New technologies and academic collaborations are helping scholars at the University of Chicago analyze hundreds of ancient documents in Aramaic, one of the Middle East’s oldest continuously spoken and written languages.

University of Chicago scientists they've digitally recorded thousands of ancient Persian tablets that tell an unusually detailed story of the Persian Empire. Researchers from the university's Oriental Institute, led by institute Director Gil Stein, said the tablets present texts in impressed cuneiform characters, while other have inked texts in Aramaic.

Iranian engineers began filling a new dam Thursday as archaeologists warned that its reservoir will flood newly discovered antiquities and could damage Iran's grandest site, the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis.

By Edmund Blair TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Wednesday it wanted to use diplomacy and cultural channels to ensure ancient clay tablets at the center of a compensation case are returned from the United States but said it was also ready for a legal fight.

TEHRAN, Iran - The University of Chicago on Saturday returned 300 ancient clay tablets taken from Iran on loan 67 years ago, marking the first U.S. return of borrowed Iranian artifacts since the Middle Eastern state's 1979 Islamic revolution.