar Dynasty and enjoys a significant
position in the transition of the country
from past to the present.
"An outstanding feature of this book is
using pictures accompanied by captions
and respective articles portraying the historical and cultural ups and downs of the
past two hundred years of this city",
Amazon says.
The 242-page Book was released in 3000
copies by Yasavoli Publications.
Publications
"Tehran's Buildings"
The first of the five-volume
series titled "Buildings and
Surrounding Areas: Since Emergence to
the Islamic Revolution" was released by
the Organization of Tehran Beautification.
The
440-page,
bilingual
Book
(English/Persian) is a collection of photos
of numerous historical buildings of
Tehran not yet photographed by the Iran
Cultural Heritage Organization.
The photos were taken by 24 photographers over a year out of which 80 frames
were selected.
So far, 478 historical and precious buildings have been registered by Iran's
Cultural Heritage Organization while the
photos collected for this book number
some 1700 buildings.
The book has been released in and 1500
copies.
16
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Library
Publications
A unique source published
for the first time in the history of Persian literature the detailed
description of different types of
clothes and their peculiarities, the
book titled "The Collection of
Nezam Ghari" was published jointly
with Safir Ardehal Publications.
Published with the introduction by
Dr. Mohammad Rajabi, Director of
the Parliament Library, the 614pages Book contains a collection of
poetry and prose composed by the
13 AD poet Mahmoud ibn Ahmad
called "Nezam Ghari" - known as the
"poets of clothes" - on the various
types of clothes.
The Book, corrected by Dr. Rahim
Taher as per the four manuscripts
available, is an account on the life,
character and religious beliefs of the
poet as well as his linguistic style.
"The Collection of Nezam Ghari" is
available at Parliament library.
Publications
Publications
Review of
"Sahifeyeh
Sajadieyeh"
The Parliament library has
published the review of the
Corrected text of "The Translation and
Interpretation of Sahifeyeh Sajadieyeh"
written by Sharif Lahiji.
The Correction of "The Translation and
Interpretation of Sahifeyeh Sajadieyeh"
written by Sharif Lahiji in 18th century
was corrected by Akbar Saqafian and
published at the Parliament Library a few
months ago.Manmoud Nazari has
reviewed the corrected text with its original manuscripts and has found some
mistakes in it. So the Parliament Library
has republished this book with consideration of these corrected points.The
review of the Corrected text of "The
Translation and Interpretation of
Sahifeyeh Sajadieyehis is available at the
Parliament library.
Complete
Collection of
Joneid Shirazi's
Poems
In cooperation with Safire
Ardehal Publication, the
Parliament Library published the
complete collection of Mo'ien al-din
Ab-al ghasem Joneid Shirazi, the
great poet of the 13 AD.
The two versions of Jonede Shirazi's
poems published earlier with the
attempts of Sa'id Nafisi and Ahmad
Karami were based just on one manuscript and thus lacking lots of
Joneid's poems.
The new version is the result of
research activities on a large number
of manuscripts and collections conducted by Omid Sarvari.
Collection of Jonede Shirazi's
Poems is available to the researchers
at Parliament Library.
Publications
History of Zandieh & Qajar
The book titled "Janat ol-akhbar va Nokhbat
ol-akhbar" is a general history of Zandieh and
Qajar dynasties published by the Parliament Library
with the financial assistance of Mohammad Jamali.
Zandieh dynasty (1784-1830 AD) was founded by
Karim Khan, chief of the Zand tribe, which is a tribe of
the Kurdish people and is considered to be either Luri in
origin.
The Qajar dynasty is an Iranian royal family of Turkic
origin, which ruled Iran from 1785 to 1925.
17
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
"The Collection
of Nezam Ghari"
The Parliament’s
Library
News
Publications
Over 50 Books
Released on
History and
Geography
During the first week of summer, Iran published 56 titles on
history and geography. According to the
Book House Institute, a total of 888 book
titles were released in Iran, during the
period, of which 56 belonged to the field
of history and geography. Among the
released history and geography books, 47
were written and 9 were translations.
Moreover 46 first prints and 10 reprints
were released. Averagely, 1478 copies and
333 pages were printed. Some of the marketed books included "Reponsea historie"
by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the 3rd
print of 'History of Ismailites in Iran 1113th Century' by Ludmila Vladimirovna
and translated by Parvin Monzavi and
'Persia: History and Heritage' translated
by JafarMohseni.
Publications
Encyclopedia of Iranian Art and
Architecture released
Translated by Saleh Tabatabaei,
The Encyclopedia of Iranian Art
and Architecture contains a selection of
entries to Iranian Art in the 34-volume
Grove Art. As Iran book news agency
reported, Grove Art Encyclopedia is one of
the most comprehensive and significant
ones in the world.
