Translator of the Cyrus Cylinder Passes Away
Tehran - BORNA - Relatives and students of Arfaee confirmed to local media on 25 February 2026 the death of the distinguished Elamite scholar and unparalleled professor of ancient cultures and languages, particularly Akkadian, Elamite, Sumerian, Avestan, and Pahlavi.
Arfaee was a prominent researcher and specialist in the ancient languages of Akkadian and Elamite and among the last surviving experts capable of translating Elamite cuneiform. He was widely regarded as one of Iran’s most important epigraphists. The esteemed scholar translated a number of the clay tablets from Persepolis and possessed extensive knowledge of the history and culture of ancient Mesopotamia.
His three-volume work, Fortification Tablets of Persepolis, translated by Arfaee, was published in 2008 by the Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation.
Until his final days, Arfaee actively pursued the return of Achaemenid tablets that remain at the Oriental Institute in Chicago. The repatriation of the remaining tablets to Iran has been influenced by the state of relations between Iran and the United States.
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