SASANIKA PROJECT and its aims
Professor Touraj Daryaee
One of the most remarkable empires of the first millennium CE was that of the Sasanian Persian Empire. Emanating from southern Iran’s Persis region in the third century AD, the Sasanian domain eventually encompassed not only modern day Iran and Iraq, but also the greater part of Central Asia and the Near East, including at times Israel, Turkey, and Egypt. This geographically diverse empire brought together a striking array ethnicities and religious practices. Arameans, Arabs, Armenians, Persians, Romans, Goths as well as a host of other peoples all lived and labored under Sasanian rule.
Conference on Iran shows scientific
interest in Iranian world much alive
Darius Kadivar
An international congress on "The Iron Age in the Iranian World" was held with "big success" in the historical Belgian city of Ghent, IRNA reported from Brussels.
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Opinion |
Ramin
Parham
Draw a
virtual line linking North Cape, New Zealand, to Kap Morris,
Greenland; And a second such line linking the Falkland, in the
South, and the Wrangle Island, in the Arctic North. The two
lines would cross between the 50o longitude east and
the 30o latitude north, in the heart of the “island
of the world”: Iran.
Amil Imani
Sometimes I wonder why I am
so restless, why I cannot cease thinking! It
seems like the world we live in reveals incessantly, at
certain moments or
circumstances, just how little we are and how vast the
universe is.
Adlan Parsa
(Persian)
BAzgoshAee-ye
Parvandey-e 28 MordAd
Interview with Dr. Mahmoud Kashani
From ISNA
(Persian)
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Nobel Peace Prize |
In the name of the God of Creation and Wisdom
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Honourable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel extremely honoured that today my voice is reaching the people of the world from this distinguished venue. This great honour has been bestowed upon me by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. I salute the spirit of Alfred Nobel and hail all true followers of his path. This year, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a woman from Iran, a Muslim country in the Middle East.
Andrei Sakharov – Nobel Lecture
Peace, Progress, Human Rights
Honored
members of the Nobel Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Peace, progress, human rights - these three goals are insolubly
linked to one another: it is impossible to achieve one of these
goals if the other two are ignored. This is the dominant idea
that provides the main theme of my lecture. I am grateful that
this great and significant prize, the Nobel Peace Prize, has
been awarded to me, and that I have been given the opportunity
of speaking to you here today. It was particularly gratifying
for me to note the Committee's citation, which emphasizes the
defense of human rights as the only sure basis for genuine and
lasting international cooperation.
(The Night of the Fortieth)
Dr. J. Doostkhah
Yalda, a Syriac word imported into the Persian language by the Syriac Christians means birth (tavalud and melaad are from the same origin). It is a relatively recent arrival and it was very likely refereed to the birth of Jesus Christ (Melaad e Massih) in the past. It is used interchangeably with ‘Shab e Cheleh’, a Zoroastrian celebration of Winter Solstice around December 21st. Forty days before the next Persian festival ‘Jashn e Sadeh’: this night has been celebrated in countless cultures for thousands of years. The ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia (God of Agriculture, Saturn) and Sol Invicta (Sun God) are amongst the best known in the Western world.
Nazli
Irani Monahan
Iran’s unique geographic and historic position within the 5 continents has made it an ideal territory for the convergence of various cultures and civilizations. Located in the heart of the Middle East and on the Ancient Silk Road, it is where the cultures of China and India met the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures.
The Origins of the first Christmas
David Keys
It has long been known that 25 December was not the real date of Christ's birth and that the decision to turn it into Jesus's birthday was made by Constantine, the Roman Emperor, in the early 4th century AD.
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Book Review |
Shahbanoo Farah's Memoir, a review
Franz-Olivier Giesberier
The "Mémoires" of Farah Pahlavi is the sort of book which should become mandatory for school children to read. It would allow future generations, force-fed on "political correctness", to rediscover some of the clear sightedness which, as the sun set on the Shah's reign, proved so thoroughly absent from the eyes of their elders.
by: Robert Byron
Translated by: Lila Sazegar
(Persian)
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History |
The southern half of the ancient province of Carmania (modern Kerman) was considered by the Greek geographers to be fertile and prosperous. It contained gold and silver mines, a river and a major trade root going through its territory. The area was well populated by the time the first Persian Empire was formed. Though it was not assigned a province by the Achaemenid administrators, Carmania was part of the Persia proper with small towns and a military garrison. It later became a province under the Seleucids and the Parthians.
A brief history of ancient Iraq
In ancient times, Iraq was known as Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia is Greek for "the land between the rivers," i.e. the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in western Asia. Despite this name, the ancient region of Mesopotamia included most of what is now Iraq, not just the land between the rivers. It also included parts of modern Syria and Turkey.
Has the Garden of Eden been located at last?
"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed" (Genesis 2:8). Then the majestic words become quite specific: "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
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Literary Pieces |
