Fakhredin Blog

Steve! we still love you...

2011-10-06T11:32:00.001+02:00

Steve! Thank you for changing the world. There are few people in the history of humann beings who were capable of doing so. We are privileged to live at your time.

We still love you...

CHROME: Google Internet Browser

2008-09-02T13:29:00.001+02:00

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Persian actress in the film "Body of Lies"

2008-08-20T23:04:00.013+02:00

It was a few years ago that for the first time a Persian actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo, was nominated for Oscar for a supporting role in the film "House of Sand and Fog." In that film she was playing besides Sir Ben Kingsly and Jennifer Connelly.

In October, a film by Ridley Scott will come on screen with the name "Body of Lies," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. And guess what! Another Persian actress is acting beside these super stars; "Golshifteh Farahani."

This time it is even more striking! If Shohreh Aghdashloo is a Persian actress who is living in Los Angeles for many years now, and has quite some possibilities for interacting with American artists, Golshifteh is currently living inside Iran (Persia)! This is so wonderful to see her playing beside Leonardo and Russell!

Sadly, I read today in the news that the government in Iran, after realizing that she has played a Hollywood film, has forbidden her to exit the country! I hope that this is not true, and if it is, it will be solved soon. The link of the news is here

Persian democracy

2008-08-20T14:10:00.002+02:00

I have selected this video from YouTube. If you find it interesting, you may also like to read my other post regarding Persian democracy, dated 23 August 2006.

World Heritage Tour: Persia

2008-08-18T17:48:00.001+02:00

Pangea Software Inc. has developed a nice program for watching panorama photos on iPhone.
There is also a fantastic website belongs to UNESCO with panoramic photos of the world heritage sites, called "World Heritage Tour." What was missing was a link between these two.

I made a portfolio for the locations in Persia, and named it "World heritage tour: Persia." if you have an iPhone, you can simply download the PangeaVR program from Apple Store and watch the portfolio I made, besides many others. Alternatively, visit WHTour.org and enjoy the high quality panorama's.

Forgotten money

2008-08-08T21:09:00.001+02:00

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Audio description of my blog

2008-08-03T14:40:00.001+02:00

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My iPhone 3G

2008-08-03T13:54:00.001+02:00

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My iPhone 3G

2008-08-03T13:48:00.001+02:00

I got an iPhone 3G!
I'm writing this first post using my iPhone, and I hope to update my blog more regularly from now on.

Blogger in Persian language

2008-01-22T15:14:00.003+01:00

I read the most interesting news about Blogger today, and it made me very very happy to see that Persian language is added to the list of Blogger languages.

It's a long time since the last time I wrote a post here. I follow the news almost everyday via the BBC Persian website, and send the interesting news that I find to the email address of this weblog: fakhredinblog@gmail.com . I hope I will have a time to write about those topics here, instead of just keeping them in an archive.

Anyway, I read today in BBC-Persian that "Blogger has added Persian Language to its services." I logged-in into Blogger immediately to see it by my own eyes! It is wonderful! It is so professional that they named the language "Persian," and even nicer that they call the local name of the language "پارسی [pronounce: parsi]" and not "فارسی [pronounce: farsi]". This is great! I'm not kidding! Everybody understand the connection between "Persian" and "[parsi]" very easily, but not the connection between "Persian" and "[farsi]." That's why many people use the name "Farsi" in English language instead. If we use the local name of the language as "[parsi]" a big deal of the problem is automatically solved.

This is also true about the name of Persian Gulf. If we call the country "Persia," nobody would doubt that the name of the gulf in the south of the country is Persian Gulf. However, if we use the name "Iran" (which is the name of the country in Persian language), there are of course people who like to give Persian Gulf another name. By the way, I should not forget to write a post later that it would be very naive to think that the conflict about the name of Persian Gulf is happily ended. This is not the case at all! The effort of the Arabic countries in this regard is not reduced, but is very well increased. We will loos this game very soon if we do not confront it systematically.

I should add this about Persian language in Blogger that BBC-Persian said according to the Time Magazine that "Persian language is the 28th most common spoken language in the world, but in weblogs stands very closely to French, which is the second most used language."

Snap Shots, quick preview of the links

2007-09-04T21:44:00.001+02:00

You may have noticed that I recently added a section to the right column of the page titled "Snap Shots, quick preview of the links." If this option is on, it will show a small white icon beside each link, and if you move your mouse over it, it will show you a preview of that page.

I think it is a very useful programme, but I noticed that in some computers (or in some particular browsers) it may slow down the speed or freeze the programme for a while. Therefore, I added this option in the page for the readers to turn it on and off as they wish. If your computer does not slow down by this programme, give it a try.

Fakhredin Blog gets a new home!

2007-08-31T00:05:00.001+02:00

As from today, Fakhredin Blog is moved to its new home at "www.blog.fakhredin.com." In this new address, both the English and Persian blogs are living together:

English blog: en.blog.fakhredin.com
Persian blog: fa.blog.fakhredin.com

In fact the website itself will be just one member of "www.fakhredin.com" web-family! I will introduce the other members of the web-family as soon as they arrive to their home. For now, let me introduce you to Fakhredin Photo Gallery. You can find him at www.photo.fakhredin.com. At the moment, the gallery contains some photo's from Persia (mainly from Esfahan and Shiraz). Shortly, you will be able to visit more places in Persia, and, who knows, hopefully all around the world.

Google Earth 4.2: Google Sky!

2007-08-23T13:15:00.001+02:00

You know about Google Earth, don't you? It is an wonderful work from Google by which you can observe satellite images from every corner of the earth. Yesterday a new version of Google Earth is released; version 4.2. Amazing thing about this version is that you can observe not only the "Earth" but also the "Sky!" With this new option you sit behind your computer and look at the hundred millions of stars.

I installed the program on my MacBookPro just a few minutes ago, and took this photo of Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, NGC 224). I also took a look at the planets, but suddenly the computer hanged! This is very unusual for a Mac computer. Anyhow, happily it works fine now.

Happy Persian new year, the year 1386

2007-03-21T01:07:00.001+01:00

Persia. 30 centuries of Art & Culture

2007-03-15T22:20:00.001+01:00

The Hermitage in St. Petersburg has a splendid collection of Persian works of art. It includes many interesting pieces covering the whole of Persian history from antiquity to the end of the Qajar dynasty (1785-1925). From antiquity there are several sculptures, among them a fragment from the ruined city of Persepolis, and gold produced by the Scythians from the area north and west of the Persian Empire. Several gold objects were originally owned by Tsar Peter the Great. From the Islamic period come beautiful examples of Persian earthenware: tiles – renowned for their lustre decoration and once part of famous mausoleums – , vases and dishes. Weapons, made of steel and gold and inlaid with coloured stones, also demonstrate the Persians’ sublime mastery of this art. The Qajar period shows the Western influence on traditional Persian art: here the objects are chiefly diplomatic gifts and military trophies. The rich collection in St. Petersburg makes it possible to present an impressive survey of the history of Persian civilisation.

Source: Hermitage Amsterdam

Until 30 March the Hermitage Amsterdam is closed for the public. On Saturday 31 March they start a new exhibition "Persia. 30 centuries of Art & Culture".

From 31 March till 16 September 2007 the Hermitage Amsterdam is open daily from 10 am till 5 pm. (Closed on 30 April!)

The Hermitage Amsterdam is located at:
Nieuwe Herengracht 14, Amsterdam

Reactions against the film "300"

2007-03-13T12:03:00.001+01:00

I read in the BBCPersian news that many Persians (Iranians) considered the film "300" offensive, and reacted against it by signing petitions and creating a Google bomb. Instead of protesting against the film, I have another suggestion: please have look at these short films about "Engineering an Empire - the Persians" in YouTube. It would give you a better image of what the Persian Empire really was.

Nevertheless, I think that the reactions of Persians (Iranians) should be re-directed from the film "300" to some more important issues. Unfortunately at the moment Persian Empire is a "Forgotten Empire" in the sense that people do not directly connect it to the current country of Persia (Iran). Not many people know that Persia is the same as Iran. We are still suffering from the wrong decision of Reza Shah who changed the international name of the country. That decision in the last 70 years created much more serious consequences than a film like "300"; the name of the language, for instance. People do not see a direct connection between Persian language and Iran as a country anymore, while connection between Persian language and Persia is obvious. Many people in the West even think that Iran is an Arabic country with Arabic as the official language. That's also why the conflict about the name of Persian Gulf is not a big deal for the Western people, and introducing Persian scientists as Arabs does not wonder them. Gradually, a country named Persia, and everything associated to it, is vanishing from the present and stays solely in the history. These facts are more troublesome than a film such as "300." In a few years, nobody will remember the film, but the negative effects of the above mentioned problems are growing every day.

