Arts of Islam

The Persian Garden story

2011-11-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

Heaven is a feeling not a place: The Persian Garden story

Maryam Ala Amjadi

On Line: 19 November 2011 15:12
In Print: Sunday 20 November 2011

Font Size

No one can inspire humans with hope like Mother Nature and nowhere can she playfully display the greater extent of her will than in the garden of human mind. The summer of passion and recline, the autumn of loss and melancholy, the winter of despair and isolation and once again the spring of growth and the rebirth of hope. Through all cycles of life, it is only by tending to the garden and watching over it that one can notice even subtlest weeds of fear, for even the best of gardens may have weeds.

Persian worldview and culture does not regard humans sans Nature. Islamic teachings consider Nature as a bed of signs that display the power of the creator of this world and therefore a source of meditation and wonder. A forerunner of world gardens, the Persian garden is a sanctuary where the creative forces of humans and Nature merge into another.

Building gardens is an ancient art in Iran which includes its very own traditions as a material and spiritual representation. Although Persian gardens existed way before Islam began to spread in the country, Persian gardens continued to extend even more as Islamic worldview prevailed. These gardens were earthly symbols of the paradise above and also a figurative forecast of the other world, where the souls of the dead would eventually reside. Home to trees of sustenance, flowers of fancy, earth of peace and waters of love, the Persian garden was a complete and harmonious world on its own.

Nature has run its very roots into the depth of Iranian living. There is even a specific day in the Persian calendar on which people reconnect with Nature. On the 13th day of the Persian New Year (Norouz), people leave the house to joyfully spend the day outdoors in the lush of nature. Known as sizdah-be-dar (literally meaning, getting rid of the unlucky 13 or taking 13 out) this ancient tradition has survived to this day despite the complications of modern and urban living. Even today you can still find families who take out their homemade lunch or dinner to parks and enjoy their meal outdoors on a rug spread on the grass with their family members, particularly on weekends.

Baagh (Persian word for Garden) has even found its way into and flourished in Iranian pop culture. “Step into the Garden” is a saying used today when one wants to get someone to realize something that he is being oblivious of. Also “You are not even in the garden” means you don’t even have an idea what is being talked about or what is actually happening. The examples of course rise beyond “garden” as there are numerous anecdotes, proverbs and idioms in the Persian language that use many other natural elements.

It is therefore no wonder if artists of Persian architecture took elements of nature into consideration to a great extent. Semi open spaces like granges and pavilions are platforms where space and nature reconcile both aesthetically and purposefully. Some of the Persian garden elements are still visible in Iranian parks today. These instances show how integral gardens were to Persian architecture and culture and how they served as a symbol of hope in the constant state of human exile on earth, hope for reuniting with the original and perennial home of which we have no personal memory and perhaps surviving that hope by creating a ‘replica’ until we can reunite with the ‘original’.

A couple of years ago, one fine spring morning I was taking a walk in the beautiful Laleh Park of Tehran when I saw from a distance a tall tree with what seemed to be very long and extremely black fruits hanging from all its otherwise dry and bare branches. Naturally curious, I fastened my pace and almost ran towards the mysterious tree which stood far and secluded from the others. As I neared the tree, I looked with even more disbelief. From the lowest branch to the top, long narrow strips cut out of black plastic bags were fluttering in the spring wind, like a bald man wearing a wig or a black weeping willow. I looked around anxious for an explanation. A middle aged man who had seen me stare at the tree for a while told me that after a harsh winter, the tree had been barren for two successive years and one of the gardeners had decided to hang all those plastic strips from its branches to give it some hope that it could still bear fruits if it wanted to.

I never really found out if the heart of the tree had warmed up to this story or if it ever became green again but I will always remember that day as a symbol of human’s effort to create a space for hope even when there is apparently room for none, even if believing in that hope may initially seem like being deceived into faith and courage.

Sometimes when we walk on the pathway of meaning in another’s garden, we may eventually find one of our own.

Persian Gardens: Paradise on earth

The archetypal garden, Paradise, derives its name and its symbolism from the Old Persian word “paridaida” and the Avestan word “Pardeiza”, which literally means, an enclosed area, walled-around space, for instance a walled garden. In fact, the term was later adopted by Christian mythology to describe the Garden of Eden or Paradise on earth. Standing up to their literal meaning, Persian gardens were initially structured as enclosed spaces and therefore offered an opportunity for relaxation and security to their inhabitants. In these gardens people could relax and indulge in spiritual meditation as they would connect with nature. They were also a great meeting place for leisurely activities among friends. Depending on their construction designs, Persian gardens served different purposes. While the formal design greatly emphasized architectural structure, the casual design focused mainly on creating natural landscapes.

All the elements of the Persian Garden are purposefully employed to create a replica of the celestial or perennial garden on earth. After Islam came to Iran, Persian architecture was embraced and later integrated into Islamic architecture. In fact, the brooks and waterways which ran through these mesmerizing orchards could easily signify the four rivers of paradise. As described in Islamic texts, the inhabitants of Jannah (Arabic for Paradise, where the “good” souls go after resurrection) will be pleasant, with lofty gardens, shady valleys, fountains scented with camphor or ginger; rivers of water, milk, honey and wines; delicious fruits of all seasons without thorns.

The colorful fruit bearing trees like pomegranates, apples, lemons, grapes and pears which would gleam red, yellow, purple and green red at dawn and dusk were symbols of the bright stars of heaven.

The two main natural elements of the Persian garden, however, were water and sunlight. Sunlight and its effects were always taken into consideration in planning the structure of the gardens. Architects would chose shapes and textures to tame sunlight and harness its distribution. Shades and pavilions to block the sun particularly during summer were built with geometrical distancing all throughout the garden.

Water was stored and also flowed across the garden in many forms. Qanats (a form of underground tunnel below the water table) and connecting wells were used to draw water for irrigation. Jooy or jub (closely translated as brook) running all through the garden were also constructed. Jub was actually a shallow ditch through which water flowed. Trees were often planted in jub as this prevented water evaporation and allowed the water quick access to the tree roots. In fact, these brooks are integral part of Persian architecture and they are still visible even in the urban structures of Iran. North Tehran, in particular has beautiful brooks flowing within its koocheh baaghs (literally meaning, garden lanes. Lanes that have trees and are pleasantly endowed with nature). Estakhr (swimming pool) and favareh (fountains) were also were also added in terms of aesthetic and purpose.

There are four types of garden structures today. First, Chahar Bagh (literally meaning, four gardens) which consists of four quadrants divided by waterways or pathways. The pool or water way is the center and plants are often placed around its periphery. Hayat (literally meaning, yard or compound) is another type where man-made structures in the garden are particularly important such as arches and pools. Third is Meidan (literally meaning, field or center) which is a public and formal garden that centers more on nature and has the least possible structure. Fourth type is known as Park & Bagh (literally meaning, Garden Park). Much like many other parks, the Persian Park is a venue for relaxation and socialization with emphasis on plant life.

Secrets of Persian Garden architecture

There are many features that distinguish the Persian garden structure from world architecture. Designs pertaining to region and climate, geometrical patterns, harmonious style which results in a precise and intricate platform of creativity where aesthetics and purpose equally interact are manifest in the overall structure of the garden at a glance.

In terms of direction, Iranian gardens at their very best are built stretching from the north to the south. The range of natural elements like trees, sunlight, flowers and water were considered in proportion in outlining the initial structure of the garden.

What really distinguishes Persian garden from the gardens of other nations, however, is the unique and intricate geometrical design that governs it. Square and rectangle are the predominant shapes. Despite their precise spacing and order, Persian gardens still manage to create a range of different spaces within their main space by using various natural and man-made materials that differ in shapes and sizes.

There are five elements which contribute to the geometry of Persian gardens. First and foremost is Perspective (or visual expanse of the garden). The greater length of the garden is where its most significant elements are situated. Known as the spine of the garden, this area helps to create a space for meditation and enjoyment from the day-to-day. Roads stretched into the horizon, brooks running to the end of the garden, little gardens within the main garden, the natural slope of the land and the difference in vision angle from different locations in the garden enriches the perspective of the space. Also, one of the main principles of Persian architecture is internalization and this is why gardens are walled and enclosed spaces. The second element is the water pathway. The main issue was to get water from distance points. For this purpose, Qanats and wells were dug and constructed in the heart of the garden. Water flowing from these points would run into well-spaced brooks and branch into different sections of the garden like water filled veins. The third element is the overall rectangular geometry of the garden. This shape made locating a precise place for planting trees and implementation of other structural elements much easier. It also helped to specifically frame a part of the earth by imposing a definite geometrical structure. The fourth element is none but symmetry which is known as the most comprehensive form of equilibrium. The granges in the garden were not only built symmetrical but were also situated symmetrically. Trees, shrubs and flowers were also planted this way. The fifth element is centralization of certain structures. This is manifest in placement of granges, particularly granges of the Hasht Behesth (eight paradises) design where granges are situated at the crossroads that divide the garden into different sections and therefore draw more attention. Hasht Behesht built in 1669 is a Safavid era palace in Isfahan.

Early Traditions: Cyrus the Great, founder of Persian gardens

Just as the Babylonians were renowned for their legendary Hanging Gardens, Persian civilization is distinguished for its uniquely beautiful gardens which were initiated by the founder of the greatest empire of the world and the creator of the Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus the Great ( 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC). In fact to many Westerners, Cyrus is also known as the “King of Four Baghs”. Recent excavation of his capital city, Pasargadae has led to traces of the Pasargad Persian Garden and a network of irrigation canals. Pasargadae was a place for two magnificent palaces surrounded by a majestic royal park and vast formal gardens; among them were the four-quartered wall gardens of "Paradisia" with over 1000 meters of channels made out of carved limestone, designed to fill small basins at every 16 meters and water various types of wild and domestic flora. The design and concept of Paradisia were exceptional and have been used as a model for many ancient and modern parks, ever since.

Persians believed number four (4) to be extremely auspicious as the Zoroastrian worldview divided the world into four parts with its four founding elements (air, water, earth and fire). Therefore as a replica and an earthly symbol of the celestial world, the Achaemenid gardens too were divided into four parts. The vast lush gardens built by the emperor of Pasargadae were in fact a representation of his beliefs in creating fertile lands, a well-organized and harmonious world sans any internal or external disparity or disconnection.

History says Cyrus the Great was the first to promote systematic tree planting with equal spacing. He also dedicated gold medals to the best trees and was the first ruler to give out agricultural awards. His interest in displaying new methods of using stone in architecture inspired him to create intricately carved water rills and shade-giving pavilions. His capital city was actually a complex of garden within gardens. Even his resting place is in the heart of a garden.

Facts

1- The Persian garden is registered on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

2- Persian gardens may originate as early as 4000 BCE. The outline of the Pasargad Persian Garden, built around 500 BCE, is viewable today.

3- Garden design of Persian gardens has influenced the design of gardens from Andalusia to India and beyond.

4- Charbagh (Four Baghs) is a Persian-style garden layout. The Chahrbagh-e Abbasi in Isfahan, built by Shah Abbas the Great in 1596, and the garden of the Taj Mahal in India are the most famous examples of this style. The Taj Mahal is one of the largest Persian Garden interpretations in the world, from the era of the Mughal Empire in India.

5- During the Safavid Dynasty, gardens were an integral part of the structure in the many cities of Iran. These gardens were of different sizes and shapes but two main structures stand out during this period. First, the Chaharbagh (quadrilateral garden) and second, gardens within palaces and houses.

6- The traditional Persian Garden design has also extensively influenced Persian carpet patterns. The main elements of the Persian garden are still visible in the layout of classic Persian carpet which is known as the garden style. This design also emerged during the Safavid period.

7- Eram Garden and Haafeziyeh Garden of Shiraz, Golestan Palace garden in Tehran and the garden of Darush Grand Hotel in Kish Island are some examples of Persian Gardens today.

