Page 80 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

After Xerxes, Artaxerxes I ruled Persia (464–424). Records of his reign are sparse, so it is not as well
documented as other Persian administrations. During the first twenty years of his reign he was involved
in considerable warfare, but a treaty with Athens in 445 brought an end to that. Thereafter, the reign of
Artaxerxes seems to have been peaceful, and the king enjoyed a reputation for mildness and
magnanimity (greatness of mind).

It is generally agreed that the reference in the narratives of Ezra and Nehemiah is to Artaxerxes I rather
than Artaxerxes II (404–359 BCE). Ezra led a second contingent of Jews to Jerusalem in the seventh year
of Artaxerxes I or 458 (Ezra 7:1, 8). It is clear, then, that the narrative of Ezra has a gap of over fifty-
seven years between chapters 6 and 7. Chapter 6 ends with the dedication of the temple in 515 BCE, the
sixth year of Darius’ reign. Chapter seven picks up the account in the seventh year of Artaxerxes (458
BCE).

Between the two chapters occurred the reign of Xerxes. Since Esther was married to Xerxes, the story of
Esther is likely placed between Ezra 6 and 7. The events of the book of Nehemiah occurred later in the
reign of Artaxerxes. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes or 444 BCE to
rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 2:1) and made a second visit to Jerusalem in the thirty-second year of
Artaxerxes or 433 BCE (Nehemiah 13:6).
117

The Persian Empire entered a period of gradual decline after a failed invasion of Greece by Xerxes in 480
BC. The costly defense of Persia’s lands depleted the empire’s funds, leading to heavier taxation among
Persia’s subjects. These heavy taxes led to the subjects’ detestation of Persia, bringing about internal
weakening. Notably, when Alexander the Great reached Egypt in his conquest, the Egyptians thought of
him as a liberator.

In less than a century after Artaxerxes’ death the battle of Issus between Alexander the Great and Darius
III in 333 BC, marked the beginning of an unstoppable invasion of Persia by the Greeks.

Religion

By the time of the Jewish restoration, Zoroastrianism was largely influencing religious life in Persia.
There are debates regarding the development of this religion. What is certainly known is that it was
named after a Persian prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra). It is widely accepted that
Zoroaster emerged from the Indus valley and lived sometime between 1500 and 500 BCE There is an
evident connection between Persian Kings and Ahuramazda, the god of Zoroaster. However, scholars
have widely differed on whether or not all of Persian kings were devout Zoroastrians or to what degree
each of them devoted himself to it.

By most accounts, Cyrus the Great was a tolerant ruler who allowed his subjects to speak their own
languages and practice their own religions. Though he might have paid tribute to Ahuramazda, his
religious belief is not clearly known, leading to widespread conclusion that he was a polytheist.
Darius and Xerxes exalted Ahuramazda, the god Zoroaster preached, but they do not mention Zoroaster.
In his inscriptions Darius mentions Ahuramazda dozens of times and claims to be under that god’s
protection. Though Darius calls him the “greatest of gods,” he did not describe Ahuramazda as the only
god. In Darius’ tomb the king is pictured as facing a fire altar—a Zoroastrian symbol. It appears, then,

117 Ibid., pp. 328–329.

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