ABASSY Małgorzata: Progressive or Conservative? The Thought of Sheykh Fazlallah Nuri within the frames of semiotic analyses The personage of Sheykh Fazlallah Nuri and his activity during the Constitutional Revolution belong to the most convoluted and controversial issues. In some periods of his activity Nuri supported the Qajar court whereas in others he was a proponent of a constitutional order. However, one fixed and profound pattern can be discovered beneath Nuri's attitudes towards the events of the mashrute period. It resulted from defence of the Shi‘a Islam. Sheykh Fazlallah Nuri changed his views and the tools he used to inculcate them depending on how he perceived the greatest threat for Islam at the particular moment. Semiotic analyses of Nuri's writings will allow us to describe the pattern and its configuration: the central, stable elements and the elements of secondary importance. The division between „own‖ and „foreign‖, which is specific for semiotic analyses, helps us to precise what elements, defined by Nuri as „own‖ and „foreign‖, clashed and what was the result of the encounter. Research in the Sheykh's writings within the frames of semiotic analyses will also lead to re-defining the concepts of „progressive‖ and „conservative‖. ABBASI Javad: Historical Data in Non-Historical Sources (Importance of Rashid Al-Din‟s Scientific and Theological Writings in Historical Studies) Having a precise reconstruction of the past is based on expanding references to all detailed and scattered data. Although the main part of historical materials for history of Iran has been provided in narrative sources like histories and original documents as well as letters and endowments, there are much more historical materials in other kind of ancient texts. These could be useful especially for cultural, social and economic studies. In Islamic history of Iran, scientific and theological treatises and books are part of these supplementary sources. Mostly between the lines or in the introductory and marginal part of these texts, we can find unique and valuable information, which complete our historical knowledge and understanding despite their shortage. Rashid al-Din Fazlallah Hamadani's writings in these fields like Asale va Ajvabeye Rashidi, Latayef al-Haqayeq, Athar va Ehya and Ketabe Soltani, contain some important historical data. Present article is going to elaborate the significance of such data for studies of Ilkhanid period. ABE Katsuhiko: Safavid silk as gift for Shôgun; Iranian textiles in Japan during the Edo Period (1603-1867) Safavid silk textiles were brought to Japan since the end of the sixteenth century first by the Portuguese. From the beginning of the seventeenth century, they were offered by the Dutch East India Company as present to Shôgun and other high ranking dignitaries of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). In the records of Dutch V.O.C. such textiles are mentioned as Persian silk cloth, along with other objects from Iran like rugs, horses, rose water or saffron. Their high quality and exotic beauty caught the aesthetic fancy of chanoyu (tea Ceremony) milieu that began to use them to embellish valued utensils such as chaire (tea container). Some textiles were cut out and sold as highly valuable objets d‘art throughout the Edo period and are preserved today in various collections. Thus, Iranian textiles in Japanese collections constitute not only a corpus of historical sources, but should also to be taken into account as material used for understanding and redefining the silk weaving production of Safavid Iran. Safavid silk textiles are considered as one of the highest achievement of silk weavings in the Islamic world in terms of their techniques, but also their sophisticated designs and colour schemes. Although several attempts have been made concerning the attributions of Safavid textiles, their dating and weaving techniques are yet to be analysed in detail in order to define the different category of productions such as those made for the court in Isfahan. The royal atelier, mentioned by many contemporary European travellers, certainly produced highly sophisticated fabrics although surviving examples remained unidentified. Through the analysis of Iranian silk textiles in Japanese collections, paralleled with examples in European collections, this paper will argue that many of them should be dated from the first half of the seventeenth century. Showing great skill in terms of technique and design, they form a distinctive group made specifically for the Safavid court. ABE Naofumi: A Case of “Property Retention” Tactics in Nineteenth Century Iran Based on the Analysis of Fatḥ „Alī Khān Donbolī‟s Inventories This study sets out to investigate the ―property retention‖ tactics of a certain Iranian local notable Fatḥ ‗Alī Khān Donbolī, and his family during the nineteenth century through the analysis of his two inventories with other source materials, in order to verify attempts made during that time to pass