"Grove Art" has got lengthy entries. Years
ago I came across the book and wondered
if I can elicit all the entries on Iranian art in
a single volume. As I studied the book I
selected entries on Iran and simultaneously began translating them to Persian,"
Tabatabaei said.
He started the translation in 2006 and
then signed a contract with the Academy
of Arts for its publication. The whole
process took more than four years.
He also referred to defects and mistakes
in the entries, saying "in order to correct
these entries I embarked on research.
Therefore, most pages of the book encompass footnotes, margins and corrections
inserted by the translator. I have also written articles in Persian and English to elaborate on these mistakes."
Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom's threevolume Encyclopedia of Islamic Art is
another up-to-date source for his research
parts of which are included in Tabatabaei's
translation. He further mentioned that the
geography of the Great Iran including a
large area of Mid Asia and Afghanistan
(Art in Heart, Bukhara, Balkh) has been
considered in the research.
"Grove Art is updated every six months;
so I proposed to the Academy of Arts to
publish next prints with a small booklet
containing the latest updates of the volume. Also the book only mentions worldknown artists while many eminent Iranian
artists are not included. I hope to add more
contemporary figures to the book in the
future," he added.
The Encyclopedia of Iranian Art and
Architecture is published in 1500 copies
and 800 pages by MATN (The Academy of
Arts Press).
Publications
A translated edition of 'Nahayat
al Aghdaam Fi Elm al Kalaam',
compiled by Tajuddin Mohammad bin
Abdul karim Shahrestani and scribed in
538 B.C., has been published. The publication of parliament library, museum and
archives, in cooperation with the
University
of
Religions
and
Denominations, has published a translated
edition (scanned) of 'Nahayat al Aghdaam
Fi Elm al Kalaam', compiled by Tajuddin
Mohammad bin Abdul karim Shahrestani
and scribed in 538 B.C.; while it is also kept
at the library of the parliament with the reference number of 10607.
Published with a preface from Syed
Translated Edition
of 'Nahayat al
Aghdaam Fi Elm al
Kalaam'
Published
Mohammad EmadiHaeri, this is a great
work of religion theology and theology of
the Ismaili sect. Shahrestani has combined
the Ash'ari and Ismaili theologies in his
compilation, discussing twenty major theological topics, which include:
Emergence of the universe; emergence
of creations; Tawhid; revoke analogy of
God; voiding the theories of anti-creationists; circumstances; creation; word of God;
truth of human speech; knowledge of creation; praise and condemnation; proof of
prophethood of Holy Prophet Mohammad
(P.B.U.H), etc. 'Nahayat Al Aghdaam' is a
report of analysis, review and, consequently, the opinion of Shahrestani in the realms
of theological issues of his era. This book
enjoys a special standing among all other
works of Shahrestani, as he is in a position
to express his review and opinion on the
most important theological issues in this
book.
18
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
Library
Cultural
Great Quranic Copies
Presented by Malek Museum
Manager of the
research
and
education section of
Malek National Library and Museum,
Mehdi Yasavoli, said 40 images of the
first Quranic chapter, Hamd, in various
manuscripts are put on display at the
21st
International
Quran
Exhibition.
As reported by parliamentary
library website he said the pictures are compiled in a book entitled as '40 Mirrors' which is published jointly by the public relations office of Astan Quds Razavi
and Malek Museum.
As he said, the pictures of the
book are designed as beautiful
postcards which are presented to
the fair's visitors.
In other news, specialized calligraphy
workshops are being held at the exhibit
with focus on Quranic verses. As
Yasavoli added, Malek Museum and
Library is one of the representatives of Astan
Quds Razavi at the exhibition. He added that the workshops consider preservation, repairing, and documentation of Quranic manuscripts. The
workshops are conducted by experts in
different fields regarding the
focus of the workshops, he went
on to add.
What is more, as many as 80
exquisite copies of the holy
Quran are being kept at Malek
Museum with the oldest copies
dating back to over a thousand
years ago. He further underlined
that most of the exquisite copies
of the holy Quran are scribed by
prominent Iranian calligraphers
throughout history.
Cultural
Pakistan National Assembly
hosted the firstever General
Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly
of Economic Cooperation Organization
(PAECO) with hopes the forum would help
propel cooperation in all fields among the
10 member states. Parliamentarians from
Afghanistan‚ Azerbaijan, Turkey‚ Iran and
Tajikistan attended the three-day meeting.