My suggestion is to re-direct the efforts. Let's try to introduce the fact that "the country should be officially named Persia (not Iran) in international conversations again," and that "the language should be officially named Persian (not Farsi) in international conversations." Please note that "Persian" is a nationality not an ethnicity; it simply means "native of Persia." In order to improve the international image of the country, Persians (natives of Persia) should first stop arguing between themselves. Turks, Kurds, Lurs, Pars, Arabs, Baluchs, and all the ethnic groups who live in Persia (Iran) are Persians. The same way that we have Iraqi Kurds and Turkish Kurds, we have Persian Kurds. The same way that we have Kuwaiti Arabs and Saudi Arabs, we have Persian Arabs.

Talking about the film, to my opinion the best way to react against the barbarian image of Persians in the film is not a direct reaction. Signing petitions or making a Google bomb against it will only make the film more popular, and people will remember the film not as a fiction anymore but as an image of Persians. On the contrary, the best way to defend the image of Persian Empire is to introduce the true beautiful image of it to the audience. It's already a long time that a film about Cyrus the Great is going to be made. Where is it? Why is the project not progressing? These are more important issues to take care of, much more important than the petitions against the film "300."

Again, I suggest re-directing these efforts. Let's sign petitions in favour of the film "Cyrus". If the project is suffering from lack of budget, let's make an international effort and collect a financial support for that. Let's make exhibitions, seminars, etc. to introduce the beauty of Persia to the world. For example, instead of getting upset that why Xerxes the Great is shown as a barbarian in the film, why Avicenna is being introduced as an Arab scientist in some international symposiums, or why Rumi is sometimes being introduced as a Turk poet, Persians, themselves, should start introducing the true image about their history, culture, and heritage to the world.

The last point that I like to mention about the film "300" is that the film is receiving an attention from the audience not because it is anti-Persian. Majority of people just go to this film because it is a fiction with nicely-made special effects. I do not deny that it gives the audience a negative feeling about Persians. I only say that people do not go to the film just because of that. Therefore, if the film "Cyrus" is going to be made, it would better be made with the best cast and crew. Most people will not go to that film because they are in love with Cyrus the Great. They just like to see a nice film, and hopefully it will also give them a positive image of Persians.

Persian heritage threatened

2007-03-06T23:55:00.002+01:00

The following article by Maev Kennedy, regarding Persian heritage being threatened by US strike, appeared yesterday in Guardian. I copy the text from the website here (to my understanding, it is not the compelete text of the article). It does not mean that I consider a US strike against Iran (Persia) inevitable. In fact, I do think (and I do hope) that it will never happen. Such a strike is just not logical to me. But, after all, not everything in this world follows logics, does it?

It also does not mean that I consider cultural heritage more important than people's life. No! In any disaster, such as Bam's earthquake in 2003, people's life is the most important issue. I do, however, still regret the destruction of Bam's Citadel every time I think about it. According to this article from Guardian, the site of ancient Babylon (in Iraq) is now an American military base. I regret that too! I hope that these kind of destructions will not be repeated.

Iran's (Persia's) rich architecture and rare treasures threatened by possible US strikes
· Many ancient remains are close to nuclear plants
· Archaeologists anxious to avoid repeat of Iraq chaos

Maev Kennedy
Monday March 05 2007
The Guardian

In his quiet office at the British Museum, among the portraits of long-dead explorers and copies of 3,000-year-old inscriptions, one of the greatest experts on the archaeology of the Middle East has a series of maps of Iranian nuclear installations spread out across his desk.

John Curtis's maps fill him with foreboding: because they show how many of Iran's (Persia's) nuclear plants are perilously close to ancient cultural sites.

Natanz, home to a uranium enrichment plant, is renowned for its exquisite ceramics; Isfahan (Esfahan), home to a uranium conversion plant, is also a Unesco world heritage site and was regarded in the 16th century as the most beautiful city on earth.

Other nuclear installations lie close to Shiraz, dubbed "the city of roses and nightingales", famous for the tombs of medieval poets; Persepolis, the great palace of King Darius I the Great, whose ruins are still magnificent; and the 6th century BC tomb of Cyrus the Great, the Persian ruler who was said to have been buried in a coffin of gold.

Four years ago Dr Curtis was warning that war in Iraq would be a disaster for some of the oldest and most important sites in the world. He has since seen his worst fears confirmed: the site of ancient Babylon became an American military base; thousands of objects are missing from the national museum at Baghdad; and looted artefacts have been illicitly excavated and smuggled out of the country.

Now Dr Curtis dreads seeing history repeated, this time through the escalating threat from the United States against Iran (Persia). "Any kind of military activity whatever in Iran (Persia), whether aerial bombing or land invasion, would inevitably have the gravest consequences, not only for its people but for its cultural heritage - which should be a matter of concern not just to Iranians (Persians) but to the whole world," he said.

"The main nuclear bases would seem the most likely targets - which would directly threaten two major sites, Isfahan (Esfahan) and Natanz." The medieval splendour of those cities, at the height of the power of Islamic Persia from the 13th to the 17th centuries, was built on a cultural history which was already thousands of years old. The history of cities, of writing, of engineering and astronomy began in the ancient centres of Iran (Persia) and Iraq.

"The archaeology is so rich there is almost nowhere that you could say is devoid of interest," Dr Curtis said. "But certainly a list must be compiled of the sites which need the most consideration."

Unlike the looted and still shuttered national museum in Baghdad, in Iran (Persia) the risk is considered less for the national museum in Tehran than for hundreds of major sites with standing buildings and ruins, and thousands of known but unexcavated sites. Some of the structures are in stone, but most are in baked brick with elaborate tile decorations, a building type particularly vulnerable to blast damage.

Apart from Isfahan (Esfahan) and Natanz, other potentially vulnerable sites cover 3,000 years of the world's history: a stepped stone tomb at Pasargadae, within 50 miles of one of the nuclear sites once held the body of Cyrus the Great, the king who enormously expanded the Persian empire and conquered mighty Babylon in 539 BC. And the ruins of the great city and palace at Persepolis are among the most imposing in the Middle East, despite the fact that it was ransacked by Alexander the Great in 330BC, after the Macedonian defeated the armies of the Persian emperor Darius III. The destruction of the palace is still regarded as one of the greatest acts of vandalism in history. Alarm is growing over the potential fate of Iran's (Persia's) treasures. Professor Harriet Crawford, of the Institute of Archaeology in London, one of the archaeologists who sounded the alarm before the Iraq war, said yesterday: "An attack on Iran (Persia) would not only cause thousands more avoidable deaths, but would also risk inflicting
untold damage on its heritage, comparable with that seen in Iraq."

Precious stones

Persepolis

The magnificent palace of Darius I the Great, the centrepiece of which is the Hall of 100 Columns, above, was destroyed by Alexander the Great but the ruins, including some standing columns, are still imposing. It lies within 50 miles of the Ardakan and Fasa uranium processing plants.

Isfahan (Esfahan)

An ancient site in a fertile river valley, internationally renowned from the 16th century - "Isfahan (Esfahan) is half the world" - as the new capital of Shah Abbas I. It is adorned with magnificent mosques, palaces, the second largest square in the world (originally laid out as a polo ground), gardens, fountains and bridges, including a 33-arch bridge dating from 1602. A World Heritage Site, the historic centre is only a few miles from the Isfahan (Esfahan) uranium conversion plant.

Famous for its 13th and 14th century mosques and shrines, now mostly stripped of their spectacular lustre tiles, which are in museums across the world. Fragile baked-brick buildings; very close to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great

A well-preserved stone tomb on a stepped platform. According to the Greek historian Arrian, the king's body lay in a golden coffin under an inscription reading "Mortal! I am Cyrus, son of Cambyses, who founded the Persian empire, and was King of Asia. Grudge me not then my monument." It is situated at Pasargadae, close to Persepolis. The bracelet below was found there. [The text on the website ends here. Fakhredin].

