A Report on a Party and the Guests

“People of protest,” it may be the best name for the men encountering the dictatorship of Qajar dynasty and Reza Shah—The first king of Pahlavi Dynasty (1921–1939) in Iran— the men who paid an expensive price for being protesters: being vanished in the history. In the summer of 2011, we conducted excavation at Neshat Garden and at the house of Kamal ol Molk—the famous painter of Qajarid Iran— two sites dating from the previous century. The interviews indicated the Garden was used for the parties in which numerous guests were invited, but the finds of the archeological investigation represent also a hidden function for the site as well. Studying the agency of garden owners, local villagers and Kamal as well as the remained letters and documents showed the possibility of presence of a political opposition group in the region in 1920s. This essay sheds more light on a process in which the Iranian intellectuals have had to change their ironic protests to armed opposition in 1920s–1940s. Though, the excavation at Neshat Garden offers an illustration of this process of transformation of the nature of political opposition.     

Leitbilder und Handlungsstrategien für die Raumentwicklung in Deutschland Entwicklungs-, Umsetzungs- und Fortschreibungsprozess der Bund-L?nder-Strategie für St?dte und Regionen

Die Ministerkonferenz für Raumordnung stellte im Mai 2010 fest, dass sich die „Leitbilder und Handlungsstrategien für die Raumentwicklung in Deutschland“ (2006) bew?hrt haben und bei der Gestaltung der r?umlichen Entwicklung umgesetzt werden. Um die Leitbilder den sich ver?ndernden wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und naturr?umlichen Rahmenbedingungen anzupassen und die Erkenntnisse aus dem bisherigen Diskussions- und Umsetzungsprozess in Politik und Praxis einzubeziehen, sind sie zu erg?nzen und weiterzuentwickeln. Im Mittelpunkt der Fortschreibung werden die Themen „Partnerschaften und Strategien für Stadtregionen und l?ndliche R?ume“, „Mobilit?t und Logistik“ sowie „Klimaschutz und Energieversorgung“ stehen.     

Raman analysis of ninth-century Iraqi stuccoes from Samarra

Six ninth-century stucco fragments from Samarra, Iraq, and now part of the Victoria and Albert Museum collections, were analysed non-destructively and in situ in the Museum by Raman microscopy in order to determine the identities of the pigments thereon. Carbon black, haematite, gypsum, indigo, lazurite, lead white, orpiment, pararealgar, red lead, vermilion and the As₄S₄ χ-phase were detected. The detection of several arsenic-containing pigments (orpiment, pararealgar and the As₄S₄ χ-phase), known to be poisonous and carcinogenic, has prompted strict health and safety protocols to be used when the objects are handled by museum staff or displayed in the galleries. This scientific study is the first to be carried out on any of the Samarra finds.