Joint case of Iran, Afghanistan and Syria

Chelleh night and the skill of creating and playing the oud was registered internationally

The ancient ceremony of “Chelleh night” and “the skill of creating and playing the oud” was registered as intangible heritage in the joint file of Iran with Afghanistan and Syria in UNESCO.

According to ISNA, the case of Chelleh night or Yalda, which Iran provided in cooperation with Afghanistan, despite the shortcomings and views of representatives of many countries, was finally registered in the 17th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO.

The representatives of some countries, such as Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, had concerns regarding protecting this intangible heritage in Afghanistan due to the situation of this country and the insecurities that were mentioned. On the other hand, countries such as Malaysia and India support the registration of this case in the name of two countries, Iran and Afghanistan. Iran submitted the file of Chelleh night (Yalda) to UNESCO in 2014 for registration as a multinational intangible heritage. For nearly 6 years no other country accepted participation in this case. Finally, Iran and Afghanistan jointly sent this case to UNESCO.

The Chelleh Night celebration has been registered in the list of national heritage of Iran, on December 19, 2008.

In the case of Chelleh night, this celebration has been introduced as follows: “Yalda is an ancient festival in which the day starting to grow longer, plus light and warmth are celebrated by the people. The winter solstice in the northern hemisphere equals 30th Azar in the Iranian calendar (21st December). This is when the days start to become longer in this region.

On the last night of autumn, families gather around the Yalda table in the house of the elder of the family and celebrate Yalda. In the celebration of Yalda, children are considered to take over this culture from the elders, women as center of life and family are responsible for gathering relative and friends. The family’s elders are the current bearers of this celebration and culture.

During the holding of different parts of Yalda, values such as cultural identity, attention to nature and traditional chronology, honoring the critical position of women and children in the family, reconciliation, friendship, hospitality, and familiarity with respect for various cultural expressions are taken into consideration and passed on to the next generation.

Due to the climatic biology of the people of this land and its connection with nature and the cosmos, Yalda has continued to be celebrated from very ancient time’s right upto this day.  In the passage of time apparently changes can be seen in how it is held, but its structure and philosophy has not changed, and upto date the various ethnic groups of this land celebrate Yalda.”

Before the registration of this intangible element in UNESCO, in the same committee, which is currently being held in the city of Rabat, Morocco, with the presence of the deputy of the cultural heritage of our country, the “skill of creating and playing the oud instrument” shared between Iran and Syria was registered.

The skill of creating and playing oud” was registered jointly under the names of Iran and Syria in the UNESCO

This instrument was voted on in the 17th meeting of the World Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was registered as the 18th intangible heritage of Iran jointly with Syria in UNESCO.

According to Isna, when Iran registered the case of the Oud in 2018, it consulted with some neighboring countries for its global registration under the title of “Oud-making and playing skills” and finally jointly registered this case with Syria. UNESCO referred this file to the next session of this intangible world heritage committee, 2020.

In the introduction of the Oud instrument in UNESCO, it is stated: “Oud is a stringed instrument with more than 1500 years of presence in the mentioned region. Like many other wound instruments, this instrument is placed on the musician’s leg, and the musician plays the mezrab (plectrum) with one hand and playing with the string with the other hand. The resonating bowl of this instrument is pear-shaped and relatively large, and its handle is usually short and does not have a handle, (in different areas with different dimensions) so that the strings extend more on the resonating bowl. The resonant wooden plate of this instrument meshes these networks, which usually play the role of slime, in addition to transmitting the sound of the bowl, also play a decorative function. Most of this instrument’s types are ten strings tied in pairs. The sound of this instrument is in the sound range of bass and baritone, and it is possible to produce melodic and harmonic notes in it, and it is used in solo and group playing.

The geographical range of this instrument in Iran reaches Khuzestan, Bushehr, Hormozgan, Tehran, Kurdistan, and some big cities, such as Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, and Mashhad.

The historian, Khwarizmi, named this instrument ‘”Barbat” in his book “Mafateh al-olum” and states that it was initially called barbat, which means duck breast because its appearance is like the breast and neck of a duck.

In addition to “Chelleh night” Iran has the following cases:  “Art of making and playing the Barbat” (jointly with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), “Mehregan Festival” (jointly with Tajikistan), “Turkmen Needlework/Turkmen Embroidery” (jointly with Turkmenistan) and “Silkworm Breeding and Traditional Production” “Silk Weaving” (jointly with Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) is ready for review by the 17th intergovernmental committee for safeguarding of UNECSO’s intangible cultural heritage, presently being held in Morocco.

 

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February 14, 2025