The main objective of the assembly was to
promote people-to-people contacts with a
view to achieving understanding, trust and
friendship among ECO members. The
Meeting also aimed to coordinate and
exchange experiences of parliaments and
parliamentarians of ECO countries, provide
a forum for exchanging experiences of parliamentary practices, increase interaction
through friendship groups in parliaments
and cooperate with each other at international forums in matters of common values,
interests and opportunities.
1st Meeting of ECO Women
Parliamentarians
Also women parliamentarians from ECO
member countries held their first meeting
and signed 'Islamabad Declaration', resolv-
1st ECO
Parliamentary
Forum Convenes
ing to encourage women to play an active
role in politics.
"The plight of women and children in
ECO countries is a critical area of our common concern", Mirza emphasized, and
noted that out of the parliaments of the
member states, three are headed by women
speakers. The available forum of the
Women's Parliamentary Caucus in the
Parliament of Pakistan can provide a sustainable base for such future contacts", Dr
Mirza said.
PAECO Charter Signed
Further at the Meeting, the Speaker of
Pakistan National Assembly, Dr Fehmida
Mirza, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Dr
Ali Larijani; Speaker of Majlis-i-Namoyo of
Majlis-i-Oli of Tajikistan; Jamil Chi-Chak,
Speaker of the Grand Assembly of Turkey;
Sabir Asadov, Chairman of the Milli Majlis
of Azerbaijan and the Second Deputy
Speaker of Olesi Jirga of Afghanistan signed
the 'PAECO Charter', the Charter Dr
Shamil Aleskerov, ECO Secretary General,
called "a manifestation of commitment by
ECO member countries to advance the
existing cooperation to another level for the
realization of common objectives in the
field of socio-economic development".
"Signing the Charter of the organization
marked a historic step which reflects a
shared resolve of the peoples' representatives
to work together for the common prosperity in a spirit of friendship‚ trust and mutual
understanding" noted Mirza. The elevenarticle Charter envisions that the parliamentarians of the member countries would
jointly promote common values, interests
and opportunities and shall came into force
immediately after four member countries
signed it and notified to the ECO secretariat
that internal legal procedures had been fulfilled.
19
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
The Parliament’s
The Parliament’s
Library
News
Cultural
21st International
Holy Quran Exhibition
Well Received by the
Visitors
Those visiting the
International Holy
Quran Exhibition learn
about a large number of
Quranic products in a short
period of time, an MP said.
Speaking to the expo's press
center, Abdol-Reza Mesri added that
presenting so many Quranic products in
so short a period of time is among the
main accomplishments of the Quran
exhibition.
He referred to the books, educational
tools, and software products on display
in the expo, he said the exhibition offers
everything needed for understanding
the Quran in a short time.
The member of Majlis added that the
organization of the Quran exhibition
and holding fund-raising ceremonies
for the orphans are two praiseworthy
measures in the holy month of
Ramadan that began after the victory of
the Islamic Revolution.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Mesri said
the holy month of Ramadan is the
month of Quran and an opportunity for
promotion of reading and understanding
the Quran and implementing the Holy
Book's teachings.
He went on to say that the International
Quran Exhibition is a venue that plays a
major role in fostering the Quranic
teachings and the Quranic and Islamic
lifestyle.
Furthermore, as many as 30 books with
Quran and Hadith themes were unveiled
in a ceremony at the 21st International
Holy Quran Exhibition.
According to the expo's press center,
the ceremony was held on the sidelines
of a conference held at the exhibition
featuring the Quran's role on civilizational identity-building.
It was attended by Iran's Culture
Minister, Chancellor of Al-Mustafa
International University Ayatollah Ali
Reza Arafi, head of Tehran Municipal
Council Mehdi Chamran and head of
the Exhibition Hojat-ol-Islam Hamid
Mohammadi.
The Quranic and Hadith books
unveiled at the program included
translation of Tafsir-al-Amsal by
Ayatollah
Makarem-Shirazi
into
Albanian, translation of Ayatollah
Javadi-Amoli's "Resurrection and
Judgment Day" into Malay, and translation of "Al-Qira'a" by Hojat-ol-Islam
Hamid Mohammadi into Swahili.
The other works were in Persian,
Arabic, Albanian and Swahili and had
themes related to the Quran, Hadith and
Islamic civilization.
Quranic Calligraphy by 40
Calligraphers
In another development, during a cere-
mony, a copy of the Holy
Quran was calligraphed by 40
prominent calligraphers during the International Quran
Exhibition.
The ceremony, which also
marked the closing of the
Dar-ul-Kitaba (Quranic calligraphy)
Section of the exhibition, was held on
Thursday, August 1.
