Ahasuerus: Difference between revisions

The historian [[Josephus]] relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks.<ref>[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=967&letter=A Ahasuerus] at the JewishEncyclopedia.com</ref> The [[Ethiopia|Ethiopic]] text calls him ''Arťeksis'', usually the Ethiopic equivalent of ''Artaxerxes''.

 

 

[[John of Ephesus]] and [[Bar-Hebraeus]] identified him as [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]], a view strongly supported by the 20th century scholar [[Jacob Hoschander]].<ref name="Hosch">Jacob Hoschander, ''The Book of Esther in the Light of History'', Oxford University Press, 1923</ref> [[Masudi]] recorded the Persian view of events which affirms the identification and [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|al-Tabari]] similarly placed the events during the time of Artaxerxes II despite being confused by the Hebrew name for the king. ''Esther Rabba'' and the Vulgate present "Ahasuerus" as a different name for the king to "Artaxerxes" rather than an equivalent in different languages, and the Septuagint distinguished between the two names using a Greek transliteration of Ahasuerus for occurrences outside the Book of Esther. Indeed, an inscription from the time of Artaxerxes II records that he was also known as ''Arshu'' understood to be a shortening of the Babylonian form ''Achshiyarshu'' derived from the Persian ''Khshayarsha'' ((Arta)Xerxes). The Greek historians [[Ctesias]] and [[Deinon]] noted that Artaxerxes II was also called ''Arsicas'' or ''Oarses'' respectively similarly understood to be derived from ''Khshayarsha'', the former as the shortened form together with the Persian suffix ''-ke'' applied to such shortened names.<ref name="Hosch" />