TEHRAN -- Shiraz will host Shahnameh Nights on the occasion of the 1001st anniversary of the composition of the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi on March 10 and 11.

The Ferdowsi Foundation will hold the event, which includes naqqali, live traditional music performances and recitation of Shahnameh, the director of the foundation, Yaser Movahhedfar, told the Persian service of ISNA.
“A section of the event is dedicated for a meeting to be attended by NGO, which is active in cultural heritage issues. They review the rituals, Iranian ceremonies and register them on Iran’s National Heritage List”, he added.
Iran holds several national and international exhibitions nationwide and in several other countries on the occasion of the registration of the Shahnameh millennium on UNESCO’s 2010 calendar of events.
Shahnameh, which is known as the “Book of Kings” in English, is the celebrated work of the epic poet Ferdowsi, in which the Persian national epic found its final and enduring form. It was completed in 1010.
It was written for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna. However, he did not welcome it because of the Shia religion of Ferdowsi.
According to historical sources on Persian literature, Ferdowsi spent 30 years writing the Shahnameh, which is comprised of nearly 60,000 verses.