Mehdi Babayi, executive director of
the section, told the expo's press center
that the calligraphers who contributed
to calligraphy of the Quran copy and
the book 40 Hadiths were honored at
the function. He said the section was
launched on July 6 and because of the
limited space allocated to it, put on
display only 66 calligraphy works from
among the 130 works submitted to the
section.
Mr. Babayi noted that in previous
edition of the exhibition last year, the
Yasin chapter of the Holy Quran was
calligraphed at the Dar-ul-Kitaba
Section, but this year 40 calligraphers
of the section managed to calligraph
the entire Quran. Pointing to other
activities of the section during the
expo, he noted that it organized calligraphy workshops which were well
received by the visitors.
Promotion of Islamic Life Style
The Islamic style of life should be promoted in the world based on Quranic
teachings, a Tanzanian student residing
in the holy city of Qom said.
Speaking to the press center of the 21st
International Holy Quran, Sajedeh Daya
said all people in the world are in need
of implementation of the Islamic
lifestyle.
Elsewhere in her remarks, Ms Daya
referred to Iran's International Quran
Exhibition and said it has no equivalent
in any other country.
She also said that Iranians have a
powerful civilization and demonstrated the true Islam to the world after the
victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Ms Daya, is fluent in 6 languages
and studies at Jameat-ul-Zahra (SA)
Seminary in Tehran.
20
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Cultural
David Mamet's
"Cryptogram"
Deciphered at
Tehran Gallery
Tehran's Khark Gallery is
playing host to a theater troupe
performing American playwright David
Mamet's "Cryptogram".
"We chose Khark, because the stage set
of the gallery is well suited for performing
the play," director/actor Ali Baqeri said in
press release on Saturday. He referred to
the difficulties Iranian troupes have in
finding a theater in which to perform
their plays and added, "Moreover, we
were not certain whether we could perform the play in a theater or not." Shayan
Javaherian and Fatemeh Fakhraii also
star in the play. "The Cryptogram" is a
1995 play that concerns the moment
when childhood is lost. The story of the
play is set in 1959 on the night before a
young boy is to go on a camping trip with
his father. The play will be performing
until March 18. The gallery is located at
61 Khark St., south of Enqelab Ave.
Carpet Washing
Ritual on
UNESCO List
Iran's
carpet
washing
(Qalishuyan) ritual has been
inscribed on the UNESCO's representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
of Humanity. Recently UNESCO's website
reported that the Intergovernmental
Committee for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage registered the
Iranian ritual of carpet washing held in
Mashhad Ardehal near the Iranian historical city of Kashan.The committee examined about 60 candidacies for inscription
during its 7th session at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, registering 16 elements
from different countries including, Iran,
India, Italy, Hungary and Ecuador. The
Iranian ritual, held every second Friday of
autumn by local men, is said to commemorate the passing away of a descendant of
Shia Imam Muhammad Baqir (PBUH)
named Imamzadeh Soltan Ali. The ritual
takes place at his shrine in Mashhad
Ardehal.To perform the ritual that annually attracts thousands of people to
Mashhad Ardehal, young men gather at
the shrine where its large carpet is
wrapped in green textile and delivered to
them.
Cultural
Iran - Iraq to
Restore Ancient
Documents
The Deputy of National
Library announced Iran's
readiness to cooperate with Iraq for the
restoration of ancient documents. Azizi,
the Archives Deputy of Iran National
Library, emphasized on increasing cooperation with Iraq in order to restore
ancient manuscript documents.
He further described the Library's activities for Iraqi Ministry of Science and stated that Most of Organization's documents relate to administrative and governmental affairs, hence, most of users of
these documents are regional and local
PhD, Master of Science students.
Azizi also emphasized on collecting all
of historical documents by national
library & Archives and added that wide
range of documents with different importance are being preserved in this organization.
An Iraqi delegation visited different
division of Archives consist of pathology,
restoration and information department.
The National Library & Archives of Iran
is one of the best centers for restoration of
ancient documents in the Middle East.
Cultural
French Intl.
Film Festival
Honors Iran's
'Taboor'
Iranian director Vahid Vakilifar's
second feature-length film Taboor
has been hailed at the 15th edition of
Deauville Asian Film Festival in France.
Vakilifar's screen creation was awarded
the Critic's Prize of Lotus Air France (Prix
de la Critique Internationale) at the festival. Taboor which means the naval of the
earth in old mythology is about human
beings trapped in the surrounding environment. The movie is also slated to be
screened at the Viewpoints section of the
12th Tribeca International Film Festival in
the United States, which will focus on stories told from distinctly male and female
perspectives. The film won Special Jury
Prize shared with the Danish film A
Hijacking by Tobias Lindholm at the 2012
edition of International Film Festival of
Marrakech (FIFM). Vakilifar's movie also
received the First Special Mention of the
2012 Thessaloniki International Film
Festival that was held in the Greek port
city, Thessaloniki. The movie was presented at the 'A Window on Asian Cinema'
section of the 2012 Busan International
Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea, as
well as the Festival du nouveau cinéma
which was held in Montreal, Canada, in
October 2012. Born in 1981, Vahid
Vakilifar graduated in film directing from
Iran's Soureh University and worked as an
assistant director on several features before
starting his filmmaking career.