The Golha radio programmes (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry)

2007-02-20T23:56:00.001+01:00

Mrs Jane Lewisohn is awarded £59,913 University of London 2006 award for this major research project for 14 months

The Golha radio programmes (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry)

Hossein Alizadeh: Grammy Awards Nominee

2007-01-02T13:07:00.001+01:00

Hossein Alizadeh, a well-known Persian composer, is nomitated for Grammy Awards 2007 for his album "The Endless Vision." This is a collaboration album of him and Djivan Gasparyan, an Armenian composer. The nomination is in category 72, Field 16 — Best Traditional World Music Album. I wish he will win! Let's wait, until February 11, and see.

Happy 2007!

2007-01-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

I Awake in Your Eyes

2006-12-28T14:13:00.001+01:00

The 30th issue of the Italian journal PRIVATE shows a collection of black and white photos from Persia, plus pieces of text (mainly modern poetry).

The photo's are atristic, no doubt about that! But it gives me a restless feeling of sadness. To my point of view, it is a good collection for those who are nostalgic about old Persia. For those who live in today, and looking for progress, this is not a good example. It is, also, definitely not made for a reader from outside Persia who likes to know the country for the first time.

Drafted at: October 13th, 2006.

Middle East: American version

2006-10-14T15:35:00.000+02:00

Ralph Peters, a retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel, published an article in the August issue of the US Armed Forces Journal. The article named "Blood borders; How a better Middle East would look." In that article, Mr Peters suggested a new map for the Middle East. His basic argument is that the borders that Winston Churchill decided for that region, after the World War I, are "unjust" and "generate more trouble than can be consumed locally." He suggested that the borders should be re-drawn based on the language, religious, and ethnicity of the people living in that region.

The US State Department has rejected suggestions that Washington is planning to redraft the boundaries of the greater Middle East along ethnic and religious lines. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the article by Mr Peters was the work of an individual and did not reflect the views of the US government. Nevertheless, Mr Peters published this idea in his recent book, "Never Quit the Fight." It is also used as a background for another article published in the Dutch newspaper "Touw" on Saturday 30 September 2006.

I think what we should learn from the history is that more borders does not bring peace to people. What brings peace is to learn how to respect each other. Look at the European Union! The borders are fading away, because they are not of any use anymore! If borders could bring solution to people's differences, Churchill's borders would do that. He had definitely his own reasons to draw those lines, and if he was alive, he could defend himself against Mr Peters.

It is very right that people have different social identities (language, religion, etc.), and they all have the right to keep it. A while ago there was a demonstration of Turkish language people in London, asking that Turkish language should be also taught in schools in north-west region of Persia. This is, of course, a very just request, but they were shouting "Down with Persian fascism!" "Down with Persian racism!" What we should learn is that if we want others to respect our social identity, we should also respect theirs. Even if one party do not appreciate this, we should not defend ourselves by disrespecting the other party.

Our goal should be to bring up the message of "dialogue between civilization" and "dialogue between religions." That would be a long term solutions. Otherwise, if we insist on the differences and try to solve it with drawing new lines between people, in 50 or 100 years from now some new troubles will come up, and, for sure, somebody will write an article that "Ralph Peters' borders were unjust and generated more trouble than can be consumed locally!"

"300" is almost ready, "Cyrus" not yet!

2006-10-05T23:52:00.001+02:00

The film "300", based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, is a retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.

There is, however, still no sign of the film "Cyrus," which is going to retell the beauty of the Persian Empire and the order of Human Right at that time, about which I wrote in a previous post in Persian (Cyrus the Great). I hope this film comes out soon. Great actors and actresses are going to play there, such as Sean Connery, Ben Kingsley, Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, Edward Norton, Laurence Fishburne, Live Tyler, Robert Downey jnr, ...

BBC Radio 4: Uncovering Iran [Persia]

2006-09-25T22:12:00.001+02:00

Since mid September, BBC Radio 4 started a season of programmes aimed at challenging some of the perceptions still held about Persia. It is interesting to have a look at the homepage of this programme. It covers many topics from ancient to contemporary history, social matters, food programme, etcetera. The webpage also contains some interesting links. You may like to read the article "Uncovering Iran's [Persia's] ancient past" related to this radio programme.

One of the discussed issues about contemporary history is about a letter from the Persian government to the US government in 2003. The programme "Mixed Messages and Secret Diplomacy" broadcasted this morning (Monday 25 Sep 2006). You can read a summary of that radio program in this article: "Missed chances?" Here is a part of it:

The US and Iran [Persia] almost never speak to each other ... [but a] potential opening came in May 2003 [at the time of Khatami's presidency].

America's swift march to Baghdad the previous month had led to fears in Tehran that it would be next. So Tehran made a dramatic - but surprisingly little known - approach to the Americans.
...
[In that offer, they] appeared willing to put everything on the table - including being completely open about its nuclear programme, helping to stabilise Iraq, ending its support for Palestinian militant groups and help in disarming Hezbollah. What did Iran [Persia] want [in return]? Top of the list was a halt in US hostile behaviour and a statement that "Iran [Persia] did not belong to 'the axis of evil'". The letter was the product of an internal debate inside Tehran and had the support of leaders at the highest level.
...
But in Washington, the letter was ignored. Larry Wilkerson, who was then chief of staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, thinks that was a big mistake. "In my mind it was one of those things you throw up in the air and say I can't believe we did this." He says the hardliners who stood against dialogue had a memorable refrain. ... "Why talk ... when you could simply dictate terms from a position of strength?"

Soon after that, the government in Persia changed. This was indeed "one of those things you throw up in the air and say I can't believe we did this!"

Bill Gates versus Steve Jobs

2006-09-21T17:06:00.001+02:00

Before I start the section Fakhredin Blog Webrambles (you can now find it at the right side of the page), I used to save interesting links that I found without categorizing them. Today, in the middle of hundreds of those unsorted link archive, I saw this one from BBC: "Bill Gates versus Steve Jobs." Bill Gates is the chief of Microsoft, and Steve Jobs is the chief of Apple and Pixar film animation studio. The interesting thing is that they have the same age! They are both 51 years old!

I became interested in the discussion about Mac versus PC, when I started using Apple a few month ago. If you ask me I say that a Mac is much much better than a PC. Not only the design of all Mac computers and accessories is beautiful, they also work much more smoothly.

Here is what BBC said about Bill and Steve:

Steve Jobs
Born in 1955
Chief executive of Apple and Pixar film animation studio
Wealth estimated at $2bn

Steve Jobs was born in 1955 in the area now known as Silicon Valley.
Adopted in his infancy, as an adult he traced his biological sister, the novelist Mona Simpson.
He ran his first business from a garage with his friend Steve Wozniak.
He built his business on delivering a user-friendly personal computer for ordinary people.
He named the Apple Corporation after his favourite fruit.
Forced out of Apple in the mid 80s, he was brought back a decade later to salvage its fortunes.
Apple became the largest Internet music business earlier this year, selling 10 million tunes in four months.
He built up the Pixar computer animation studio which has made films including Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life and the Toy Story films
The philosophy of one of the characters in "A Bug's Life" mirrors Jobs' own motivation to "make a difference".
10. He is a vegetarian, as is his wife Laurene whom he married in 1991.

Bill Gates
Born in 1955
Chief Software Architect at Microsoft
Wealth estimated at $40bn

Bill Gates had sold his first programme by the age of 17. His school paid him $4,200 for a programme on time-tabling.
He dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on his business.
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and served as Chief Executive Officer until 2000.
The secret of Microsoft's wealth was to license its software so that earnings rose in proportion to the number of users.
He is currently working on the next generation of Microsoft software for Internet platform and services.
He has donated many billions of dollars to charity through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
A spoof Internet report that he had been shot dead knocked $3bn off the Korean stock market.
His fortune was recently put at $40bn down from $100bn during the dot.com boom.
Around 90% of the world's computers run on Microsoft's Windows software leading to complaints of anti-competitive tactics.
E-mails from bill@microsoft.com sent to thousands of people this summer were fakes and carried a computer virus.

