From Šalām to Drōd: A History of Middle Iranian Epistolary Traditions This lecture will explore the letters written in late antique Iran and Central Asia in Middle Persian, Bactrian, and Sogdian. Regions in which these languages were used shared an inheritance from the Achaemenid empire—not just a script but also conventions of writing from orthography to epistolary expressions. Comparing these with the Aramaic chancery documents of the Achemenids reveals a trajectory of epistolary traditions stretching over a millenium and thousands of miles. About the Speaker Adam Benkato is an Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures...