مجله کاشان شناسی
سال سیزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 25، پاییز و زمستان 1399)

One of the unknown artists of Kashan during the Safavid era was Mohammad Tahir Naqqash Kashani. Historical sources have called him a poet who trained some students, and his main profession has been naqshbandī (i.e. painter of textile motifs). Although some of his verses have been narrated in several texts, they have not been collected and edited. In primary sources and modern studies, five takhallus (i.e. pen name) have been mentioned for him, but in the present paper the authenticity of one of them is only confirmed. Since he was a painter, some scholars have attributed to him some mural paintings, but the accuracy of this claim has not been confirmed. Moreover, an inscription in thulth script on cuerda secatiles with his signature shows that he has also been involved in calligraphy. Since no research has been done on this artist so far, various texts have attributed different professions to him: poet, nagshband, calligrapher, painter, potter, illuminator, and paper maker. However, some evidence shows that he has only had the first four professions. Therefore, the most important question in this article is to identify Tahir’s works based on his signed works and, also, to study and analyze their characteristics. In this article, five ghazals written by the artist himself, a list of his poems as well as some of his art works are published for the first time.

Lustre potteries, as one of the pottery works in Iran, have been produced during the sixth and the seventh centuries AH in various centers in the cities of Kashan, Ray, Saveh, Sultanabad, and Takht-e-Suleyman. These works have different forms. It is difficult to understand such works due to the lack of accurate dating and the ambiguity of the place of production. This paper aims to study and explain the chronology of the cockerel-headed ewer lustre pottery presented in the Niavaran Palace Museum based on the comparative approach and library studies. The methodology of this research is descriptive-historical, and information gathering has been done in the form of library and field studies. It pursues objectives such as more accurate dating, an identification of the place of production, and an understanding of the production style for this ewer. Therefore, this container is first documented, and, then, the components are described and the motifs are identified. Subsequently, the dating and place of production of this ewer are investigated through a comparative study of historical works, referring to the library resources and deploying the Oliver Watson stylistic framework. Hence, the three main questions of this research are: To which period does the lustre pottery (sorahi) of the Niavaran Palace Museum belong? Where is its manufacturing center? Also, which of the known styles of lustre pottery has been used in its making? The results of this study indicate that the place of production of this ewer was Kashan, and it was produced based on the coarse style in the late sixth century and the early seventh century AH.

Barzok is one of the mountainous cities in Kashan region with mild climate, suitable rainfall, springs, aqueducts, numerous farms. Thus gardening and agriculture are flourishing there. On the top of one of the aqueducts of this city, called Lavalun, there is a stone slab on which there is an inscription. This article, while referring to Barzok farms and Lavalun farm, elaborates on the coordinates and quality of the stone slab with the carved inscription, the text of the inscription, and the social and religious status of the founder of the aqueduct. In this thirteen-line inscription, the order to dig an aqueduct, called Qasemabad, is mentioned by Abolghasem Zaid Naraghi, one of the religious leaders of the region. This inscription includes the order of digging the aqueduct, the name and titles of the founder, good prayers to him, and the date of digging the aqueduct. The inscription of Lavalun aqueduct was written during the reign of Ghazan Khan in 695 AH. This inscription along with two others, belonging to 705 and referring to the construction of two mosques in Barzok, shows the social and cultural changes of Ghazani period and Barzok prosperity in the patriarchal period. Another important point is that many parts of this inscription have been destroyed or are on verge of destruction without any technical protection while it has not yet been registered.

Kashan, asone of the most important Shiite centers in Iran and one of the first science headquarters   in the Shiite world, has played a very important role in various fields including scientific, cultural, social, political, throughout the history. Therefore, in later periods, this city became the birthplace of great and prominent scholars, among whom the great jurist, and rijali, Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Alavi-Boroujerdi.  with valuable scientific services and authorship of valuable works and training of great thinkers, he has been able to play an important role in his period, which coincided with the worst socio-political conditions in the Qajar and Pahlavi eras; The present study has deployed a historical approach and a library method along witha field research while including oral sources to analyze the scientific, cultural, social life, and relics of this wise man. Not only are the most important aspects of his life introduced and explained to the audience, but also a chabce has been provided for posterity to read, describe, correct, and suspend his precious works while, in terms of education, a suitable model can be introduced.

While highlands of Kashan have many potentials for archaeological and historical studies, but they have still remained blank. Although some archaeological surveys and excavations have been done recently by a team from University of Kashan and University of Warsaw, there are much more to it than meets the eye. Newly-found Maraq cemetery, which has partially been destroyed by agricultural activities, seems to belong to the late Iron Age. Archaeological materials gathered from the surface of the site prove this claim, and they are compatible with what already is known from cultural materials of the first millennium B.C. in central Plateau of Iran. Comparative studies over potsherds of the site and a stylistic comparison of two cylindrical seals recovered through surface survey suggest that those graves, materials of which have been disturbed by farming machines should be dated at least to 1000-700 B.C. Hence, newly-found Maraq cemetery is promising to shed first light over an important period in the history of central plateau of Iran.

Chalehghab watchtower is located in Chalehghab neighborhood in Niasar. It has been built in the Qajar era and has two floors. Its function was to watch the city, to inform the people, and sometimes to defend Niasar against the villains. Until 2006, Chalehghab Tower was seen as a ruin in Niasar. The restoration of the tower could influence the Chalehghab neighborhood and Niasari People could be benefited from its restoration. Accordingly, the dynamic equilibrium model was selected to preserve this tower.The main challenges of the research were the anonymity of the Chalehghab tower and the lack of proper attention to its organizing role in Niasar; in this regard, two questions were asked:  First, what was the role and function of the Chalehghab tower in Niasar? Second, how could the dynamic equilibrium model help Niasar? This study aimed to preserve the present values in Niasar. The presence of the historical material resources and the old written and oral documents justified the use of the historical interpretive strategy and it seemed necessary to answer the raised questions. Informing stakeholders, the local community, and officials as parts of the process, predicted in the dynamic equilibrium model, led to collective participation in the restoration of the tower. This model has been able to protect and preserve the cultural, social, and, thus, economic values in the effective areas of the Chalehghab Tower in the city along with the values created in the field of environment.

Kashan Plain is one of the important regions of the central plateau of Iran in terms of valuable historical records. Based on case studies and excavations having been carried out in this area during the last 80 years, traces of different periods- from the Paleolithic to the Islamic era- have been identified in different parts of this geographical area. However, different archeological research programs, including excavations, have not made a significant contribution. Therefore, in the first place, a thorough and comprehensive archaeological study program is necessary to understand the archaeological status of this area better. Field archaeology in the Eghbaliyeh area-- located in the northwest of Kashan-- is one of the activities having been carried out in recent years, and its archaeological findings include different prehistoric periods - from the fourth millennium BC, the Iron Age, the historical period, various Islamic periods to present era.This article discusses and addresses questions, including the nature of the archeological site of Eqbaliyeh and the findings of the excavation.  Also it elaborates the reasons for the distribution of the findings and the disconnection and turbulence of the ancient deposits. Archaeological evidences indicate that the Eghbaliyeh compound due to its low position has always been a place for sedimentation of seasonal floods of upper parts of the Kashan Plain, which includes cultural materials.