A younger son of xerxes i and amestris, he was raised to the throne by the commander of the guard, artabanus, who had murdered xerxes. The first artaxerxes, among all the kings of persia the most remarkable for a gentle and noble spirit, was surnamed the longhanded, his right hand being longer than his left, and was the son of xerxes. In verse 24 it states that the work on the temple of god in jerusalem remained at a standstill until the rain of darius of persia. In the days of artaxerxes wrote bishlam, mithredath, tabeel, and the rest of his companions, to artaxerxes king of persia. Daniels prophecy of 69 weeks commences with a decree to restore and rebuild jerusalem, and the timeline of artaxerxes i verifies when artaxerxes issued that decree to ezra daniel along with ezra and nehemiah reckoned regnal years by the accessionyear system and civil calendar years running tishrielul see regnal year reckoning. Artaxerxes i of persia was the fifth king of the achaemenid dynasty. Here we can see the actual beautiful silver plates from persian king artaxerxes i reigned 465425 b. Project gutenberg offers 61,814 free ebooks to download. To postpone his visit to the history book artaxerxes 1 would make it 57 years later and help to create two extra kings to accommodate him. Artaxerxes was the second son of xerxes, who was murdered in the summer of 465 by his allpowerful vizir artaban. He was the son of the former persian king darius i he is traditionally considered to be the persian king ahasuerus referred to in the biblical story of esther. There would be only one more persian king before persia would be conquered during the wars of alexander the great. Artaxerxes i of persia label from public data source wikidata artaxerxes i, king of persia, 425 b. And it came about in the month nisan, in the twentieth year of artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and i as usual took up the wine and gave it to the king.
Is the greek and latin form of one, and perhaps of two or three kings of persia mentioned in the old testament. In this year in august, he was murdered by his son who was not artaxerxes according to a. He may have been the artasyrus mentioned b y herodot us as being. If it is a proven fact that darius served as king before artaxerxes. This artaxerxes commissioned ezra to go to jerusalem and then, about thirteen years later, also sent nehemiah ezra 7.
Artaxerxes i, died 425 bc, susa, elam now in iran, achaemenid king of persia reigned 465425 bc. His father was the former king xerxes and he ruled the persian empire from 465 b. King ahasuerus, the son of darius hystaspes, the husband of queen esther and recorded in the book of esther. He also maintained the persian policy of religious tolerance and autonomy and is probably best known through the biblical books of ezra and nehemiah where he is depicted as a great benefactor of the.
If darius and artaxerxes are one and the same king as above, then we can expect a similarity in phraseology, family life etc. Great king, the name or title of several kings of persia. This artaxerxes was the third son of xerxes and was raised to the throne by. Women in ancient persia were not only highly respected but, in many cases, considered the equals of males. However, two persian kings went by this name and it seems that there is some split over which artaxerxes is being referenced here by ezra. If that isnt confusing enough, there was also an artaxerxes iii 359337 bce and an artaxerxes iv who only reigned two years, lasting from 338336bce. Portrayal in the book of ezra and nehemiah a king artaxerxes hebrew. He succeeded his father, xerxes i, in whose assassination he had no part.
The persian empire from cyrus ii to artaxerxes i 9780903625289. The internet classics archive artaxerxes by plutarch. As if the spelling and pronunciation of ahasuerus and artaxerxes were not problematic enough for the average bible student, one must also consider these persian kings in light of the order in which they are mentioned in the book of ezra. List of the kings of the persian empire old testament. The decrees of artaxerxes i and the seventyweeks prophecy. According to the jewish bible books of ezra and nehemiah artaxerxes. By the time the temple was completed in his 6 th year he is recognized, not just as king of persia, nor king of assyria, but, as artaxerxes, king of kings. The second, whose story i am now writing, who had the surname of the mindful, was the grandson of the former, by his daughter parysatis, who brought darius four sons, the eldest artaxerxes, the. So there you have it, we have lopped off 57 years, and removed the necessity of. Esther and mordecai under xerxes of persia amazing bible. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment also, decree, or word to restore and to build jerusalem unto the messiah the prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. The decrees of artaxerxes i and the seventyweeks prophecypart two. Artaxerxes i, a son of xerxes i and amestris, whose name flavius josephus jewish antiquities 11.
According to the cambridge ancient history, king darius i of persia died in 485 bc, king xerxes his son, acceded in that year and so his first regnal year was 484 bc, so his 20th was 465. Ezra and nehemiah both traveled from persia to jerusalem from the court of artaxerxes. Many translations struggle with the issue of how to identify the king of esther. Artaxerxes i of persia project gutenberg selfpublishing.
