During 1966-67, some murals were unveiled in Panjkant, beside the altar niche of the room 1, the major hall, section 22. Parts of an unknown story are serially illustrated on this wall, ending with the victory of the hero in the gate of the fortress. A Sogdian INSCRIPTION with 12 vertical lines in the fortress refers to the content of the story that most probably belongs to the circle Thewenak stories. In this research paper, after reading the text of this Sogdian INSCRIPTION, the writer gives its transcription as well as its Persian translation. The paper concludes with the studying of the mural's style.

Argishti, son of Rusa, is one of the famous Urartian kings who has left a number of INSCRIPTIONs including his rock and stele INSCRIPTIONs. Of his carved-stone and other INSCRIPTIONs,we can name Hayavank in Van, Karmir- Blur near Erivan, Hagi and Djelabi Baghi in and near Ardjish an old city to the north of Van Leke, and three other expedition Rock- INSCRIPTIONs by the name of Razliq, Nashteban near Sarab and the newly found Shishe Rock- INSCRIPTION by Ali- Reza Nobari in 1377 (HS) in East Azarbaijan near the city of Ahar which is discussed hereunder.

Introduction: The INSCRIPTION of Rabatak was found in 1993 near an ancient hill in the north part of Baghlan in Afghanistan. The village of Rabatak is situated at the kilometer forty in the north-western part of the ancient province of Sorkh-Kotal near the border between Baghlan and Samangan provinces. The Rabatak INSCRIPTION includes 23 lines in Bactrian language and a Greco- Bactrian script. The Bactrian language is one of the Eastern Middle Iranian Languages. It was spoken by the people of northern part of Afghanistan. It is noteworthy that Bactrian is the only Middle Iranian language whose writing system is based on the Greek alphabet, a fact ultimately attributable to Alexander’s conquest of Bactria and to maintenance of Greek rule for some 200 years after his death (323B.C.). In spite of the invasion of Bacteria by Alexander of Macedonia and his successors the Bactrian language continued to be in use.Around the Middle of the second century B.C. Bactria was overrun by nomads from the north called Tokharoi. They settled in northern part of Afghanistan and later gave their name to the area (Tokharistan). The Kushan Empire was founded early in the Christian era by Kujula Kadphises whose tribe obtained supremacy over the Tokharoi. With the collapse of the Kushan dynasty their lands fell into the hand of the Sasanians, under whom the administration of these provinces was entrusted to a governor styled Kušānšāh. From the middle of the fourth century Bactria and northwestern India were overrun by Hunnish tribes, of whom the Hephtahalites proved the most durable, maintaining their rule in parts of Afghanistan up to the Arab conquest in the seventh century. The aim of this article is to throw a new light both an the Bactrian history and language through Rabatak INSCRIPTION by presenting its transliteration, transcription and translation into Persian language following The Journal of Teaching Language Skills (JTLS) 102 with a commentary and an etymological word list. It is worth mentioning that in this study the historical and linguistic points are examined. Method of ResearchI have examined the Bactrian INSCRIPTION of Rabatak according to the reading and interpreting of Nicholas Sims-Williams from University of London whose reading is based on the original copies and the photograph prepared by British Museum. I have used the method of translation and transcription used by him in his several editions of Bactrian documents as well as his edition of Bactrian Legal and Economical Documents.Result: The result of studying Rabatak INSCRIPTION indicates that Kanishka the great, who was the ruler of Kushan Empire, obtained his kingship from Nana and from all the gods. He discontinued the use of Greek language to be replaced by the Aryan language. In fact, any of the Indo-European languages of Iran or India could be called “Aryan”; but we are now sure that when he mentions the Aryan language, he means Bactrian, the language of his INSCRIPTION, just as Darius meant Old Persian, the language of his INSCRIPTION, when he wrote: “By the favor of Ahuramazda, I made another text in Aryan”.He also announced the beginning of a new era starting with the year 1 of his reign. Kanishka’s era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan dynasty. The INSCRIPTION mentions the chief cities of north India which were controled by Kanishka. Conclusion: The Rabatak INSCRIPTION is written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script. It was found in 1993 at the site of Rabatak, in Afghanistan. According to this INSCRIPTION Kanishka the great was a righteous and just king who was worthy of divine worship. It seems that the Aryan was a language used by the most Iranian people as a formal language of communication. The Rabatak INSCRIPTION describes events of the first year of Kanishka in words strikingly similar to those used by Dariuš the Great in the INSCRIPTION of Bisotun. The INSCRIPTION also names the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka (lines 4-7). It is significant in implying the actual extent of Kushan rule under Kanishka. The INSCRIPTION will therefore lead to a fundamental reassessment of our understanding of the Kushan kings who ruled an ancient empire centered on the territory now known as Afghanistan Extended Abstracts of the Persian 103 Articles in English and Pakistan. Finally, it is very informative and important that Kanishka mentions the name of the kings who ruled up to his time. They were Kujula Kadphises as his great grandfather, Vima Taktu as his grandfather, Vima Kadphises as his father.

