Municipality of Tehran's Cultural/Artistic Organization is planning to organize painting and composition contests in reaction to attempts by the US-based institution "National Geographic" to use fraudulent titles to refer to Iranian locations in a recently published world atlas.
Head of the Public Relations Office of City's Cultural House said the aim of the competitions was to oppose the measure as well as demonstrate the Iranians' zealous enthusiasm for their homeland and strong sense of patriotism.
Sirous Ahmadi added the competitions would be staged in two fields of painting and composition with the subjects pertaining to Iran, Persian Gulf and the Iranian Islands.
"Participants can express their feelings about Iranian identity, Persian Gulf and Iranian Islands in a maximum 20 words," he noted, adding the painting styles would be optional but that works of 30x40 centimeters would be accepted only.
Ahmadi said the deadline for participating is December 20.
In the new world atlas published by the "National Geographic", the Persian Gulf has been referred to as the Arabian Gulf and the names of some Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf have also been distorted. The magazine has also used "Qeis" instead of "Kish Island" and "Sheikh Sha'b" instead of "Lavan Island".

Chogha Zanbil historic site was founded in 13th century BC.

Head of the workshop for renovating and protecting Ghogha Zanbil historic site said that the top adobe structure of the ziggurat had been damaged by rainfall, adding the experts tried to reinforce it using clay and straw on a regular basis.
Hamid Fadaei told ISNA, "The brick top has remained to date which includes the ziggurat's second, third and fourth floors. The experts in charge of renovating the monument apply clay and straw to the adobe structure each year to reduce erosions caused by rainfall."
Stating that the protection of Haft Tappeh historic hills is also scheduled, he continued that conservation operations had been carried out in a major part of the excavated hills prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Precipitation is the main reason behind devastation of monuments in Khuzestan province in southwest of Iran. Protection operations which were started in 2001, aim to reduce the vulnerability of excavated regions.
Chogha Zanbil is the greatest architectural work left from the Elamite civilization and is basically an adobe structure. The highest part of the ziggurat is 90 meters from the sea level.
It was founded in the 13th century BC by King Untas Napirisa and abandoned after his death.

Exterior view of Gonbad-e Kabood tomb tower in Maragheh.

Following the archeological excavations and studies on an aerial photo dating back to the Pahlavi era, the historical rampart of the old Maragheh was located.
Head of Maragheh Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department told ISNA the historical rampart of the city dates back to late Safavid and early Qajarid era, adding the barricade had been segmented by unbridled constructions all around the city.
"Based on available resources, Maraqeh used to have five gates, of which four have so far been identified," he said, adding remnants of the rampart had also been located in five different spots.
Naser Zavvari said the total area of the old Maragheh was 12 hectares, which included 13 caravansaries, three baths, three mosques, two towers, four squares and lots of historic monuments, houses and stone shops.
Maragheh is located 143 km off Tabriz. The city was the capital city during the Mogul Dynasty for a certain period. The ancient architecture of Maragheh is noted as the Razi style and has been imitated in several other ancient cities.
Maragheh was among the 12 capital cities of Iran in ancient times.
Unbalanced urban development, damages caused by environmental and human factors as well as inattention of authorities in recent decades have all contributed to destruction of one of the country's significant monuments.

Mirza Koochak Khan was born in 1880. His father was Mirza Bozorg-e Rashti. He began his studies in Tehran and Rasht seminaries. Later on, he joined the combatants who fought for the Constitution Movement.
In 1910, Mirza Koochak Khan accompanied by some of his comrades, went to Astarabad city to fight against Mohammed Ali Shah.
In 1914, he moved to Gilan province (north of Iran). There he established the Islamic Union Population with the help of his comrades. In a bid to escape being arrested, he resided in the forests near Rasht; hence, he was nicknamed as Jangali (used to attribute one to forest). After some times, a lot of people joined in. He gathered some of his friends and began his movement. He carried out a decisive war against foreign powers, especially England and Russia, and continued on this path up until he attained martyrdom.
Governmental forces entered Rasht upon the surrender of Khaloo Qorban to Sardar Sepah. They followed the partisans because the peace talks had been deadlocked. The forces were scattered. Some surrendered while others were killed. Mirza took shelter in a forest to gather the scattered forces, but he died there because of the cold weather.
When the enemies found his body, they cut his head and took it away for a public display. Khaloo Qorban took Mirza's head for Reza Khan in order to show his servitude.
Mirza Koochak Khan Jangali has been noted as a highly courageous individual who sacrificed all he had to stand against the influence of foreign powers in Iran.

A view of interior decorations in the dome of Majd-ul Doleh Mosque in Tehran (IRNA Photo)

The number of mosque libraries nationwide has grown to 1,275 from only 350 during the past seven years, ILNA reported.
An advisor to culture and Islamic guidance minister, Mohammad-Reza Heshmati, said that books and library facilities worth 50 billion rials had been allocated to the mosques by the Culture Ministry.
The secretary of Taskforce for Cultural and Artistic Centers of Mosques called the Friday prayer leaders and people as the main supporters of the initiative, adding that thanks to public and government contributions, the mosque libraries have turned into centers rendering cultural services.

