When will the United States return the Achaemenid tablets to Iran?
Following the announcement of the Director General of Legal and Real Estate of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage to pursue the return of about 15 historical objects to Iran before the end of 1400, some possibilities have been given for the return of some Achaemenid tablets from the United States to Iran.
According to ISNA, Achaemenid tablets or tablets were discovered by archaeologists in 1313 in Persepolis. The tablets were lent to the University of Chicago for study with the consent of the then Iranian government. The tablets were sent to the United States via Bushehr in 50 wooden boxes containing about 2,000 cardboard boxes and a few oil pits soaked in molten paraffin in Persepolis (Parseh, Persepolis). The agreement states that “Iran will hand over clay tablets for decoding and reading to the University of Chicago, which was exploring Persepolis (Parseh, Persepolis).”
The study of fossils began after de-paraffinization in 1937. Decoding and scribbling some tablets has been reported to be complicated and slow. The studies, which were to be conducted over a three-year period, were halted with the outbreak of World War II and resumed after the war in 1945. The results of the studies are published in each period. These tablets have been returned to Iran in four stages so far; 1327 solar years (179 pieces), 1329 solar years (37 thousand pieces), 1383 solar years (300 pieces) and 1398 solar years (1783 pieces). There are also about 17,000 intact inscriptions and broken pieces of Achaemenid tablets in the possession of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Chicago.
The delay in the return of the Achaemenid tablets to Iran, which occurred in 2004 after the transfer of the third consignment, was due to the fact that a complaint was stopped before the start of planning for the return of the fourth part of the tablets to the country. A case known as “Jenny Rubin” (the plaintiff in the Achaemenid tablet case) was filed against Iran, which Reuters described the story of the complaint and the fate of the tablets as follows: The University of Chicago was kept, confiscated, and $ 71.5 million in compensation paid to American victims of a suicide bombing in Jerusalem from the sale of these inscriptions and historical artifacts. The 1997 suicide bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowded shopping mall and blew himself up. The suicide bomber killed five people and wounded 200 others.
A US court has accused Iran of collaborating with Hamas forces and demanded $ 71.5 million in compensation for the victims’ families. When Iran refused to pay the amount, a US court ordered the confiscation of Iranian artifacts on loan at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago and ordered them to be sold for compensation.
“But the US Supreme Court, which was held on March 23, 2017, annulled the confiscation and sale of Iranian Achaemenid tablets.” The judge ruled that the artifacts had been donated to the Chicago Institute for archaeological research and had no commercial purpose, so they could not be confiscated. However, the transfer of part of the Achaemenid tablets to Iran took about two years from the court ruling, while Iran was waiting for the return of all the Achaemenid tablets. In fact, OFAC, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, authorized the return of the Achaemenid tablet to Iran in 1783, and another 17,000 pieces and pottery remained in Chicago to be transferred to Iran later.
ISNA’s follow-up by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts on the eventual return of the remaining Achaemenid tablets from the United States was answered: “The return of the Achaemenid tablets is underway, but the corona restrictions The fourth shipment was slow, not unaffected by the return of the remaining Achaemenid tablets, but with the cooperation of professors and the Oriental Institute of Chicago, it is hoped that 17,000 Achaemenid tablets and seals will be gradually returned to the country, some of which “maybe” by Extradition to Iran by the end of 1400. “The Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is of the opinion that the return of the tablets is not a legal impediment, according to US court rulings.”
The then director of the Chicago Institute of Oriental Studies, when he traveled to Tehran with the fourth shipment of Achaemenid tablets, said about the time of return of the 5,000 Achaemenid tablets that are still in the possession of the institute: The US Treasury Department gives the final opinion, but my heart is clear ; Because I learned the process during the transfer of the Achaemenid tablets, but this requires a government permit and we have no control over this permit and we can only say that we are moving in the right direction and trying to help return other tablets like the last two years. .
Although two years have passed since this statement, Iran hopes that the professors and the Chicago Institute of Oriental Studies will continue to help return the remaining Achaemenid tablets to Iran. However, there is still concern about how to insure the tablets, given the sanctions, their packaging and their transfer to Iran.
Archaeologists consider these tablets to be a unique archive of the Achaemenid period. Shahrokh Razmjoo, an archaeologist and researcher who has studied samples of returned tablets, said: “The information that these tablets give is usually not available from royal inscriptions.” This information is a kind of behind the scenes of the administrative system that turned the Achaemenid rule. This collection is in fact the richest collection of Achaemenid visual art, which is also very important in terms of art and archeology.