Ibrahim Sultan (796-838 AH) was a Timurid prince who ruled in Shiraz since 817 AH. He was a patron of arts and a renowned calligrapher. His calligraphic INSCRIPTIONs which were all within his territory of rule, have been frequently referred to by historians. Nevertheless, only a few of those INSCRIPTIONs remain today. Three of these INSCRIPTIONs are carved in Persepolis. These INSCRIPTIONs mention poems of Sa’di and refer to the name of the calligrapher, Ibrahim Sultan. His undated INSCRIPTION in the mausoleum of Ali-ibn-Hamzeh probably belongs to another building. There is another undated INSCRIPTION in the Atiq Mosque, which could be his decree of appointment as the ruler of Shiraz and is probably his calligraphy.

The Bactrian INSCRIPTION of Ayrtam was discovered in 1979, in the eastern side of Tarmad, located in the northern banks of Amodarya River. The INSCRIPTION is written in Bactrian language, using a modified version of the Greek script.Bactrian language is an extinct Eastern Middle Iranian language which was spoken for a long time in the northern regions of Afghanis~an. The language in question was preserved for centuries, even under the extended rule of Alexander and his successors over the Middle East. The name of Bactria, being nowadays just a small province in the northern Afghanistan, can be found in Avesta as well as in the INSCRIPTION of Dariush the Great. Contemporary studies and achievements on the Achaemenian Dynasty and their predecessors have actually provided the major decoding keys to the language, culture, and history of Bactria. The Bactrian INSCRIPTION of Ayrtam occupies the third place in terms of historical and linguistic importance, after the Bactrian INSCRIPTIONs of Surkh Kotal and Rabatak. It actually provides some precious informations on the history and language of one of the most important regions of the ancient eastern Persia.

Kuh-e Rahmat is the name of a mountain located in the eastern part of Marvdasht city. Numerous ancient monuments can be seen in this mountain, the most important of which is undoubtedly Persepolis or the Achaemenid city of Pā, rsa. The mountain also includes extensive evidence of ancient burials. Furthermore, Sassanian epigraphical evidence, such as the INSCRIPTIONs of Maqṣ, ū, d Ā, bā, d and Taxt-e Ṭ, awus, have been spotted in Kuh-e Rahmat. A newly found Middle Persian INSCRIPTION that can be considered a burial INSCRIPTION will be introduced and discussed in the present article. The most critical issue in this INSCRIPTION is the attestation of the city Istakhr. Such an attestation in the context of burial INSCRIPTIONs is unique. It is generally assumed that the INSCRIPTION might belong to the late Sassanian era. Such burial INSCRIPTIONs could belong to one of the significant social classes at that time, i. e., the scribes. The exact location of the newly inscribed INSCRIPTION of Kuh-e-Mehr is the same valley in which Taxt-e Ṭ, awus INSCRIPTIONs are located: on the right side of the road between Naqsh-e-Rajab and the city of Istakhr. Kuh-e Rahmat INSCRIPTION is written in six lines vertically. Its dimensions is 50 cm in 60 cm. There are two square holes below the INSCRIPTION in the mouth of a small cave. Some researchers consider these holes, which are very frequent in this region, as Astodā, n. Such square holes can be seen in large numbers on the mountain slopes near Naqsh-e Rajab and the newly discovered INSCRIPTION. These holes could indicate that the Kuh-e Rahmet INSCRIPTION is a burial INSCRIPTION. The surrounding area could be a burial place as well. All the material presented in this speech indicates the great importance of this INSCRIPTION, which necessitates further research on this INSCRIPTION. The environment around this INSCRIPTION should also be further studied by archaeologists.

