Late last month (January 2014), over 3 million USD was pledged to the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) Endowment Fund by the Governments of Kenya (1.5 million USD), South Africa (1 million USD), Algeria (400,000 USD), Chad (100,000 USD), and Namibia (50,000 USD).

In a meeting and luncheon, where fifty four member States of the African Union were in attendance and was hosted by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,  UNESCO joined forces with the African Union Commission to raise awareness and funds (as reported by UNECO). UNESCO highlighted it’s commitment to supporting the AWHF, while other speakers including representatives from the Private Sector acknowledged the central role the AWHF plays in safeguarding heritage in Africa. In addition, all speakers emphasized their wish for more natural and cultural sites in Africa to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the potential and impact of tourism and the economic benefits.

It is important to note that the Endowment Fund still needs 25 million USD in order to render the AWHF independent and fully functional. Therefore, more fundraising is needed to raise the necessary funds. Beside the monetary contributions, Algeria announced the continuation of work by an Algerian specialist with AWHF, as well as the creation of a UNESCO Category II Center in Algeria for the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

AWHF was created in 2006 through a joint initiative by the Government of South Africa, the African Union and UNESCO. The organization is an intergovernmental organization based in South Africa whose mission is to assist African countries in many important tasks including: increasing the number of African sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, conserving and managing natural and cultural heritage, rehabilitating sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger, training heritage experts and site managers, and ensuring the participation of local communities in decisions concerning their heritage and to ensure that they receive tangible benefits from World Heritage.

Cairo’s Museum of Islamic Art which has been home to almost 100,000 artifacts and priceless key global collections was extensively damaged when a car bomb exploded early Friday (January 24th, 2014) morning. The blast which was outside the Police Security Directorate across the street from the main entrance to the Museum was the first of four that rocked Cairo according to several news agencies.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has expressed grave concern over the damage caused to Museum.

“I firmly condemn this attack and the destruction it has caused to the world-renowned Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, which hosts thousands of invaluable artifacts. This raises the danger of irreversible damage to the history and identity of the Egyptian people,” Bokova said.

“This heritage is part of the universal story of humanity, shared by all and we must all do everything to safeguard it,” the UNESCO director-general stressed.

It took only 27 million pounds or $44 million to give Britain’s ancient Stonehenge a makeover and the visitors to the site are in for a modern treat.  The renovations include a new timber and glass visitor center building about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the stones where over 1 million a year visitors can watch an exhibition about Neolithic life.
Late last year, in December 2013, journalists and English Heritage members were given a preview of the new center, which houses a 360-degree “virtual tour” of the monument, along with an extensive exhibition about how Stonehenge is believed to have been built about 5,000 years ago. So, what should the tourists and visitors expect when they arrive this year to see the site? The idea has been to return Stonehenge which is located 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, to its rural landscape. Visitors should expect to be transported to the stones on a special shuttle, or they can walk, exploring an ancient processional approach route that for years has been cut in half by asphalt. Inside, the exhibition will show that the monument’s prehistoric creators were sophisticated people, who raised pigs and hunted, gathered from far and wide for feasts and built this remarkable, mysterious monument.

The renovations which were funded partly through donations and partly through a levy on profits of Britain’s national lottery, has also almost doubled the entry ticket, from 8 pounds ($13) to 14.90 pounds ($24) for an adult. However, the visitors beside watching the virtual tour, will see a modern cafeteria and a large gift shop, where visitors can buy many souvenirs including jam, chocolate, baseball caps, mouse pads and fridge magnets, as well as “Stonehenge Rocks” T-shirts as Associated Press reports. It is believed that Stonehenge was built in three phases between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C.

Archaeologists and experts now agree that the site was a temple and a giant burial ground for elite families. Archaeologists have found the remains of dozens of cremated bodies from about 3000 B.C. whose location was marked by bluestones.  More evidence also suggests large crowds gathered at Stonehenge for the summer and winter solstices, a tradition that continues today.  More research and exactions will be done in years to come as more than half the site remains unexcavated.

Photos by Farzad Aryan

According to the reports coming out of Iran and received by WCHV, the Persepolis area is in very poor condition. This area is considered part of the Iran’s World Heritage site and for the last few years, important safeguarding and preservation have not been done for this historical site which is a few thousand years old. Unfortunately, warnings by the activists of Cultural heritage, as well as the Pasargad Heritage Foundation’s reports to the UNESCO have so far not produced any results.

Persepolis was founded by Darius I in 518 B.C., Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It was built on an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, where the king of kings created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models. The importance and quality of the monumental ruins make it a unique archaeological site.

UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Jamshidieh Park, in the north of Tehran is being destroyed, paving the way for the construction of a few high-rises. The old and famous park has been registered as a national intangible heritage of Iran and is one of the important green areas of a city suffering from dangerous air pollution. The ownership of the park was recently transferred to a government-owned bank and the new owner has decided to build the high-rises and destroy the park, and this decision is approved by the Tehran mayor. Many people including environmental activists and even parliament delegates have protested this incredibly poor act.
Jamshidieh Park (or Jamshidieh Stone Garden) is located in the neighbourhood of Niavaran at the base of Kolakchal mountain. The Stone Garden became a public park in 1977, and was reconstructed and expanded to 16 hectares with the addition of Ferdowsi garden in 1995. The premises were established as a private garden by the Qajar prince and engineer Jamshid Davallu Qajar.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kolakchal&action=edit&redlink=1)

Before Destruction:

After Destruction:

As we have reported, many times the world heritage sites are damaged or destroyed by natural and environmental factors such as earthquakes or hurricanes. The massive earthquake and powerful typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) which successively struck central Philippines in October and early November 2013 caused catastrophic destruction and human loss. While, the humanitarian concerns were immediately and continuously being addressed, the damage to the country’s national heritage is slowly being analyzed.
Earlier this month, The UNESCO World Heritage Center together with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural property (ICCROM), sent a joint expert mission from 2 to 12 December 2013 to Manila and Central Visaya to assist the Philippines in assessing the situation and damage caused by the two disasters, to identify immediate needs and emergency safeguarding measures, as well as medium term interventions that would be needed for rehabilitation and recovery. Three experts were included in the mission – one on immovable heritage with a special focus on structural consolidation, and one on intangible heritage and psycho-social impacts, while the ICCROM expert’s focus is on museums and collections. The mission has given particular attention to assessing how to rebuild the historic churches of the area according to the traditional techniques. Since the churches have functioned as the center of the community, the plans will aim to involve the local populace in restoration or rebuilding of the churches (ICCROM).
It has been reported, that two churches on the Tentative List of the Philippines (sites yet to be proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List) have been damaged. The Church Complex of San Pedro Apostol (Loboc, Bohol) of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines extension and the Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception (Baclayon, Bohol), were affected by the Bohol earthquake on 15 November 2013, and the Guiuan Church of La Purisima Concepcion, which is identified as one of the National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines, was severely damaged by the typhoon. No damage to existing World Heritage sites have been reported yet.

Five World Heritage Properties in the Philippines

• Baroque Churches of the Philippines
• Historic Town of Vigan
• Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park
• Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
• Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Historic Town of Vigan was established in the 16th century, and is the best-preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia. Its architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from elsewhere in the Philippines, from China and from Europe resulting in a culture and townscape that have no parallel anywhere in East and South-East Asia.

A slap in the face of Iranian Studies

Objection by the International community of Iranian Studies to the selection of a scholar of Greco-Arabic, to the Pourdavoud Chair in pre-modern Persia at Princeton University.

A letter and petition by professor Ehsan Yarshater

Pourdavoud Chair in pre-modern Persia at Princeton

To be delivered to Christopher L. Eisgruber, President, Princeton University, David P. Dobkin, Dean of the Faculty, Princeton University, Mrs. Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, and Marc Beissinger, Professor of Politics; Chair of the Search Committee for the Pourdavoud Chair in Pre-Modern Persia, Princeton University

President Christopher L. Eisgruber
Office of the President
1 Nassau Hall Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544

December 3, 2013

Dear President Eisgruber,

The community of scholars in Iranian Studies was delighted when Mr. and Mrs. Mossavar-Rahmani endowed a chair for Iranian Studies at Princeton University. Their delight was increased by thechair being named after Ebrahim Pourdavoud, a great Iranian scholar who pioneered Zoroastrian Studies in that country and translated the entire Avesta, the holy book of the Zoroastrians, into Persian, while providing ample commentaries for it. He was an outstanding patriot dedicated to reviving the ancient heritage of Iran.

The hope of scholars of Iranian Studies had been that the chair’s naming would be indicative of its focusing on the pre-Islamic culture and history of Iran, when Iranians gave rise to the Zoroastrian religion, and three major dynasties, namely, the Achaemenian, the Parthian, and the Sasanian, emerged. The study of this period has been recently weakened by the demise of several scholars who were regretfully not replaced in the same field. It was thus greatly hoped that the chair named after Pourdavoud, who personified the Iranian pre-Islamic history and culture more than anyone else, would help restore the balance, and the Pourdavoud Chair would be held by a scholar specializing in ancient Iran.

