Archaeologists Find Achaemenid Predecessor of Yazd

TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) -- A team of experts from the Yazd Cultural Heritage Center recently discovered the Achaemenid era predecessor of the city of Yazd.
Covering some 500 hectares, the ancient city is located about 12 kilometers away from the modern city of Yazd, YCHC Director Mohammad-Hassan Khademzadeh told the Persian service of CHN on Friday.
The team has unearthed ruins of the city as well as shards, ancient kilns, and masses of kilns’ clinkers and pieces of glass, he added.
Khademzadeh said the discovery marked a turning point for the archaeological excavations of the region and the studies on the central Iranian Plateau.
They have also found ruins of some qanats (underground aqueducts) at a nearby site. They surmise that the upcoming studies will likely provide evidence proving that qanats were in use in pre-Achaemenid times.
“There will be a major breakthrough in the study of the history of qanats in Iran if the upcoming operations show that qanats played a key role in the establishment of the city,” Khademzadeh noted.
Up to the now, the Achaemenid era qanats near the city of Bam in the southern province of Kerman are the most ancient underground aqueducts discovered in Iran.
There is no historical evidence regarding the founding of Yazd, but the city became esteemed for its silk textiles during the Sassanid Empire (224-651 CE).
Khademzadeh believes that the upcoming excavations will shed light on the beginnings of urban life in the region.
There are many Zoroastrian religious sites in the modern city of Yazd and the nearby regions, which make it a center for the followers of the ancient Iranian religion.
The city also is home to several major Islamic monuments.


Ukraine Conductor Performs Iranian Songs

TEHRAN, May 17 (Press TV) - The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, conducted by Vladimir Sirenko, will be performing two original Iranian musical compositions.
The Orchestra will perform Iran's Osyan (Revolt) by Hossein Alizadeh and Kalidar by Mohammad Reza Darvishi at the Interior Ministry Hall in Tehran.
Sirenko is considered as one of the best young conductors of the time. Since 1991, he has served as the Music Director for the Ukrainian State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra.
Sirenko has also appeared as guest conductor with many orchestras in Europe and the US.


Khayyam Embodies Philosophical, Religious Questions of Persian Mind

TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) -- Scholar Majdeddin Keyvani is convinced that Khayyam embodies questions of the Iranian mind over generations.Keyvani has translated a work on Khayyam by Mehdi Amin-Razavi entitled “The Wine of Wisdom: The Life, Poetry and Philosophy of Omar Khayyam”.
He said that Khayyam was popularized in the Western world when English writer Edward FitzGerald translated part of Kahyyam’s rubaiyyat into English, even though Khayyam was first introduced to the West in 1770.
“FitzGerald lived in a world different from that of Khayyam. There was a gulf of eighth to ten centuries between them. FitzGerald was under the influence of his won philosophy and culture when he translated the works of Khayyam into English. Moreover, the differences between the two languages and cultures caused differences between the Persian original and the English version,” he continued as carried by the Persian service of ISNA.
It seems that FitzGerald preferred to focus on those parts of Khayyam’s poems that advocate a hedonistic philosophy.
“When dealing with complex issues for which no answer seems to exist, Khayyam invites people to be merry and seize the day. But someone who does not know Khayyam and his works deeply enough, will think it is an invitation to winebibbing. What Khayyam means is quite different from what a common person would imagine,” he explained.
He also stated, “We can talk about the philosopher aspect of Khayyam even more than his poet aspect. He is a very thoughtful poet. I think the instability of the world plays a central role in his thought.”
He also remarked that Khayyam needs to be introduced better in the country, concluding, “Though Khayyam’s other aspects are being gradually understood, they still need to be studied and introduced.”
Khayyam! why weep you that your life is bad?
What boots it thus to mourn? Rather be glad.
He that sins not can make no claim to mercy,
Mercy was made for sinners, be not sad.
Omar Khayyam (1048-1131 CE)
Ghiyas od-Din Abul-Fath Omar ibn Ibrahim Khayyam Neyshaburi was a Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer. He was born in Neyshabur, now part of Khorasan Razavi Province in Iran.
Although better known as a poet, his substantial mathematical contributions include his “Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra”, which gives a geometric method for solving cubic equations by intersecting a hyperbola with a circle. He also contributed to some amendments to Persian calendar.
Khayyam derived the binominal theorem before it was formulated by Isaac Newton in 17th century.
Outside Iran, he is best known for his quatrains, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, popularized through Edward FitzGerald’s re-created translation:
“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”


534-Year-Old Gravestone Discoverd

TEHRAN, May 17 (Press TV) - A gravestone inscription dating back 534 years has been discovered in Tarom county in Iran's northwestern province of Zanjan.
Carved on the gravestone are a number of sentences in Arabic, featuring the name of the deceased as well as the date of his death in Naskh calligraphy.
The carved data on the inscription reveals it was a gravestone dating back to 1474 AD and belonging to a man named Yousef Vardoudi.
Dating from the Aq Qoyunlu era (1378-1508 AD), the inscription has features that categorize the stone in the ornamental class.
A view of Tarom County in Iran's northwestern province of Zanjan


Iranian Directors in Dutch Workshop

TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) -- A number of Iranian stage directors are invited to a workshop on movement and creativity in theater which will be held in Amsterdam from June 1 to 9.
Stage directors Reza Guran, Hamid Purazari, Yaser Khaseb and Farindokht Zahedi will participate in the event sponsored by the Theater Institute Netherland (TIN).


