Gherla in the context of "Cluj County"

Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ariya (Iranian). Old Persian is close to both Avestan and Vedic Sanskrit, and all three languages are highly inflected.

Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran, Romania (Gherla), Armenia, Bahrain, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt, with the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun Inscription (dated to 522 BCE).

Old Persian cuneiform is a semi-alphabetic cuneiform script that was the primary script for Old Persian. Texts written in this cuneiform have been found in Iran (Persepolis, Susa, Hamadan, Kharg Island), Armenia, Romania (Gherla), Turkey (Van Fortress), and along the Suez Canal. They are mostly inscriptions from the time period of Darius I, such as the DNa inscription, as well as his son, Xerxes I. Later kings down to Artaxerxes III used more recent forms of the language classified as "pre-Middle Persian".

The Someșul Mic (Little Someș, Hungarian: Kis-Szamos) is a river in north-western Romania (Cluj County). At its confluence with the Someșul Mare in Mica, the Someș is formed. Its total length is 178 km (111 mi), and its drainage basin area is 3,773 km (1,457 sq mi). It is formed at the confluence of two headwaters, Someșul Cald ("Warm Someș") and Someșul Rece ("Cold Someș"), that originate in the Apuseni Mountains. From the confluence, in Gilău, the Someșul Mic flows east and north through Cluj-Napoca, Apahida and Gherla, until it meets the Someșul Mare in Dej.