TEHRAN – An international conference linking together the Shahnameh, the epic masterpiece of the Persian poet Ferdowsi, and the Silk Road opened in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Monday.

A number of Iranian and foreign experts on the Shahnameh are attending the conference. 

“The lands the Shahnameh talks about are where the route of the Silk Road connects East and West,” director of the conference Mohammad-Jafar Yahaqi has said during a press conference.

He noted that scholars have demonstrated little regard for international issues in the Shahnameh, and expressed his hope that the conference would bring the thoughts of Ferdowsi and the Shahnameh to the attention of the scholars across the world.

A number of articles submitted to the secretariat of the conference will be published in a book after the conference concludes.

The three-day conference will end with a celebration of Ferdowsi Day on Wednesday at the tomb of Ferdowsi in the northeastern Iranian town of Tus. 

Photo:  A poster for the international conference on the Shahnameh and the Silk Road.

RM/MMS/YAW