Fakhredin Blog Webrambles

2006-09-06T23:26:00.001+02:00

Sometimes I read an article on a blog or a website and I come across some links to other blogs or websites. I click and read the next article, and the next link, and the next click, and the next ... and the next ... I name this: Webramble.
It happens that I spend hours doing so, and I visit some pages that I would not imagine to read them or see them at all. Many times I like to write about what I have read or what I have seen, but there is no time. Actually, most of those topics speak for themselves and I don't need to explain. That's why I decided to add a link group to the right side column, named: "Fakhredin Blog Webrambles." Whenever you visit my blog, keep an eye on the list of webrambles.

From "Mathematics in Persia" to "Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art"

2006-09-03T12:50:00.001+02:00

Have you ever heard of Al-Sijzi, the 10th century Persian mathematician? Or do you know that one of the world's analemmatic sundials is recently built in Rasht, Persia? I think you will like reading this post:

From 11 Sep 2006 through 15 Sep 2006, there is a workshop in Leiden University, the Netherlands, about Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art. Let me write a bit of background how this workshop came to existence. In spring 2006, the Seminar on History of Mathematics in Iran (Persia) was organized at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Leiden (Netherlands) by Dr. Jan P. Hogendijk (one of the coordinators of the current workshop). In that seminar, Jan Hogendijk also conducted a series of optional short classes on the Persian and Arabic alphabet and on Qur'an recitation.

On May 14, the eight ex-participants of the seminar made a trip to Persia, together with Prof. Dr. Remke Kruk (another coordinator of the current workshop) and Jan Hogendijk. They performed three workshops, together with Prof. Dr. Mohammad Bagheri (the third coordinator of the current workshop), during a conference on Mathematics and Art from May 16 - May 18, 2006, which took place in the House of Mathematics in Esfahan.

After the conference, some members left Esfahan and returned to the Netherlands. The remaining members of the group stayed for another week in Persia, and travelled to Yazd, Shiraz, and the province of Sistan and Baluchistan in South-Eastern Persia. In the cities of Zahedan and Zabol, a small international conference on ancient and medieval astronomy was organized by the astronomical society Mehbang. During that conference, an astrolabe workshop was conducted, and Jan Hogendijk held a lecture on the 10th-century mathematician al-Sijzi, who came from that province.

By the way, Mohammad Bagheri is the one who designed the analemmatic sundial in Rasht (also look at this link about the sundial in Rasht). You may also like to know that Jan Hogendijk and Mohammad Bagheri translated an interesting book from al-Sijzi:
Al-Sijzi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Treatise on Geometrical Problem Solving, ed. Bagheri, M., Hogendijk, J. Tehran: Fatemi Publications, 1996. Arabic text with Persian and English translations of a treatise on problem solving strategies in geometry, which resembles G. Polya's How to Solve It.

The workshop "Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art" is mentioned in an interesting article, "A heptagon from Esfahan," about mathematics and architecture in Persia. The article is published yesterday, 2 September, in a famous Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad.

Beauties of Persia: The wind-towers of Yazd

2006-08-29T23:32:00.001+02:00

You know about wind-towers of Yazd, don't you? O! maybe not! Yazd is a city in the center of Persia, which is located in the center of desert. Old architecture of Yazd is really wonderful. The old houses, in this warm and dry place, are staying cool with use of no energy but the wind and the wind-towers.

A Persian-French architect couple, Shiva Tolouie and Harvé Richard, have used their scholarship of outstanding architects to travel to Yazd and do a research about the wind-towers of this city. They have already presented their research in some exhibitions, but, according to their website, another exhibition will open in Paris from 20 September until 29 October 2006. If you like, have a look at the website about their research "Yazd, the wind-towers" (it is in Frech, though). You may also like to look at the website of Yazd city.

An article is published in CyberArchi about Shiva and Harvé, but again the article is in French. There, you can also find a beautiful collection of photos from the wind-towers of Yazd. Since the full text of the article may not be accessable later on the net, I copy the text here. If you can translated it to English, please contact me, and I put your translation on the blog.

Next time, I write for you about one of the other beauties of Persia: The longest water-cave in the world, Alisadr Cave.

Les tours des vents de Yazd (Iran) revisitées par Hervé Richard et Shiva Tolouie

Les architectes Hervé Richard (né en 1974) et Shiva Tolouie (née en 1973) sont fascinés par le rapport entre l’architecture et la nature. Ils font partie des lauréats de la Bourse EDF aux jeunes architectes cession 2004-2006. Cette bourse qui finance un voyage à l’étranger leur a permis d’aller étudier sur place les tours des vents de la ville de Yazd en Iran. Découverte.

Les maisons traditionnelles de cette région aride et chaude sont rafraîchies par ces tours sans autre énergie que celle du vent. Le résultat de leur étude (à suivre sur www.richard-tolouie.com), est actuellement présenté à l’exposition Alter Architecture (Fondation pour l’Architecture de Bruxelles jusqu’au 26 mars 2006) avant d’être présenté à l’Espace Electra de Paris à partir du mois de juin.

Le texte ci-dessous est signé Hervé Richard et Shiva Tolouie

La ville de Yazd se trouve sur le haut plateau du centre de l’Iran, entourée par le désert, à proximité de montagnes dépassant 4000m d’altitude. Cette région connaît un climat particulièrement extrême : écrasée de chaleur en été alors qu’il y gèle en hiver, il n’y tombe pratiquement aucune pluie et les vents qui y soufflent sont chargés de sable du désert. Les habitants de cette ville ont dû composer avec les éléments pour façonner leur milieu. Ils ont pu rendre accueillante cette région inhospitalière en canalisant l’eau depuis les montagnes, en donnant forme à la terre, en rendant fertile le sable, en se protégeant de la chaleur trop ardente. L’exemple le plus original de cette adaptation se trouve certainement dans les tours des vents qui se sont développées dans cette ville d’une manière unique. Les badgir, mot persan signifiant littéralement attrape-vents, captent les vents au-dessus des toits pour rafraîchir maisons et réservoirs d’eau.

Ces tours des vents se présentent généralement comme de grandes cheminées rectangulaires d'environ 3 mètres sur 5 et d'une quinzaine de mètres de haut. La partie supérieure de la tour comporte des ouvertures verticales dépassant au-dessus des toits qui attrapent en altitude des vents plus rapides et moins chargés de sable. La partie inférieure s'ouvre dans la pièce à rafraîchir, le plus souvent une vaste loggia toujours à l’ombre. L’intérieur de la tour est recoupé verticalement afin de canaliser séparément flux ascendants et flux descendants. Ces tours contribuent au confort d’été en favorisant les courants d'air, en évacuant l'air chaud au profit de l'air frais venant du jardin ou du sous-sol et en créant de la fraîcheur en accélérant l’évaporation de l’eau des bassins.

Les tours des vents, comme l’ensemble des constructions anciennes de la ville, sont faites de briques de terre séchées au soleil, technique appelée adobe. Les branches dépassant des tours servent à la fois d’échafaudage pour l’entretien régulier que demande la construction et de chaînage en solidarisant entre elles les fines colonnettes des ouvertures afin de les stabiliser.

La tour des vents n’est qu’une des dispositions de la maison traditionnelle servant au confort d’été. Les maisons du centre ancien de la ville de la plus modeste à la plus riche se présentent selon le même principe : les principales pièces de la maison s’organisent autour d’un jardin intérieur, pièces d’été et pièces d’hiver se faisant vis-à-vis. Cette organisation leur vaut le nom de maison 4 saisons. Le jardin intérieur, situé quelques marches en contre-bas de la rue, distribue l’ensemble des pièces de la maison. Il a en son centre un bassin et de part et d’autre des parterres plantés agrémentés de quelques arbres. Parfois une plate-forme en bois enjambe le bassin, on y dormait la nuit. Les pièces principales surélevées par rapport au jardin permettent d’éclairer et de ventiler des pièces semi-enterrée. La principale pièce d’été est une vaste loggia haute de deux hauteurs d’étages grande ouverte sur le jardin. Constituant la façade s’ouvrant au nord de la cour et couverte d’une voûte, cet espace est constamment à l’ombre. Les pièces d’hiver en vis-à-vis des pièces d’été sont closes par des fenêtres au verre multicolore face au sud, recevant le soleil tout au long de la journée. Des pièces semi-enterrées et parfois plusieurs niveaux de sous-sol qui servent de cuisine et au stockage complètent les pièces principales.