Metropolitan Museum New Exhibition of Islamic Art Will Have "Major Impact"

2011-11-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

Metropolitan Museum New Exhibition of Islamic Art Will Have "Major Impact" on Antique Carpet Market
Claremont Rug Company Cites Heightened Awareness of Art, Investment Value

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov 17, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The new exhibition of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will have a major impact on the appreciation and valuation of antique Oriental rugs and carpets Jan David Winitz, president/founder of Claremont Rug Company, today predicted.

Winitz visited the Islamic Art exhibition prior to its recent opening and marveled at the majesty of the rugs on display. He said, "It easily contains the most important display of historical Oriental rugs on U.S. soil.

"I believe that the exhibition at the New York Met will be an enormous influence on the interest in and on the value of highly-collectible rugs from the 'Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving,'" he said, pointing out that the period is generally identified as the 19th to the turn of the 20th century, when vegetal dyes were still employed exclusively and the traditional carpet weaving techniques were central to the culture.

"Before the Met exhibition, the unfathomable level of craftsmanship and artistry of the best of antique Persian carpets had been overlooked primarily from lack of exposure, with very few museum shows or widely-circulated publications addressing them," Winitz said. "The popularity of our brochures, which we have produced seasonally for nearly 30 years, is a proof point. There is even a secondary market among collectors for the older editions, which indicates that enthusiasts are thirsting for information and examples of the profound artistic level that certain antique Oriental rugs have reached."

Winitz also said that major publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, have written detailed feature articles about the new Islamic Galleries "and I have spoken with several art publications about it." The attention drawn to the aesthetic tradition of this region "will certainly reinforce our long-held contention that the traditions of Middle Eastern Art have been major influences on Western Art, starting as early as the 15th century.

Winitz, author of The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug, described his tour of the exhibition as a deeply moving experience. "Frankly, it was an honor to stand before the great Persian carpets of the Savafid period and experience the world they depict where all life swirls in a never-ending dance around a motionless center," he said. "Along with a duo of architectural installations, the carpet presentation is the most immediately captivating in this extremely admirable exhibition.

"The thrilling colors and staggering fineness of detail in the carpets from the Savafid dynasty are unforgettable and centrally important because they represent the technical height of Persian Court weaving. Those workshops had the ultimate venture capital funding, the Safavid Court."

Historians and connoisseurs have long agreed that until commercialism irrevocably compromised the weaving art in the second quarter of the 20th century, rug-making was an unbroken 4,000-year tradition, alive at every level of Near Eastern society from royal workshops to tribal encampments. By tradition, in each venue, the most inspired weavers ignited the imaginations of the next generation of rug artists.

Winitz said, "I was awe-struck by the Khorossan compartment fragment with its architectural strength and sensuous color. The Portuguese carpet (17th century) clearly provided inspiration for carpets from Persian Azerbaijan, such as Serapis, two centuries later. Carpets, such as the Kurdish Garden Carpet (18th century) or the 14th century Turkish Animal Carpet created images in my mind of great 19th century carpets that have passed through my gallery."

Winitz found the Seley Carpet to be particularly awe-inspiring. "Of all the remarkable things about this carpet, the range of green dyes is unparalleled. The interplay of this green spectrum with the golds and reds reflects the Persians' profound command of color theory."

Referring to the Emperor's Carpet, Winitz commented, "Viewing the technical achievement of this masterwork, which is of central importance to the long and diverse history of textiles, is extremely moving. The unique hand-knotted construction of Near Eastern carpets, coupled with their ability to yield an astonishing spectrum of colors using natural dyes, allows for the unparalleled ability of the finest early examples to render definition and nuance. I feel that the New York Times deeming them 'portable monuments' to be a very apt appraisal.

"It is only natural that the grandeur of the exhibition rugs at the New York Metropolitan will spur art collectors to seek out the diminishing supply of the finest 19th century Oriental carpets that are still available for purchase," he said. "I firmly believe that we are the last generation that will have access to antique rugs of this magnitude and which are already moving from the 'public' market to museum collections."

Claremont Rug Company, which he founded in 1980, has an inventory of 4000 antique Oriental rugs and carpets, primarily from the 19th century and considered highly-collectible/investment level.

Tehran to unveil Tanavoli jewelry

2009-05-12T07:28:00.001-07:00

Tehran to unveil Tanavoli jewelry

Mon, 11 May 2009 13:25:34 GMT

Font size :

Jewelry by Parviz Tanavoli

The 10 art gallery is slated to unveil a collection of jewelry made by renowned Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli in the capital, Tehran.

The event, to be held from May 15 to June 3, 2009, will display over 120 necklaces, rings, bracelets and brooches made by the veteran sculptor over the past 30 years.

The jewelry pieces, which were previously auctioned by Sotheby's in London, are small versions of Tanavoli's sculptures that give art lovers the opportunity to purchase his artistic creations at affordable prices.

Parviz Tanavoli studied art at Milan's Brera Academy in 1959 and has taught sculpture at Tehran University and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

He has held numerous exhibitions in Iran, Austria, Italy, Germany, the US and the UK. His works have been displayed at international art centers such as the British Museum, Seoul's Olympic Park and New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Tanavoli's works have received high bids in various international auctions such as Christie's 2009 Dubai auction, where his Wall and the Script received the highest bid, fetching USD 218,500.

TE/HGH

Rahnavard Becomes First Woman Fine Arts Professor

2009-05-08T04:34:00.000-07:00

Rahnavard Becomes First Woman Fine Arts Professor

Iranian sculptor and painter Zahra Rahnavard has been appointed full-fledged professor at Tehran University’s Fine Arts Faculty.
According to IRNA, Rahnavard, also an art researcher, is the first Iranian woman to be bestowed the title. She was the chancellor of Tehran’s Al-Zahra University from 1998 to 2006.
Rahnavard earned her PhD in political sciences from Islamic Azad University as well as a master’s in art from Tehran University. Among her memorable works is the ’Mother Statue’ in Tehran’s Mohseni Square.
Rahnavard has published over 30 titles of books which have been translated into Arabic, English, Urdu, Turkish, Spanish and Malaysian languages.
She has published two new books tilted ’Miniature in Islamic Era’ and ’Book Illustration in Islamic Era’.
Published by the Organization for Research and Compilation of University Textbooks in Humanities (SAMT), the books deal with the social and cultural origins of the two arts.

Stefano Carboni, new director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia

2009-05-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Far horizons

From Venice to London, to a star job at the Met, Stefano Carboni is a leading Islamic art expert. So why has he come to Perth, asks Victoria Laurie | May 02, 2009

Article from: The Australian

MEETING Stefano Carboni, the new director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, brings out a strange impulse.

You feel tempted to abandon the topic at hand -- what he plans to do with the state's art gallery -- and just listen to the man whose knowledge of Islamic art is unmatched by anyone on this continent. He's an authority on Islamic glass and an expert in the ornate styles of Islamic calligraphy. He speaks and reads Arabic, one of seven languages in which he can converse. He's written books and articles on the fertile art trade between Venice and the Islamic world, from Persian and Ottoman miniatures and ceramics to calligraphy, textiles and woven carpets.

He helped raise international concern over the looting of Iraq's museum treasures during the 2003 allied occupation. So what does he make of Islamic art's trajectory, from pinnacle of achievement in the ancient world to beleaguered art form in modern times? More to the point, given his impressive scholarship, what on earth is Carboni doing in Perth?

We first meet over lunch in a city restaurant, and then in the foyer of the AGWA a few days later. The charming, cheerful Italian actually arrived in town last October with his wife and two young sons. But he shied away from substantial interviews for a time; perhaps delayed shock had set in after making the transition from curator of Islamic art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, a post he held for 16 years, to his new job in Perth.

Shock is not the word Carboni uses, but onesenses that he has found it sobering to confront the gallery's strengths and deficits asthe economic crisis deepens. Last May, when he was formally selected from 16 national andinternational candidates, such hiccups had barelysurfaced.

His problems back then were delays in getting immigration papers and a snap state election that held up disclosure of his appointment. Not long after he had settled in, the new Barnett Liberal Government ordered spending cuts across all portfolios and froze building projects, including spending on cultural infrastructure such as a desperately needed new state museum.

"I'm an optimist in general and I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think I could make a difference," Carboni says in his pleasantly accented English. "But it was before the global crisis, so the challenge is now much stronger. It's not even much about having open talks with the Minister of Culture or the Premier. It's about talking to Treasury."

Even before Western Australia's boom went bust, Carboni's predecessors suffered as a result of state governments' lack of vision. Long-serving director Alan Dodge, who brought blockbuster Russian, impressionist and Islamic art exhibitions to Perth, lobbied hard for extensive funds to refit an ageing AGWA and install an Indian Ocean Rim sculpture precinct. Neither had been secured by the time Dodge retired in December 2007.

So, will Dodge's successor have any more luck? And who exactly is he?

"I come from a family of art historians, although my father grew up in World War II and had to work as a civil servant," Carboni says. "My father studied in Padua with professor Giuseppe Fiocco, one of the great experts in 18th-century Venetian paintings. He used to take me to museums and art galleries."

For a budding art historian such as Carboni Jr, Venice offered the best of everything, from medieval church frescoes to Renaissance paintings, from refined glass workshops to the avant-garde art of the Venice Biennale. "My upbringing is in the Western world but then I moved intoan aesthetic area that is very different," Carboni says.

He studied Arabic and Islamic art at the University of Venice's school of Oriental studies. Then he moved on to the London School of Oriental and African Studies. Before the ink on his doctoral thesis had dried, he was offered a curatorial job at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He spent 16 years in "the most fantastic encyclopedic museum in the world". A short walk away, on the other side of Central Park, Carboni's wife Maria Yakimov worked as chief registrar at the American Museum of Natural History. "Before our sons came along, we used to meet on a park bench at the Great Lawn for lunch," Yakimov recalls. "The boys (Giacomo, 8, and Emil, 6) would talk about Mum's museum and Dad's museum."

Carboni was asked recently to nominate his six favourite art treasures for an article in Australian Art Review, and his choices are as revealing of his life story as his art preferences.

His first choice is the Basilica di San Marco, "which speaks about Venice's longstanding relationship with the Byzantine and the Islamic world, which I feel is part of my own heritage".

The mosaics and "crescendo of light and reflection" inside its Eastern-inspired domes makes it one of the most beautiful interior spaces in the world, he says. "I can compare (it) only to the inner spaces of the Great Mosque in Cordoba and the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul."

His second choice is a pointillist painting by French artist Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Carboni wrote his first art essay on Seurat's obsessive study of colour: "I must have delivered a convincing paper since the teacher told me he thought I had the makings of an art historian, something that sounded entirely silly to me as a 16-year-old."

Moving to New York exposed him to US artist Mark Rothko's abstract compositions, his third choice. "I always find myself spending more time in front of one of his paintings than any other 20th-century works."

Carboni says Rothko wanted viewers to look beyond his trademark vivid colours to the big emotions he set out to convey. "One cannot miss the point when you sit in the middle of the Rothko Chapel in Houston or in front of any of his more sombre, dark paintings."

Two more choices come straight from Carboni's career in Arabic art. He chooses a page of exquisite gold and ink writing, a 14th-century version of the Koran made for a Mongol ruler. "Calligraphy can be a vehicle for superb artistic achievement," he explains. "True, it is much better if one can actually read what is written, so I might be a bit biased about Islamic calligraphy. But I am truly convinced that everyone can appreciate and admire the fluency of forms, the relationship of the text with the rest of the page, the qualities of the ink, gold and lapis lazuli against the white burnished paper, and the overall harmony of the composition."

