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Where was Old Persian used during the Achaemenian Empire?

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Persian literature Ceramic wine bottle, fritware, Iran, second half of the 17th century; in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

During the Achaemenian Empire, Old Persian was primarily used as a language for royal inscriptions rather than as a common administrative or spoken language of the entire realm.1

These inscriptions were typically trilingual, featuring Old Persian alongside Elamite and Akkadian, and were carved onto various surfaces including rock faces, building walls, columns, and statues. Notable examples include the Bisotun rock inscription and a stela found near the Suez Canal, which recorded the opening of a canal connecting the Red Sea to the Nile.12

While Old Persian served this ceremonial and commemorative function, it was not the primary language of the imperial bureaucracy; that role was largely filled by Aramaic. Additionally, Elamite was frequently used for administrative purposes, particularly in Persis and Elam, as evidenced by archives found at Persepolis.1