Les pluies étant pratiquement inexistantes, l’eau était amenée dans la ville depuis les flancs des montagnes environnantes par des canalisations creusées par l’homme sur plusieurs kilomètres avec une très légère pente. L’eau était alors stockée dans les réservoirs de chaque quartiers de la ville, on descendait un escalier éclairé par des puits de lumière vers une petite fontaine. Ces réservoirs de forme cylindrique profondément enterrés et couverts d’une coupole étaient ventilés par des tours des vents, généralement au nombre de quatre. L’eau y restait fraîche.

Ces dispositifs ne nécessitant d’autre énergie que celle du vent pour rafraîchir les maisons sont présents dans l’architecture vernaculaire des zones arides et chaudes de l’ensemble du Moyen-Orient, depuis l’Egypte jusqu’au Pakistan selon des variantes adaptées aux climats et aux modes de construction (badgir d’Irak et d’Iran, malquaf d’Egypte, bargil des Émirats Arabes Unis, mangh du Pakistan). Le développement des climatiseurs a contribué à ce que ce procédé traditionnel tombe en désuétude au cours du 20e siècle, toutefois les pollutions induites par l’emploi d’énergies fossiles amène à regarder les tours des vents avec une attention renouvelée.

Hervé Richard et Shiva Tolouie, janvier 2006

Consulter à ce sujet notre album-photo 'Fonctionnement et principes des tours des vents de Yazd (Iran)'

Anousheh Ansari, the first Persian astronaut

2006-08-26T15:21:00.001+02:00

..... and the first Persian astronaut!

This is something to be proud of. Anousheh Ansari will be the first Persian astronaut, and the first female space tourist. On 14th of September this year, she will go for a 10 days trip to the space, together with two other astronauts from Russia and the US. Before her, two Americans and one South African person have done such a trip as space tourists.

Anousheh Ansari, who is a Persian Azeri (Turk), is born in Tehran and immigrated to the US when she was 16. She received her master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science at George Washington University. She is a co-founder of Telecom Technologies, Inc. (TTI), which she sold later. Anousheh was listed in Fortune magazine's "40 under 40" list in 2001 and honored by Working Woman magazine as the winner of the 2000 National Entrepreneurial Excellence award.

Two years ago, along with her brother-in-law Amir Ansari, she made a multi-million dollar contribution to the X-Prize foundation. The X-Prize was officially renamed the Ansari X Prize in honour of their donation.

Read the detailed story from CBS News. If you like, have a look at the Anousheh Ansari's page in Wikipedia. There you can find some interesting links to her personal blog, and also to the news of her achievements that are published in various websites.

Goodbye Pluto!

2006-08-26T13:07:00.001+02:00

About 10 days ago, I wrote about the meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague for deciding Pluto fate. I predicted that we will end up with a solar system with only eight planets, and Pluto will not be consider an official planet anymore.

Well, I read today that my prediction came true! Pluto is now a "dwarf planet." Apparently some people disagree with this decision, but to my point of view this is they way it should be. Our solar system has only eight planets, and there are two astroid belts. You can read detailed news from The New York Times, or from BBC.

The second Persian Empire (2): Sassanid

2006-08-25T22:10:00.001+02:00

I hope you still remember the story of the Parthian Persian Empire that I told you. Here is the rest of the second Persian Empire: the Sassanids, as I promised.

In the year 226, "Ardashir I" brought 500 year-old Parthian Empire to an end and began four centuries of Sassanid rule (until the year 651). This incredible achievement of Ardes hir I is carved in stone in Naqsh-e Rostam (near Persepolis, the famous capital of the first Persian Empire) . There you can see Ahuramazda, the supreme god, handing over the ring of power to Ardashir I. The religion of Persians was Zoroastrianism at that time (before the invasion of Arabs that introduced Islam to Persia). In fact, the lasting heritage of the Sassanid Persian Empire is the Avesta, the holy book of the prophet Zarathustra.

Second Persian Empire coexisted with Roman Empire, and there were great battles between them. Many of the victories of Persians is carved in stone. An example is the triumph relief of Shapur I (241-272), the most famous Sassanid rock relief. It is also located in Naqsh-e Rostam, very close to the tomb of Darius I the Great. It shows how he has defeated two Roman emperors: Emperor Valerian and Philippus Arabs. You can also find Sassanid reliefs in many other places of Persia, such as Bishapur, Taq-e Bostan, Naqsh-e Rajab, and Firuzabad. An amazing characteristic of those reliefs is that they are individualistic: the kings can be identified by their crowns. For more detailed information, please look at the LIVUS website, the page about Sassanid rock reliefs.

I should not forget to say something about Bisotun. It's a city in the west side of Persia, which contains very interesting features from all the Persian Empires. This year (2006), Bisotun is inscribed in the list of UNESCO World Heritage. The most famous feature is the Bisotun Inscription, related to Darius the Great (the second king of the first Persian Empire). It is engraved on a cliff about 100 meters off the ground, and below and around it there are ca. 1,200 lines of inscriptions. It tells the story of the battles Darius waged in 521-520 BC against the governors who attempted to take apart the Empire founded by Cyrus (the first king). The inscription is written in three languages: the oldest is an Elamite text, followed by a Babylonian version and an Old Persian version of similar legends. This document is most crucial in the decipherment of a previously lost script. To Old Persian language, it is what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Bisotun was also an important place during the second Persian Empire. There are several rock reliefs there from both the Parthian and the Sassanids. It is no coincidence that the scene of the sad story about the star-crossed lovers Shirin and Farhad and Shirin's husband, the Sassanid king Khusrau II (590-628), is laid at Bisotun. Khusrau II is also connected to the last known monument at Bisotun: The unfinished relief. His armies had captured Syria, Jerusalem in 614, Egypt and even reached Constantinople. It seemed as if the Achaemenid empire was restored, and Khusrau ordered the making of brilliant rock reliefs at Taq-e Bostan and Behistun. The monument at Taq-e Bostan was finished, but the Behistun relief was not: all that is visible is a piece of rock that was cleared.

The capital city of the second Persian Empire was Ctesiphon (also known as "Tisfun", or in arabic "Madain"). The legendary architecture of that city, the Great Arch (Ayvan-e Madain, Taq-e Khusrau, Taq-e Kasra), still exists but is in danger. It is not yet registered in the UNESCO World Heritage. The arch is located in what is now the Iraqi town of Salman Pak (formerly, Madain), just to the south of the capital, Baghdad. I hope in near future the new government of Iraq do some effort to restore this extraordinary structure.

The last king of the second Persian Empire was Yazdgard III, whose reign began in 632. In 636, the Arabs took Ctesiphon, in 641, they invaded Persia (battle of Nehavand), and ten years later, the last Sassanid king died as a fugitive.

Persian democracy

2006-08-23T19:42:00.000+02:00

One hundred years ago in these days, the king of Persia (Mozzafar al-Din Shah Qajar, 1853 – 1907) accepted to create a parliament, by which the monarch's power was curtailed as he granted a constitution and parliament to the people. He died of a heart attack 40 days after granting this constitution, and his successor (Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, 1872 - 1925) was against that decision. He dissolved the parliament with the military and political support of Russia and Britain.

The political movements that came later resulted in the dissolution of the Qajar dynasty in 1925 and the ascension of Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878 - 1944) to the throne, and left the power totally in hands of the new king. It changed, however, in early 1950's when Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh (1882 - 1967) became the democratic elected prime minister. It was at the time of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919 - 1980), the last king of Persia. Mossadegh had a Doctorate in Law from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. His government was the only democratic period in contemporary Persian history.

The main challenge of Dr. Mossadegh was with the British government about the oil. Till that date, Britain was just taking the oil from Persia and not really paying for that. Dr. Mossadegh announced the oil a "national resource" and proposed to sell it to Britain, instead of letting them just take it. Britain made a case against Dr. Mossadegh's government (The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company case) in the International Court of Justice. Dr. Mossadegh, himself, defended the case in the court, and won that case!

The sad story starts here. The British government did not accept the fact that a democratic government in Persia makes a decision for its own country, which could be against the benefit of Britain. They decided to remove Dr. Mossadegh from power, but they needed the help and support of the US government. Harry Truman did not agree with the idea of Winston Churchill, but as soon as Dwight Eisenhower got the power, in early 1953, the CIA and SIS started the plan.