Anthropologists discovered the remains of the bones belonging to a young man living 3,000 years ago who suffered from a tumor in his head. The skeleton was found in a historic site in Semnan province known as Khazand, the Persian daily Qads reported.
The area is among the most important ancient sites in Iran bearing symptoms of life as early as the Iron Age. Experts have managed to unearth graves and items belonging to 1,000 BC during three seasons of archeological excavations.
Supervisor of the Anthropology Department of the Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department, Farzad Forouzanfar, said, "In our latest excavations at the site, we came across the bones of a man aged between 35 and 40, whose skull bears the signs of a severe skin tumor."
The official said that the tumor had most probably been benign. "Pathology examinations have revealed that the man's bone structure was strong enough to prevent further growth of the tumor into the skull. The skull even started a new bone making process after it was severely damaged by the tumor."
Khazand historical zone is situated 50 km north of Semnan.

While she showed the exit with her hand, she closed her eyes and yelled angrily, "Go away. I can't stand being with you. Go out. I don't want to see you anymore..."
A few moments later, when she heard the closing of the door and was certain he had left, she opened her eyes, but found out she could not see anything. The more she tried, the more useless it was. The apple of her eyes had already gone...

French archeologists said they had discovered an exceptional Gallic war treasure in the south of the country, including rare war trumpets and ornate Helmets, AFP reported.
The some 470 objects, or fragments of objects, were found at the end of September during a dig at Naves, in the department of Correze in southern France, in a ditch hollowed out of a Gallic-Roman temple, they said.
"The exceptional character of this discovery lies mainly in the presence of five almost complete carnyx," Christophe Maniquet, an archeologist at Inrap, France's National Institute for Archeological Studies, said. "They are celtic war trumpets which were used to scare off the enemy, by confusing the battle."
He said it was the first time these ceremonial musical instruments had been found in one piece. The long, bronze tubes, measuring more than two meters long, have flags on the end, four of which bear the head of a wild boar, the fifth a snake. "In all, in the world, there have only been fragments of these instruments, in Scotland and Mandeure (eastern France). We only know these trumpets through drawings," he said, saying they had in particular been seen represented on coins.
The searches of the temple, including into the first occupations, which date back to the first century BC, started in September 2001.
In addition to the traditional warfare--swords, sheathes and spearheads--the archeologists made another special discovery: nine war helmets, of which eight in bronze and one in iron, with their rear peaks.
One of them was particularly original, being decorated with a swan, while another was decorated with golden leaves.
"We have only found around 20 helmets in the territory of the ancient Gaul," Maniquet said.
The discovery does not end there.
Also unearthed in the search are bronze animals' heads--boars and a horse.
"These animals could be war signs, placed at the end of the poles which guided soldiers during battles," he said. There are only five kinds of this kind of sign.
Experts say the experts could be a real "war trophy", and appear to have been buried for religious reasons. "The fact of having buried them amounts to a ritual of offering," he said.
Most of the collection has been sent to a laboratory in Toulouse to be cleaned, carefully studied by archeologists and then restored.

The Second Buddhist Summit kicked off Tuesday in Nepal's southern city of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, with an aim to promote world peace, Xinhuanet.com reported.
The three-day summit on Nov. 30-Dec. 2, with the theme of "Lumbini: a Symbol of Unity in Diversity--the Fountain of World Peace," was organized by Lumbini Development Trust, a non-governmental organization, and promoted by the Nepalese government.
More than 1,000 representatives including government ministers, officials and religious leaders from over 26 countries and regions participated in summit.
"It is believed that the summit will prove to be an effective platform to promote Lumbini as a symbol of international brotherhood, peace and prosperity," Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Nepalese minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation, said at the opening ceremony.
"It will also help to project the birthplace of Lord Buddha as a World Peace City," said Upadhyay, who also chaired the summit.
The summit featured three working papers on the themes of "Indispensability of Peace in the Present World Context", "Lumbini's Development and International Cooperation" and "Developing Lumbini as a World Peace City."

This reproduction of a white statue of goddess Athena (r), stands next to the original dating 500-490 BC.

Vatican Museums plan to present The Colors of White exhibition, featuring 15 reproductions, some alongside the originals, aiming to show the real colors with which the works were created, before the hues were washed away by rain and bleached by the sun over the centuries, artdaily.com reported.
The exhibit, is a joint product of the Vatican Museums with other curators in Munich and Copenhagen. It has already been shown in those cities, and will be open at the Vatican through January 31, 2005.
Francesco Buranelli, director of the Vatican Museums, said, "It is an innovative and revolutionary proposal to read ancient art and understand what artists were looking for. It is as if these artworks were made right now by ancient artists."
In the 19th century, scholars knew that some ancient Greek and Roman sculptures bore traces of mainly lost pigments. But white was considered the color of ideal beauty then, following an exaltation of the ancient world by neoclassicists.
Buranelli said,"The image of a white, immaculate beauty still prevails and has become popular among the majority of the public."
Paolo Liverani, technical and scientific curator of the exhibition, said, "The aim is not to delete the white, but only to place it back to where it belongs, which is in the middle of all the other colors."