Iran–s National Carpet Museum

TEHRAN, Sept. 25--A valuable carpet dating back to the Pahlavi era, which was to go on public display in an exhibition, has been stolen from Iran–s National Carpet Museum.
According to informed sources, the carpet was earlier maintained in the museum–s depository.
Confirming the news of its disappearance, director of the State Cultural Heritage Guards said that intense efforts are underway to track down the thieves and recover the carpet.
Cultural Heritage News agency quoted Rahmatollah Raouf as saying that investigations revealed that the carpet was stolen after it was taken out of the museum–s depository.
—Serious measures have been adopted to prevent the carpet from being taken out of the country,š he said, adding that Interpol has also been informed of the theft as soon as the news arrived.
Raouf stressed that the international police Interpol has been informed of the carpet–s design and its specifications and necessary coordination have been made with the Customs Administration to prevent it from being taken out of the country.
Raouf made no reference to precisely when the incident took place but said that the disappearance of the carpet became evident two days ago.
The carpet, which measures 1.24m by 2.03m, was woven in Ravar, Kerman province in 1938.
The materials used in weaving the cream-color carpet include wool and thread.
The stolen carpet is of historical significance and was too worn out for prolonged use.

Illustration of an Achaemenid warship

TEHRAN, Sept. 25--Based on historical documents and archeological findings as well as artifacts recovered from the seabed off the southern coasts of the country, archeologists have concluded that they belong to the ships and marine fleet dating back to the Achaemenid and Sassanid eras.
According to Cultural Heritage News agency, a group of Iranian archeologists conducting studies off the southern coasts have came across potteries belonging to the Sassanid era which indicate the existence of ships in ancient Persian civilizations.
Director of the Iranian Underwater Archeology Group Mohammad Mir Eskandari said, —According to historical texts, Iran possessed warships and commercial vessels since the Achaemenid era, evidence indicating the existence of these ships will certainly be found in archeological investigations,š he noted.
Pointing out that research in the field and underwater archeology are of great significance, he further said that the country could use imported equipment and technology in this respect.
Mir Eskandari noted that foreign experts are more inclined to conduct underwater research and stressed that in addition to finding evidence on the existence of Iranian ships, local archeologists can also identify more ships belonging to other countries including China, Greece and India, given the economic and commercial ties among the countries.
Several years ago, a group of archeologists from Canada, Greece and the USA conducted studies to find the fleet of the Achaemenid king Darius.
According to Herodotus, a Greek historian, a part of the Iranian fleet sank off the Greek coast in 492 BC. Evidence of this has been found in recent years.

TEHRAN, Sept. 25--Storywriters are reluctant to write historical novels in view of the restrictions placed on such works.
Expressing this view, noted storywriter, Jamal Mir-Sadeqi told ISNA that as the famous French novelist, Frank O'Connor has said novel belongs to an open society.
"The novel genre, including the historical novel is still in its infancy in Iran," he observed.
Mir-Sadeqi pointed out that each novel is historical to a certain degree since it is attributed to a specific time and place. "Novels usually narrate social and historical incidents. But, historical novels specifically highlight historical incidents," he added.
Comparing novelists to historians, Mir-Sadeqi noted that as Aristotle says both novelist and historian imitate history. "The only difference between the two is that the historian writes about historical facts while novelist reconstructs a historical event by using his/her imagination," he added.
Mir-Sadeqi further noted that historical novels that were primarily written in Iran were about Iran's glorious past and expressed regret that the country was lagging behind in this field.
Commenting on historical novels written during the Pahlavi era, he noted the majority of those novels were commercial except the one named 'Eagle's Nest' that can still attract an audience.

LONDON, Sept. 25--A Shakespeare text that could be worth millions has been inherited by a woman, from a cousin she did not know she had, according to BBC.
Anne Humphries, from Greater Manchester, is to sell the First Folio of Comedies, Histories & Tragedies at auction next month.
Mrs. Humphries, of Stockport, will make ¨80,000 according to a 'conservative' estimate, but bids could reach ¨4.1m.
Dating back to 1623, the text has been described by experts as the most important book in the English language.
The book is one of only six in private hands and the last one, which was in a better condition, topped the ¨4m price tag in 2001.
It is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays and only around 750 copies were printed.
Mrs. Humphries, from Bramhall, said she had no idea what she had got her hands on when she received the book.
"I was almost afraid to open it," she said. "I knew it was something special."
The book had belonged to Frances Cottle, from Tottenham, north London.
She was the widow of a tailor's cutter, and the book had gathered dust at her house until she died in 2002, leaving the legacy to Mrs. Humphries, her closest living relative.
It took a genealogist two years to track down the rightful owner.
Mrs. Humphries was then telephoned by a solicitor to tell her of her inheritance and to come and collect an 'old book'.

