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  • Period
    • Prehistory3000000 BCE - 5001 BCE
    • Antiquity5000 BCE - 399 CE
    • Middle Ages400 CE - 1500 CE
    • Age of Reason1500 CE - 1879 CE
    • Modern Times1880 CE - 1980 CE
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  • he
  • Login
  • Register
  • Period
    • Prehistory3000000 BCE - 5001 BCE
    • Antiquity5000 BCE - 399 CE
    • Middle Ages400 CE - 1500 CE
    • Age of Reason1500 CE - 1879 CE
    • Modern Times1880 CE - 1980 CE
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
    • English subscription
  • News
  • Past Issues
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
  • Holidays Archive
    • Holidays Archive
    • Festivals of Tishrei
    • Hanukkah
    • Tu BiShvat
    • Purim
    • Pesach
    • Holocaust
    • Independence Day
    • Lag baOmer
    • Jerusalem Day
    • Shavuot
    • Tisha B’Av
  • en
  • he
  • -3000000
  • -2900000
  • -2800000
  • -2700000
  • -2600000
  • -2500000
  • -2400000
  • -2300000
  • -2200000
  • -2100000
  • -2000000
Prehistory
  • -1900000
  • -1800000
  • -1700000
  • -1600000
  • -1500000
  • -1400000
  • -1300000
  • -1200000
  • -1100000
  • -1000000
  • -900000
Prehistory
  • -800000
  • -700000
  • -600000
    • 500000 BCE :

      Flints Galore
  • -500000
    • 500000 BCE :

      Flints Galore
  • -400000
  • -300000
  • -200000
  • -100000
    • 60000 BCE :

      Not Just Cave Dwellers
    • 20000 BCE :

      Rhinos in Samaria
    • 7000 BCE :

      Masking Death Prehistoric City
    • 3000 BCE :

      What would you like, Egyptian or Philistine ?
    • 2000 BCE :

      4,000 Year Old Jerusalem Tomb: a Treasure Trove of Decapitated Toads
    • 1150 BCE :

      Where did the Philistines come from?
    • 1100 BCE :

      Is This Ziklag?
    • 1000 BCE :

      Babylonian Deluge
    • 800 BCE :

      Horses in the rain Ruin of Samaria!
    • 750 BCE :

      Which Isaiah? How many clerks ?
    • 650 BCE :

      Temple Off the Mount
    • 590 BCE :

      Stamped by the Mayor
    • 586 BCE :

      Signs of Destruction
    • 516 BCE :

      Who are You, Samaritans?
    • 480 BCE :

      Esther – the Persian Version
    • 460 BCE :

      Nehemiah on the Wall
    • 200 BCE :

      Forgotten Archive
    • 167 BCE :

      A Brief History of the Hasmoneans
    • 164 BCE :

      Pools and Palaces
    • 160 BCE :

      Fighting for Heart and Soul The Youngest Maccabee
    • 150 BCE :

      Telltale Tremor
    • 141 BCE :

      Cast a Giant Shadow
    • 110 BCE :

      A Dig Full of Holes
    • 100 BCE :

      אוצר ממצולות ים Anonymous Hasmonean
    • 20 BCE :

      Mystery of Caesarea’s Disappearing Port Jerusalem Potters
    • 18 BCE :

      Paving the Past
    • 0 BCE :

      Nabateans in the Bible Lords of the Desert Pilgrim City
  • 0
  • 100000
  • 200000
Prehistory
  • -5000
  • -4980
  • -4960
  • -4940
  • -4920
  • -4900
  • -4880
  • -4860
  • -4840
  • -4820
  • -4800
Antiquity
  • -4780
  • -4760
  • -4740
  • -4720
  • -4700
  • -4680
  • -4660
  • -4640
  • -4620
  • -4600
  • -4580
Antiquity
  • -4560
  • -4540
  • -4520
  • -4500
  • -4480
  • -4460
  • -4440
  • -4420
  • -4400
  • -4380
  • -4360
Antiquity
  • -4340
  • -4320
  • -4300
  • -4280
  • -4260
  • -4240
  • -4220
  • -4200
  • -4180
  • -4160
  • -4140
Antiquity
  • -4120
  • -4100
  • -4080
  • -4060
  • -4040
  • -4020
  • -4000
  • -3980
  • -3960
  • -3940
  • -3920
Antiquity
  • -3900
  • -3880
  • -3860
  • -3840
  • -3820
  • -3800
  • -3780
  • -3760
  • -3740
  • -3720
  • -3700
Antiquity
  • -3680
  • -3660
  • -3640
  • -3620
  • -3600
  • -3580
  • -3560
  • -3540
  • -3520
  • -3500
  • -3480
Antiquity
  • -3460
  • -3440
  • -3420
  • -3400
  • -3380
  • -3360
  • -3340
  • -3320
  • -3300
  • -3280
  • -3260
Antiquity
  • -3240
  • -3220
  • -3200
  • -3180
  • -3160
  • -3140
  • -3120
  • -3100
  • -3080
  • -3060
  • -3040
Antiquity
  • -3020
    • 3000 BCE :