His fifth choice is the Corning Ewer, a 10th-century glass jug from the Middle East with animal figures in high relief cavorting around its fragile exterior. Carboni discusses this object with genuine reverence. "One of the greatest moments in my curatorial career was when I handled it. It's light as a feather, one of the most sublime achievements in glassmaking because they brought it down to less than 1mm in thickness. So ancient and so modern at once, you stare at it for hours in awe and admiration."

Carboni was head of the Met's curatorial committee at the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Rumours flew that thousands of ancient artefacts had been looted from the country. Carboni investigated and reported back to the Western art community that reports were exaggerated, but there had been losses.

"Syria recently returned some objects that had been seized, but a large number of objects found their way into the European and US market and were never recovered. There wasn't a proper photographic record of all the objects, so it's almost impossible to recover them," he says.

"The museum in Baghdad was mostly pre-Islamic (art), so my concern was mainly with Mosul in the north, because that had a great collection of medieval Islamic art. A few great works were burned and some disappeared.

"That's where the stupidity of politics really comes in," Carboni adds. "The blowing-up of the Bamiyan Buddha statues wasn't about iconoclasm but because (the Taliban) wanted to teach a lesson to rivals within Afghanistan. It's a tragedy but it happens, and the Western world is not immune. Think of the way the Catholic Church has behaved in the past."

When Carboni came to Perth for his job interview, he stood in AGWA's vaulted foyer with its sweeping, circular staircase and was impressed. "It's quite beautiful in some ways, a little Guggenheim."

Closer inspection has brought him face to face with the gallery's less endearing traits. The roof terrace is off-limits due to faulty flooring; the top floor exhibition space is packed with large crates (no storage space), and prismed gallery walls veer off at unorthodox 60 and 120-degree angles.

"It's a challenge," Carboni says, looking around affectionately as we stand in the foyer, "but it's what distinguishes this building from others. And it creates interesting spaces, which the curators have mastered."

He motions upward. "I would love that top floor to be used for exhibitions and the roof terrace to be open to the public. It would give the art gallery a more dynamic image and a way to say 'stay two nights in Perth instead of one'."

Too few people in Perth even know where the art gallery is located, he says. "It must be a much more exciting exterior, perhaps with a total reclad of the surface, either a wide reflective surface to project things or create a colour."

That needs money. For now, Carboni is focused on smaller changes, such as relocating the permanent collection on the ground floor so visitors walk through it before heading upstairs to temporary exhibitions. "In the long run, I'd love an additional building here," he says, pointing through a glass window to Dodge's favoured site for the Indian Ocean sculpture precinct, which is at present a staff car park. "It was Alan's idea and it's a no-brainer, frankly. It's a problem that we have only 2 per cent of the entire collection on view at any one time; the Met has about 8 or 9per cent out, and that's a goal everyone should have. Having an additional building is the only way to make thispossible."

In 2003, the Met paid a record $42 million to buy Duccio di Buoninsegna's famous Madonna and Child painting. "It wasn't a big deal finding the money," Carboni says. By contrast, AGWA has only $230,000 a year to spend on new work, although BHP Billiton, National Australia Bank, Wesfarmers and Woodside have pledged $4.5million in coming years under a state government incentive scheme.

Carboni says: "I've asked the curators to study the strengths and weaknesses of the collection, to fill the gaps or to say, 'Let's stop moving in thisdirection.'

"The Met's identity is as one of greatest encyclopedic museums in the world," he says. "This art gallery lacks a specific identity; I don't know if it's to do with the eclectic way the collection was assembled in the past. I want totarget more clearly, but also I want to make itknown much better. We should start researching properly what we have, with a detailed, pictorial database.

"This is a state collection, so Western Australia must be at the core of what we do. The second concentric circle is Australia, then moving out to a bigger circle is the next body of land we hit, from South Africa to India and Indonesia. Basically the coast of Asia and Indian Ocean Rim.

"In Brisbane, their art gallery moved very quickly and brilliantly into collecting Asian art 15years ago, when Asian art was up and coming but not expensive," he says. "I regret that in Perth they didn't do it, because it would have been the most natural thing to do. Now it's quite late to go after important artists."

Another legitimate question is why, in March, one of the biggest, most meticulously curated indigenous art collections left the state. The Canning Stock Route collection -- hundreds of paintings, videos, audio recordings and artefacts -- traces the history of black-white relations along the 1800km Canning Stock Route in the state's desert region. For a mere $800,000, it was acquired by the National Museum of Australia inCanberra.

"I'm not aware of efforts made to try to (buy) it," Carboni says when asked for his views. "But I certainly would have considered it very seriously because it's a representation of the art of Western Australia."

He adds: "I must say our indigenous art collection is one of the best in Australia, hencethe world. I think we should come up inthe short run with a very good, visually stunning, academically valid exhibition. Surely people will be very surprised at the high quality."

As a glass expert, Carboni is enthused by the gallery's impressive collection of contemporary Australian glass art, built up as a result of the Perth-based Tom Malone acquisitive glass prize. "Every year we have a great way of acquiring glass objects, and Australia is an up-and-coming country in this respect."

The question lingers: what made Carboni decide to leave behind a prestigious institution and a career in Islamic art for Perth? One reason is personal. The Carboni family has visited Australia often in recent years, spending holidays with Yakimov's Russian-born migrant family in Melbourne. "The children felt a sense of freedom in Australia that they don't feel anywhere else," says Yakimov, who admits that she misses her high-powered job and is adjusting to Perth's slower pace.

Then there's the attraction of moving closer to the world's largest Muslim population in Indonesia. "It's one of the things that excites me most," Carboni enthuses. "From Perth, in three hours one can be in Melbourne, but one can also be in Jakarta."

More broadly, Carboni felt he'd reached "the coronation of my career" in 2007 when he curated Venice and the Islamic World, a landmark exhibition at the Met. He drew from 65 different institutions, gathering items that covered the period from AD828, when Venetian merchants carried home stolen relics from Alexandria, to the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. "This job gives me a splendid opportunity to broaden my horizons," Carboni says. "I've been an art historian, educator, curator and I'm now moving into a role of manager and leader, someone who has to come up with ideas and energies for the art gallery. I think I'm very well placed in that respect."

That Carboni has found inspiration in his new job shows in his sixth choice of favourite art objects. It is Drying Wildflowers in Summertime, a large Emily Kame Kngwarreye painting from AGWA's collection. "I like the fact that it looks like a window over a limitless space," he says, "with the same creative intent of Islamic artists drawing repetitive geometric or vegetal patterns as a confined sample of infinite expansion."

An Oasis of Calm - the Carshi Mosque

2009-03-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

An Oasis of Calm - the Carshi Mosque

| 23 March 2009 | By Shega A’Mula in Pristina
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/life_and_style/17520/

Carshi Mosque in Pristina

With its floating dome, ancient oriental rugs and quietly ticking cocks, this 15th century house of prayer offers a respite from the busy world outside. Pristina is so traffic-jammed by day, and equally buzzing at night, that sometimes the only oases of calm are the many mosques scattered throughout the city’s congested areas.

With this in mind, Pristina Insight took a closer look at the Carshi Mosque, on the corner of the main intersection in front of the Kosovo museum.

The Turkish Ottoman occupation in the 15th century resulted in the conversion of hundreds of thousands of Orthodox or Catholic Christians in the Balkans to Islam, paving the way for the building of mosques and other Muslim places of worship throughout the region.

Today the predominant religion in Kosovo remains Islam, and over 90 per cent of the population consider themselves its followers.

The Carshi Mosque is the oldest in Pristina, and was built in 1461 by Sultan Mehemed Fatih. It is located on the corner of Agim Ramadani and Nazim Gafurri streets, an area now heavily congested by pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

The Imam, or leader of the mosque, Sheqir Kqiku, tells us that prayer times haul in close to 400 people a day to the mosque, while a couple of hundred more use the two neighbouring mosques just down the street.

The architecture of the Carshi Mosque is Ottoman, with a large central dome located above the main prayer hall. The minaret, or tower, which protrudes from one of the back corners of the mosque holds a bell at the top, which rings to signal the times of prayer.

The Carshi Mosque’s minaret is distinctive because it is completely made out of stone, unlike most others in the Balkans, which use wood-based materials to support the tower.

The entrance is an arch, borrowed in style from the pre-Islamic architecture of Persia, but now a staple of many Islamic places of worship around the world.

This leads into a sort of “waiting room” where worshippers wash themselves and remove their shoes before entering the prayer hall. The floors are covered in oriental rugs, which support the Islamic ideals of holding prayer in a clean area. The walls are painted in the traditional colour of Islam, which is green, and which is meant to symbolise nature.

Imam Sheqir Kqiku leads us into the main prayer hall, which is also swathed in ancient-looking carpets and rugs. The dome is large and finely adorned with hand-painted flora and other decorative elements that date back centuries. Clocks are plastered on all sides of the prayer hall, a characteristic that Imam Sheqir Kqiku says reflects the value Islam places on time.

“Time is very important to Islam and the clocks represent the importance of not wasting time and valuing it”, he said. Many are gifts of worshippers wishing to offer contributions to the mosque.

The prayer hall also encompasses a higher level, which is reserved for women, since Islamic tradition does not allow both sexes to pray together. Imam Sheqir Kqiku admits that not many women attend prayer sessions, since according to him, Kosovo traditions never encouraged women to attend prayers.
“Our culture does not encourage women to come to the mosque, as oppose to other Islamic cultures,” he said.

The Imam tells us that the bulk of worshippers are older people who like this mosque because of “the nostalgia they feel for the times when they were younger”.

However, many young men were leaving the mosque while we were there, suggesting a resurgence of interest among the young.

The Carshi Mosque is currently under the protection of the Ministry of Culture, so as to ensure its preservation in years to come.

Nevertheless, Imam Sheqir Kqiku says he is not convinced that Kosovo’s institutions truly value the existence of these structures. “No one is investing in them,” he says.

He claims the ministry promised to set aside money to be used for restoring parts of the dome, which are currently leaking water and consequently damaging the interior.

The Culture Ministry did not reply to out inquiry concerning this matter by the time of publication.
Visitors are welcomed to the Carshi Mosque at all times when prayer sessions are not being held. The Imam says many tourists stop by to view the interior of the mosque, both locals and internationals alike.

Bronze Age Iranian Tiles Found in Oman

2008-06-27T08:25:00.001-07:00

Bronze Age Iranian Tiles Found in Oman

Iranian archeologists have discovered Iranian made golden toned tiles dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages in Oman’s ancient city of Qalhat.
“It is certain that the tiles were made in Iran and then exported to the Qalhat region in Oman,“ Mohsen Javervi, head of the archeological team in Qalhat said.
The team also drew a digital map of 16,700 ancient spots in the region of Qalhat, reported Presstv.
Restoration of the discovered items and transformation of the site into a museum is expected to take at least five years.

Owner to Auction Achaemenid Goblet

2008-06-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

Owner to Auction Achaemenid Goblet

A Third century BC Achaemenid goblet is slated to be auctioned at the Duke’s auction house in Dorchester, England, for $988,000. The 14-centimeter goblet is decorated with two female heads looking in opposite directions with foreheads adorned with a knotted snake pattern.
The vessel’s current owner John Webber, who acquired the goblet from his grandfather in 1945, had long assumed that it was made of brass, said IRNA quoting Guardian.co.uk
“My father died in the war and afterwards my grandfather gave me some things shortly before he died,“ said Webber. “One of the things was the cup which I remember playing with. Because he mainly dealt in brass and bronze, I thought that was what it was made from,“ he added.
While moving his house, Webber rediscovered the gold goblet last year and decided to get it valued by the British Museum.
The analysis confirmed that the goblet was a rare piece of Achaemenid art, crafted from one piece of gold and dating back to the 3rd or 4th century BC.
The cup will go under the hammer on June 5 with an estimate $988,000 price tag.
The Achaemenid Empire, the largest in classical antiquity, ruled over Persia from 550 BC to 331 BC.

