Ancient tablets head back to Iran

Three hundred ancient clay tablets that help provide information on languages and daily life in the Persian empire are headed back to Iran in what University of Chicago officials have described as the first U.S. return of loaned Iranian artifacts since the Islamic Revolution.

The clay tablets are 2,500 years old and have provided historians with details about everyday life then, down to the daily ration of barley and beer for workers.

Now they are taking on modern-day social and political significance as the university’s Oriental Institute -- one of the leading centers for the study of ancient Iran in the United States -- tries to reestablish ties with Iranian scholars and archeology sites.

Gil Stein, the institute’s director, and several other officials are escorting the tablets to Iran this week. While there, Stein hopes to negotiate an agreement with Iranian officials setting down details for new excavation work in Iran, joint publications and training of Iranian students in conserving ancient artifacts.