He was honored in several international
events particularly for his first featurelength production Geshe.
21
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
Cultural
Library
The Parliament’s
Library
News
Cultural
"Iran Holds Precious Sources
for Numismatic Books"
Malek National
Library
and
Museum recently added to its
numismatic sources the twovolume Sylloge of Sasanian
coins of the third to seventh centuries AD.
released by the Royal Numismatic Society
Special Publication- London published as
part of the "Sasanian Coin Project" conducted in collaboration with the
National Museum of Iran in
Tehran. While talking about the
condition of numismatics in
Iran, Ms. Vesta Sarkhosh
Curtis, Curator of Islamic and
Iranian Coins, Department of
Coins and Medals, British Museum
and one of the researcher involved
in the publication of the catalogue, said: "In Iran, numismatics is a new science which I
hope will find its place as an
individual field.
The rise of the publication of
numismatic books will indeed help
historians and archeologists improve their
knowledge. Iran can release great books,
which can be used throughout the world,
since it holds valuable coin sources". "In
order to study the coins, the researchers
need to touch them; however, such an
access isn't possible always. Therefore, the
publication of related books and catalogues
containing the pictures of the coins as well
as their features, will be handy for
researchers", she noted while adding
"When a special historical period of
time is being studied and its historical and cultural data is being
evaluated, the catalogues can easily present the information to the
researcher. These kinds of works
hold the latest information and they
are updated whenever new data is
found". She went on to say that
coins are among the precious
sources of history, archeology
and art studies. In Britain, besides
the publication of several related
articles and new findings, special
coin journals and calendars are
released as well. Sarkhosh Curtis believes
that numismatic related data should also be
presented online for the world. According
to her, the British Museum holds a rich collection of numismatic books. A budget is
annually allocated for purchasing books
which unfortunately has
decreased during the past
recent years due to financial
problems. Vesta Sarkhosh
Curtis is responsible for the
British Museum's collection of pre-Islamic
Iranian coins (from the third century BC
until the middle of the seventh century
AD), which includes both Parthian period
and Sasanian coins. She also looks after
coins of the Islamic world beginning with
the Umayad and Abbasid period and
including coins of the Samanid and Buyid,
Seljuk, Mamluk, Ayubid and Fatimid,
Ilkhanid and Timurid, Safavid and Qajar
dynasties. Vesta Curtis is also the Joint
Director of the International Parthian Coin
Project, the Sylloge Nummorum
Parthicorum (SNP), and Joint Editor of the
SNP series. This multi-institutional project
will record Parthian coins of the third century BC to the third century AD in
London, Vienna, Tehran, Paris, Berlin, and
the American Numismatic Society, New
York. The British Museum team, headed by
V.S. Curtis, will produce two of the nine
volumes. Some of her books include
Persian Myths, Birth of the Persian Empire,
The Age of the Parthians and Persepolis to
the Punjab: Exploring ancient Afghanistan
and Pakistan.
Cultural
“Gabriel Garcia
Marquez” Appears in
Iranian Bookstores
"Gabriel Garcia Marquez"
Appears
in
Iranian
Bookstores Qoqnus Publications
released the book: "Gabriel Garcia
Marquez: A Life" translated by
Bahman Farzaneh, who introduced Marquez's acclaimed work "One Hundred Years of
Solitude" to Iranians in 1979.
"Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life" is the first full and authorized biography of the 1982 winner of the Nobel Prize in
Literature - the most popular international novelist of the last
fifty years. Gerald Martin authored the book over the course
of nearly two decades doing a lot of research for the production of this masterly biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
He spent many hours in conversation with Marquez himself
and interviewed more than three hundred people.
He conducted numerous interviews with Garcia Marquez's
wife, sons, mother, siblings, literary agent and translators
including Carlos Fuentes,
Mario Vargas Llosa, and
Alvaro Mutis. Fidel
Castro
and
Felipe
Gonzalez and other political figures, his closest
friends as well as those
who consider themselves his detractors are interviewed in the
book. Gerald Martin is Professor Emeritus of Modern
Languages at the University of Pittsburgh and Senior Research
Professor in Caribbean Studies at London Metropolitan
University.
