Sogdian Ancient Letter No.1

Ancient Iranians used letter writing as one of the most important methods of communication. The earliest surviving evidence of official correspondence in Pre-Islamic Iran is a collection of letters from the Achaemenid period. Undoubtedly، the existence of correspondence in Iran could be studied diachronically. Among the remaining texts from Middle Iranian languages، the earliest surviving evidence for correspondence in the Sogdian language is a collection of texts written in the form of correspondence. The study of such letters is significant not only because of their linguistic value but also because they are the primary source of information to study the early history of the Sogdian people. The Sogdian language was spoken in Eastern Iran، from Black Sea to Western China، from approximately 100-1200 C. E. In 1907، Sir Aurel Stein found these Ancient Letters in a watchtower near the Great Wall of China. These letters، now called “The Ancient Letters”، are the oldest Sogdian document on paper. Letter number one، is from a daughter to her mother in which she has talked about her life. The aim of the current paper was to interpret and translate the Ancient Letter number one. The researcher has also carried outan etymological survey on selected words and also has analyzed the style of the letter.