Over 75 Elamite Inscriptions Translated

Sunday, 04 April 1999

TEHRAN Over half of 150 Elamite inscriptions which have been collected at the inscriptions hall of the National Museum of Iran have been translated so far. The hall displays inscriptions bearing non-Iranian languages and handwritings including Akkadian, Elamite and Babylonian. The inscriptions have been unearthed in Shush, Chaghazanbil and some other parts in south and southwest Iran. According to an expert with the Cultural Heritage Organization, 90 percent of the inscriptions date back to 1250 to 1100 BC and a few to 1800 to 1500 BC. The inscriptions bear texts relating to monarchical affairs in which reconstruction of a building or presentation of a temple are mentioned.

Parts of the inscriptions had been read by French archaeologists previously and been published. So far a number of inscriptions on student's homework dating back to about three thousand years ago as well as inscriptions concerning wages of workers who built Persepolis have been read and translated. According to the inscriptions, women in ancient  Iran enjoyed equal rights with men and supervised some groups of workers engaged in building Persepolis.