Recently, thousands of lovers of Persian culture in Iran have launched a campaign to request the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism of the Islamic Republic to take action for the global registration of Tus, the birthplace and location of the tomb of Ferdowsi, with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Ferdowsi (1030 AD) is known as the greatest Iranian epic poet, who wrote with a narrative approach about the history of Iran and the life of Iranian kings before the Arab invasion. He is considered a much beloved poet of all Iranians – akin to Shakespeare for English speakers.
Since most of the historical and cultural monuments of Iranians are non-religious, the Islamic government does not express interest in them and has paid more attention to Islamic-Shiite monuments.
In the last forty-two years, many cultural and historical heritage sites in Iran have suffered from intentional and unintentional destruction. The Islamic government also refuses to send the names of these important Iranian sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites committee for consideration.
Recently, the Islamic government announced that it intends to send the tomb of Imam Reza, which is located in the city of Mashhad (near the city of Tus) to UNESCO.
It remains that the efforts of culture lovers are a reaction and reminder to pay attention to the birthplace and tomb of the great poet, Ferdowsi.
