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 "Traditional Knowledge of Astrology 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.
Astronomy and astrology are two of the oldest human sciences. Astrology is the science of analysing and interpreting the effect of the state of celestial bodies and constellations on the conditions and situations on the earth; This knowledge, along with astronomy, is a major part of astronomical sciences, which includes interpreting and predicting events based on astronomical data.
This element is one of the rooted, authentic, ancient, very valuable elements and also the origin of many intangible cultural heritage elements in the culture of Iran and other countries. In the file of this intangible cultural heritage, which is inscribed of national scope, various aspects of the effects of traditional knowledge of astrology in Iranian culture have been studied and documented. This element is manifested in three 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", and "knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe".