Inscription of "Astrological Calendar in Iran" on Iran's National ICH Inventory
Having approved by the National Council for the Inscription of Intangible Cultural Heritage in its session on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, "Astrological Calendar in Iran" was inscribed on Iran's national ICH inventory. The "Astrological Calendar in Iran" file was prepared and proposed by Mana Naqsh Heritage Institute, and Shahab Nikman, the managing director of the institute, attended the session to present and defend the file.
On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, following Article 12 of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO and Article 3 of the Statute of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts of Iran, in the session of the National Council for the Inscription of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the file "Astrological Calendar in Iran" which was prepared and proposed by Mana Naqsh Heritage Institute for Art & Culture, was inscribed on Iran's national ICH inventory. Shahab Nikman, the managing director of Mana Naqsh, attended the session to present and defend the file, on behalf of the collaborators, Ehsan Khazeni, Parvin Dalvand, and Shahab Nikman.
The astrological calendar is designed for the use of astronomers and the public and is usually written for one year, which usually includes the reconciliation of the four common calendars (Solar, Lunar, Yazdgerdi, Gregorian), prayer times, the daily position of the sun and the planets of the solar system, connections and angles between the moon and planets, etc., and the old samples of this kind of calendar exist from the early centuries of Hijri.
This element, which is inscribed of national scope, is manifested in four of the five domains of intangible cultural heritage domains, including "oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage", "social practices, rituals and festive events", "knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe", and "traditional craftsmanship".