TEHRAN, May 14 (Mehr News Agency) -- Secretary-General of the Ferdowsi Foundation Yaser Movahhedfar announced that the foundation will offer an official proposal to UNESCO for the naming of 2009 as "Ferdowsi Year".

Movahhedfar said that the foundation will probably be handing the official proposal to UNESCO within two days, MNA reported on Wednesday.

The Ferdowsi Congress commenced its work in Mashhad on May 14. A number of Iranian and international scholars, writers, poets and some other cultural figures took part in the congress held to commemorate the birth anniversary of the author of Iran's national epic.

Iranian people annually celebrate May 14 as the Ferdowsi Day.

An expert session on Ferdowsi and his masterpiece, Shahnameh, was held at the Abi Hall of the Niavaran Palace Museum in Tehran on May 14.

During the session, Fereidun Joneidi, the head of the Ferdowsi Foundation board of trustees, presented historical documents showing that by 2009 a millennium would be past the composing of Ferdowsi's magnum opus Shahnameh.

UNESCO celebrated the 800th birthday anniversary of the Persian mystic and poet Molana Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273) in 2007.
 

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Shahnameh, a best seller epic book in US

Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings, by Abolqasem Ferdowsi (Viking). A new translation, by Dick Davis, of the great epic of ancient Persia, opening with the creation of the universe and closing with the Arab Muslim conquest. A violent and beautiful work.

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