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Persian Empire And Persian Language

A lecture by Professor Kevin van Bladel, Yale University

In Person at the University of Southern California or via Zoom

October 12, 2026 - 4:00 PM

Michelson Hall - MCB 102

Registration is Free

When ancient Persian conquerors created a vast empire in the sixth century BCE from the Mediterranean to the Indus, encompassing many peoples speaking many different languages, they triggered demographic changes that caused their own language to be transformed by the fourth century BCE. Persian grammar has ever since borne testimony to the social history of the ancient Persian Empire. Critical to the argument is the explanation of how certain social upheavals trigger the grammatical restructuring of languages.

About Dr. Kevin van Bladel

Dr. van Bladel is a Professor of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Yale University. He is the author of The Arabic Hermes (2009), From Sasanian Mandaeans to Sabians of the Marshes (2017), Written Middle Persian Literature under the Sasanids (2024), and Ancient Persian: A Linguistic History (2026), as well as many articles on the intellectual, linguistic, and religious history of the Classical Near East. He was a USC faculty member from 2004 to 2013.