S.A. Qudisi

TEHRAN, Sept. 25--'Blind Owl', a masterpiece by renowned Iranian contemporary writer, Sadeq Hedayat, has been translated and printed in a local Indian language.
According to ISNA, the book was translated into the Indian language of Malayalam by S.A. Qudisi and published by Matrobahama Publishing House.
The front cover of the book features a photo of the Iranian writer and a surrealistic picture of a bowl while the back cover depicts one of his paintings.
Speaking to ISNA, Jahangir Hedayat, who received a copy of the book from the translator, said that the manuscript of the 'Blind Owl' was first published by the author in India.
Some other works by Hedayat have been translated into Bulgarian, French, English and Turkish languages in recent months.

MOSCOW, Sept. 25--Iran plans to organize an inter-religious forum dubbed 'Islam-Eastern Orthodoxy' in Tehran as part of the concept of 'Dialogue Among Civilizations' in the first half of 2005, the director of a department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Vahid Ahmadi said.
"This meeting is called upon to facilitate the rapprochement between religious confessions and peoples of both countries," he said, adding that 'leading thinkers of our times, researchers and theologians' were expected to take part, reported IRNA.
"There is a single way of solving the grave problems that humankind is facing these days--that of rapprochement between cultures and expansion of a direct dialogue," Ahmadi added.
Ahmadi is the head of the Cultural Relations Department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. His visit to Moscow was devoted to talks with Russian culture agencies. One of the agreements reached by the two sides was to hold weekly events reciprocally highlighting the other country's culture in their respective territories in the next two years, Ahmadi said.
Other cultural programs have been scheduled including cultural and scientific exchanges, he said.

TEHRAN, Sept. 25--On the occasion of World Tourism Day and the start of Tourism Week in Iran, Tehran–s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department will undertake an experimental project from September 25 to October 5 to promote visits within the city.
According to ISNA, based on the project, a number of double-decker buses will be available at Fatemi Street-Laleh Hotel, Bahman Square-Bahman Cultural Complex, Tajrish as well as Sadeqieh squares to give free rides to those interested in visiting the historical monuments in the metropolis.
The bus stationed at Fatemi-Laleh Hotel will take visitors on a tour of Golestan Palace, Mashq Square, Iran–s National Museum, Abgineh Museum and Iranian Potteries, Malek Museum, while the bus in Bahman Cultural Complex will head for Sadabad and Niavaran museums and the residence of the late Imam Khomeini, founder of Islamic Revolution.
The bus in Tajrish Square will leave for Si-Tir Street, Abgineh Museum and Iranian Potteries, Maryam Church, Protestant Church, Firooz-Bahram Temple, National Museum, National Library, Qavam Street and Atabak Park.
Niavaran Museum, Iran National Museum, Carpet Museum and Museum of Azadi Tower are the destinations of the bus which is stationed at Sadeqieh Square.

TEHRAN, Sept. 25--Preliminary consultations are underway to set up a “note museum– to preserve songs written by Iranian composers.
Announcing this, prominent composer Shahin Farhat told the Persian daily Jam-e Jam that the head of the National Center for Music has consented to the proposal to set up a note museum. —Musicians and directors of the National Center for Music will soon meet to discuss the plan,š Farhat said.
He said that the proposal has been made to regulate the course of action for publishing songs written by Iranian composers and protecting them.
—Due to the absence of a syndicate in Iran, the songs of the composers are not published like those in other countries. Unfortunately, the songs are not being performed and they collect dust and are subject to damages particularly following the deaths of their composers,š he said.
Farhat said that the songs are the cultural assets of the nation adding that as a first step, songs by composers who are alive will be collected and then the songs from the deceased composers will be listed in the museum.
He said that the museum will make arrangements for publishing songs by Iranian composers for the music buffs both in the country and abroad.
Asked about the Damavand Symphony he was expected to perform, Farhat said that he worked on the composition of the symphony for nine months and is waiting for appointment of the permanent conductor of Tehran Symphonic Orchestra. The post is vacant for the time being, he said.