Hafez Life & Times

2008-06-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hafez

Life & Times

Khajeh Shamseddin Muhammad Hafez Shirazi, or simply Hafez, was a Persian mystic and poet. He was born sometime between 1310 and 1337 in Shiraz.
John Payne, who has translated Divan-e Hafez, the collection of his poems, regards Hafez as the greatest poet of the world.
His lyrical poems, known as Ghazals, are noted for their beauty and bring to fruition the love, mysticism and early Sufi themes that had long pervaded Persian poetry. His poetry also possesses elements of modern surrealism.

HafezÕs Tomb in Shiraz

Biography
Little credible information is known about Hafez’s life, particularly his early years; there is a great deal of more or less mythical anecdote. Judging from his poetry, he must have had a good education, or else found the means to educate himself. Scholars generally agree on the following:
His father Bahaeddin is said to have been a coal merchant who died when Hafez was a child, leaving him and his mother in debt. It seems probable that he met Attar of Shiraz (Zayn Al-Attar), a somewhat disreputable scholar, and became his disciple. He is said to have later become a poet in the court of Abu Es’haq, and so gained fame and influence in his hometown. Hafez reportedly gained a position as teacher in a Qur’anic school at this time.
In his early thirties, Mubariz Muzaffar captured Shiraz and seems to have ousted Hafez from his position. Hafez apparently regained his position for a brief span of time after Shah Shuja took his father, Mubariz Muzaffar, prisoner. But shortly afterwards, Hafez was forced into self-imposed exile when rivals and religious characters he had criticized began slandering him. Another possible cause of his disgrace can be seen in a love affair he had with a beautiful woman, Shakh-e Nabat. Hafez fled from Shiraz to Isfahan and Yazd for his own safety.
At the age of 52, Hafez once again regained his position at court and possibly received a personal invitation from Shah Shuja, who was later defeated and killed by Tamerlane.
When an old man, he apparently met Tamerlane to defend his poetry against charges of blasphemy.
It is generally believed that Hafez died at the age of 69. His tomb is located in the Mosalla Gardens of Shiraz (referred to as Hafezieh).

Legends of Hafez
Hafez took ear to his immense popularity during his lifetime, and agreed with many others when he wrote:
I have never seen any poetry sweeter than thine, O Hafez,
I swear it by the Koran which thou keepest in thy bosom.
Many semi-miraculous mythical tales were woven around Hafez after his death.
It is said that, by listening to his father’s recitations, Hafez had accomplished the task of learning the Qur’an by heart (that is in fact the meaning of the word Hafez), at an early age.
Hafez is said to have known by heart the works of Molana (Jalaleddin Muhammad Rumi), Sa’di, Farideddin Attar and Nezami.
According to one tradition, before meeting Zayn Al-Attar, Hafez had been working in a local bakery. Hafez delivered bread to a wealthy quarter of the town where he saw Shakh-e Nabat, allegedly a woman of great beauty, to whom some of his poems are addressed. In the knowledge that his love for her would not be requited, he allegedly had his first mystic vigil in his desire to realize this union, whereupon, overcome by a being of a surpassing beauty (who identifies himself as an angel), he begins his mystic path of realization, in pursuit of spiritual union with the divine. The obvious Western parallel is that of Dante and Beatrice.
In one famous tale, “a tradition too pretty to be trusted“ says a noted historian, the famed conqueror Timur the Lame angrily summoned Hafez to give him an explanation for one of his verses

If the belle of Shiraz grabs my heart,
Just for her Hindu-like mole, I would give
All of Samarkand and BokharaÉ

With Samarkand being Timur’s capital and Bokhara his kingdom’s finest city. “With the blows of my lustrous sword,“ Timur complained, “I have subjugated most of the habitable globe...to embellish Samarkand and Bokhara, the seats of my government; and you, would sell them for the black mole of belle of Shiraz!“.
Hafez, so the tale goes, replied “Alas, O Prince, it is this prodigality which is the cause of the misery in which you find me“.
So pleased was Timur with this response that he sent off Hafez with handsome gifts.

Works and Influence
Not much acclaimed in his own lifetime and often exposed to the reproaches of orthodoxy, he greatly influenced subsequent Persian poets and became the most beloved poet of Persian culture. It is said that if there is one book in a house where Persian is spoken, it will be the Qur’an; if two, the Qur’an and the Divan of Hafez.
Much later, the work of Hafez would leave a mark on such important western writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Goethe. His work was first translated into English in 1771 by William Jones.
There is no definitive version of his collected works; editions vary from 573 to 994 poems. In Iran, his collected works have come to be used as an aid to popular divination. Only since the 1940s has a sustained scholarly attempt by Masoud Farzad, Qasemkhani and others in Iran been made to authenticate his work, and remove errors introduced by later copyists and censors. However, the reliability of such work has been questioned (Michael Hillmann in ’Rahnema-ye Ketab’ No. 13 (1971), “Kusheshha-ye Jadid dar Shenakht-e Divan-e Sahih-e Hafez“).
The history of the translation of Hafez has been a complicated one, and few English translations have been truly successful, in large part due to the fact that the figurative gesture for which he is most famous is ambiguity, and therefore interpreting the essence of his poetry requires intuitive perception.
Most recently, The Gift: Poems by Hafez, the Great Sufi Master, a collection of poems by Daniel Ladinsky published in 1999 by Penguin Books, has been both commercially successful and a source of controversy. Ladinsy does not speak or read Persian, and critics such as Murat Nemet-Nejat, a poet, essayist and translator of modern Turkish poetry, have asserted that his translations are Ladinsky’s own inventions.
Though Hafez’s poetry is influenced by his Islamic faith, he is widely respected by Hindus, Christians and others. The Indian sage of Iranian descent Mehr Baba, who combined elements of Sufism, Hinduism and Christian mysticism, would recite Hafez’s poetry until his dying day.
The instructive poetry of Sufi schools (for reasons shared with other hermetic schools), liberally employ metaphorical language to mask the real meaning intended for a select audience, under a strict pedagogical spiritual regime in which the seeker is (sometimes literally) subject to the Pir or Master.

Poetic Elements
Hafez’s poetry is no exception and is heavily laced with coded phrases (wine, wind, hand), objects and instruments (cups, reeds, harps), places and occupants (tavern, wine keeper, cup-bearer), and, of course, a variety of flowers and birds (rose, narcissus, nightingale), etc.
Various content matter directly fix the semantic context of his work in both the Abrahamic traditions and scripture, and related metaphysical schools (specially references to Maghaan, or the Magi). It is, simply, the Grail Quest, with special shifts in symbolism based on the Muslim viewpoint of the author.

Handicraft Artists’ Databank Ready

Deputy head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization for traditional arts and handicrafts said that the databank of Iranian handicraft artists has been completed for the first time in the country and it will become operational in the near future.
Yahya Rahmati added, “Information about 40,000 handicrafts artists nationwide has been compiled in the databank and identification cards have been issued for the members.“
He also said that a special databank on distinguished artists of Tehran is in the process of being compiled, IRNA reported.
Rahmati also said an atlas of Iranian traditional arts is underway and recalled that five provinces are the top priorities. However, he did not name any province.
The official noted that this year his department has examined six traditional arts and handicrafts, which have been abandoned or are on the verge of being abandoned, for their revival.
Rahmati emphasized that the revival of traditional arts and handicrafts requires a firm national will.
“It must be remembered that traditional arts and handicrafts are profit-making and can help generate new job opportunities. They can resolve many economic problems. This in itself explains why abandoned traditional arts and handicrafts must be revived,“ he said.
Rahmati underlined that his department has various plans on the agenda, the materialization of which requires time.

Sa’di Muslih-ud-Din Mushrif ibn Abdullah

2008-06-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sa’di

Sa’di’s works have been translated by a number of major Western poets.
Sheikh Sa’di, full name in English: Muslih-ud-Din Mushrif ibn Abdullah) (1184 Ð 1283/1291 AD) is one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is recognized not only for the quality of his writing, but also for the depth of his social thought.

Biography
A native of Shiraz, Persia, Sheikh Sa’di left his native town at youth for Baghdad to study Arabic literature and Islamic sciences at Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad (1195-1226 AD).
The unsettled conditions following the Mogul invasion of Persia led him to wander abroad through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. He also refers in his work to travels in India and Central Asia. Sa’di is very much like Marco Polo who traveled in the region from 1271 to 1294 AD.
There is a difference, however, between the two. While Marco Polo gravitated to the potentates and the good life, Sa’di mingled with the ordinary survivors of the Mogul holocaust. He sat in remote teahouses late into the night and exchanged views with merchants, farmers, preachers, wayfarers, thieves, and Sufi mendicants.
For twenty years or more, he continued the same schedule of preaching, advising, learning, honing his sermons, and polishing them into gems illuminating the wisdom and foibles of his people.
When he reappeared in his native Shiraz he was an elderly man. Shiraz, under Atabak Abubakr Sa’d ibn Zangy (1231-60 AD) was enjoying an era of relative tranquility.
Sa’di was not only welcomed to the city but was respected highly by the ruler and enumerated among the greats of the province. In response, Sa’di took his nom de plume from the name of the local prince, Sa’d ibn Zangi, and composed some of his most delightful panegyrics as an initial gesture of gratitude in praise of the ruling house and placed them at the beginning of his Bustan.
He seems to have spent the rest of his life in Shiraz.

His works
His best known works are Bustan (“The Orchard“) completed in 1257 AD and Golestan (“The Rose Garden“) in 1258 AD.
Bustan is entirely in verse (epic meter) and consists of stories aptly illustrating the standard virtues recommended to Muslims (justice, liberality, modesty, contentment) as well as of reflections on the behavior of dervishes and their ecstatic practices.
Golestan is mainly in prose and contains stories and personal anecdotes. The text is interspersed with a variety of short poems, containing aphorisms, advice, and humorous reflections.
Sa’di demonstrates a profound awareness of the absurdity of human existence. The fate of those who depend on the changeable moods of kings is contrasted with the freedom of the dervishes.
For Western students, Bustan and Golestan have a special attraction; but Sa’di is also remembered as a great panegyrist and lyricist, the author of a number of masterly general odes portraying human experience, and also of particular odes such as the lament on the fall of Baghdad after the Mogul invasion in 1258 AD.
His lyrics are to be found in Ghazaliyat (“Lyrics“) and his odes in Qasa’id (“Odes“). He is also known for a number of works in Arabic. The peculiar blend of human kindness and cynicism, humor, and resignation displayed in Sa’di’s works, together with a tendency to avoid the hard dilemma, make him, to many, the most typical and loveable writer in the world of Iranian culture.
Alexander Pushkin, perhaps the greatest Russian poet of all time and a world renown literacy figure, quotes Sa’di in his masterpiece Eugene Onegin :
as Sa’di sang in earlier ages,
“some are far distant, some are dead“.
Sa’di distinguished between the spiritual and the practical or mundane aspects of life.
In his Bustan, for example, spiritual Sa’di uses the mundane world as a spring board to propel himself beyond the earthly realms. The images in Bustan are delicate in nature and soothing.
In the Golestan, on the other hand, mundane Sa’di lowers the spiritual to touch the heart of his fellow wayfarers.
Here the images are graphic and, thanks to Sa’di’s dexterity, remain concrete in the reader’s mind. Realistically, too, there is a ring of truth in the division.
The Sheikh preaching in the Khanqah experiences a totally different world than the merchant passing through a town.
The unique thing about Sa’di is that he embodies both the Sufi Sheikh and the traveling merchant. They are, as he himself puts it, two almond kernels in the same shell.
Sa’di’s prose style, described as “simple but impossible to imitate“ flows quite naturally and effortlessly.
Its simplicity, however, is grounded in a semantic web consisting of synonymy, homophony, and oxymoron buttressed by internal rhythm and external rhyme.
Chief among these works is Goethe’s West-Oestlicher Divan. Andre du Ryer was the first European to present Sa’di to the West, by means of a partial French translation of Golestan in 1634 AD.
Adam Olearius followed soon with a complete translation of the Bustan and the Golestan into German in 1654 AD.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was also an avid fan of Sa’di’s writings, contributing to some translated editions himself.
Emerson, who read Sa’di only in translation, compared his writing to the Bible in terms of its wisdom and the beauty of its narrative.
One of his more famous quotes is, “Whatever is produced in haste goes easily to waste.“ Another famous poem focuses on the oneness of mankind.