22
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
The Parliament’s
Russian Animation
Wins Grand Prize at
Tehran Festival
The Russian animation "Out
of Play" by Ivan Maximov
won the grand prize at the 8th
Tehran International Animation
Festival.
The winners of the festival, which
is held annually by the Institute for
Intellectual
Development
of
Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), were announced during a ceremony in Tehran on Thursday.
"Out of Play" is about the relationships between three obsolete toys,
which are abandoned in an attic.
The Special Jury Award of the festival went to the French director
Svetlana Filippova for the animation
"Where Dogs Die".
Isabel Herguera from Spain,
Dragan Milinkovic Fimon from
Serbia, Priit Pärn from Estonia, Juan
Pablo Zaramella from Argentia and
Amir - Mohammad Dehestani from
Iran are the members of the international jury of the festival.
"Children Who Chase Lost Voices"
by Makoto Shinkai from Japan won
the Best Feature Animation Award.
The Best TV Animation Award of
this section went to "Welcome to
Bric and Brac" directed by
Amandine Gallerand and Matthieu
Chavallier from France.
"Pretty Kitty's Flower" by Maria
Horváth from Hungary won the Best
Children's
Animation
Award.
Directed by Bahram Azimi, "Tehran
2121" was crowned the best animation in the national section.
"Tehran 2121" is about the past and
present of a 160-year-old man.
The story of this animation takes
place in the year 2121, when robots
live alongside people who live for
over 160 years due to progress in
medical science.
Cultural
Iran, India Ink
Cooperation
Agreement on
Book Fairs
Iran's Cultural Fairs
Institute and India's National
Book Trust (NBT) have signed an
agreement to expand their cooperation
on international book fairs and marketing.
The agreement was inked during the
New Delhi World Book Fair, which was
mounted from February 4 to 10, 2013.
A number of Iranian publishers participated in the Fair and introduced
different books in various genres.
Iran's Cultural Fairs Institute offered
over 600 books and software in the
field of Iranology, children and young
adults, plus spiritual literatures during
the Fair.
The 2013 New Delhi World Book Fair
dedicated its "Particular Mention" to
Iran's Cultural Fairs Institute during a
meeting held on the sidelines of the
event.
India, as the world's third largest producer of books in English language, is
planning to bring book export into its
international trade priorities.
23
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
Cultural
Library
News
The Parliament’s
Library
Cultural
Khaneh Ketab
(Book House)
at a Glance
Khaneh Ketab (Iran Book
House) founded in 1993,
aims at providing information services on the books published in Iran.
Its website, www.ketab.ir, was also
established later in 1998 in order to
make information on the books
accessible to users.
In addition to the books and publishers databases, various cultural
services are offered such as publishing book review journals, holding
important
cultural
ceremonies
including selecting Islamic Republic
of Iran's Book of the Year, Islamic
Republic of Iran's Book of the Season,
Parvin Etesami literary award, Jalal
Al-Ahmad literary award, book criticism, and finally First-step Literary
Award. Besides such literary ceremonies, various services are offered
to those interested and involved in
book enterprise, some of which are:
Iranian Book News Agency (the only
specialized news agency on books
and related fields in Iran) ISBN and
ISMN services, insurance services for
literati and holding meetings in
l8iterati's house.
Khaneh Ketab (Iran Book House)
website : http://www.ketab.ir
Cultural
Two Historical Works
Join UNESCO World Heritage
UNESCO's
National
Committee of Global Memory
added two Iranian works entitled as 'A
Collection of Selected Maps of Iran in
the Qajar Era' and 'The Reserve of the
Khwarizmshah Dynasty' to its documentary heritage of the Memory of the
World Register in 2013.
According to UNESCO National
Commission's website, following the
international Memory of the World
session in South Korea (June 18-21), 54
new works have been registered in the
documentary heritage of the Memory
of the World project among which are
two Iranian works "The Reserve of the
Khwarizmshah Dynasty" (Zakhire-ye
Kharazmshahi) "A Collection of
Selected Maps of Iran in the Qajar Era
(1193 - 1344 Lunar Calendar / 17791926 Gregorian Calendar)".
With these works registered, the
works included in the documentary
heritage reach 299. Iran has participated in the project by having registered
seven exquisite works, namely
"Shahnameh Baysonqori" (2007),
'Rob'e-Rashidi
Endowment' (2007), 'Administrative
Documents of Astan-e Quds Razavi in
the Safavid Era', (2009), 'Al-Tafhim li
Awa'il Sana'at al-Tanjim' by Abureyhan
Biruni (2011), Nezami Ganjavi's 'Five
Treasures' (2011), 'The Reserve of the
Khwarizmshah Dynasty' (2013), and 'A
Collection of Selected Maps of Iran in
the Qajar Era' (2013).
