(ISNA)-An International conference on the Persian epic poet Abu’l-Qasim is held in Iran, hosting national and foreign scholars.

The three-day conference was kicked off on December 24.

Scholars, university professors and researchers from Iran, Egypt, France, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, India, the United States, Syria, and Malaysia have attended the conference held in Sistan and Baluchestan University, Southeastern Iran.

The conference mainly aims to study different aspects of the great 11th-century poet’s life and his masterpiece “Shahnameh”.

Shahnameh is the most popular and influential national epic in Iran and other Persian-speaking nations. Shahnameh is the only surviving work by Ferdowsi regarded as indisputably genuine. He may have written poems earlier in his life but they no longer exist.

About 600 articles had been submitted to the conference, 300 of which were selected by the science committee of the conference.

Ferdowsi is one of the undisputed giants of the Persian literature. Ferdowsi has a unique place in Persian history because of the efforts he made in reviving and regenerating the Persian language and cultural traditions. His works are cited as a crucial component in the persistence of the Persian language, as those works allowed much of the tongue to remain codified and intact. Many modern Iranians see him as the father of the modern Persian language. He is best known for his masterpiece “Shahnameh” which is a classic among epic Persian poetry and recounts Iran’s mythical and historical past.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named the year 2010 as the 1000th anniversary of the composition of Shahnameh.

Some conferences were hosted by Bonn, Paris and some other European and American cities as well to commemorate Ferdowsi.