In 19 August 1953, Dr. Mossadegh was removed from power by a complex military coup known as Operation Ajax (New York Times, in 2000, published the CIA documents about this operation). Dr. Mossadegh was tried by a military tribunal for high treason and received a sentence of 3 years in solitary confinement, at a military jail, and was exiled to his village, not far from Tehran, where he remained under house arrest until his death, on 5 March 1967.

I think not only the fate of democracy in Persia, but also the historic path of the whole Middle East would be different if the Britain and the US governments thought a bit further than their short time benefits. I wish the US government that wants to give democracy to the Middle East now, did not take it away from Persia 53 years ago. It's my personal idea, but it is interesting to hear the exact same thing from Bill Clinton, the former US president! Last year, in an interview with Charlie Rose during World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Clinton said:

.... Iran's a whole different kettle of fish, but.. It's a sad story that really began in the 1950s when the United States deposed Mr. Mossadegh, who was an elected parliamentary democrat, and brought the Shah back in. And then he was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini, driving us in the arms of Saddam Hossein! The most of the terrible things that Saddam Hossein did in 1980's, he did with the full knowing and support of the United States government. Because he was in Iran, and Iran was what it was because we got rid of their parliamentary democracy back in the 50's. At least that is my believe. I know it is not popular for an American ever to say anything like this, but I think it's true, and I apologized when President Khatami was elected. I publicly acknowledged that the United States had actively overthrown Mossadegh and I apologized for it, and I hope that we could have some rapprochement with Iran....

The video of this interview was available on the Internet, but not any more! You can still read part of that interview here.

Exhibiton of Persian Empires in Japan

2006-08-21T20:41:00.001+02:00

Persian Civilization: 7000 Years of Treasures
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Schedule: From 2006-08-01 To 2006-10-01
Address: 8-36 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-8712
Phone: 03-3823-6921 Fax: 03-3823-6920

This exhibition includes fascinating articles from both the first (Achaemenid) and the second (Sassanid) Persian Empires. At the end of this exhibition, the collection will also be presented in Korea, and most probably in the Palace Museum, China, as reported by the Cultural Heritage News Agency (the report is in Persian language).

Reza Abedini and Prince Claus Award

2006-08-18T22:10:00.001+02:00

Prince Claus (1926 - 2002) was a German-born aristocrat who became the husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The Prince Claus Fund, which is named after him, aims at increasing cultural awareness and promoting exchange between culture and development. Since 1997 the Prince Claus Awards are presented annually to outstanding artists, thinkers and cultural organisations.

It is announced today that the Persian graphic designer Reza Abedini (1967, Tehran) will be presented with this year’s Principal Prince Claus Award of €100,000. The ceremoney will be held on Wednesday, 13 December 2006, at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam. Here is what Prince Claus Fund says about him:

Reza Abedini, Principal Prince Claus Laureate
Reza Abedini is a graphic designer and a professor of graphic design and visual culture at Tehran University. He emphasises the relationship between visual tradition and modern form, encourages research in the long and rich history of Persian art and calligraphy, and nurtures talent in the younger generations. Reza Abedini is granted the Principal Prince Claus Award in recognition of his personal creativity in producing superb graphic design and his individual skill in adapting the knowledge and achievements of Iran’s [Persia's] artistic heritage, making it new and compelling today. The award values and draws attention to the diversity of Iranian [Persian] culture – both historic and contemporary. It recognises the impact of graphic design as a powerful global medium of communication, and highlights the tradition and role of graphic design both in the laureate’s own country and across the world.

Deciding Pluto fate

2006-08-15T22:54:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago there was a program in Discovery channel about the solar system and its planets. Pluto, which we knew it as a planet for more than 70 years, is not alone. Just like the astroid belt that exists between Mars and Jupiter, there is another astroid belt after Neptune, and Pluto is just one of those astroids! If Pluto was the largest astroids, the problem was not so serious. The point is that another astroid in that belt is discovered, which is larger than Pluto.

Now if we want to define a planet based on its size, we should consider the astroid larger than Pluto also a planet. Another option is to remove the name of Pluto from the list of planets of the solar system. Such a problem had also happened for the astroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers had listed four planets in that region, which later were removed from the list and all included in the astroid belt.

Next week (21 August 2006), for 12 days, there is a conference in Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic. Astronomers are going to agree on definition of "planet," and decide on Pluto fate. I predict to have a solar system with only 8 planets and two astroid belts.

Read the detailed news in BBC.

Ancient Persia in Köln, 2nd Persian Empire in Paris

2006-08-13T23:33:00.001+02:00

Ancient Persia in Köln

Since 2 May until the end of this week (20 August 2006), there is a beautiful photo exhibition in Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne (Köln), Germany. The exhibition called "Ancient Persia," and the photo's are from Lynn Davis, a famous American photographer. She travelled to Persia in 2001 purposefully to make these photo's!

2nd Persian Empire in Paris

An exhibition will open in Cernuschi Museum, Paris, about Sassanid Persian Empire (the second Persian Empire). The exhibition calls "The Sassanides Persians, Record of a forgotten empire," and will open from 15 September till 30 December 2006.

It is very exciting to have this exhibiton following the exhibition in the British Museum about Achaemenid Persian Empire (the first Persian Empire). Interestingly, that exhibition also called "Forgotten Empire: the world of Ancient Persia." I wrote about my visit to the British Museum in one of my previous posts: "Persian Empire in British Museum."

The series of posts that I started about the three Persian Empires is not yet complete. I wrote about the first one (Achaemenid Persian Empire), and only part of the second one (Parthian Persian Empire). Before the exhibition in Cernuschi Museum starts, I will complete my post about the second Empire (Sassanid Persian Empire), and later, I'll tell you about the third Empire (Safavid Persian Empire).

Persian Leopard

2006-08-12T15:17:00.001+02:00

My posts in Persian and in English are not always about the same topic. It's mainly due to the fact that many of my posts in Persian are about Persian poetry, which is difficult to translate, or about the contemporary history that is not very well known for the international audience. Sometimes, however, there are topics that I think they would be of interest for everybody. Here is one of them about filming a "Persian Leopard."

It is very difficult to make films or photos from the Persian wild nature, since the animals are generally frightened from humans, much more than what we see in Canada or Africa. In fact in the last 11 years nobody could make a good quality film or photo from a Persian leopard. Recently, however, a group of Persian film makers, who are filming Persian nature for UNESCO, could capture a film of this beautiful animal for 10 minutes in day light.

The scientific name of Persian Leopard is "Panthera pardus saxicolor." This animal is listed in the IUCN List of Threatened Species. There are also two other kind of leopards in Persia: "Panthera pardus tulliana" and "Panthera Pardus Melanotica" (or Millardi, I am not sure). According to the Cultural Heritage News Agency, based on unofficial records, only 60 leopards exist in Persia at present.

The news about filming the Persian Leopard is in the website of Cultural Heritage News Agency (in Persian). There is another news, however, about "Telecameras to Reveal the Secret of Persian Leopard" in the English, if you like to read.

Photosynth: Digital 3D photos!

2006-08-08T21:46:00.000+02:00

I started a series of posts about Persian history and heritage. I will continue that story, but in the meantime I don't want to ignore other interesting topics.

I read the article Photos transformed into 3D model in the BBC NEWS website (for those of you who are interested, here is the Persian translation of the same article). I think that's a wonderful technique. I could imagine the possibility of doing so, but I didn't expect that it come to market for public!

In short, you can have two (or more) digital photo's from the same place. The photo can even be taken in different times, using different camera's. The software will find the points that the photo's share, and creat a 3D image of the place. Isn't it wonderful? The name of the software is Photosynth.

Update!

2006-08-06T11:53:00.001+02:00

I used to have Fakhredin Blog in Persian language only (فخرالدین‌بلاگ). During the last year, I did not update that blog very often, mainly because I wanted to make some changes in its design, and also I was thinking if running the blog only in Persian language is a wise idea.
As you see, a few weeks ago, I started Fakhredin Blog in English, with some new items in the design of both blogs. Now, I am updating two blogs at the same time, which is a double work.

