Bisotoun embossments in Kermanshah date back to Sassanid era.

Director of Sassanid Studies Base of Kermanshah Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department said 500 historical monuments dating back to Sassanid era and located between the cities of Islamabad Gharb and Qasr-e Shirin would be added to the cultural heritage list next year, IRNA reported.
Yousef Moradi added there are over 1,000 archeological monuments in the area, 90 percent of which have remained unidentified due to the 1980-88 war and its upshots.
He noted that totally 23 historical sites including 17 in Sar-e Pol-e Zahab , four in Qasr-e Shirin and two in Gilan Gharb have been registered.
A large historical museum is to be constructed in Qasr-e Shirin during the fourth development plan (2005-2010).
“Local people are largely aware of the significance of preserving cultural heritage sites; Still, executive state bodies have failed to give these places the attention they deserve,“ he mentioned.
The border city of Qasr-e Shirin in Kermanshah province boasts of over 5,000 years of history.

A conference for commemorating prominent Iranian poet of the Ghaznavid era, Hakim Sanaei Ghaznavi, is slated for April 18, 2005 at the Teacher Training University of Tehran, ILNA quoted a report by the Culture Ministry’s Public Relations Department.
Secretary of the Council for Promoting Persian Language and Literature, Ali-Asghar Mohammad-Khani, said domestic and foreign experts would attend the conference which is going to study Sanaei’s position in literature as well as help strengthen cultural bonds between Persian-speaking countries.
“Sanaei has received less attention in comparison with other renowned Iranian poets such as Molavi, Attar, Hafez, Ferdosi, and Saadi. More detailed research on his life and literary works are needed,“ he added.
According to him, Sanaei was the pioneer of certain poetic styles such as mysticism, symbolism and instructive poetry and was the source of developments in the traditional poetry of his time. He was also regarded as the vanguard of mystic poetry.
The conference topics will revolve around the position of Sanaei in literature, Molana mysticism in Sanaei verses, mystic symbolism in Sanaei’s poems, and language functions in Sanaei’s words.
Researchers and university professors including Asghar Dadbeh, Mir Jalaleddin Kazzazi, Mohammad-Jafar Yahaqqi, Mohammad-Reza Rashed Mohassel, Maryam Mosharraf, Maryam Hassani, Mehdi Zarqani, Eshaq Toghyani, Mohammad-Kazem Kahdouei, and Mohammad Fotouhi will present their last studies on Sanaei at the conference.
Foreign researchers studying the works of Sanaei have also been invited.
The secretary reiterated the need to reinforce cultural ties between Persian-speaking countries, adding Iranian cultural scholars can help forge the bonds.
“The 900th death anniversary of Sanaei provides a good opportunity for commending and getting to know the ideas of the outstanding poet,“ he noted.
Abu al-Majd Majdoud, known as Sanaei, was born in Ghaznain in 1044 AD and died there in 1104 AD.

Famous storywriter, Esmail Fasih, was born in Tehran in 1934 in an extended family. He stepped into the literary world at an early age with the stories one of her sisters read to him. He finished primary school concurrent with the onset of the World War II. After graduating from high school, he traveled to Turkey, France and US.
There he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Montana University. He went to stay in San Francisco where he married a European girl. After a year, he returned to Montana to receive a BA in English literature from the same university. The small city of Missoula used to be the hub of American authors and it was there where he met with renowned author Earnest Hemingway.
After spending a year in Washington DC, and the tragedy of the death of his wife, Fasih returned to Tehran. There, he got to know renowned authors of the time and started translating a few books. In 1963, he went to Ahvaz to work at the art school of the National Iranian Oil Company. Fasih started writing short stories in those years of solitude and sadness.
His first novel ’The Raw Wine’ was published in 1968. He then was sent on a research mission to the US where he studied at the Michigan University to obtain a master’s degree in English literature.
After returning home, he started working for the Abadan Oil University. His next two novels &#8217Familiar Soil’ and ’The Blind Heart’ were published within three years.