"A Collection of Selected Maps of
Iran in the Qajar Era (1193 - 1344
Lunar Calendar / 1779-1926 Gregorian
Calendar)" including 500 pieces of
maps on various subjects is kept in the
Documents Center and History of
Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
It is a precious document for historical, social, juridical and political events
of Iran and the region.
"The Reserve of the Khwarizmshah
Dynasty" is penned by Zaineddin
Ismail bn.
Jorjani and is kept in Shahid
Motahari Library as the most important medical encyclopedia in Persian. It
is translated to Urdu, Turkish and
Hebrew that shows its significance as a
reference book for scientific world of
that era.
24
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
Library
Cultural
Cultural
Iran's Pavilion
to Shine at 2013 FIBF
Executive manager of the
Institute of Iran's Cultural
Fairs stated that the institute will
attend the 2013 edition of the
Frankfurt International Book Fair.
Speaking with IBNA, Mohammad
Azimi said that the institute has
planned to run a 200-square-meter
pavilion in the international section
of the fair and a 400-square-meter
pavilion at the children's section of
the exhibit.
Elsewhere, Azimi underlined Iran's
presence at the previous edition of
Frankfurt International Book Fair,
and said that Iran's pavilion at the
exhibition was prominent which
sparked a lot of interest among the
fair's visitors coming from European
countries.
"Currently we are planning an active
presence at the next edition of the
exhibition," said Azimi about the
institute's future plans. Besides, it is
planning for presence in nine other
world exhibitions.
The institute arranged 23 provincial
book fairs last year in Iran besides a
Sacred Defense book fair in Fars
Province, said Azimi.
As he added, the institute also held
the International Quran Exhibition
with support from the Cultural
Department of the Ministry of
Culture and Islamic Guidance and
the 26th Tehran International Book
Fair.
All programs of the institute are
aligned towards dissemination of the
culture of book reading all around the
country.
Aviny Literary
Award
Executive secretary of the
international section of the
second Resistance Book Award
(Martyr Avini Literary Award) said
assessment of submissions in the sectionhas begun by judges and so far 103
works have been taken into consideration for the screenings.
Speaking with IBNA, Amir
ShairyarAminian said that 488 works
were submitted to the secretariat of the
award of which 103 works were handpicked by the judges for appraisals in
the first round of assessments.
As he said, the English works have
been published before 2012 but not
earlier than 2009 and are presented in
the categories of arts and literary studies (13 works), novels and fictions (23
works), poetry collections (9 works),
political studies (43 titles), memoirs (4
works) and narrative documents (11
works).
In the first phase of assessments, 8
Iranian judges screen the works and
their selections are handed over to foreign experts for evaluation.
The closing ceremony of the festival
will be held sometime in September or
October 2013.
25
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
The Parliament’s
News
The Parliament’s
Library
Cultural
Cultural
Iran's Manuscripts
at TIBF
ECO Official Says Iran
National Library Excels
Many World Libraries
The National
library
and
Archives of the Islamic
Republic of Iran attended
the Tehran Book Fair displaying 20 volumes of the
40-volume "List of Iran's
manuscripts" series.
An official of the organization said: “This year, the
main activity of the center’s
Publications was the compilation of the list of Iran’s manuscripts. Hopefully 20 of them presented at the 26th Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF).”
Hamid Mansouri added: “So far 14 volumes have been released
and four more will be published.” According library,museumadocument center of Iran parliament the collection will be useful for codicologists, and researchers who are active in the field of
science history can use the collection for gaining information
about the books of Islamic Science History.
Cultural
Germany to Host Iranian
Manuscript Experts
Akbar Irani,
Javad Bashari
and Mohammad Hussein
Hakim are Iranian manuscript researchers who
have delivered lectures at
P h i l i p p s - Un i v e r s i t ä t
Marburg in Germany in
assessment of manuscripts
in Iran, Iraq and Germany.
According to the public relations office of the Written Heritage
Research Center, a workshop was held on July 15-16, at the university in assessment of manuscripts in Iran, Iraq and Germany,
said Akbar Irani, chief executive officer of the center. Irani was
speaking about the role of Iranians who have played in compilation of Arabic texts and books in the current era. Furthermore,
Bashari, a PhD candidate of Persian language and literature at
Tehran University, had a lecture on Persian writings in Baghdad;
and Mohammad Hussein Hakim, codicologist, was speaking
about an adaptive analysis of traditional and modern methods for
codicology of Iranian manuscripts.
Other speakers from other countries like Iraq and Germany
were also delivering speeches during the workshop.