I decided to update the blogs a bit less frequent. I definitely do not plan to update once a year! I am thinking of something like once a week or so. I hope you keep visiting my blogs and find the subjects interesting.

Articles about the name of Persian language

2006-08-05T17:33:00.001+02:00

For those of you, who are interested on my post "Persian: the name of the language," I invite you to read the following articles:

Fársi: "recently appeared language!" by Prof. Ehsan Yarshater

Persian or Farsi? by Dr. Kamran Talattof

PS. Sohrab Sepehri (7 Oct 1928 - 21 Apr 1980), my favorite Persian poet that I introduced him in that post, was also a successful painter. He held several exhibitions all around the world. This is a photo of one of his paintings.

The second Persian Empire (1): Parthian

2006-08-03T23:07:00.001+02:00

The second Persian Empire existed for about 900 years! It consists of two different dynasties; Parthian and Sassanid. I consider both dynasties together the second Persian Empire for the following reasons:

Both dynasties were Persian (from Persia), although Parthians had different ethnicity than Pars.
The Parthian Persian Empire continued with the Sassanid Persian Empire. There was no invasion or destruction of the Persian Empire in between. That is different for Achaemenids Persian Empire (the first one), which ended up with the invasion of Alexander the Great, and Sassanid Persian Empire, which ended up with the invasion of Arabs.

Please note that if you talk to a somebody from Persia, he/she may not know the name "Parthian." In Persian language the name of this dynasty is اشکانیان (pronounce: æsh-ka-ni-yan). The name of Sassanid Persian Empire, however, is the same in Persian language.

Let me say a few things about Parthian Persian Empire in this post. In the next post, I will tell you more about Sassanid Persian Empire.

The Parthians defeated Alexander the Great's successors, the Seleucids, conquered most of the Middle East and southwest Asia from about 250 B.C. until about 225 A.D. (almost five centuries!). Their capital city was Ctesiphon (Persian: تیسفون pronounce: tisfun), which also remained as the capital city of their successor, the Sassanid Persian Empire. Ctesiphon is located approximately 20 miles southeast of the modern city of Baghdad, Iraq, along the river Tigris. I will tell you more about this city when I write about the Sassanid Persian Empire.

Ctesiphon, unfortunately, is not registered in the Unesco World Heritage list yet. There are news that many destructions have happened to the remaining of this city in the last few years, with no national or international effort to prevent that. If you who read this page are in a position to talk it louder and let the world know, please do so. It is such a pity to loose a precious heritage like that so easily.

Another important city of Parthian Persian Empire is Hatra, which was later the capital of the Arab Kingdom. This city is also located in Iraq, and, fortunately, is registered in Unesco World Heritage. See a beautiful photo of Hatra here. Today Hatra, which remains mostly unexcavated, is in a very worrying state of conservation. Parts of the site have been fenced off to protect it from possible looting

One of the most fasinating items that remained from Parthia period is the life-sized bronze statue of a Parthian prince. It has only one arm, but the rest of it is intact. This statue is so famous that it is almost impossible to talk about Parthians without mentioning that statue. It is now kept in the National Museum of Iran (Persia).

If you like to read about the second Persian Empire, the Parthians, here are some internet resources. You can, of course, find more if you search Google.

Parthian.com
Wikipedia
LIVIUS Articles on Ancient History
Iran Chamber Society
(although Iran is frequently used in this site, please remember that Persia is the better name of the country as I discussed in my previous post: Persia today).

Persian Empire in British Museum

2006-08-02T21:35:00.000+02:00

From last year September 9th till January 8th this year, there was a wonderful exhibition in the British Museum called "FORGOTTEN EMPIRE the world of Ancient Persia." I went there, just before Christmas. It was amazing! The exhibition was the largest collection ever presented from the first Persian Empire (Achaemenids). Many items were from the British Museum itself, but many were also borrowed from the Louvre, and the National Museum of Iran (Persia).

Besides the interesting old Persian texts engraved on stones, huge columns, and beautiful jewelry, I was particularly fascinated by the statue of Darius the Great, and the Cyrus Cylinder (which I wrote about it before).

Something very special that I saw in the jewelry exhibition was a pair of gold bracelets (or armlets) with leaping lion-griffins. Just by looking at them you could imagine they were possibly the most valuable bracelets in the whole world. Interestingly, you can see the same bracelets carried by Lydians on a relief from the east side of the Apadana at Persepolis (that's the photo I put here).

What I should not forget to mention is the order of the items in the exhibition. It started with the amazing statue of Darius the Great, and followed by the items about the palaces, government and people. Then you could see the luxury of Persians including items about dining, and, of course, jewelry. When you were astounded from all those impressions, you would face the destruction of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great. But, before you started feeling sad, a small collection would tell you that Persian Empire rose again 150 years after Alexander. But that was not all! At the very end of the exhibition, you faced the Cyrus Cylinder! It was such a wonderful feeling to see that although the Persian Empire destroyed by Alexander, the message of human right from Cyrus the Great is still alive, now more than ever.

It was said that many items from the second Persian Empire (Parthian / Sassanid Empire) are among the permanent collections of British Museum. It will be nice if the items from other museums are also collected, and one can visit a comprehensive exhibition of the second Persian Empire. For the third Persian Empire (Safavid Empire), you should give a visit to Esfahan, the capital city of that Empire. Later, I will also write about Esfahan. In fact, I have a lot to tell you about it.....

The first Persian Empire: Achaemenids

2006-08-01T20:40:00.001+02:00

Many people in the West know only about the Persian Empire that was destroyed by Alexander the Great, but few people know that Persian Empire existed for many many years even after Alexander. Let me shortly tell you the story:

I'm sure you all know about the first Persian Empire more than 2500 years ago. The one which established by Cyrus the Great (in 648 BC) and was on its golden stage at the time of Darius the Great. Many of those Emperors are mentioned the Bible (the old testament). It was the largest and wealthiest country in the whole world. It's nice to know that the first human right was ordered by Cyrus the Great when he conquered Babylon. The story is written in details in the old testament, and its proof still exists as the Cyrus Cylinder, which is kept in the British Museum. The United Nation has announced the Cyrus Cylinder as "first charter of human rights".

The first Persian Empire is called Achaemenid Empire (Persia: امپراطوری هخامنشی), and was overtaken by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. He put Persepolis (the richest city in the world at its time) on fire. Historians believe that there was no war at Persepolis. Alexander has already defeated the Persian army when he arrived to Persepolis. Actually, Persepolis was not a military site, and there were no soldiers there. Burning Persepolis was only an act of anger against the royalty of the Persian Emperors. There were also wonderful gardens of the Persians in and around Persepolis, which were destroyed by Alexander's army. The name of those gardens in Persian language was پردیس (pronounce: pærdis, or pairidaza in old Persian). The word "paradise" is in fact driven from pærdis, which indicates the extreme beauty of those gardens.

After the death of Alexander, one of his generals, Seleucus I Nicator took power over Persia. The Seleucid Dynasty ruled over Persia for more than 150 years until the rise of the second Persia Empire.

There was a wonderful exhibition about Achaemenid Empire last year in the British Museum. I went there and it was a wonderful experience. I have already written about that exhibition in the Persian page of my blog (فخرالدین‌بلاگ). I will write about it also here before we move on together to the second and the third Persian Empires.

Persian: the name of the language

2006-07-29T11:03:00.000+02:00

See this photo? It's a calligraphy of a Persian poem from my favorite poet, Sohrab Sepehri. I'll tell you about him one of these days......

But what language is this? It may look like Arabic to some of you, since the alphabet is almost the same. But Persian and Arabic are different languages written with the same alphabet. You can simply think of French and German that almost have the same alphabet but are absolutely not the same.

I use the name "Persian" language. but am I right? Is it the correct name of the language? I can explain it in a simple way. Just look at the sentences below and tell me which group of sentences is correct in your point of view:

Group A:

He speaks français
(Il parle French).
She speaks Deutsch
(Sie spricht German).
They speak español
(Hablan Spanish).

Group B:

He speaks French
(Il parle français).
She speaks German
(Sie spricht Deutsch).
They speak Spanish
(Hablan español).

If you think that the sentences in Group A is correct, or you think that both groups are equally fine, please write to me and tell my your reasoning. I'll be very happy to hear that.