His next work--a collection of four short stories titled &#8217Birth, Love, Marriage, Death&#8217--came out in 1972 and another collection named &#8217Meeting in India&#8217 was printed two years later.<br> His everlasting novel &#8217The Story of Javid&#8217--based on Zoroastrian themes--was published after six years of research and editing in 1979.<br> After the Islamic Revolution, he wrote the novel &#8217The Tulip Rose&#8217. He wrote &#8217Sorayya in Coma&#8217 in 1983 which was warmly welcomed by Iranians inside the country and abroad. English, French and German translations of the book were also high in demand overseas. <br> Other stories penned by him include &#8217The 1983 Winter&#8217, &#8217A Letter to the World&#8217, &#8217Forouhar&#8217s Escape&#8217, &#8217Shahbaz and Joghdan&#8217 and &#8217The Pain of Siavash&#8217. <br> In 1994, he wrote the mystic novel &#8217The Ancient Wine&#8217 which was rather astonishing to readers of his previous works. <br> Fasih has translated an anthology of short stories by famous authors, as well as works by Thomas A. Harris and Eric Bern. He has also translated books on psychology and behavioral sciences. <br> Most of his stories have been inspired by or linked to the people he met or the events he went through. Deaths, wars and revolutions are recurrent motifs in his works. <br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48360"></a> <div class=surtitle3> </div> <div class=title3> South Khorasan Planning Regional Museum <br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> <table class=RightImage border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=227> <tr> <td align=Right> <img src="017484.jpg" border=1 width=227 height=305 alt="017484.jpg"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div class=caption3> Ancient pots unearthed from an old mosque in Birjand<br> </div> </td> </tr> </table> A regional museum will be set up in Birjand with an eye to introducing the historical and cultural background of south Khorasan residents, director general of South Khorasan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department said in an interview with Cultural Heritage News.<br> The plan to establish regional museums across the country was proposed by Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization to provincial departments, Hassan Ramezani stated.<br> In this line, a scheme to set up a museum in the central city of Birjand was drafted by the South Khorasan department and endorsed by the organization, he added.<br> Birjand museum, unlike other regional exhibitions, will exclusively feature historical and cultural works relating to South Khorasan region.<br> Studies are underway about the museum&#8217s design, the official noted, adding the experts are also conducting research on anthropological and historical objects which could be put on display. <br> Ramezani elaborated that the museum would be located in one of Birjand&#8217s 420 historical edifices, which have been registered in the national heritage list, to reconcile people, who have become alienated from their cultural background, with historical monuments. <br> He further noted that four museums including Birjand Carpet Museum, Sarayan Museum, City Museum and Agriculture Museum will be simultaneously opened to public in the province.<br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48363"></a> <div class=surtitle3> </div> <div class=title3> Vincent van Gogh (Dutch painter, 1853-90): I dream of painting and then I paint my dream. <br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48366"></a> <div class=surtitle3> </div> <div class=title3> picture<br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> <table class=RightImage border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=400> <tr> <td align=Right> <img src="017478.jpg" border=1 width=400 height=265 alt="017478.jpg"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div class=caption3> A statue located in Amir Chakhmaq square, Yazd. (Photo by Oshin D. Zakarian)<br> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48369"></a> <div class=surtitle3> </div> <div class=title3> Ottoman Collection on Sale<br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> Some of the private belongings that witnessed the final years of the Ottoman Dynasty will be sold in Paris. More than 150 pieces belonging to the eldest daughter of the Sultan Abdulhamit II, Ayse Sultan (Osmanoglu), will be sold at an auction on March 8, zaman.org reported. <br> Ayse Rabia Nami who is the granddaughter of Ayse Sultan will submit the original version written in the Ottoman language of her grandmother&#8217s final book titled &#8220My Father Abdulhamit&#8220 to the Turkish Ambassador to France Uluc Ozulker. The collection to be sold consists of some private items belonging to the final and exiled years of the Ottoman family that had been kept by Ayse Osmanoglu, who died in 1960. The belongings of the Sultan Abdulhamit II include photographs of the Ottoman Family and Istanbul from the period, as well as books, manuscript notes, portraits of the Ottoman sultans, signatures, palace furniture, and embroidered clothes of the Sultans&#8217 wives and daughters. <br> Diaries kept by Ayse Sultan, who accompanied her father Sultan Abdulhamit II when he was sent into exile in 1909 to Selanik (Thessalonica), contain details about the years in exile in Thessalonica and France following the abolition of the Caliphate, and will be sold at the auction. The first dairy of the Ayse Sultan that was written in Istanbul titled &#8220My Diary&#8220 includes important details about the palace life during the Abdulhamit period. Pajamas worn by Abdulhamit and his table garnished by him with bone embroideries are among the private items. Goods will be open for public viewing at the Hotel Drouot in Paris where the auction will take place on March 5-6. <br> Reportedly, the original version of the book in the Ottoman language that Ayse Rabia Nami will submit to Turkey will be given to Topkapi Palace. &#8220My Father Abdulhamit&#8220 was published by the Guven Publishing in Turkey in 1960 and translated into French under the title &#8220From Palace to Exile with My Father&#8220 in 1991. The famous collector Vincent Wepler who organized the auction titled &#8220Memories from the Ottoman Palace&#8220 has also previously sold items of art belonging to the Ottoman Palace at auctions he had organized in 1996, 1998 and 1999. Meanwhile, many &#8220haute couture&#8220 clothes belonging to the Ottoman period will also be sold in an auction called &#8220200 Years of Fashion and Haute Couture&#8220 that will take place at the Hotel Drouot on March 7. <br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48372"></a> <div class=surtitle3> Anecdote<br> </div> <div class=title3> The Rose<br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> She was fond of red roses and I took her one every time I went to see her. She would smell the flower smilingly and say, &#8220It is pretty and fresh. But alas, the beauty won&#8217t last long!