      What would you like, Egyptian or Philistine ?
  • -3000
    • 3000 BCE :

      What would you like, Egyptian or Philistine ?
  • -2980
  • -2960
  • -2940
  • -2920
  • -2900
  • -2880
  • -2860
  • -2840
  • -2820
Antiquity
  • -2800
  • -2780
  • -2760
  • -2740
  • -2720
  • -2700
  • -2680
  • -2660
  • -2640
  • -2620
  • -2600
Antiquity
  • -2580
  • -2560
  • -2540
  • -2520
  • -2500
  • -2480
  • -2460
  • -2440
  • -2420
  • -2400
  • -2380
Antiquity
  • -2360
  • -2340
  • -2320
  • -2300
  • -2280
  • -2260
  • -2240
  • -2220
  • -2200
  • -2180
  • -2160
Antiquity
  • -2140
  • -2120
  • -2100
  • -2080
  • -2060
  • -2040
  • -2020
    • 2000 BCE :

      4,000 Year Old Jerusalem Tomb: a Treasure Trove of Decapitated Toads
  • -2000
    • 2000 BCE :

      4,000 Year Old Jerusalem Tomb: a Treasure Trove of Decapitated Toads
  • -1980
  • -1960
  • -1940
Antiquity
  • -1920
  • -1900
  • -1880
  • -1860
  • -1840
  • -1820
  • -1800
  • -1780
  • -1760
  • -1740
  • -1720
Antiquity
  • -1700
  • -1680
  • -1660
  • -1640
  • -1620
  • -1600
  • -1580
  • -1560
  • -1540
  • -1520
  • -1500
Antiquity
  • -1480
  • -1460
  • -1440
  • -1420
  • -1400
  • -1380
  • -1360
  • -1340
  • -1320
  • -1300
  • -1280
Antiquity
  • -1260
  • -1240
  • -1220
  • -1200
  • -1180
  • -1160
    • 1150 BCE :

      Where did the Philistines come from?
  • -1140
  • -1120
    • 1100 BCE :

      Is This Ziklag?
  • -1100
    • 1100 BCE :

      Is This Ziklag?
  • -1080
  • -1060
Antiquity
  • -1040
  • -1020
    • 1000 BCE :

      Babylonian Deluge
  • -1000
    • 1000 BCE :

      Babylonian Deluge
  • -980
  • -960
  • -940
  • -920
  • -900
  • -880
  • -860
  • -840
Antiquity
  • -820
    • 800 BCE :

      Horses in the rain Ruin of Samaria!
  • -800
    • 800 BCE :

      Horses in the rain Ruin of Samaria!
  • -780
  • -760
    • 750 BCE :

      Which Isaiah? How many clerks ?
  • -740
  • -720
  • -700
  • -680
  • -660
    • 650 BCE :

      Temple Off the Mount
  • -640
  • -620
Antiquity
  • -600
    • 590 BCE :

      Stamped by the Mayor
    • 586 BCE :

      Signs of Destruction
  • -580
  • -560
  • -540
  • -520
    • 516 BCE :

      Who are You, Samaritans?
  • -500
    • 480 BCE :

      Esther – the Persian Version
  • -480
    • 480 BCE :

      Esther – the Persian Version
    • 460 BCE :

      Nehemiah on the Wall
  • -460
    • 460 BCE :

      Nehemiah on the Wall
  • -440
  • -420
  • -400
Antiquity
  • -380
  • -360
  • -340
  • -320
  • -300
  • -280
  • -260
  • -240
  • -220
    • 200 BCE :