Soltanieh Dome A World Heritage

2008-06-26T08:14:00.001-07:00

Soltanieh Dome

A World Heritage

The mausoleum of Oljeitu (Sultan Mohammad Khodabandeh), known as the Soltanieh Dome, is a unique 700-year-old brick structure located near Iran’s western Zanjan province.
The glorious Ilkhanid structure, built by Oljeitu between 1302 BC and 1312 BC, is an outstanding work of Persian and Islamic architecture.

Brickwork
Soltanieh Dome, which was the world’s tallest building of its time, currently ranks third after Italy’s Saint Mary church in Florence and Turkey’s Aya Sofia Mosque in Istanbul, Presstv reported.
With its octagonal base and beautiful tile-work, the 54-meter tall Dome is taller than many of Iran’s major historical sites.
The building comprises three parts: mausoleum, dome chamber and vault.
The dome chamber is decorated with Islamic inscriptions and beautiful muqarnas (a traditional Persian art).

Tile-work
Unique Kufic and Sols inscriptions, and exquisite arabesque decorations adorn the mausoleum located above the vault where the king’s body was laid to rest and two guards protected the gilded royal tombstone at all times.
Although the passage of time has left its mark on the mausoleum, the interior retains its superb mosaics, faience and murals.
Stunning brick patterns and beautiful hexagon tiles once decorated the dome’s interior, which was later covered up with plaster, colorful inscriptions and floral patterns.
Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization is currently in charge of the 200-ton dome’s restoration in which experts are using azure tiles made in traditional kilns to refurbish the exterior.

The dome’s double-shell structure, built of two parallel and completely separate brick layers connected with buttresses, gives it a unique quality turning it into one of the world’s unique architectural examples, inspiring many other Muslim cupola constructions such as the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
The celebrated Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi is said to have been inspired by the Soltanieh Dome when designing the dome of the Santa Maria Del Fiore cathedral in Florence.
Soltanieh Dome was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2006 after the Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Persepolis, the Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat, Takht-e Soleiman, Passargad and the Bam Citadel.

artnet Magazine - ANCIENT ART IS PLUNDER: MET STAFFER

2006-01-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

artnet Magazine - News: "ANCIENT ART IS PLUNDER: MET STAFFER
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been "supporting theft and plunder for years," according to archeologist Oscar White Muscarella -- a longtime employee of the very same museum that he so harshly criticizes. In a ferocious interview with reporter Suzan Mazur published in Scoop, an "internet news agency" based in New Zealand, Muscarella compares U.S. museums to bordellos, and says that "collecting antiquities is rape." He calls the Met’s department of Greek and Roman art "The Temple of Plunder," and extends his indictment to other museum departments as well, saying that his museum’s Asian art department holds "hundreds and hundreds [of artifacts] from temples and tombs from all over Cambodia, Thailand, China, just to decorate vitrines in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The job of the antiquities curator, Muscarella says, is to "buy stolen art" and "get false documents."

"All these museums are actively engaged in erasing this planet’s history," Muscarella says. As an archeologist, he argues that ancient artifacts should only be excavated scientifically by professionals, with objects and their contexts carefully documented. What’s the answer to the current controversy over ownership of disputed cultural property? New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg should "order" the Met to "stop buying stolen objects right now," and telephone the Italian consul in New York and tell him to come "in 10 minutes, 15 minutes" and pick up the controversial Euphronios vase. [For a detailed report by former Met director Thomas Hoving on the museum’s so-called "Hot Pot," see "Super Art Gems of New York City," June 29, 2001.]

What’s more, Muscarella accuses New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman, who has been critical of lax museum acquisition policies, of being "dishonest" and "getting paid to write. . . a cover up," apparently due to a perceived conflict of interest of newspaper owner Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, who is a Metropolitan Museum trustee. Muscarella refers to Kimmelman -- and other critics who review exhibitions of ancient art without mentioning "plunder" -- as "pimps." In an email, Kimmelman called Muscarella’s charges "too silly to take seriously," and says that Muscarella "clearly knows nothing" about how the Times works.

Muscarella says that the Met fired him in the early 1970s, but he was able to retain his position at the museum after a long court battle. "I just don't understand why anyone who hates museums would work in a museum," commented Met communications director Harold Holzer to the Village Voice in 2003."

KUTV: Anti-Communist Writer Cleon Skousen Dies At 92

2006-01-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

KUTV: Anti-Communist Writer Cleon Skousen Dies At 92: " Jan 10, 2006 7:38 am US/Mountain

Anti-Communist Writer Cleon Skousen Dies At 92
Save It Email It Print It
SALT LAKE CITY W. Cleon Skousen, a one-time FBI agent, Salt Lake police chief and professor who is best known for his anti-communist and conservative writings and lectures, has died at his Salt Lake City home of causes incident to age, family members said.

Skousen, 92, wrote 46 books, including ``The Naked Communist,'' one of the most popular works in the 1960s on Communist conspiracy.

He died Monday, surrounded by his wife of 69 years, Jewell, and many family members.

Among his other best sellers were ``The Naked Capitalist,'' ``So You Want to Raise a Boy,'' ``The Making of America,'' ``The Five Thousand Year Leap'' and ``Fantastic Victory'' about the Israel-Arab war of 1967.

His books on religion included ``Treasures from the Book of Mormon,'' ``The First 2,000 Years'' and ``Prophecy and Modern Times.'

Skousen taught at Brigham Young University for 16 years.

He helped organize the conservative Freemen Institute in 1972 as a place to study the U.S. Constitution.

But in a 1996 interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Skousen said he became dismayed at the way the term ``freemen,'' which he popularized in the 1970s and was taken from the Magna Carta, was used by separatists trying to set up sovereign townships.

``They grabbed onto a name they didn't understand and said, `We Freemen can do anything, we're free from the law,''' he told the newspaper. ``They've destroyed the name.''

The Freemen Institute board changed the organization's name to the National Center for Constitutional Studies.

Skousen was born in Raymond, Alberta, Canada, on Jan. 20, 1913, and was educated in Canada, Mexico and the United States. He received his doctorate at George Washington University.

Survivors include eight children, 50 grandchildren and 67 grandchildren.

Funeral services were pending."

Iran Daily

2006-01-10T04:47:00.000-08:00

Iran Daily: "Professor Schimmel Commemorated

By Farzaneh Shokri
A two-day seminar to commemorate Anne Marie Schimmel, the great German expert of oriental studies and Islamic sciences opened in Tehran on Monday.
A number of Iranian and German researchers and experts of Islamic sciences and oriental studies attended the seminar.
At the event, several experts commented on Western views about Islam and interactions between Islam and the West.
Secretary of the seminar, Abdol-Rahim Govahi, noted that the main objective of the seminar is to honor Schimmel and introduce her spiritual endeavors as a person who has penned 12 books on Islam.
Speaking at the gathering, deputy foreign minister for education and research said that the writings of Professor Schimmel, particularly her mystic works have been compiled in the form of more than 500 articles and 150 books.
"Her areas of interest included history, art, philosophy, poetry, calligraphy, mysticism and translation of poems from Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Hindi and English," Ali Reza Moayeri noted.
He asserted that after the demise of Ms. Schimmel not only oriental and Islamic societies lost a good friend, but the western societies also missed a sincere and honest associate.
"Professor Schimmel showed to the people of the West that they have a distorted image of Islam and that image should be reviewed," he further added.
Moayeri pointed out that Professor Schimmel succeeded in making her readers with to understand complex oriental issues in a transparent and simple language.
Meanwhile, an Iranian scholar and researcher, Saeed Firouzabadi, noted that since Germany and Austria were not major colonial powers like the Netherlands, UK and France were, they look at orient and oriental studies in a totally different manner.
"Professor Schimmel began to learn Arabic at the age of 15 and she quit studying natural sciences at Berlin University in 1939. She began studying Arabic, Turkish and Persian languages concurrent with outbreak of World War II.
She began working on her PhD dissertation when she was only 19," he noted.
Firouzabadi noted that her articles on two renowned Iranian poets, Hafez and Daqiqi, are still considered the best references. "Professor Schimmel published a book entitled 'Sovar Al-Khiyal' that is about the famous Iranian mystic, Molana Jalaleddin Rumi Balkhi (Molavi)," he added."

Tanavoli works on the way to Canada

2006-01-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

Tanavoli works on the way to Canada: "Tanavoli works on the way to Canada
TEHRAN, Jan. 8 (MNA) -- A collection of works by veteran Iranian sculptor Parviz Tanavoli is to be displayed in February at the Elliot Louis Gallery in Vancouver, Canada, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Sunday.

The collection, entitled “Iran’s Steels”, features works which have been created by the artist over 30 years and was previously displayed in London and Paris.

The exhibition, organized by Canadian cultural officials, will feature nearly 30 sculptures in different sizes, ranging from two to half a meter and even less.

Half of the works were made in Iran and the other half in Canada.

Tanavoli has been preoccupied with the theme of lovers throughout his career.

There is always at least one sculpture depicting Farhad, a hero who carved an entire mountain for the sake of his beloved Shirin in the love story “Shirin and Farhad” written by Iranian poet Nezami Ganjavi.

Tanavoli believes that Farhad should be considered the father of Iranian sculpture.

He has also created a sculpture entitled “Nothing” to depict the innocence of the Guantanamo prisoners and plans to display it in Britain in the near future.

NM/HG

End

MNA"

Imam Reza Shrine Complex - the golden dome

2006-01-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

Imam Reza Shrine Complex: "The tomb chamber is located underneath a golden dome, with elements dating back to the twelfth century. The chamber is decorated with a tilework dado dating from 612/1215, above which the wall surfaces and a muqarnas dome were executed in mirror work in the nineteenth century. Shah Tahmasp gold-plated the tomb dome, which was previously decorated with tile. The gold of the dome was lost to Ozbeg raiders and subsequently replaced by Shah Abbas I during his renovation project begun in 1601."

The holy shrine of Hazrat-i-Abdul Azim in Tehran Province ::: ITTO.org :::

2006-01-09T06:24:00.000-08:00

Tourism attractin in Tehran Province ::: ITTO.org :::: "About Shah Abdol Azim Holy Shrine in Tehran province

The holy shrine of Hazrat-i-Abdul Azim (Zaviyeh Muqaddaseh) is in the city of Rayy. Hazrat-i-Abdol Azim is a descendant of Imam Hassan, and was martyred in the 9th century, in Rayy, and buried in this place.
The mausoleum of Imamzadeh Hamzeh, Imam Reza`s brother, and that of Imamzadeh Tahir, son of Hazrat-i-Sajad, are adjacent to this holy shrine.
The whole construction consists of a portal, a lofty ivan decorated with mirrors, several courtyards, a golden cupola, two tile minarets, a portico, a sepulcher and a mosque.
The most historical and portable relic of this holy place, is its costly box which is made of betel-nut wood. On four sides of this precious box, a relief inscription in Nastaliq and Tulth characters, is carved.
The inscription ends with the date A.D. 1330, and the name of the maker of the box, i.e., Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Isfahani.
An inlaid door near the mausoleum of Nasser al-Din Shah, (This place used to be called Masjid-i-Holaku, prior to its being turned into a tomb) which bears the date A.D. 1450, i.e., the period of Shah-rokh Bahadur Timurid`s reign, constitutes another historical relic of this structure."

