Exploratory studies at Jahan-Nama palace in Sari, Mazandaran province have lead to the discovery of valuable cultural remnants, including architectural elements and potteries from the Safavid era (1501-1736 AD) as well as beautiful pieces of tiles decorated with botanical motifs on plaster.
Announcing this, project director, Yazdan Nourani told ISNA that the studies are aimed at revealing the genuine archeological origins of the site, reproducing its archeological map and implementing recreational projects in the compound of the palace.
“A 40-day field study at various locations of the palace shed light on information that would be placed at the disposal of researchers, culture enthusiasts and tourists,“ he said.
Nourani hoped that regular and systematic research programs would lead to the uncovering of valid documents, which, in turn, would help reveal further facts about the artistic, architectural aspects of the Safavid era.
According to the archeologist, historians described the palace as a sumptuous double-storey structure decorated with invaluable inlaid tiles and beautiful motifs.
Jahan-Nama palace on the southern flank of the ancient city of Farahabad, is located 28 kilometers north of Sari. The rectangular city was surrounded by shops with a domed mosque in the south.
According to an expert with Mazandaran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department’s Language and Dialect Office, historical documents found in Farahabad have been compiled and classified for information dissemination and providing researchers with better references.

A contemporary story writer says main themes of Harry Potter stories have been taken from oriental legends including the Persian masterpiece ’1,001 Nights’.
Jafar Ebrahimi told Fars that Iranian story writers have been somehow indifferent towards making use of Persian legends to create their stories.
However he acknowledged that in recent years some steps have been taken and various works have been published.
“In the first two decades of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, we were barred from publishing such works. This led to self-censorship in literary works of this type,“ he noted.
Ebrahimi added that contemporary story writers can refer to Persian masterpieces such as Shahnameh and ’Haft Peikar’ so that they can find a topic. “There are a few organizations involved in such fields and that’s why our story writers are reluctant to work on legends,“ he said.
Noting the talents of Iranian writers, he said they are able to create masterpieces if proper conditions are provided.
Ebrahimi elaborated that due to low financial returns, Iranian story writers seldom work on legends for their stories.
He noted that filmmakers can also produce best sellers such as Harry Potter by getting inspiration from legendary works of Persia.
The author underlined the need to employ noted translators to render Persian legends into other languages so that their works will receive internationally recognition.

Pegah Ahangarani

Manijeh Hekmat, a movie director and mother of actress, Pegah Ahangarani, who was wounded while acting in a film, has called on the managing director of Cinema House, Reza Mirkarimi, to set up a fact-finding committee to probe into what happened to her daughter.
Part of Hekmat’s letter published by a section of the media said the incident which injured Ahangarani who was acting in ’Green Fire’ should be a lesson for everyone, including cinema officials, Fars reported.
It added that while Iranian filmmakers and cinematographers are doing their best to update Iranian cinema and prepare themselves for employing new technologies, some people are still using unprofessional and outdated methods of film production.
Pegah, as a young actress, went out of her way to cooperate with the movie director and filmmaker of ’Green Fire’, it said.
However, although she knew that the rope she was supposed to use in her performance was decrepit, she did it since the director had assured her about its safety.

An exhibition titled ’Glory of Persia’ will be exhibited in South Korea for five months from the beginning of 2008.
Announcing this, director of Iran’s National Museum, Mohammad Reza Kargar, told CHN that the event will be held for five months in Seoul in January, 2008.
He noted that the Koreans have drawn up a detailed program for the exhibition and introduce Iranian culture and civilization to the people of world.
“Glory of Persia is presently on the last leg of its sojourn in Osaka, Japan where it will remain until September,“ Kargar said.
Noting that the exhibition will also be held in Iran National Museum for one month, he opined that this is the first overseas exhibition to be held in its entirety in Iran.
A total of 210 artifacts dating back to the fifth century BC until the Sassanid dynasty were borrowed from Iran National Museum, Reza Abbasi Museum, Azarbaijan Museum and Persepolis Museum for display in Japan.
The Japanese had asked Iranian expert to select artifacts for the exhibition and Japan’s Royal family are responsible for holding the exhibition.
Moreover, all costs of the exhibition, including insurance and transportation of the artifacts were borne by the Japanese side.

A book titled ’Oral Stories from Masnavi’ by Mohammad Jafari Qanavati and Ahmad Vakilian will be published to mark Molana Year, as 2007 has been designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The collection includes tales from Masnavi which were passed down verbally through generations, ISNA
reported.
The authors compiled the stories by recording tales reproduced by the people of different places.
Qanavati said that written stories present in Persian classic literature will also be included in this book.
Preliminary works on the book are complete and Qanavati hoped that the book will be published before the end of Molana Year.
He said that he will also publish story by Salim Jawaheri which is a classic work of Persian literature.
Jawaheri’s work is based on 15 handwritten copies of the book and Qanavati has conducted a comparative study in preparing the book.
Salim Jawaheri’s book contains a detailed introduction and two articles by Ulrich Marsalov and Margaret Miller, two Iranologists who had translated the book.

Secretary-General of King Fahd Society, Muhammad Salim Al-Aufi said that Saudi experts need more than one year to translate the holy Qur’an into Hebrew language.
He told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that one year is not enough to translate the concepts and match the translated text with the original.
King Fahd Society which is in charge of translation, interpretation, publication and distribution of the Holy Qur’an into different languages announced its intention to translate the holy Qur’an into Hebrew at the end of 2005.
Al-Aufi believes that translating the holy Qur’an into any language needs a lot of time and effort. “We have asked all translators who cooperate with the society to be very careful in their translations while conveying Qur’anic concepts,“ he added.
Al-Aufi pointed out that all earlier translations into Hebrew were distorted and biased. “The majority of existing translations in Europe also encountering similar shortcomings,“ he concluded.

An exhibition of miniatures, featuring works by artists from the city of Qom, is currently underway at Niavaran Cultural Complex’s main gallery.
Some 41 artists are displaying over 100 works, including miniatures, motif and Persian illumination (Tazhib), IRNA reporetd.
The event also has 16 miniatures on display by the prominent artist Ardeshir Mojarrad-Takestani as well as other works by his students. Niavaran Complex had earlier organized a selection from the festival in England and Qatar.
The exhibition, which will run through August 1, is open to the public every day from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on holidays from 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

A film script on the life of ’Melika’, the mother of Imam Mahdi (May God Hasten His Reappearance), the 12th Imam of the infallible household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is currently under publication.
Ali Moazzeni, who wrote the script in 2001, told ISNA that the work is being published by Amir Kabir Publishing House.
He added that the script also highlights dialogue among civilizations, relationship between Islam and Christianity as well as the outlook of the Qur’an toward Jesus Christ (AS).
Moazzeni further said that he is currently working on a novel titled ’Ascension’, which focuses on the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). A novel ’Reappearance’ and a collection of stories by the artist, are also being published by Neyestan Publications for the second time.