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Old Persian
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language of Achaemenid Empire and ancestor of Middle Persian
Old Persian was the language spoken by the Achaemenid Empire, one of history's largest ancient civilizations that ruled much of the known world around 2,500 years ago. It matters because it is the ancestor of Middle Persian and helps us understand the linguistic history of Persian-speaking peoples and the written records of this important ancient empire.
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Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ariya (Iranian). Old Persian is close to both Avestan and Vedic Sanskrit, and all three languages are highly inflected.
Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran, Armenia, Bahrain, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt, with the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun Inscription (dated to 522 BCE).