Abstract This article is a review of the book An Introduction to Atonal Music Analysis by Amin Honarmand, published by University of Tehran in 2014. This book consists of four main chapters. It begins by general issues on the analysis of atonal music in chapters one to three and focuses on structure of dodecaphonic music in the last chapter. Even though the roots of atonal music are not in Iran, one may doubt why the author has chosen to write a book in this issue rather than translating readily available books written by Western scholars to Persian. It seems that the main reason for choosing to write a new text rather than translating is the need of Persian students for a simplified source in this issue. The review of this book showed that Honarmand has been somehow successful and the output is clear enough for students who need basic knowledge of music analysis of atonal music. The review of this book also revealed that one may not find all aspects of atonal music in this book, and it still needs further resources to make a complete analysis of atonal music, particularly in aspects of harmony and orchestration. However, the book perfectly disuses pitch classes and pitch collection issues and to a good extent dodecaphonic music analysis. Before reading this book, the reader needs good knowledge of tonal music and related issues of that kind of music in order to make a better sense of absence of tonality in configuration of atonal music.

Abstract The book "Archeology of Ancient Iranian societies in the Third Millennium B.C” is one of the specialized books about the third millennium archeology of the Iranian plateau with a special look into the southeastern region of Iran. This book is written by "Enrico Ascalone", translated by "Seyed Mansour Seyed Sajadi" and published by the Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities with the aim of being lectured as the main or supplementary source for the course-"Iranian Archaeology at the Beginning of Urbanization". What is mentioned in the introduction of the book by the author is the identification of the cultural poles of Iran's plateau during the third millennium B.C, the degree of repulsion and attraction between those poles, and then the study of the special fields of trade. In this regard, the analysis of the business systems with Susa centrality-as an Elamite unit-was his aim. The present paper tries to study and analyze the book in terms of its form and content-especially formal comprehensiveness, logical order and principles-according to the author's approach, which is of analytical approaches to urban archeology and finally its strengths and weaknesses are explained. The results indicate many merits in terms of content and respect for the authoring principles of an impartial work. On the other hand, the book has weaknesses in translation, editing and matching of specialized terminology, the use of archaeological resources, and archaeological fundamentals of the peripheral regions of Iranian Plateau.

Abstract The culture and arts of ancient Iran is so rich that after a century, the researchers are still introducing them and yet they remained flourishing. The book of “History of Culture and Art of Iran (Before the Islam)” is one of the text that is prepared to introduce pre-Islamic culture and art of Iran to interested students and people. From diachronic point of view, this book has tried to introduce  different aspects of Pre-Islamic culture and arts of Iran briefly to the next generation. Today one the biggest problems all around the world, which includes us, is the crisis of identity, and such texts that introduce our ancient cultures to the new generations of students is necessary. This paper first reviews the format and content of the book, and then it proposes some points that can improve the next publications if the authors apply them.

Abstract In this paper, the author attempts to identify various aspects of values ​​and the shortcomings of the book by purposefully reviewing the book of "Exhibiting Photography" based on the four axes of the overall introduction  of the book and the author, external analysis and the origin of the book and its author, internal analysis and place of the book, and critique and evaluation of the book, and providing a good overview of its functional features and form. In this vein, the author, by drawing on a holistic view of the translations of photographic texts in Iran, outlines the general situation of the Iranian photography community at the time the book was published. Then, he analyzes the contents of the book in detail from the proposed perspective and evaluates the useful items and shortcomings of the book and concludes that despite the existing shortcomings, both in the structure of the book and in translation, the benefits of this book for the current photography community, and in particular the academic community, is far more than its shortcomings, provided it is favorably introduced to academic and art centers.

Abstract This paper critically reviews the Farsi translation of the book entitled Field Methods in Archaeology. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and discuss the quality of the Farsi translation by presenting some of the shortcomings and misunderstanding frequently occurring in the translated book. These shortcomings are classified, exemplified, and discussed by numerous sentences, phrases, and technical and ordinary terms and words as well. The main arguments are discussed under the following subjects: imprecise translation, vague or wrong translation, difficult reading, and inconsistencies in translation. Perhaps, the most obvious problem of the reviewed book is verbatim or literal translation. Lacking rightful and clear understanding of the original text is another major pitfall of the translated book. Using wrong, improper, or vague equivalents is still a further problem of the book under review. These subjects have been exemplified by many examples

Abstract Southwest Asia has a great importance in Prehistoric Archaeology. The region of the Fertile Crescent, in which sedentism and domestication have been adopted by humankind for the first time, is located in this region. Mesopotamia is one of the most important parts of this region and has a special role in livelihood, economic, and social events of prehistoric times. The present paper, in line with the critical approach to academic teaching books, criticizes the form and content of the book of Prehistoric Mesopotamia written by Dr. Hassan Talaei, published by the Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities (SAMT). Like any other work, this book has some advantages and disadvantages. The most desirable feature of the book is the relatively comprehensive information from the prehistoric of Mesopotamia that is readily accessible to the reader by a fluent and comprehensible text.
The universality of the book in terms of its components is one of its most obvious drawbacks. The useful and relatively descriptive discussions that are presented in the book are not crystallized in the index. The tables, images and maps used in the book do not have enough desirability. The empty compilation and conclusion is completely evident in the book. The lack of analysis of archaeological data and the lack of critique of the Mesopotamian prehistoric theories are the most important book flaws.
The periodization of the Neolithic period has not taken place in a specific framework; therefore, the reader of the book can hardly grasp the exact understanding of the Neolithic periods and their evolution whereas the Epi-Palaeolithic, Proto-Neolithic and Neolithic periods of the Levant and Mesopotamian regions were precisely categorized since 1990 decade. Archaeological theories of prehistoric cultures of the Mesopotamian lands have also not been criticized in the book. The author of the book should devote a discussion to the status of the Economic-social Complexities of North and South of Mesopotamia during the Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age.