Otherwise, if you think that Group B is the good group, we share the same opinion. Now let me show you the same comparison regarding Persian language:

Group A:

I speak فارسی [pronounce: farsi]
(حرف می‌زنم Persian من [pronounce: mæn pershiën hærf mi-zænæm])

Group B:

I speak Persian
( من فارسی حرف می‌زنم [pronounce: mæn farsi hærf mi-zænæm])

I think it is clear now that "Persian" in the name of the language in English (in French it is "Persan," in German "Persisch," in Dutch "Perzisch," in Italian "Persiano," etcetera). On the other hand "فارسی" [pronounce: farsi] is the name of the language in Persian (it's the local name). It is easy to see the connection between the local name and the international name of the language. Persian is derived from Pars (the ethnicity of the royal family of the first Persian Empire). فارسی [pronounce: farsi] is also derived from Pars; it is actually the Arabized version of Parsi, an adjective meaning "related to Pars."

You may hear that many people use the local name of Persian language when they speak English or other Western languages. It's just a mistake that became popular after 1979, when many Persians immigrated to Western countries, and started using the local name. This mistake is now so popular that even Microsoft used the local name of Persian language in its programs! But not everybody made that mistake. Mac OS X (the operating system of Apple computers), for example, worked out all different languages so professionally, and you can see the correct name of the language there.

By the way, I should tell you about my Mac Book Pro! I got it immediately when it came to the market, and I use it almost everyday. And I love it almost every day!

OK, let me finish what I started in this post. Next time, you face somebody using the local name of Persian language, or read it in a newspaper or a magazine, make a comment on that! You can show how professional you are!

Persian: Nationality or Ethnicity?

2006-07-27T23:27:00.001+02:00

You know that an Irish or a Welsh does not like to be called English. The same situation exists in Persia. Let me explain:

Persia is a large country. Even now that it is in its smallest size in the whole history, it is bigger than Spain, France, and Germany altogether. Due to its large area, many different ethnic groups live there, and they talk also in many different languages.

In the west side of Persia, from north to south, live Azeris (Turks), Kurds, Lurs, and Arabs. In center there are mainly Pars (or Fars that is the Arabized version, since Arabs do not have the sound "p" in their alphabet). In the east live Baloch and Torkmens(1). Every ethnic group has its own language. Persian, which is the language of Pars, is the official language of Persia. The country is called Persia since the royal family of the first Persian Empire was from Pars ethnicity.

Going back to the story of Irish and English people, in Persia also an Arab or a Kurd does not like to be called Pars. Some of those people consider "Persian" to be the English translation of Pars (Fars) ethnicity, and, therefore, insist to keep the name of the country as Iran in order to clarify that not all the people in that land are Pars.

As I explained in the previous post, using the name Iran for the country is not justified. The following proposal may resolve the confusion of the ethnicity:

"Persian" is not the English translation of Pars (Fars) ethnicity. The name of an ethnic group is not usually been translated, but is used the same way as in original language. To indicate Pars (or Fars) ethnic group, the exact same word can be used in English.
Persian means "a person from Persia" not "a person who is Pars." To translate from English to Persian language and vice versa, "Persia" is equal to " ایران " (pronounce: iran), and "Persian" is equal to "ایرانی" (pronounce: irani) not "فارس" (pronounce: fars). There are only two exceptions in translation. "Persian language" is translated "زبان فارسی" (pronounce: zæban-e farsi), and "Persian Gulf" is translate "خلیج فارس" (pronounce: khælij-e fars).

In conclusion, "Persian" is not the translation of "Pars ethnicity". People with Pars (Fars) ethnicity are simply called "Pars." On the other hand, all the people from Persia, no mater what ethnicity they have, are called "Persian."

Persian is a nationality not an ethnicity.

(1) This list of Persian ethnic groups is not complete.

Persia today

2006-07-27T17:13:00.000+02:00

You may have noticed that in this blog I use the term "Persia." This may cause a bit of confusion for some people who think Persia is an ancient empire and does not exist anymore. I'd like to explain it in this post.

In ancient times, during the first, second and the third Persian Empires, Persia was very large, covering almost all of the area that we know as the Middle East. Those three empires were the Achaemenid Empire (648–330 BC), Parthian / Sassanid Empire (250 BC– 650 AD), and Safavid Empire (1501–1736). After the Safavid Empire, big pieces of land were detached from Persia in east, north and west (I may explain the role of Russia and Britain in those periods in later posts). By the beginning of 20th century, Persia reached to its smaller size in the whole history (which remained until now).

During all those years (since more than 3000 years ago until the beginning of the 20th century) people inside Persia called their country Iran (Persian: ایران). That is not strange, as German people also call their country Deutschland, while the international name is Germany. Iran, in Persian language, is derived from the word Aryans. In fact, the race of Persian people is Aryan, and they used to have blue/green eyes and blond hair (even today, you may still see few people with that characteristics if you travel to Persia). Dark hair and eyes were dominated in that land after Arabs conquered the second Persian Empire.

In 1935, after Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, the Nazi Economics minister, commented on the Aryan origin of Persians, Persian ambassador in Germany encouraged Reza Shah Pahlavi (who was the king of Persia at that time) to issue a decree asking all foreign delegates to use the word "Iran" (meaning "Aryan") instead of "Persia" in formal correspondence. After the Second World War that led to the defeat of Nazi's, a Persian committee looked into this matter. The committee announced that "changing the name is not justified", so Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (who was then the king of Persia) announced that both "Persia" and "Iran" could be used interchangeably.

I use, therefore, the name Persia throughout this blog for the following reasons:

The decision on changing the name was politically motivated, and (happily) with the removal of Nazi's we don't need to keep it. Actually, there is no reason to use local name of a country in international conversations. It is just like using the name Deutschland in English conversation.
The name Iran causes many people to confuse it with Iraq (an Arab state west of Persia). In fact, during the Second World War, Winston Churchill ordered to always use the name Persia in brackets in front of the name Iran to prevent such confusion during military actions.
The act of changing the name brought cultural damage to the country and separated it from its past from the point of view of Westerns. I give you one example:
The word Persia immediately reminds us of the land which Persian cat, Persian carpet, Persian pistachio, and Persian caviar come from. It also reminds us of Persian language, Persian poetry, Persian mysticism, Persian miniature, and famous Persian scientists. It holds on to the name of Persian Empires, Persian Gulf, and many other historical issues. An entity with the name Iran has none of those capacities (at least not in the point of view of Western people).

My first post in English

2006-07-25T15:27:00.001+02:00

This is the first post I am putting on this page. You may ask why an English page for Fakhredin Blog was needed. The truth is that I have received a serious comment that why I wrote the whole blog in Persian language. The issue was actually about my aim of having a blog. I started the Persian page of Fakhredin Blog in March 2004. My main aim was to write about the issues which I find interesting in daily life. In practice, most of the posts ended up to be about Persian history and Persian culture. I became more and more interested in World Heritage, and the role of Persia in it. This leaded me to the discussion of tourism industry in Persia, what has been done, and what is not still OK. I noted several times that we live in an era in which "information" is the key for any progress.

As you see, talking about information, it was not just to limit my blog to Persian readers. In fact, I realized that most of those information regarding Persian history or heritage is already well known for Persians themselves. If we, as Persians, do or do not appreciate that is another story. Nonetheless, it is of extreme importance to open those discussions to a broader audience. Let me give you an example:

You may recall the act of National Geography Society regarding the name of Persian Gulf, and the consequent reactions which forced the Society to withdraw. We all know that it was not the beginning, nor the end, of such matter. The conflict about the name of Persian Gulf is continuing very seriously. Several exhibitions and conferences are organized in Persia, but unfortunately the audiences were only Persian people. As Pejman Akbarzadeh noted several times in his articles in Shargh Newspaper: Persian people already agree! We do not need to convince them!! We need international act for this issue. You may like to read this article by Pejman in Shargh Newspaper (it's in Persian language).

Similar disputes are currently ongoing regarding Persian poets and Persian scientists. Certain people are claiming that some Persian poets/scientists were Turkish or Arab. I will try to discuss this matter in detail later. In short, you can just imagine if Germans start claiming Van Gogh to be a German painter, and not Dutch!

For this reason, and many others, I decided that an English page is of importance. I hope I will continue posting in both languages, and I look forward for many comments from you.

Deo Volente!