Shrine Complex of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad

2006-01-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

Shrine Complex of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad: "Shrine Complex of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad

Variant Names Shrine complex of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad: Octagonal Pavilion, Shrine complex of Shaykh Abd al Samad
Location Natanz, Iran
Date 999, 1304-1325
Style/Period Il-Khanid
Century 13th
Building Types funerary, religious
Building Usage tomb, shrine

Notes
'Abd al-Samad, a shaykh of the Suharwardi Sufi order, died in Natanz in 1299. During the decade that followed, the site of his grave was developed by the vizier Zayn al-Din Mastari into what has survived to be one of the best preserved of Il-Khanid shrine complexes.
The much-admired façade of colorful glazed tile, terracotta, and stucco bends slightly to bring together the four constituent structures that lie behind; a four-iwan mosque, an octagonal sanctuary, a minaret, and a mosque from the 1930's fronted by a khanaqah portal. The organization of these structures at varying angles and on multiple floor levels reflects the difficulty with which they were inserted into the existing built context.

The portal on the western end of the façade is the only remains of an early fourteenth century khanaqah that was destroyed and replaced by a mosque in the 1930s. The center of the façade is composed as a triple arcade, behind the central arch of which there is a minaret with an inscription dated 725/1324-25. Another portal on the eastern end of the façade provides entry to the complex by way of a sunken narrow corridor. An inscription on this portal reveals that the building is a mosque built by Zayn al-Din Mastari in 704/ 1304-5.

The square courtyard mosque is faced by two stories of rooms that link four iwans of varying depths. Construction is of baked brick, with a coat of white plaster. Muqarnas vaults are found in the north and south iwans. Two bays at the rear of the south iwan flank the mihrab, leading to the domed octagonal sanctuary, which abuts the main façade.

Restoration during the 1970's revealed that this sanctuary predates the courtyard mosque and was originally a freestanding Buyid pavilion from 389/999. In its original state the pavilion was open on all sides to a vaulted ambulatory supported by columns. This pavilion constitutes the earliest dated example of an octagonal form in Iran and although the form is not unusual in tomb towers in Iran, the later extant examples are closed. The openness of the Natanz pavilion evokes the earlier open canopy tomb, and with such evidence, Blair argues that this pavilion was originally built as an imamzada or shrine for a descendant of the Prophet.

Sources:

Sheila S. Blair, The Ilkhanid Shrine Complex at Natanz, Iran. (Cambridge Mass: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, 1986)

Sheila S. Blair, 'The Octagonal Pavilion at Natanz: a Reexamination of Early Islamic Architecture in Iran', in Muqarnas 1: 69-94

Antony Hutt, 'Iran', in Architecture of the Islamic World ed. George Michell (Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1978), 251-258

George Michell, Architecture of the Islamic World (London: Thames and Hudson, 1978)

Arthur Upham Pope, 'The Fourteenth Century', in A Survey of Persian Art ed. Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman. (Tehran: Soroush Press, 1977), 1052-1102."

Iran At A Glance ||Sheykh Abdolsamad tomb in Esfahan province

2006-01-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

Iran At A Glance || Imam Reza (A.S.) Network: "About Sheykh Abdolsamad tomb in Esfahan province
A group of splendid tiled and stucco buildings surround the shrine of the thirteenth century Sufi Teacher and mystic Shaykh Abd al-Samad Esfahani in the mountain town of Natanz.
The Shaykh`s tomb lies beyond the tiled facade of the khanaqah or Sufi monastery built in 1313. The tile work resembles in quality and design the contemporary work at Soltaniyyeh. It is likely that upon the completion of Oljaitu's tomb, craftsmen were despatched throughout the empire to ornament religious and public ornaments."

Netiran>Architecture of Mosques Related to Khawrazmshahi Period in Khorassan

2006-01-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

Netiran>Articles>Art>Architecture>Architecture of Mosques Related to Khawrazmshahi Period in Khorassan: "

Int'l. Newspaper Iran News Tehran Times
ARTICLES Art > Architecture

Date Added:Aug 23 1998 Print Version

Architecture of Mosques Related to Khawrazmshahi Period in Khorassan

Masjed, Bimonthly Magazine, No. 39, Aug. 1998, Page 72 - 78
By : Parivash Akbari
Word Count : 2997

This article introduces those mosques which according to historical inscriptions are related to Khawrazmshahi period and have escaped destruction by Mongol hordes, in order to reveal the latent architecture of that period.

The second half of sixth century A.H. (12th century A.D.) is an unknown period in the history of Iranian architecture. This was at a time that important events had happened in the history, the Seljuk Dynasty had fallen, Transoxiana had been conquered by the Ghour government which extended from Caspian Sea to north of India (543-612 A.H.) and the Khawrazmshahi government was installed in Khawarazm and Khorassan (470 to 628 A.H.). But eventually the Khawrazms defeated the Gharakhtians in 607 A.H. and Ghourians in 612 A.H. and set up a giant empire in the eastern side of the Islamic world stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Asia Minor (Bartold, Book of Turkeminstan, Vol. 1, p. 91, Bosworth, Dynasties, p. 1679, 170, 272, 273). However not long after these conquests in their first confrontation with the Mongols the Khawrazmians were defeated and with the murder of Jalaluddin, the last king, the Khawrazmshahi Dynasty ended in 628 A.H. (Joveini, History, Vol. 1, p. 107, 149 and 150; Mostowfi, history, p. 500).

The Khawrazms who claimed to be the ruler of the whole eastern part of the Islamic world and challenged the Abbassid Caliphs, were trying their utmost to expand their culture and art within their realm and many poets and scientists such as Rashiduddin Vatvat, the author of Hadayeq al-Sahar, Zeinolabedin Seyed Esmaeel Jorjani, the author of the Zakhirehe Khawrazmi on Medicine and Allameh Fakhroddin Mohammad ibn Omar Razi flourished in their court.

Following the barbarian Mongol onslaught and the mass slaughter of people many libraries and buildings were destroyed in Transoxiana and Khorassan. Gorganj or Jorjania which was the seat of the Khawrazmi government and according to Hamavi was the most beautiful city of the time, was flooded, all its people were killed and the city was flattened to the ground when the Jeyhoon Dam was destroyed by Mongols (Hamavi, Moajem, Vol. 2, p. 122).

As a result of this historical catastrophe many artists were either killed or were taken to Mongolia to build a new civilization for Chengiz Khan (Bartold, p. 150). Another harassed group of artists fled to safer regions in Fars, Kerman and Yazd. These architects imported their native architecture to these new regions and amplified their art. When the Ilkhanid descendents of Chengis decided to rebuild their occupied territories they summoned these wandering architects to their court (Pirnia, Azari Style, Vol. 2, p. 877; Gilani, Art and People p. 22). Maybe it was due to loss of many efficient artists in Khorassan that the Ilkhanid buildings were not as glorious as in former times.

To learn more about the condition of architecture in Khorassan before the Mongol invasion it is necessary to examine the buildings that survived after the Khawrazmshahi Dynasty which assumed power after Sultan Sanjar's death in 552 A.H. (Mostowfi, p. 500). This period has received little attention by researchers of history and architecture and a number of buildings surviving from that era have been ascribed either to Seljuks or Ilkhans (Hilbrand, Architecture, p. 93; Wilber, Architecture, p. 114) whereas some of these buildings including the Malak Zuzun Mosque or Gonabad Congregation Mosque have a date inscriptions. It seems that this almost short period was overshadowed by many buildings that had survived from Seljuk or Ilkhanid periods and had remained neglected.

By examining the mosques with date inscriptions which prove that they were built during the Khawrazm period we believe that similar buildings which have happily escaped devastation from the Mongols belong to that period. We shall therefore try to identify the almost latent architecture of Khawrazm Dynasty. These identical mosques include Gonabad Congregation Mosque, Malek Zuzun Mosque, Sangan Mosque south of Khawaf, Ferdows Congregation Mosque, Roqeh Congregation Mosque and Faromad Congregation Mosque.

Gonabad Congregation Mosque

This mosque is equipped with two porticoes and has a date which proves it belongs to Khawrazm period. A brick inscription in Kufi script placed at the southern portico says the structure was raised in the year 609 A.H. Besides that two brick inscriptions with Kufi script are installed inside. One inscription says "There is None But God, Mohammad is God's Messenger" and the other informs us that the mosque was constructed by Nikpey Shahabi. Two brick coated columns standing at the sides of the southern portico further engrosses the height of the portico. Meanwhile a beautiful prayer niche, ornamented by plaster geometrical images and plants and Imam Ali's name has been built within the portico.

The southern portico is decorated with bricks in geometrical form along with a Kufi inscription, but in addition to ordinary bricks the northern portico is ornamented with turquoise tiles mixed with bricks or installed like knots within the bricks and in the middle the bricks are octagonal in shape. Both porticoes are covered with arched and tovizeh (ribbed) ceilings and the remains of two minarets have survived on the shoulders of the northern portico.

The eastern wall of the mosque yard is also decorated with perforated bricks with a regular octagonal section in the middle and four irregular octagonal sections and a knot of turquoise tile in the middle of the regular octagonal section.

The mosque is equipped with a port at the northeast wing and another at the southeast. The southeastern part is free of decoration but the northeastern part is adorned by plaster images of plants and birds possibly dating back to the Qajar period.

Malek Zuzun Mosque

Malek Uzun Mosque is located at Zuzun village at a distance of 66 km from Khawaf towards southeast. This mosque is the second dated mosque belonging to Khawrazmi period. According to inscriptions set at the facing and the qebleh portico the mosque was constructed during years 615 to 616 A.H. Presently the mosque covers two porticoes facing each other. Lack of decoration of the prayer niche in the mosque which is the most important part of the mosque proves that due to the Mongol attack this mosque was never completed (Adl, Relics, p. 234).

The qebleh portico is nearly 30 meter high and is facing a smaller portico to the east. The reason why the qebleh is not facing south is that its inscription at the western portico resembles the Syrian seminaries which are built according to commandments of Hanafi faith (Adl, p. 237-239).

Two brick columns stand on the two sides of the western portico but a great part of the brick work has been destroyed. The portico facing is a mixture of brick and tile with a brick inscription in Kufi script dated 615 A.H. Also the Spar (the middle partition of the portico) is adorned by brick and tile and a turquoise tile inscription in Kufi script dated 616 A.H. (Adl, 235). What is interesting is that polished enameled and simple tiles are used for the inscription (Adl, 236). The roof of the portico has crashed but the remains prove that it was an arched and ribbed roof.

The eastern portico facing had also been decorated with a brick inscription and decorations with a mixture of turquoise tiles in geometrical forms or knots but the greater part has crashed. The ceiling is also decorated with false arches with a mixture of bricks and turquoise tiles of which only a part has survived at the end.

Sangan Congregation Mosque south of Khawaf

This mosque is located in Sangan District 19 km southeast of Khawaf. At first the mosque had owned two porticoes. The Qebleh portico is facing the west which proves that it has followed Hanafi doctrines. Another portico had been standing opposite the qebleh portico to the east which has been destroyed by earthquake and a Shabestan (nocturnal place of rest) has been built in its place. But the remains of the portico roof can be seen on the wall of the Shabestan. What is interesting in this mosque is that the earthquake has bent the columns of the Qebleh portico so that the distance between the columns at the base is shorter than that under the ceiling. This mosque which is still frequented by followers of Hanafi faith has no inscription to show the date of construction. However a study of the images in the two porticoes and their arched and ribbed roof and full resemblance of the brick decorations of the portico facing the eastern wall of Gonabad Mosque indicates that most probably the Sangan Mosque was built simultaneously with the Gonabad Mosque.