Abstract The present paper concerns with an assessment and review of the book titled "The formation and development of proto-writing in Iran (from pre-writing to Proto-Elamite)". The book is interesting which makes it one of the fundamental breakthroughs of human cultures and humanity, namely how the formation of writing systems as well as their archaeological origins. More importantly, taking a deeper look, the main concern of the book is to examine theperiods of very beginnings of early writing systems through an attempt to discuss pre-writing stages which have had an immediate effect on the earliest forms of ancient writing. The paper aims to highlight the weaknesses as well as strengths of the book by emphasizing the significance of a deeper analysis of the issues related to why and how of the rise of early writing. It will be suggested that the author, despite his relative surveillance on the main sources of information both archaeological and theoretical about the beginning and evolution of early writing, has failed to treat and explain archaeological, epistemological, and ontological foundations of the topic comprehensively, from the pre-writing levels up to earliest forms of writing in proto-historic Iran. This process would reduce such a substantial subject which could create a basis for bringing up some of the most significant archaeological and epistemological problems on the consequences of writing genesis and evolution just to three relatively non-uniform chapters. The paper shows conclusively the fundamental importance of the evolution of earliest writing systems in Iran, not only on the basis of its economic and social consequences, but also according to its overall influences, on transforming the concept of being-human and its relation to the world.

Abstract The book titled "Theoretical and Practical Bases of Film Music: An Essay on Film Music in the World of Islam", is the first published book in Iran which deals with the study of theoretical and practical fundaments of the use of film music. By employing a fresh look, the book investigates the most important elements and instruments in music and drama in the context of "The common Expression Potentially". By reviewing the role of the film music in Egyptian silver screen, it shows new aspects of music in Islamic countries’ cinema, as viewed by the Eastern artists. In addition, by comparing the two religious films i.e. Mohammad the Messenger and The Passion of the Christ, from the view of film music representation, the favorable performance of the film for expressing the semantic layers of the film has been designed. The present paper has pointed out some certain strengths of the book such as the good quality of studying the artistic elements and instruments of music and drama, coherent and multilateral analyses relevant to the Egypt cinema, innovation in raising the point of representation of the music of religious films and expressive and fluent expression. Also, with respect to the form of the book, typography, the printing quality of the photos, editing and misprints can be mentioned.  Through the analysis of the content, it has dealt with issues such as the effect of lacking the title of the second chapter which deals with semantic coherence, the non-comprehensiveness of the topics such as “form and choosing instruments, and “music representation” due to a weak compilation and insufficient references to the available sources

Abstract Most of the archaeological information should be gained from the examination and study of the past human societies. This information is usually obtained from the archaeological fieldworks that are divided into two main categories: surface survey and excavation. Since all of the antiquities are endangered in one way or another, all surface evidence should be recorded carefully. On the other hand, excavation is destructive in nature, so nothing would return to its original position after the fulfilment of an excavation. Therefore, taking the maximum information out of the archaeological deposits needs maximum accuracy, and to gain this goal, archaeologists must use scientific principles. These principles are taught to students under a course entitled “Methods of Excavation and Surface Survey in Archaeology”. The book under review in this paper deals with such topics.

Abstract Cities as the cradles of social relations are considered as the significant phenomena in historical and archaeological point of views. Establishing the earliest cities, therefore, has been regarded as a crucial step in the evolution process of the societies. The Sasanian cities, presenting the complicated form of the cities during the late antiquity, have been investigated by Reza Mehrafarin in the book entitled ‘Sasanian Cities’. The book, including worthwhile information about some Sasanian cities, has been compiled after the published reports, articles, and books. Nevertheless, like other scientific works, the book contains some major shortcomings in the coverage of the relevant publications and some minor shortcomings  in its content.

Abstract Median age is of the most important historical periods of Iran because, during this period, Iranian / Aryan groups were able to form a government in the West of modern Iran for the first time. This government provided the context of the emergence and flourishing of the Achaemenid Empire and transferred many of the principles of governance, social, religious and civilizational foundations to another branch. Access to the information and documentation of this government are limited due to the lack of historical documentation sources, notably Iranian and archaeological evidence. These factors led to an inadequate access to publications from Median period to archaeologists and Median scholars. Thus, students of archeology relied heavily on the dispersed pamphlets that provided such incomplete and duplicated documents since the establishment of this academic field.
Publication of “Median Archaeology” has largely filled this gap for this period and created opportunity for archeology students to study all the information related to the Syllabus of Median archaeology. The book has some advantages and shortcomings that we have enumerated them so as to improve the quality of the book in the subsequent editions. 

Abstract Many books have been written about field archaeology universally, but the number of books published on this subject in Iran is rare. One of the books published on this area in Iran, is "Field Archaeology: An Introduction" by Peter L. Drewett which has been translated into Persian by Hojjat Darabi. The book has been published in the field of archeology as an academic textbook for the course of "Methods of Archaeological Excavation and Survey", but does not cover all the topics discussed in this course. One of the strong points of the book is that various discussions on the archaeological excavation are briefly presented in a rational and understandable order. In addition, the Persian translation is fluent, although a careful editing may even improve its quality. The main weak points of the book are the lack of attention to the archaeological survey, a close link with the archaeological issues of Iran and the Middle East, and the lack of necessary parts such as introducing sources for further study. Also, a summary and conclusion at the end of each topic could help the reader. All in all, the book can be used as a guide for archaeological excavation, but it suffers from some deficiencies to be considered as a textbook.