Iran president brings home over 1,100 millennia-old tablets from US

Iran’s President Massoud Pezeshkian, who was in New York to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, brought back over 1,100 clay tablets dating back to the Achaemenid era upon his return to the country on Thursday.

The invaluable tablets, which are over 2,500 years old and provide a window into the Persian ancestors’ life, were sent back after 85 years following extensive talks between Iranian officials and the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Chicago in the US.

Inscribed in cuneiform Elamite, and Aramaic languages, the tablets give an insight into a powerful empire in history that extended from the Balkans and Egypt to India and Central Asia, during the rule of Darius I, known as Darius the Great.

They contain details about wages and the economy of the Achaemenid society in ancient Persia, management of natural resources, roads, basic necessities of life, and many other issues related to social relations.

The US had refused to send back the tablets it had received on loan and at one point in 2006.

A US federal court allowed the ancient collection to be seized and auctioned, a ruling which was overturned in an appeals court.

The tablets, which are hailed as President Pezeshkian’s souvenir for the Iranian nation, will be put on display for the general public in two weeks.

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