Shahnameh on Display at IIDCYA Museum

TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) -- A collection of children’s book illustrations on the theme of Shahnameh stories are on display at the museum of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA).
Works by veteran Iranian illustrators including Farshid Mesqali, Ali-Akbar Saqdeqi, Nureddin Zarinkelk are also on display.
The exhibit will run until June 19 at the Children’s Museum located on Hejab St., Keshavarz Blvd.


2,500-Year-Old city unearthed

TEHRAN, May 17 (Press TV) - During recent excavations, Iranian archeologists have unearthed the ruins and the first location of the Achaemenid city of Yazd.
The excavations revealed a 500-hectare city belonging to the Achaemenid era (550 BC-330 BC) as well as artworks of the Achaemenid, Parthian (250 BC-AD 226) and Sassanid (226-651) eras.
Located at a distance of 10-12 kilometers from Iran's central city of Yazd, the ancient urban center enjoys a history of around 2,500 years.
The archeologists have succeeded in unearthing various architectural artworks, clay wares, kilns and even glass in the historical site.
A view of the central Iranian city of Yazd


Shahrdad Rohani's Concert in Tehran in May

TEHRAN, May 17 (MNA) -- Acclaimed Iranian composer Shahrdad Rohani is planning to give a concert in Tehran in late May.
Rohani will be performing his new compositions, playing the piano himself, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Friday.
A fifteen-year old cellist is scheduled to accompany the group and will be performing several pieces by famous musicians including a piece by German composer Felix Mendelssohn, it added
The recently-released album of Rohani contains all his compositions over the past 30 years. The pieces are performed by Slovakia Symphony Orchestra under the supervision of Rohani himself.
Rohani’s last concert was at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall in 2003.
Shahrdad Rohani is best known for arranging and conducting the Yanni Live at the Acropolis Concert, an open-air concert with the London Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in the Parthenon, Athens, Greece.
Rohani is the music director and conductor of the COTA symphony orchestra in Los Angeles. He has appeared as a guest conductor to a number of prestigious orchestras including the London Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, San Diego symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic and the American Youth Symphony, among others.
In 1998, Rohani was commissioned by the Thai government and the 13th Asian Olympic Games committee to compose and conduct music pieces for the inaugural ceremonies. His work became the most popular song of the Asian Games.
Shahrdad Rohani


Plastic Bag Policy 'a Diversion'

LONDON, May 17 (BBC) - Plans to ban or charge for single-use plastic bags are a diversion from the real environmental issues, one of the government's own advisers has said.
Waste and recycling expert Professor Chris Coggins said such a government policy allowed the supermarkets to pass on responsibility to customers.
He said supermarkets could be helping to influence packaging rather than shifting the problem on to consumers.
The government said the public wanted to see action to curb use of the bags
Visible litter
"Supermarkets have a much bigger role to play in influencing the packaging they use," said Professor Chris Coggins, who was appointed research managing agent for the Department of Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) waste research programme in 2005.
"They [supermarkets] have power in terms of what they buy and how it's packed. The problem is, by focusing on the consumer end, they are to some extent diverting attention from what they should be doing."
In a BBC interview, Prof Coggins, who also works on the sustainable urban environment (waste) programme, said: "Plastic bags are a very visible form of litter but in reality they are a very small proportion of waste and oil use.
"So in overall resource terms, it's a visual rather than mainstream issue."
Environment minister Joan Ruddock admitted single use bags were only a small part of the waste stream.
But she added: "We know that the public is on our side. They want action. It's very symbolic of our throw-away society and so we do need to do something quite dramatically to curb their use."
Trivial issue
British retailers hand out an estimated 13 billion free plastic bags every year, which take about 1,000 years to decay.
The government has set a voluntary target of cutting plastic bag usage by a quarter every year.
It has also proposed stricter measures on retailers as part of the proposed climate change bill, should that target not be met.
The retail sector comprises about 7% of the total UK building energy consumption, emitting over 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, according to the Carbon Trust.
But the proposed new legislation has not been welcomed by retailers.
Jane Milne, from the British Retail Consortium, which represents Britain's supermarkets, said: "There are a lot of important provisions in the climate change bill which we do support but we think this is a rather trivial issue to add onto it.
"It's not just a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it's a steamroller to crack a walnut. It really is not the best use of our resources in terms of all the issues that we need to be addressing."
Lack of uniformity
Since 6 May, one of Britain's largest retailers, Marks & Spencer, has been charging its customers 5p for each disposable plastic bag as part of its corporate environmental policy.
The move follows a trial at 50 stores in Northern Ireland and the south-west of England, which saw demand for polythene bags fall by more than 70%.
If that trend is copied throughout the UK, M&S said it could reduce the number of bags used by 280 million each year.
Other supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury's have their own policies for cutting plastic bag use among customers.
Discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl have been charging for bags for a number of years.
This array of strategies to combat single-use plastic bags by supermarkets has also been criticised by Prof Coggins as confusing for shoppers looking for uniformity nationwide.
In 2002, the Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to charge for plastic bags - a policy which cut usage by 90% almost overnight.
Although the scheme has been beneficial for the environment, the measure
was initially introduced to reduce litter.
Prof Coggins says varied supermarket bag policies are confusing shoppers
An Iraqi detainee gestures toward US soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. - Courtasy (AFP)