The theater of the absurd, with its roots in French theater, is one of the literary traditions influenced by the political events of the 20th century Europe. Fast spreading all over Europe, its effects were evident on other literary forms. At the same time, Iranian intellectuals developed an interest in it and introduced its masterpieces in translations to the Iranians. Having been influenced by the political events of the 1330s and the 1340s, absurdist works began to emerge in Iran too. Mahdi Akhavan-Sales was one of the early practitioners who tried his hand at this new form. This article deals with the intellectual and the historical backgrounds of absurdism in western literature, the meaning of the word ‘ absurd’ and its place in the European literature, and its features and implications. In the following part, the socio-political situations of the 1330s and the 1340s, which are the historical background to Akhavan’ s "Katibeh", are presented. The third part is dedicated to identification and an in-depth analysis of the absurdist features of this poem. Finally, it is concluded that Akhavan was quite familiar with this tradition and has almost used all its features in "Katibeh".

Many stone blocks with the cross carved on them have been found in Armenia and Turkey. They had been inscribed with cuneiform INSCRIPTIONs, especially Urartian. Some are being studied so far but no similar INSCRIPTION has been found in Iran. Recently, a badly damaged cuneiform INSCRIPTION with a cross on it is found in Maku being studied by the authors. The right side of the block is the end of a cuneiform INSCRIPTION and the left side is broken in order to be reused. Therefore, the INSCRIPTION is not complete and has a half or parts not being found yet. The obverse with a cross carved on it in an unknown period is Assyrian and only some signs have been left. There is only one sign left on the reverse. The epigraphy of the INSCRIPTION shows that this INSCRIPTION is written by Urartians between 800 and 700 B.C. This INSCRIPTION is introduced in this paper and its epigraphy is studied and it is compared to the similar ones.

The Arabic and Turkish languages are among the most important languages in terms of their families. For Arabic is one of the most important Semitic languages, and Turkish is also one of the most important Aral-Altai languages. The two languages underwent many developments until they reached their current form. The Arabic language used to be written without dots or diacritics while omitting some vowels. Afterwards dots, diacritic marks and other elements were added to it until it settled on the current INSCRIPTION of its letters. The Turkish language developed from a group of INSCRIPTIONs; then it was written in many alphabets, the most important of which are modern Arabic and Latin. The aim of these developments and additions was to honestly express the sounds of the two languages. However, all the alphabets succeeded in expressing some of their sounds on the one hand but failed to express other sounds on the other hand.

QalaichiBukan Aramaic Stele is considered to be Manneaen. Many scholars have studied its text most of which based on that the stele was discovered inside the walls of the temple. But, according to the evidence, there are doubts about the INSCRIPTION text and its discovery. Therefore, there are doubts about its origin of its being Manneaen. It is the aim of the author to mention different ideas about the stele. The relation of the text and Qalaichi temple and the beliefs reflected from the text are also mentioned. According to the pieces of evidence the Mannaean origin of the stele is doubtful. It is not Assyrian norUrartian. It is possible that the stele is brought to this site in an unknown era. It is also possible that the stele of QalaichiBukan is not a treaty but a triumph text.