On 17 January 2013 a joint ceremony of presentation of the book titled “The Tajik Golden Heritage” authored by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country Hamrokhon Zarifi was held at the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the United States of America in the grand hall of the Jefferson building of the U.S. Congress Library in Washington D.C.

The event was attended by the guests and high-ranking representatives of state, private and cultural structures of the United States, including Jeffrey Payatt – First Deputy Assistant of the U.S. Secretary of State, Ms. Roberta Shaffer – Deputy Director of the U.S. Congress Library, Dr. Frederic Starr – Director of the U.S. University named after John Hopkins, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad – former U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN and Ambassador of this country to Iraq, Dr. Ahmad Karimi Hakkak – professor of Iranology section of the University of Maryland state, Glen Howard – President of Jamestown Foundation, John O’Kif – Executive Director of Open World Leadership Center, Gerard J. Jenko – President of EurAsia Center, Marina Barnett – representative of Carnegie Foundation, Victor Shiblie – chief editor of Washington Diplomat magazine, Dan Davidson – President of American Councils for International Education, John Quinn – ABC TV channel and NewsChannel 8 correspondent, Jen du Plein – head of Cultural Tourism DC company, as well as high-level representatives of Congress, scientists and researchers, ambassadors of Central Asia and CIS countries, leaders of Tajik diasporas, compatriots and U.S. mass media.

The activity was opened by the Head of Middle East and Africa section of the U.S. Congress Library Mary-Jane Deeb, who thanked those present for their participation in the presentation of a new edition of the book “The Tajik Golden Heritage” in the Congress Library.

During her speech the Deputy Director of the U.S. Congress Library Roberta Shaffer expressed joy that the presentation of this unique book is being conducted in the U.S. Congress Library. In her view, the holding of such events allows to strengthen the cooperation with Tajikistan. She noted that the development of mutual partnership is important for enrichment of the Library’s resources, as more than 60% of its material represents the languages, cultures and nations of the world.

Then Roberta Shaffer informed that the library’s materials related to Tajikistan date back to the beginning of the USSR period and the resources are kept in different forms, such as newspapers, tapes, monographs, dictionaries, grammar, maps, photos, audio-recordings, etc. This great collection is accessible to all the people of the world.

She added that the resources of the library include the collection of magazines of Tajikistan’s Union of Writers from 1954 and over 124 works of the Tajik authors, published with Arabic script. “We also have Tajik language-related literature in Russian, English, German and French. Existing manuscripts are exponents of national Tajik traditions and they are very interesting. We believe that we satisfy the needs of scientists and students in this direction”, - she said.

In his report Jeffrey Payatt – Deputy Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State noted that “I am proud to attend the ceremony of presentation of the mentioned book in the Congress Library. The book reflects the great history of the region and highlights that the Great Silk Road is not a new concept for us. The initiative “New Silk Road” which was proposed by us three years ago proceeds from this historical tradition. I would like to acknowledge that the book by Hamrokhon Zarifi “The Tajik Golden Heritage” is a memory from the rich treasury of Tajiks and merits to be kept in this great house of our cultural heritage – Congress Library”.

He added that today the United States and Tajikistan have strong bilateral relationships. “We take a pride in the fact that the United States were among the first countries to officially recognize the independence of Tajikistan”.

He also stressed that Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad attends the event who is well informed about the history and constructive role of Tajikistan in the region. J.Payatt highly commended the contribution of Tajikistan in ensuring economic progress and stability in the neighboring country and stated that the role of Tajikistan in the development of Afghanistan is remarkable.

Ambassador of Tajikistan to the U.S. N. Shamsov, with reference to achievements of Tajikistan in the domain of development of national culture and art of Tajiks over the independence years, stated that political leadership and the Government of the country taking into account the significance of this subject consistently takes efforts to protect material and spiritual heritage of the Tajik people and to further develop it.

The President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon during his annual address to the country’s parliament highly evaluated the status and traditional role of art and culture among the Ефошлы and stressed its important role in the development of social life of people and formation of national spirituality. Opening of new National Library, continuation of construction of National Museum and establishment of several scientific-cultural institutions clearly demonstrate the care and consistency of the Tajik Government in developing ancient art and culture of Tajiks.

