The United States has returned 350 of Achaemenid tablets, which provide details of the daily workings of Achaemenid Persia around 500 B.C., to Iran, reports Azernews.
The tablets were discovered by the researchers from University of Chicago archaeologists in 1933 while they were excavating in Persepolis, the site of a major Oriental Institute excavation.
Over 30,000 pieces of Achaemenid tablets were given to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago for academic studies in 1935 during the rule of the former monarchical regime, but were not returned to Iran.
The artifacts bear cuneiform script explaining administrative details of the Achaemenid Empire from about 500 B.C. They are among a group of tens of thousands of tablets and tablet fragments that were loaned to the university's Oriental Institute in 1937 for study. A group of 179 complete tablets was returned in 1948, and another group of more than 37,000 tablet fragments was returned in 1951.