The scholar who has been suggested by the Selection Committee, good scholar as he may be, has been trained in Greco-Arabic and the great majority of his publications concern these two fields rather than Iranian languages and culture. To allow a chair named after Pourdavoud, who spent all his life teaching and writing about Zoroastrianism and the pre-Islamic culture of Iran, to be held by someone whose formal academic training has been in Arabic, Syriac, and Greek, and who by and large is unknown in the field, is considered a slap in the face of Iranian Studies, the community at large, and the memory of Pourdavoud.

We hope that a careful consideration of the purpose of the Chair and its name would persuade the Selection Committee to make a choice that would not contradict the aims of the endowed position, weaken the field of Iranian Studies, and discredit the legacy of Ebrahim Pourdavoud.

I have spoken to several colleagues in the field of Iranian Studies and I may report that they all agree with me. Some of them will be writing to you, others will be endorsing this letter.

With kind regards,

Ehsan Yarshater

Director, Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University;
Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies;
Editor, Encyclopaedia Iranica;
Editor, A History of Persian Literature
Center for Iranian Studies
Columbia University in the City of New York
450 Riverside Drive, No. 4
New York, N.Y. 10027-6821
Tel: (212) 851–9161
Fax: (212) 749–9524
E-mail: ey4@columbia.edu

Cc: Mr. and Mrs. Mossavar-Rahmani;
Professor David P. Dobkin, Dean of the Faculty.

Click here to sign/view the petition.

In early December (2013), the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, holding its 8th session met and inscribed 11 elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity serves to raise awareness of intangible heritage and provide recognition to communities’ traditions and know-how that reflect their cultural diversity (unesco.org). The List does not attribute or recognize any standard of excellence or exclusivity.

The titles of the newly inscribed elements below (in order of inscription) lead to web pages with information, pictures and videos:

• Traditional craftsmanship of the Mongol Ger and its associated customs—Mongolia

• Knowledge, skills and rituals related to the annual renewal of the Q’eswachaka bridge—Peru

• Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea

• Men’s group Colindat, Christmas-time ritual-Romania-Republic of Moldova

• Xooy, a divination ceremony among the Serer of Senegal

• Music of Terchová—Slovakia

• Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Štip—Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

• Turkish coffee culture and tradition—Turkey

• Petrykivka decorative painting as a phenomenon of the Ukrainian ornamental folk art—Ukraine

• La Parranda de San Pedro de Guarenas y Guatire—Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

• Art of Đờn ca tài tử music and song in southern Viet Nam

British archeologists led by University of Southampton have recently found evidence that sheds light on how Portus was destroyed. Portus, was by all historical records and accounts a port unlike any other. The port could host 350 ships at a time and kept the ravenous capital of the Roman Empire supplied with grain, wine, oil, slaves and luxuries from around the world.

The archeologists also believe that they have unravelled the mystery of how the site’s luxurious palace and huge warehouse vanished almost overnight, leaving no trace of the port’s scale and wealth as Guardian Newspaper reported. It was previously believed that the port and the beautiful palace had been burnt down by invading barbarians or Ostrogoths. However, the new picture drawn by the archeologists show that as the empire declined, Portus was systematically demolished in the 6th century by the Byzantines – the eastern emperors who fought the invading Ostrogoths to regain control of Rome. In addition, the archeologists discovered that the magnificent, three-story palace was in fact flattened and the 50ft walls were destroyed methodically. It is believed that by the 6th century, the Byzantines felt the port could be a threat as it was vulnerable to being occupied by the Ostrogoths, so they took the decision to destroy it themselves.

Portus was very important to the Roman Empire and new findings further emphasize the grandeur of what the port. The archeologists found the 60-room imperial palace covering nine acres. It was fronted by a long colonnade and boasted a first floor courtyard with a pool fed by a cistern below. The remains of an amphitheatre and an enormous, 260-yard long warehouse have also been discovered.<

Built by the emperor Trajan in the second century, Portus included a mile-wide main basin that has now silted up, and an inner, hexagonal basin that still exists as a lake in woodland at the end of the runway of Rome’s Fiumicino airport – it’s perfect hexagonal shape is clearly visible from above.

The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium. Initially the eastern half of the Roman Empire (often called the Eastern Roman Empire in this context), it survived the 5th century fragmentation and collapse of the Western Roman Empire and continued to thrive, existing for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 (Wikipedia).