Ferdows Congregation Mosque

Some researchers believe that this mosque was constructed during the seventh century A.H. (Godar, 318) and possessed only one portico, but the records kept at the Cultural Heritage Organization briefly say this mosque was built in 400 A.H. However the decoration of ceiling of the southern (qebleh) portico with arched and ribbed roof shows that its tile decorations is similar to that of Zuzun and Gonabad mosques. In this portico also a mixture of tile and bricks is used and its design is completely similar to double portico Khorassani mosques with an exception that the northern Shabestan built during Qajar period has replaced the portico which had been destroyed by earthquake. Thus one can assume that Ferdows Congregation Mosque was a double portico mosque in the Khorassani style which was constructed almost simultaneously with Zuzun and Gonabad mosques.

Roqeh Congregation Mosque

Roqeh Congregation Mosque has been built at Roqeh village at a distance of 18 km from Bashravieh District, Ferdows City. The mosque is constructed of unbaked brick and mortar and is equipped with three porticoes at west, east and south. The architecture of the southern portico which has been built at a later date and probably during Safavid period completely differs from the eastern and western portico. Therefore, originally the mosque had possessed only two porticoes at the western and eastern wing. A simple plaster decorated prayer niche at the Spar of the eastern portico shows that the qebleh has followed Hanafi doctrines. No inscription is available in the mosque to specify its date but the design of the two porticoes and their arched and ribbed roofs prove that they were raised during the Khawrazmshahi period.

Faromad Congregation Mosque

Faromad Congregation Mosque is located at Faromad 165 km east of Shahrud. This mosque is equipped with two porticoes at the southern and northern wings and two verandas at the eastern and western wing. From the point of view of brick decorations and mixture of tile and brick, plaster Quranic verse inscriptions we believe that Faromad Congregation Mosque is the most beautiful mosque in Iran. None of the inscriptions in the mosque show the date of construction or the name of the builder to prove when the mosque was built but its double porticoes, arched and ribbed roofs, ample polished bricks mixed with turquoise and azure tiles and two columns at the sides set to engross the porticoes prove that they are similar to Gonabad and Malak Zuzun mosques whose inscription say they were constructed during the Khawrazmshahi period.

Now after a brief description of Khawrazmshahi mosques we will compare this architecture with Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods to give a better picture of Khawrazmshahi architecture.

Comparison of Khawrazmshahi and Seljuk mosque architecture

Khawrazmshahi architecture is a continuation of Seljuk architecture and is similar in building material, decoration and design. The Khawrazmshai building material is the same used in all Islamic periods i.e. brick, unbaked brick, plaster, lime, rubble stone, and tile. The oldest mosques using such material belong to Seljuk Dynasty (Kiani, introduction, p. 15). The Seljuk architecture is dignified and solid from the foundation whereas in Khawrazmshahi mosques the building is less solid and normally the internal walls are hidden from outside view and the middle layer of the walls are constructed of unbaked bricks. However, Malek Zuzun Mosque is exceptional in this regard.

The Seljuk mosques are composed of four porticoes and that of Khawrazmi period is made of two porticoes. Meanwhile four portico mosques is not unknown in Khorassani architecture and the Nezamieh Seminary in Khargerd possesses four porticoes. According to an inscription in the seminary this building was constructed by Nezam ul-Molk during the Seljuk rule (Godar, Relics, 241-243).

Contrary to important Seljuk mosques in which the Maqsoureh (Imam's quarter) is distinct and is domed, in Khawrazmshahi mosques the Maqsoureh is not separate from other parts of the mosque. Here the porticoes are lofty and distinct from Seljuk porticoes. For example the elevation of Malek Zuzun portico which was completed before Mongol invasion is 30 meters. (Adl, p. 233). The Khawrazmshahi porticoes are lengthy and narrow and higher than Seljuk porticoes. Two columns have been erected at the front of Khawrazmshahi porticoes to engross its size. One can also compare the Seljuk mosque portico in Isfahan Congregation Mosque with those buildings during the Khawrazmshahi period. The roof of the Khawrazmshahi porticoes are arched and ribbed and differ from Seljuk roofs.

Like the Seljuk period the Khawrazmshahi artists have employed bricks as a decorative material in the mosques (Varjavand, Decorations, p. 318 and 319). The mixture of tile and bricks which started in the middle of Seljuk rule to beautify mosques became more frequent in Khawrazmshahi period with this difference that during Seljuk period only a single colored tile was mixed with bricks whereas in later Khawrazmshahi periods turquoise, azure and white tiles are used in Malek Zuzun Mosque which is an important step in architecture that laid the foundation for invention of Moareq (inlaid tiles) in Timurid era (Kiani, p. 177; Adl, 234).

Comparison of Khawrazmshahi and Ilkhanid mosque architecture

Nearly at the end of seventh century A.H. the victorious Mongols who had not imported culture to Khorassan (Pope, Relations, 67) were influenced by Islamic and Iranian traditions and started to rebuild the destruction caused by their ancestors. Reconstruction throughout the country started from Hulakukhan's time when the country achieved stability and artists found a peaceful environment to work and add to the internal and external decorations of buildings.

Ilkhanid architecture was in fact a continuation of Khawrazmshahi architecture in the same way that the Khawrazmshahi architecture was a continuation of Seljuk art. The building material used in Ilkhanid structures were similar to those used in Khawrazmshahi mosques in Khorassan. The only difference between these two is that no outer facing of Khawrazmshahi mosques employ stones and the stone is used only to lay the foundation of buildings. Whereas a number of Ilkhanid buildings such as the portals of Marand, Sarcham and Qab caravansaries and Marand Congregation Mosques have used stones. Use of stone in such places in the building which is visible is a native Azarbaijani custom which was employed during the Ilkhanid period (Wilber , p. 55, 56).

The majority of important Seljuk mosques contain four porticoes including the Varamin Congregation Mosque, (Pirnia, Methods, p. 22), but as we said before the Khawrazmshahi mosques possessed two lofty porticos which the method continued during the Ilkhanid period as well. But what is unique in Ilkhanid period is completion of the double layer brick domes and its application in outstanding religious buildings. The Sultanieh dome which is the biggest dome in Iran is an example of such architecture (Pirnia , p. 215, Wilber, p. 67). The Ilkhanid mosque portal is higher than Khawrazmshahi mosques and two minarets at the two sides of the entrance portico adorns their mosques (Wilber p.43), whereas the only sample of minarets surviving from Khawrazmshahi period are remnants of the minarets of Gonabad Congregation Mosque located on the two sides of the northern portico.

As mentioned before like the Khawrazmshahi porticoes the porticoes built by Ilkhanid architects are higher than Seljuk ones. In other words compared to the height of the portico the entrance is larger. Meanwhile in order to engross the size of the portico two columns are set at the sides of the porticoes at the facing. An example of such architecture can be found in the tomb of Sheikh Abdolsamad in Natanz (Wilber 83). The ceiling of Khawrazmshahi portico is arched and ribbed and differ from that used by Ilkhanid masons.

False arches were popular decoration in Iran during the first years after advent of Islam in Iran. This art was propagated, and completed during Seljuk and Khawrazmshahi periods and became popular and refined during Ilkhanid reign (Wilber 76). Compared to Khawrazmshahi mosques the brick decorations during Ilkhanid period was rare (Pirnia, Methods, p. 200). The projecting and polished stones with belt-like designs used in the eastern facing of the Gonabad Congregation Mosque's yard and the front of the Sangan Congregation Mosque's qebleh portico is an imitation of the entrance portico of Bayazid Bastami's convent in Bastam, but is less mature and less refined. The mixture of bricks during Ilkhanid period is much more diversified in scope and is ornamented with geometrical shapes and contains sacred phrases and names (Wilber 54). During that period the prayer niches were also tiled (Wilber 80, 81) but during the Khawrazmshahi period in Khorassan no such mosques were found. As a whole one can say that compared to Khawrazmshahi period the Ilkhanid period used more assorted tiles and besides turquoise, azure and white colors used in Khawrazmshahi period they added, green black and gray tiles to the decorations (Wilber 61).

Considering what has been said above although the buildings belonging to Khawrazmshahi period have been attributed to Seljuk or Ilkhanid periods, one can conclude the it is not so. During Khawrazmshahi period a series of new arts and architectural styles were developed which has continued until the Mongol invasion (Hutt., 20) and the Khawrazmshahi architecture and art is in fact a continuation of Seljuk architecture. In other words Khawrazmshahi architecture has been lost between Seljuks and Ilkhans."

Wikipedia is not a serious reference tool - Yahoo! News

2005-12-12T05:54:00.000-08:00

Man Apologizes After Fake Wikipedia Post - Yahoo! News: "Man Apologizes After Fake Wikipedia Post 45 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A man who posted false information on an online encyclopedia linking a prominent journalist to the Kennedy assassinations says he was playing a trick on a co-worker.

Brian Chase, 38, ended up resigning from his job and apologizing to John Seigenthaler Sr., the former publisher of the Tennessean newspaper and founding editorial director of USA Today.

"I knew from the news that Mr. Seigenthaler was looking for who did it, and I did it, so I needed to let him know in particular that it wasn't anyone out to get him, that it was done as a joke that went horribly, horribly wrong," Chase was quoted as saying in Sunday editions of The Tennessean.

Chase said he didn't know the free Internet encyclopedia called Wikipedia was used as a serious reference tool.

The biography he posted, which has since been replaced, falsely stated that Seigenthaler was linked to the Kennedy assassinations and had lived in the Soviet Union from 1971 to 1984.

The entry motivated Seigenthaler to write an op-ed piece for USA Today blasting Wikipedia's credibility. He described himself as a close friend of Robert Kennedy and said he had worked with President Kennedy. He said "the most painful thing was to have them suggest that I was suspected of their assassination."

Seigenthaler said he doesn't plan to pursue legal action against Chase.

He also said he doesn't support more regulations of the Internet, but he said that he fears "Wikipedia is inviting it by its allowing irresponsible vandals to write anything they want about anybody."

Chase said he created the fake online biography in May as a gag to shock a co-worker who was familiar with the Seigenthaler family. He resigned as an operations manager at a Nashville delivery company as a result of the debacle."

Iran Daily - Kish Underground Tourist Resort Operational By 2007

2005-12-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Iran Daily - Arts & Culture - 12/05/05: "Kish Underground Tourist Resort Operational By 2007

TEHRAN, Dec. 4--’Haftkhan-e Rostam’, a story about the ordeals of Rostam, a hero in Ferdowsi’s masterpiece epic Shahnameh, to establish his character as a typical Iranian who respects the truth and refrains from being contaminated by lies and injustice, will be inscribed on the walls of an underground town being built in the Persian Gulf resort island of Kish.
According to a CHN report, water canal (kariz) which used to provide drinking water from underground sources for more than 2,500 years has now dried up and Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) is turning the underground canals into a city which will cover an area of three square kilometers.
Architects said that they would safeguard the historical texture of the canals and would put the site to a variety of applications to make it attractive for tourists.
The underground town will cover an area of 63,000 square meters in future. Restaurants, museums, amphitheaters, conference halls and arts galleries will be built in the historical site.
’Haftkhan of Rostam’ will be depicted on sections of the walls of the underground town to help tourists become acquainted with Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and get an insight into the rich Iranian rich culture.
The report further said that both traditional and modern restaurants will be built in the underground town and the handicrafts section will be inaugurated there to display Persian carpets and other crafts for tourists.
In the meantime, a tourist center will be established with several streets and shops to display traditional costumes. Dramas from western Iran will also be performed for the tourists.
Water canals were situated at a depth of 16 meters and the ceiling is eight meters high. Its ceiling is made of shells and corals which are 270 million years old and each of them has a special ID card.
Experts believe that the site will turn into a unique tourist resort thanks to its environment and pearls or corals from the depths of oceans which can be viewed by tourists.
Some believe that the mud from the canals has medical application and several other utility.
An investor in the project to build the underground town, Mansour Haji Hosseini said that construction works have been underway since 1999 and the project is expected to be completed by 2007.
Haji Hosseini said that the project has so far shown a physical progress of 70 percent.
He said that tourist boats with seating arrangements for 12 people will operate in the canals of the underground city."

