The
Old Persian language is one of the two directly attested
Old Iranian languages (the other being
Avestan). 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 present-day
Iran,
Romania (
Gherla),
Armenia,
Bahrain,
Iraq,
Turkey and
Egypt, the most important attestation by far being the contents of the
Behistun Inscription (dated to 525 BCE). Recent research into the vast
Persepolis Fortification Archive at the Oriental Institute at the
University of Chicago have unearthed Old Persian tablets (2007). This new text shows that the Old Persian language was a written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display.