"Letters and accounts connected with the court of the satrap of Bactria, Akhvamazda, and with his governor, Bagavant, ... the first time that parts of the internal correspondence of the administration of Bactria and Sogdiana have come to light. ... This is the fourth century BCE, close to the end of the Achaemenid rule in Iran, ... in the north-eastern tip of the empire. ... Some of the items in this collection are written on wooden sticks, the first time that this system of bookkeeping is being discovered anywhere, and they are remarkably well preserved. ... The present book, with the original documents that it contains, gives a picture of everyday life in an important Achaemenian province. It affords a glimpse into ... how a large empire of antiquity was run and how the Persian rule was ultimately replaced by a Greek administration. The notes in this book show the continuity in usage from Achaemenian to Sasanian, and sometimes up to modern times."--From introductory notes, page x, xiv, xx.