Afterwards, Ms. Jasmine Khan – researcher of the U.S. Congress Library spoke substantively on the process of cooperation between the mentioned institution and the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan in the area of study of manuscripts and scriptural legacy of Tajiks.

Former U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN and the Ambassador of this country to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad noted during his interview to the journalists that “Today was a good day for me, as a book on the civilization of Tajikistan was presented in Washington D.C. in U.S. Congress Library. I personally enjoyed this civilization and really Tajikistan’s civilization is a golden element of the civilization of the region.

When Europe was in the middle age, this region was the center of civilization of the whole world. But, unfortunately the world’s population does not have enough information about the culture and history of this region. It is a good opportunity for the American people and all those who need this Library for composition and collection of information to use this book. I felicitate this day and this book to H.E. Mr. President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Tajik people and the whole region, which share single culture and civilization”.

The Director of the University named after John Hopkins Dr. Frederic Starr during his interview, referring to the book “The Tajik Golden Heritage” said in particular that “Today’s event is a celebration of holiday of ancient civilization of Tajiks. The event is not a part or relation to something, but a strong demonstration of development of national self-consciousness, great treasury of Persian-language people’s civilization and legacy of Eastern Iran which has the history of 3-4 thousand years. The book covers the works of Islamic and Pre-Islamic civilizations and reflects the elements of everyday life and culture of Tajiks. This book is unique and rare and it is worth to be presented, as it is a good symbol of enhancing relations between Tajikistan and the United States in 2013”.

Professor of Maryland University, Ahmad Karimi Hakkak expressed his opinion on the mentioned book in the following way: “I am very glad to witness the holding of ceremony of presentation of a really golden book of Tajikistan today in the Congress Library. It is a very appropriate and suitable place for Tajikistan and Congress Library. I congratulate the entire Tajik people and Mr. Zarifi who worked hard on this book and with whom we have a close friendship. Tajikistan that is newly represented to the world community, has not still occupied its worthy place in the minds of the world population. But those steps, such as this book makes high steps are very comprehensive and I congratulate all Tajiks that have such cultural heritage”.

Ambassador and founder of Open World Leadership Center O’Kif stated that “the book authored by Mr. Zarifi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is extraordinary. One of the important subjects reflected by the book is the influence of great culture of Ефошлы in the region. Presence of this culture in scientific circles, big museums of the world is an exponent of spread of Tajik culture in the world, which appears everywhere. Tajiks should be proud of their great and rich history”.

After the end of official part of the event, a slide-show and an official ceremony of handing of copies of the book to the U.S. Congress Library have been conducted. The leadership of the Library announced that comprehensive information on the book “The Tajik Golden Heritage” and video film on today’s joint event will be placed in two websites of the Library for the use of numerous readers.

At the end of the event the guests were presented with copies of “The Tajik Golden Heritage” book and a diplomatic reception was held on the occasion of its presentation.

It should be mentioned that this book has been published in Tajik, Russian, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, and German languages. More than 500 rare items are proposed to the readers in this book, a part of which is kept in historical museums of Tajikistan, another part – in foreign museums and a part at the disposal of private collectioners. 16 ancient exemplars are taken from the collection of the author, which are mainly family legacy, and the author himself has added to this collection some pieces.

The chapters of the book “The Tajik Golden Heritage” are devoted to the Oxus Treasure, the Silk Road, painting, the art of the miniature, jewellery, visual arts in architecture, pottery, national costumes, embroidery, and musical instruments of the past centuries and many other exemplars of the Tajik arts and crafts.

The author of the book also stresses the role of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon in the revival and development of national arts and popular crafts, particularly in their practical use in the training of relevant specialists.

The book by Hamrokhon Zarifi composed of over 400 pages has been printed in 21 thousand copies in the respected publishing houses of the world – The Ethnic Publishing House of China, Wostok Verlag of Germany, Big Media Group of Belgium and IMAK of Turkey. Moreover, up to date the presentation of the book “The Tajik Golden Heritage” has been held in China, France, Belgium and Germany.