A fire-Altar beneath Echmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia

Participating in the conference "The Middle East and the Caucasus: History, Realities and Perspectives" in Yerevan, Armenia, I had a chance to visit Echmiadzin Cathedral on Friday, November 07, 2008. The excursion was arranged by the conference organisers, the Institute of Oriental Studies of Armenian National Academy of Sciences. By the kindness of our Armenian host, we were able to see a Mazdayee/ Zoroastrian construction, a fire-altar, beneath the main altar of the cathedral. Unearthed in 1950, The fire-place is surrounded by a wall, and there is a kind of complicated carved design facing it on the opposite wall. The existence of such a worship place goes with the legend that Christ came down from heaven with a hammer to destroy a pagan temple and show where the church has to be built. The place is closed to ordinary visitors.

Fortunately, I was able take some photos and shoot two short movies, though not in good quality, by my digital camera. I upload them here. A photo shows the entrance to the construction, while the other looks to the entrance from inside. The design on the wall opposite to the altar is shown in the third one. While narrating the scene, I made a mistake, corrected shortly afterwards, by describing the design on the wall as a "Lotus flower", an ancient Persian symbols carved on many historical remains.
The three photos and two movies © Jalil Nozari
More information in Wikipedia which has a reference to this construction under "Archaeological traces" (click here).

Persian Decrees of the Matenadaran

Following the edition and appearance of volumes 1 & 2 of the Persian firmans available in Matenadaran, Yerevan, Armenia, by the late Professor Papazyan years ago, the task was taken by Kristine Kostikyan to give the rest of the manuscripts to print.
She recently published the volumes three and four of "The Persian Decrees of Matenedaran" in Yerevan by the support of Iran Heritage Foundation (both volumes) and Armen and Bersabe Jerejian Foundation Inc.- USA (volume three).

She studied, edited and translated the documents in these volumes. The books provide pictures of about 145 Persian royal documents from Safavid to early Qhajar periods dealing with various issues related to Armenian people and clergy when the land was part of the Persian empire. Together with their transliteration in Persian, the books also provide the Armenian and English translations of the documents.

I met Kristine, a very modest fellow, in Matenadaran Institute, Yerevan and she kindly gave me a signed copy of each volume.
The three photographs by Jalil Nozari, November, 2008.

Mithras Reader Vol II

Mithras Reader volume 2 is published.
Photograph by Jalil Nozari, Temple of Mitra, Garni, Armenia

Islamic Chinoiserie

Yuka Kadoi's book on the artistic interaction between Iran and China under the Mongols will be published by Edinburgh University Press in coming April.
To quote from the flyer sent to me by the author, "Highly illustrated, Islamic Chinoiserie offers a fascinating glimpse into the artistic interaction between Iran and China under the Mongols. By using rich visual materials from various media of decorative and pictorial arts- textiles, ceramics, metalwork and manuscript painting- the book illustrates the process of adoption and adaptation of Chinese themes in the art of Mongol-ruled Iran in a visually compelling way."
I met Yuka two times, first in Krakow, Poland, participating in ESCAS 9th conference, the second time in London, presenting a paper titled, "Rustam's Tiger-Skin Coat" (خفتان رستم) in the Six Biennial conference of Iranian Studies. She currently works at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The photo showing Yuka and me was taken in a banquet in Krakow.