File:BehistunInscriptiondetail.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Old Persian
Sign in to saveAlso known as Old Persian language, Ariya
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.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- historical language
- Country
- Iran
- Followed by
- Middle Persian
- Said to be same as
- Proto-Iranian
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Old Persian language
- topic's main category
- Category:Old Persian language
- writing system
- Old Persian cuneiform
- Wikimedia language code
- peo
- studied by
- Iranian studies
- indigenous to
- Fars Province
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
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).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Old Persian” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.