Wikipedia is a flawed and irresponsible research tool.- Yahoo! News

2005-12-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

A false Wikipedia 'biography' - Yahoo! News: "A false Wikipedia 'biography' By John Seigenthaler
Wed Nov 30, 6:50 AM ET

"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960's. For a brief time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven."

- Wikipedia

This is a highly personal story about Internet character assassination. It could be your story.

I have no idea whose sick mind conceived the false, malicious "biography" that appeared under my name for 132 days on Wikipedia, the popular, online, free encyclopedia whose authors are unknown and virtually untraceable. There was more:

"John Seigenthaler moved to the Soviet Union in 1971, and returned to the United States in 1984," Wikipedia said. "He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

At age 78, I thought I was beyond surprise or hurt at anything negative said about me. I was wrong. One sentence in the biography was true. I was Robert Kennedy's administrative assistant in the early 1960s. I also was his pallbearer. It was mind-boggling when my son, John Seigenthaler, journalist with NBC News, phoned later to say he found the same scurrilous text on Reference.com and Answers.com.

I had heard for weeks from teachers, journalists and historians about "the wonderful world of Wikipedia," where millions of people worldwide visit daily for quick reference "facts," composed and posted by people with no special expertise or knowledge - and sometimes by people with malice.

At my request, executives of the three websites now have removed the false content about me. But they don't know, and can't find out, who wrote the toxic sentences.

Anonymous author

I phoned Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder and asked, "Do you ... have any way to know who wrote that?"

"No, we don't," he said. Representatives of the other two websites said their computers are programmed to copy data verbatim from Wikipedia, never checking whether it is false or factual.

Naturally, I want to unmask my "biographer." And, I am interested in letting many people know that Wikipedia is a flawed and irresponsible research tool.

But searching cyberspace for the identity of people who post spurious information can be frustrating. I found on Wikipedia the registered IP (Internet Protocol) number of my "biographer"- 65-81-97-208. I traced it to a customer of BellSouth Internet. That company advertises a phone number to report "Abuse Issues." An electronic voice said all complaints must be e-mailed. My two e-mails were answered by identical form letters, advising me that the company would conduct an investigation but might not tell me the results. It was signed "Abuse Team."

Wales, Wikipedia's founder, told me that BellSouth would not be helpful. "We have trouble with people posting abusive things over and over and over," he said. "We block their IP numbers, and they sneak in another way. So we contact the service providers, and they are not very responsive."

After three weeks, hearing nothing further about the Abuse Team investigation, I phoned BellSouth's Atlanta corporate headquarters, which led to conversations between my lawyer and BellSouth's counsel. My only remote chance of getting the name, I learned, was to file a "John or Jane Doe" lawsuit against my "biographer." Major communications Internet companies are bound by federal privacy laws that protect the identity of their customers, even those who defame online. Only if a lawsuit resulted in a court subpoena would BellSouth give up the name.

Little legal recourse

Federal law also protects online corporations - BellSouth, AOL, MCI Wikipedia, etc. - from libel lawsuits. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996, specifically states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." That legalese means that, unlike print and broadcast companies, online service providers cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others.

Recent low-profile court decisions document that Congress effectively has barred defamation in cyberspace. Wikipedia's website acknowledges that it is not responsible for inaccurate information, but Wales, in a recent C-Span interview with Brian Lamb, insisted that his website is accountable and that his community of thousands of volunteer editors (he said he has only one paid employee) corrects mistakes within minutes.

My experience refutes that. My "biography" was posted May 26. On May 29, one of Wales' volunteers "edited" it only by correcting the misspelling of the word "early." For four months, Wikipedia depicted me as a suspected assassin before Wales erased it from his website's history Oct. 5. The falsehoods remained on Answers.com and Reference.com for three more weeks.

In the C-Span interview, Wales said Wikipedia has "millions" of daily global visitors and is one of the world's busiest websites. His volunteer community runs the Wikipedia operation, he said. He funds his website through a non-profit foundation and estimated a 2006 budget of "about a million dollars."

And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research - but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects. Congress has enabled them and protects them.

When I was a child, my mother lectured me on the evils of "gossip." She held a feather pillow and said, "If I tear this open, the feathers will fly to the four winds, and I could never get them back in the pillow. That's how it is when you spread mean things about people."

For me, that pillow is a metaphor for Wikipedia.

John Seigenthaler, a retired journalist, founded The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. He also is a former editorial page editor at USA TODAY."

Bloomberg.com: - Billionaire Nasser Khalili Finances Art Collection With Property Deals

2005-11-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg.com: U.K.: "Billionaire Khalili Finances Art Collection With Property Deals
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Art collector Nasser Khalili is planning to build a 100 million pound ($174 million) London office building. Such property deals have allowed him to buy enough art to get on Forbes magazine's list of billionaires.

``The art is far more valuable than a similar investment in real estate would have been,'' says Khalili, 59, who runs his art and charities from a building off London's Berkeley Square. ``There's no comparison.''

The Iranian-born collector sank $500 million of his real estate earnings into 25,000 artworks -- Islamic, Japanese, and Spanish -- that he says appreciated 15 to 50 times over 35 years. Investment Property Databank, which tracks real estate returns, says $1 invested in U.K. commercial real estate in 1970 was worth $50 at the end of 2004 as a result of capital gains and reinvested rental income.

Khalili's book on his collection, ``The Timeline History of Islamic Art and Architecture'' (Worth Press, 186 pages, 30 pounds) is set to be published in the U.K. on Nov. 21, and he's scouting for a London building to house his art.

The book, which may come out in the U.S. next year, is a pictorial history of Islamic culture, mostly illustrated with his own hoard of 20,000 Korans, coins, ceramics, carpets and weapons from the 7th to early 20th century. Forbes valued his art at only twice its cost, he says. His real estate is worth about 80 million pounds, he says.

Khalili shared Forbes'S 620th slot with DreamWorks SKG's Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is working on ``Shrek 3,'' and Tudor Investment Corp. hedge-fund manager Paul Jones II. Yet he says, ``I have never regarded art as a financial investment.''

Status and Value

Art, a status symbol for the rich, and an essential commodity for countries building museums, is attracting investors' attention as prices rocket. Contemporary art values have nearly quadrupled since 1995, beating stocks even after deducting the high cost of buying, selling, insuring and storing works. Khalili says a Koran that cost him 12,000 pounds 15 years ago is now worth 4 million pounds.

Yet the returns on art bought at today's high prices may be uncertain, just as anyone who buys a stock after a run-up can't match the profit of early investors.

``A collector today could buy one or two pieces a year, but he would have to pay a king's ransom for them,'' says Khalili, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with big eyebrows and a brown suit made by a retired Savile Row tailor.

Collecting Potential

Sam Fogg, a London dealer in manuscripts and Islamic and Asian artworks, says prices for some Islamic manuscripts and Korans are no higher than they were 20 years ago. ``It's still possible to start a collection,'' he says.

Khalili's real estate company, Favermead Ltd., applied for planning permission to build eight stories of offices in London's Holborn district. He funds his art through a trust, whose sales have included three big shopping centers in the U.K. and Scotland and one of the world's most expensive houses. It went for 50 million pounds to Bernie Ecclestone, part owner of the Formula One motor-racing series, who resold it.

The trust spent so much redoing the former Kensington Palace Gardens embassy that Khalili says it lost money on the sale. He still buys an occasional artwork, and says he doesn't care if prices are up or down.

Price Indifference

``After you've made a certain amount of money, an extra 10 million pounds doesn't matter,'' he says. ``Even if you have 50 rooms in your house, you can sleep in only one.''

Khalili, son of an Iranian art dealer, began trading Islamic art in 1968, while studying computer science in New York. A Persian lacquer pen box that he paid $80 for -- his first purchase -- may be worth 25,000 pounds today, he says.

He also supplied collectors. He bought 50 pieces for $100,000 in the 1970s, he says, reselling items he didn't want for $500,000. Moving to London in 1978, he gave up art dealing for real estate. ``Art is for passion, and real estate is for financial gain,'' he says.

U.K. and French auctions were his hunting ground. ``A lot of French people were fascinated by the culture of Islam,'' he says. ``They were selling because prices were good.''

Prices slipped after 1979's Iranian revolution. ``There were hiccups, but not for quality objects,'' he says. ``Iranians sold negligible amounts of art after the revolution, compared with what was in the West already.''

He made mistakes. ``In the 1970s, I used to tell Christie's, this isn't a 17th-century vase, it's 15th century. Sotheby's Islamic specialist once said to me, `It doesn't make sense. You're going to pay more, if we catalog it correctly.'

Soulful Duty

``I believed it was my duty to the soul of the artist,'' Khalili says. ``I still believe in it, though I don't do that anymore.''

In the 1980s, he paid a London dealer 870,000 pounds for a dozen objects, notably 30,000 pounds for a ceramic bird. It was a fake, though it had a seal of approval from Oxford University.

``I wasn't the only one who was cheated,'' he says. ``The dealer did it to others.'' The dealer, who's still in business, was selling objects to fund a new gallery, he says.

Oxford had tested the base of the pottery, which was genuine. After paying for it, Khalili remained suspicious. He put it in water, and the base separated from the bird, which was fake.

``It changed the rules for testing all pottery worldwide,'' he says. ``You don't just test the base, you test in different places.''

Vanished Rulers

Khalili was probably the biggest buyer at London Islamic auctions in the 1980s, says Christie's International. He bought ``heavily'' till mid-1995, Khalili says.

He has 6,000 coins and 3,000 seals from the late 7th to the 20th centuries, including about 500 unknown and unpublished coins carrying the names of short-lived rulers.

``They ruled for a very short time, so there's no other record of their rule,'' he says.

In the early 1990s, he stopped attending auctions. ``I used to put my hand up, and another 50 people would put their hands up. They said, `He knows what's he's doing.'''

The Islamic art market has had a shakeout after the removal of a big buyer. In February, Qatari authorities began investigating Sheikh Saud Mohammed al-Thani in connection with his purchases for five national museums.

At its main Islamic sale in October, Sotheby's Holdings Inc. took in 1.7 million pounds compared with 4.4 million pounds in 2004.

`Educating the Masses'

``When you've had a buyer who was prepared to pay almost any price, the market takes time to settle down,'' says William Robinson, director of Christie's Islamic art department, whose top- priced lot went unsold.

Khalili says he left a 170,000-pound bid with Christie's in October for a 17th-century prayer carpet. It went for 250,000 pounds, and he didn't get it.

``Prices are still strong for the best objects,'' he says.

Qatari museums are buying again, rejoining Kuwaiti and Turkish collectors, Khalili says. ``They've all realized that the shortest route to educating the masses is through history and culture,'' he says.

Khalili's other rivals are Copenhagen's David Collection, Lisbon's Gulbenkian Museum, Paris's Louvre, London's British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum, and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Museum Project

Most of his art is in strong rooms in London. In 1992, he offered his collection to the U.K., asking for a building to house it. He got no response.

``Islamic art then was not so hot,'' he says. Endowing a museum will cost at least 50 million pounds, he says. ``Eventually we will have a museum, please God.''

He has held 40 exhibitions over 15 years, and spent 5 million pounds on producing catalogs. ``I collect to inform and educate people about a culture that contains 20 percent of the population of the world,'' he says. His Japanese art will be featured at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum next year -- one of about 40 loans he has made to museums.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Linda Sandler in London at lsandler@bloomberg.net"