&#8220 <br> Being preoccupied with my busy life, I didn&#8217t hear from her for a few of months. One day I heard she was not among us any longer. By her tombstone, I found a pile of red roses.<br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48375"></a> <div class=surtitle3> </div> <div class=title3> Archeological Forgery in Fars<br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> A book discovered by police forces from a group of people involved in the illegal trading of antiquities and ancient items was found to be a fake.<br> An archeologist and deputy head of the Fars Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization for technical preservation, Mosayyeb Amiri, said, &#8220As per assessments by heritage experts, the book is not genuine.&#8220<br> A police officer in charge of the case told ISNA that the book had been discovered in Marvdasht, adding provincial experts had been unable to render a precise evaluation of the book. &#8220So we are waiting for an expert from Tehran to help with the assessment task,&#8220 the officer, whose name was not revealed, said. <br> However, Amiri gave assurances that the book had been diagnosed as an instance of archeological forgery.<br> The department had recently sent a fax to media giving news of the discovery of a book written in Pahlavi language and dating back to the Sassanid era with an estimated value of 50 billion rials.<br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=left> <a name="48378"></a> <div class=surtitle3> </div> <div class=title3> Mass Plunder of Chinese Relics <br> </div> <div class=subtitle3> </div> <div class=detail3> The theft of cultural relics from ancient sites and museums in China jumped by 80 percent last year, officials said in state media, announcing plans to stop the plunder.<br> Forty cases involving 222 items stolen from protected sites and museums were recorded in 2004, an 81.8 percent increase year-on-year, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said.<br> Heritage officials cited by the China Daily newspaper said the protection of cultural relics had come under &#8220severe threat from increases in illegal excavation, theft and smuggling in recent years&#8220.<br> In an effort to curb the trade, enforcement agencies across the country have been ordered to set up stringent safeguards, said administration official Liu Qifu, without specifying what measures would be taken.<br> According to the administration, 21 of the cases last year involved units in relic protection, while 11 occurred in museums and eight in government offices responsible for relics.<br> The figure does not include thefts from illicit excavation at ancient tombs, said Shan Jixiang, head of the administration.<br> Driven by demand from overseas, the smuggling of relics has become a lucrative business.<br> The goods mainly head to Europe, Japan and the United States but are also turning up in private art collections in major Chinese cities, state media have previously reported.<br> Generally traders purchase relics in markets or from large and organized networks of people, ranging from farmers to sophisticated antique experts.<br> They use foreign students, expatriates living in China or even tour groups to smuggle the goods out of China in often unchecked luggage. Many other pieces are shipped or mailed.<br> Experts quoted by Xinhua said relics could be smuggled out of the country as early as a week after they were stolen, making it all but impossible for cultural heritage protection departments to trace them.<br> Despite the flood of relics overseas, law enforcement officials occasionally crack a big case.<br> Last year police in eastern Anhui province arrested 37 people who stole and smuggled 469 relics, including more than 100 state-protected art works.<br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td width=20 align=right valign=middle> <a href="panorama.htm#top"> <img src="../../../logo/UpArr.gif" border=0 align=left width=10 height=10 vspace=0 hspace=0 alt=""> </a> </td> <td align=center width=530> <hr width="80%"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <!-- Begin Bottom TOC --> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%"> <tr> <td> <hr width="100%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center> <div class=htoc> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/index.htm">Front Page</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/national.htm">National</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/economy.htm">Domestic Economy</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/science.htm">Science</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/panorama.htm">Panorama</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/focus.htm">Economic Focus</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/dotcoms.htm">Dot Coms</a> | <br> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/energy.htm">Global Energy</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/politic.htm">World Politics</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/sports.htm">Sports</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/ieconomy.htm">International Economy</a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/art.htm">Arts & Culture</a> | <br> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td> <hr width="100%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center> <div class=htoc> | <a class=htoc href="../../../1383/2228/html/index.htm#Identification"> Identification </a> | <a class=htoc href="../../../archive.htm"> Archive </a> | </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <!-- End Bottom TOC --> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <!-- Begin Bottom --> <hr width="100%"> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=1 width="100%"> <tr> <td align=left valign=top width="50%"> <div class=footer> Copyright 2004, Iran Daily Newspaper <br> </div> </td> <td align=right valign=top width="50%"> <div class=footer> Contact us: <a href="#" ONCLICK='window.open("../../../feedback.htm","popup","width=500,height=500,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,resizable=no,scrollbars=yes,status=no,toolbar=no");return false'>iran-daily@iran-daily.com</a><br> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <!-- End Bottom --> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>