Iftikhar Hussain
Arif the newly
appointed President of the
ECO Cultural Institute
(ECI) met with head of
National Library and
Archives of Iran, Dr.
Eshagh Salahi. During the
meeting, he asserted that
the National Library of Iran
excels the US Congress
Library and many British
libraries in terms of its building, maintenance of reserves and
the variety of clients.
According to the public relations office of the National
Library and Archives of Iran, Salahi congratulated Arif for his
appointment as the new president of the Economic Cultural
Institute (ECI) of the ECO, and expressed gratitude over the
presence of a top cultural figure at Iran's National Library.
He hoped that the new appointment would bolster cultural
relations between Iran and Pakistan. "Cultural ties ease political, economic, and international blockades between countries,"
he asserted. He further added that Iran's National Library is the
only national library in the world that is open 24/7.
Salahi also noted that access to the library's reserves is possible through online and SMS messaging. "In terms of the number of visitors and clients, the library has a good status in comparison with Middle Eastern and even world national
libraries," he went on to add. Last year, he said, 685,000 clients
referred to the library, which compelled the library's staff to
consider new arrangements for allowing access to the great
number of visitors to the library.
For his part, Iftikhar Hussain Arif displayed remorse for the
lack any comprehensive effort in Pakistan to preserve manuscripts so far, and requested Iran to assist a cause in Pakistan to
form a movement in the same effect.
Salahi endorsed Arif 's proposal and suggested that all historical documents and manuscripts in Pakistan may be scanned
and digitalized by the National Library and Archives of Iran to
preserve them. Furthermore, Salahi highlighted the significance of the references available in the region and posited that
most of them are either in Persian or Arabic and are written
mostly by Iranian writers which should be mustered by the
ECO in an effort to preserve them for future generations.
Iftikhar Hussein Arif, former head of the Academy Adbiyat
(the Pakistan Academy of Letters) and Muqtadra Quami
Zaban (the National Language Authority), voiced readiness to
welcome Salahi's offer, and underscored the necessity of preserving manuscripts.
26
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
Library
Cultural
Iran's contemporary literature
assessed in Russia
Iran’s Islamic
Culture
and
Relations Organization
arranged for a seminar in Saint
Petersburg in assessment of Iran’s contemporary literature. According to the
public relations office and information
center of the Islamic Culture and
Relations Organization (ICRO), the ses-
sion was the first of a series of seminars
arranged by the organization in Russia
to discuss issues about Iran’s contemporary literature.
The seminar was held in the presence
of Russian writers, literary critics, poets
and journalists in Saint
Petersburg. The agenda
was to discuss Iran’s literature in the past three decades.
During the seminar, some experts
called on expansion of cultural ties
between Iran and Russia by holding
mutual seminars and publication of articles about each others literature.
Cultural
Library of Niavaran
Palace; a collection of
precious books
The Library of Niavaran Palace is house to a collection
of precious Persian and foreign works among which the
books of Iran's history, French literature and painting are richer.
Throughout the history, libraries have enjoyed a great significance as a cultural and social institute. Private library of the
Niavaran Palace is indeed a crucial center accommodating a rich
collection of manuscripts, travelogues, atlases as well as encyclopedias. The private library of the Niavaran Palace is situated in the
eastern part of the Palace, in two floors and one underground
floor in a 770 square meter area and it was built in 1976. The interior designing of this building has been carried out by Aziz
Farmanfarmayan, and Charles Serigny. It possesses different features from the point of view of architecture and constructional
structure and was built based on the modern architecture prevailing in the 1960s, along with a combination of glass and stone.
Since the library was built for personal uses, many library standards were not considered.
As IBNA reported, the oldest volume among the non-Persian
works is a book by Josephus Flavius that was published in Paris.
Meanwhile, the oldest Persian book is a Divan of Hafez dedicated
to Naser Al-din Shah; it is published in 1873 in Leipzig.
library is house to 23,000 books and some 16,000 titles which is
a combination of Persian works (social, literary and cultural
books) as well as foreign books(encyclopedias, archeology books
and sources on arts and civilization). Most of the books, in fact,
focus on arts and history and are in French, Persian and English.
Moreover several noted writers and well as foreign senior officials have donated books to the center. Some of them include
Jawaharlal Nehru, John F. Kennedy, Walt Disney, Ghirshman,
Parvin Etesami and Manuchehr Atashi.
The library also includes the first prints of several travel accounts
of the foreigner's trip to Iran and Asia. It also entails complete collections of some of 18 and 19 centuries French writers.
This place was inaugurated in 1994 on the occasion of the commemoration of the Cultural Heritage anniversary and the World
Museum Day.
27
No.1 / Aug.-Sept. 2013
News
The Parliament’s