In the book of daniel a king named darius the mede is mentioned, in 5. Ctesias was a greek physician who stayed at the court of the persian king artaxerxes ii mnemon from 404 to 398397. Ctesias wrote several books about persia and india. Malachi did, zechariah and haggia just preceded nehemiah. Artaxerxes ii, achaemenid king of persia reigned 404359358. Josephus wrongfully claims that the ahasuerus xerxes of the book of esther is this artaxerxes i. To complicate matters somewhat, the lxx and josephus identify the king as. King xerxes was murdered shortly before king artaxerxes ascended the throne. When artaxerxes took the persian throne, the power of athens had been broken in the. Brosius ends this study with a general discussion of the organisation and administration of the empire and its religious aspects. He ruled over the kingdoms of persia, media, and babylonia, from india to ethiopia. He was a son of king xerxes ahasuerus and is often referred to as artaxerxes i longimanus. In the book of ezra i have found mention of king artaxerxes i am guessing art i in chapter 4, and in this chapter he gives an order to stop the rebuilding in jerusalem. Artaxerxes of persia amazing bible timeline with world.
King xerxes was murdered shortly before king artaxerxes. Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus charter of human rights cyrus the great iran in the bible history of persia and cambysses, darius the great, xerxes, artaxerxes i persian kings according to the bible. Persian inscriptions and rtsyl only in the pahlavi books from the old iranian. The third male child of his father, xerxes i or xerxes the great, his birth likely happened during the reign of his grandfather, darius i or darius the great. Artaxerxes definition and meaning bible dictionary. Artaxerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of lands, son of xerxes the king, the. The decree to rebuild and restore jerusalem bible research tools daniels prophecy mentioned this decree. Further as weve seen above there is a great deal of additional chronological and historical evidence that suggest that darius i whom the book of ezra describes as an artaxerxes before the throne name was taken by his grandson was also the king the book of esther describes as ahasuerus. Also includes an index of people and gods, extensive notes on sources and lists of authors and texts, maps, family tree, calendrical and chronological information. Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus. Some of the israelites, including priests, levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to jerusalem in the seventh year of king artaxerxes. Since artaxerxes, as well as ahasuerusand even cyrus and dariusare believed by some scholars to be titles like pharaoh rather than personal.
Not long after cyrus, the king of persia, in year 6 of nabonidus 50100 b. The persian kings and bible chronology ensign message. During his reign, artaxerxes i completed the hall of 100 columns at persepolis, rebuilt the palace of darius i at susa after a fire, and put down the revolt of inaros ii c. Like his father and predecessor darius i, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex. King xerxes of persia was the worlds most powerful monarch who ruled the persian empire around 486 b. Strongs concordance calls this artaxerxes a persian king known as darius. Apologetics press kingly chronology in the book of ezra.
In matthew, noble pilgrims followed a star to israel to pay homage to the newborn christ child. Ezra chapter 7 explained discover the 66 books of the bible. Artaxerxes i, achaemenid king of persia reigned 465425 bc. A history of the persian empire and its rulers from c. I am darius daryavus, the great king, king of kings, the king of persia parsa, the king of countries, the son of hystaspes, the grandson of arsames, the achaemenid. Nehemiah was a high official in the persian court of king artaxerxes i at. Women in ancient persia ancient history encyclopedia. The difficulty that presents itself in the book of ezra is that events surrounding letters which king artaxerxes received from, and wrote to, the enemies of the jews see ezra 4. Artaxerxes i was the sixth king of kings of the achaemenid empire, from 465424 bc. Discovered evidence of esthers husband king artaxerxes in. He was the son and successor of darius ii and was surnamed in greek mnemon, meaning the mindful. He was the sixth emperor of the achaemenid dynasty. A younger son of xerxes i and amestris, he was raised to the throne by the commander of.
Artaxerxes in the books of ezra and nehemiah the same. Nehemiah was also stuck babylon persia at the time. Artaxerxes is the greek form of ardashir the persian. King of babylon the use of the title king of babylon in the book of ezra and nehemiah is a fascinating study and worth further explanation. And a tablet written by xerxes discovered in the kings palace, yes the kings father, the same king of persia in the book of esther. Artaxerxes i was a persian king of kings who reigned from 465 bc to 424 bc. He was surnamed in greek macrocheir longhand and in latin longimanus. And in the days of artaxerxes wrote bishlam, mithredath, tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto artaxerxes king of persia. Women could own land, conduct business, received equal pay, could travel freely on their own, and in the case of royal women, hold their own council meetings on policy. Many kings of babylon, media, and persia are mentioned in the bible, all of the names in. Wise men of the east, also called magi, or three kings of the orient. Artaxerxes international standard bible encyclopedia. List of the kings of the persian empire old testament charts bible.