property on from generation to generation. Since there was no powerful central government in Iran before the consolidation of Pahlavī Dynasty in the twentieth century, local elites have been regarded as important keys to understanding Iranian history, which is why a large body of research regarding them exists today, mainly focusing on biographical aspects. Although some historians have emphasized the socio-economic importance of local elites, they have only examined such aspects as their waqf property and purchases of real estate in order to evaluate the impact of the emergence of the Qājār Dynasty on local elites. What is needed now is research aiming at the socio-economic features of local elites for their own sake; for example, studies of estate portfolios and system of inheritance and so forth. For this reason, the speaker focuses on all-out attempts at comprehensive ―property retention‖ by Fatḥ ‗Alī Khān Donbolī (d. 1875) as well as the legal nature of his ownership rights First, the speaker compares two inventories related to Fatḥ ‗Alī Khān, one which included sharī‘a documents, the other being a general inventory, in order to focus on the pieces of real estate registered in them to find differences between them, then collates these differences with other source materials. As a result it is shown that Fatḥ ‗Alī attempted to retain and manage not only his legally owned real estate but also that of his mother, Mehrjahān, in a consolidated fashion. This constitutes an example of ―property retention‖ not in accord with legal ownership custom, but which continued after Fatḥ ‗Alī‘s death. His successor, Ḥoseynqolī became the de facto retainer of all the property, which included his grandmother‘s assets and the late Fatḥ ‗Alī‘s estate which had been ―divided‖ de jure among many heirs. ABIDA Khaled: dans la quête picturale de Charles Hossein Zenderoudi « أ » Voyages mystiques de la lettre En 1970, la célèbre revue française connaissance des Arts a considérée Charles Hossein Zenderoudi (peintre lettriste naît en 1937 à Téhéran) comme l‘un des dix artistes vivants les plus importants aux côtés de Frank Stella et de Andy Warhol. Outre sa réputation universelle, il est parmi les figures imminentes de la scène plastique iranienne et arabe, à savoir qu‘il est le fondateur du mouvement artistique Saqqa-Khaneh en Iran et que son usage mystique de la lettre arabe, depuis un âge précoce, a influencé nombre important de plasticiens ayant recouru au lettrisme comme mode d‘expression artistique et comme requête identitaire. Sans vouloir m‘étaler d‘avantage sur la biographie de ce grand peintre, faut-il préciser, encore, que la est longtemps traversée, chez lui, par des ,« أ » plasticité de la lettre arabe, et particulièrement celle du flux énergétiques et philosophiques qui se ressourcent des pensées des grands soufis tout en puisant dans une mystique chiite. Bien qu‘elle semble être « hermétique », l‘œuvre de Zenderoudi reste ouverte à l‘interprétation. Elle commence à nous dévoiler ses secrets dès qu‘on fouille dans le mysticisme chiite et toute la symbolique qu‘il accorde à la lettre. est un trait désignant « Allah », le bon Dieu, et que toutes les autres lettres « أ » En savant que la lettre sont issues des inflexions de la courbure variable de ce trait-divin, je vous invite, à ce moment, à un voyage dans deux œuvres de l‘artiste, éloignées dans le temps de leurs exécutions, véhiculant des variations autour de cette lettre en particulier. Ces deux œuvres sont: - MIUZ - SFKE 1972, Acrylique sur toile 195 X195 cm, Collection du Centre national d'art contemporain CNAC Paris France - MA MAIN A SA MAIN AMARREE 2007, Acrylique sur toile 116 X 160 cm, Collection privée de l‘artiste. La lecture proposée cherche à entrecroiser des éléments d‘analyse issus de la pensée mystique islamique et des éléments plastiques issus de ces deux œuvres de Charles Hossein Zenderoudi. Dans l‘attente d‘une réponse à ma proposition, veuillez agréer mes respects les plus profonds. ABULADZE Tamar, GIUNASHVILI Helen: Safavid Iran and Georgia: Questions of Interrelations in the Light of Persian Historical Documents Among rich collections preserved at the Georgian National Antiquities, Persian historical documents from the XVI-XVIII centuries present the most important records for the study of Iranian-Georgian (Caucasian) cultural-historical relations. The documents are kept at the National Center of Manuscripts (the fund PD, 511 units), the National Archive of the Ministry of Justice (the funds N 1452 and N 1450 (1237 units)) and the Museum of Art of Georgia (4 units). They are absolutely unique because of their content, completeness, historical and artistic significance. The collections include Persian firmans (deeds), hoqms, books of grants and purchases, letters of appeal (petitions) of shahs of Iran and Georgian governors, who adopted Islam with the resolutions of shahs or kings of Georgia. The deeds of trade transactions, notes, trade and taxation receipts, wedding contracts, etc.