مطالب

The valley of Alamut is situated in the north – east of Qazvin province. The region is an enclave in the form of a U shape valley in the central Alborz chains and opening up to the fertile Qazvin plains. The mountains of Alamut were ideal for construction of castles. The natural heights contains a section of the defensive structure of the castles. In 1090 A.D, Hassan Sabbah , the leader of Ismailites in Iran , chose the Alamut region , as his headquarter to campaign , preach and convert new followers. This proved to be a turning point for destiny of Alamut Valley. The result of over two centuries Ismailite stronghold, the region witnessed innumerous castles throughout, of which at least 20 “castles “dating back to this era have been identified. The most magnificent castle in the Alamut Valley is the Alamut or the Hassan Sabbah castle, which is built on top of a high rock reaching 2163 m above sea level near the Gazor Khan Village .The rock is 200 m high, with its steep slope and deep and dangerous ravine, the rock is practically inaccessible and forms a part of the Fort’s structure. Covering an area of 20,000sq.m. Currently only ruins of the fort and some towers are apparent and it is only through archeological excavation the mains can be discovered. During the7 seasons of excavation (2001- 2007) more than 5000 Sq.m were unearthed. The discoveries include: main entrances, road networks, steps and stepsflanked, workshops, water reservoirs, depots, living quarters, significant main portal and mosque. With molded and carved delicated brick decoration, as well as broken pieces of turquoise glazed tiles, luster painted tiles, these findings speak of the magnificents architecture of the castle during the Ismailite. Excavations show that the castle has undergone at least four major alterations, first in the 11 century A.D (Hassan Sabbah period), and then during his seven successors ( until 13th century AD ) and before the attack of Hulaku Khan in 1257 AD during the reign of Roknoddin Khorshah , the last lord of Alamut, the Safavid era 16-17A.D; when castle was used as prison and exile for political opponents and was referred to as “oblivious castle” and finally during Qajar unfortunately ravaged for treasure hunting.

Among the various of Sasanian kings, Narseh (293-302 A.D.) is the one whose important and striking rock relief remained at Naqsh-i Rustam in Iran’s Fars province. This relief records investiture ceremony from Anahita ( known as Goddess of fertility and protector of water). Until now, various views and interprations have been put forwarded about the real identity and historical theme of this relief. But the attribution of a lady to Shapurdokhtak II (Narseh`s wife) is the latest and most controversial view given by Alireza Shapur Shahbazi, who has conducted excavations and archaeological studies at Takht-i Jamshid for several years. In fact, this attribution has also provoked the authors of the present article hence; he has tried to highlight the depiction through opinions of various researches. The present study supports the accuracy and validity of the attributed lady to water goddess Anahita and refuses other theories.

The interactions and linkages between urban centers and peripheral settlements are increasingly recognized as key factors in the process of social, economic and environmental changes in peripheral settlements. Despite this, most practices are implicitly based on a dichotomous view of population and activities in urban and peripheral area. This paper presents that how interactions between urban centers and peripheral settlements include spatial linkages (flows of goods, money, capital, people, information, production, technology and wastes) affect on peripheral changes. The interactions and linkages between the urban centers of Qazvin and 20 peripheral settlements there show that the effects of this interaction upon the peripheral settlements have included more inorganic effects. Urban and peripheral development need to be considered as complementary process rather than competing activities for the limited resources. The benefits of such an integrated approach will outweigh of the costs.

The present article aims to investigate the appropriateness of the concepts introduced by modern sciences of the sign, particularly by structural and poststructural approaches, to studying God-man communication in the Quran. Such a conception of communication can be described in terms of two models, namely, communication as sending and communication as reading. These two concepts which represent an uncompromising dualism in the modern approaches to the sign, come to a compromise in the religious discourse, leading us not merely to conceiving a powerful God but also to a powerful man.