      Forgotten Archive
  • -200
    • 200 BCE :

      Forgotten Archive
  • -180
    • 167 BCE :

      A Brief History of the Hasmoneans
    • 164 BCE :

      Pools and Palaces
    • 160 BCE :

      Fighting for Heart and Soul The Youngest Maccabee
Antiquity
  • -160
    • 160 BCE :

      Fighting for Heart and Soul The Youngest Maccabee
    • 150 BCE :

      Telltale Tremor
    • 141 BCE :

      Cast a Giant Shadow
  • -140
  • -120
    • 110 BCE :

      A Dig Full of Holes
    • 100 BCE :

      אוצר ממצולות ים Anonymous Hasmonean
  • -100
    • 100 BCE :

      אוצר ממצולות ים Anonymous Hasmonean
  • -80
  • -60
  • -40
    • 20 BCE :

      Mystery of Caesarea’s Disappearing Port Jerusalem Potters
  • -20
    • 20 BCE :

      Mystery of Caesarea’s Disappearing Port Jerusalem Potters
    • 18 BCE :

      Paving the Past
    • 0 BCE :

      Nabateans in the Bible Lords of the Desert Pilgrim City
  • 0
  • 20
    • 40 CE :

      Wanton Destruction on a Calamitous Scale Golden Nostalgia
  • 40
    • 40 CE :

      Wanton Destruction on a Calamitous Scale Golden Nostalgia
    • 44 CE :

      King’s Canopy in Shilo
Antiquity
  • 60
    • 62 CE :

      The Pilgrims’ Progress
    • 66 CE :

      Don’t Call Me Joseph Dead Sea DNA
    • 67 CE :

      Romans on the Roofs of Gamla
  • 80
  • 100
  • 120
    • 130 CE :

      Backs to the Western Wall
    • 132 CE :

      Bar Kokhba in Jerusalem
  • 140
  • 160
  • 180
    • 200 CE :

      Bathing Rabbis
  • 200
    • 200 CE :

      Bathing Rabbis
  • 220
  • 240
    • 250 CE :

      Trio in Togas
  • 260
Antiquity
  • 280
    • 300 CE :

      Washed Out by the Rain
  • 300
    • 300 CE :

      Washed Out by the Rain
  • 320
  • 340
    • 350 CE :

      זה השער
  • 360
  • 380
    • 400 CE :

      Blessed Wine
  • 400
    • 400 CE :

      Blessed Wine
  • 420
  • 440
  • 460
  • 480
    • 500 CE :

      Shofar – Blasting Away Pilgrims’ Riches Playing with Water? Byzantine Cistern in Jerusalem Playground
Antiquity
  • 400
    • 400 CE :

      Blessed Wine
  • 410
  • 420
  • 430
  • 440
  • 450
  • 460
  • 470
  • 480
  • 490
    • 500 CE :

      Shofar – Blasting Away Pilgrims’ Riches Playing with Water? Byzantine Cistern in Jerusalem Playground
  • 500
    • 500 CE :

      Shofar – Blasting Away Pilgrims’ Riches Playing with Water? Byzantine Cistern in Jerusalem Playground
Middle Ages
  • 510
  • 520
  • 530
    • 539 CE :

      Georgians in Ashdod
  • 540
  • 550
  • 560
  • 570
  • 580
  • 590
  • 600
  • 610
Middle Ages
  • 620
    • 630 CE :

      The Fire of Faith
  • 630
    • 630 CE :

      The Fire of Faith
  • 640
  • 650
  • 660
  • 670
  • 680
  • 690
  • 700
  • 710
    • 717 CE :

      What’s a Jewish Menorah doing on early Islamic coins and vessels ?
  • 720
Middle Ages
  • 730
  • 740
  • 750
  • 760
  • 770
  • 780
  • 790
    • 800 CE :

      Whose Head is it Anyway? Potter’s Treasure
  • 800
    • 800 CE :

      Whose Head is it Anyway? Potter’s Treasure
  • 810
  • 820
  • 830
Middle Ages
  • 840
  • 850
  • 860
  • 870
  • 880
  • 890
  • 900
  • 910
  • 920
  • 930
  • 940
    • 950 CE :

      Cave of Revenge
Middle Ages
  • 950
    • 950 CE :

      Cave of Revenge
  • 960
  • 970
  • 980
  • 990
  • 1000
  • 1010
  • 1020
  • 1030
  • 1040
  • 1050
Middle Ages
  • 1060
  • 1070
  • 1080
  • 1090
    • 1096 CE :

      Heroes on the Walls of Haifa
    • 1099 CE :

      Heroes on the Walls of Haifa
  • 1100
  • 1110
  • 1120
  • 1130
  • 1140
  • 1150
  • 1160
Middle Ages
  • 1170
  • 1180
    • 1187 CE :

      Locking Horns at the Battle of Hattin
  • 1190
  • 1200
  • 1210
  • 1220
  • 1230
  • 1240
  • 1250
  • 1260
  • 1270
    • 1280 CE :

      Z-rated: For Forties Plus
Middle Ages
  • 1280
    • 1280 CE :

      Z-rated: For Forties Plus
    • 1286 CE :

      Mystery of the Zohar Zohar Unzipped
  • 1290
    • 1300 CE :

      Ancient Ring in the Flowerbed
  • 1300
    • 1300 CE :

      Ancient Ring in the Flowerbed
  • 1310
  • 1320
  • 1330
  • 1340
  • 1350
    • 1354 CE :

      Ready for Elijah
  • 1360
  • 1370
  • 1380
    • 1390 CE :

      Divinely Plagued
Middle Ages
  • 1390
    • 1390 CE :

      Divinely Plagued
  • 1400
  • 1410
  • 1420
  • 1430
  • 1440
  • 1450
  • 1460
  • 1470
    • 1475 CE :

      A Widow in Print
  • 1480
  • 1490
    • 1496 CE :

      Once Bitten, Twice Shy – Portuguese Jewry
Middle Ages
  • 1500
    • 1501 CE :

      Portuguese Messiah at the Stake
  • 1510
    • 1520 CE :

      Salonika’s Mystic Quartet
  • 1520
    • 1520 CE :

      Salonika’s Mystic Quartet
    • 1526 CE :

      Who Was David Ha-Reuveni?
  • 1530
    • 1533 CE :

      Kabbalists in Salonika
  • 1540
  • 1550
  • 1560
  • 1570
  • 1580
  • 1590
  • 1600
Age of Reason
  • 1610
  • 1620
    • 1630 CE :

      The Price of Dissent
  • 1630
    • 1630 CE :

      The Price of Dissent
  • 1640
  • 1650
  • 1660
    • 1667 CE :

      Was ‘The Jewish Bride’ Really Jewish? Messianic Mania
  • 1670
    • 1675 CE :

      Topsy Turvy
  • 1680
  • 1690
    • 1700 CE :

      Newton’s Fourth Law In the Service of the Czar Haman’s Pockets Trying to Belong
  • 1700
    • 1700 CE :

      Newton’s Fourth Law In the Service of the Czar Haman’s Pockets Trying to Belong
  • 1710
Age of Reason
  • 1720
  • 1730
  • 1740
  • 1750
  • 1760
  • 1770
  • 1780
    • 1790 CE :

      Groping for Truth
  • 1790
    • 1790 CE :

      Groping for Truth
  • 1800
    • 1806 CE :

      Napoleon’s Jewish Court
  • 1810
    • 1812 CE :

      Red Rose of Petra
  • 1820
    • 1827 CE :

      A Soul Divided
Age of Reason
  • 1830
    • 1832 CE :

      Blackface Minstrel Shows
    • 1840 CE :

      With Thanks from Damascus
  • 1840
    • 1840 CE :

      With Thanks from Damascus
    • 1842 CE :

      Charlotte Rothschild – First Jewish Female Artist
    • 1845 CE :

      The Angry Convert
    • 1848 CE :

      Jewish? French? Italian!
    • 1850 CE :

      Matza – More Than Just Crumbs
  • 1850
    • 1850 CE :

      Matza – More Than Just Crumbs
    • 1852 CE :

      Mum’s the Word Mum’s the Word
    • 1860 CE :

      Written Off
  • 1860
    • 1860 CE :

      Written Off
    • 1868 CE :

      Hungarian Schism
    • 1870 CE :

      A Man unto Himself The Kaiser’s Cap
  • 1870
    • 1870 CE :

      A Man unto Himself The Kaiser’s Cap
    • 1873 CE :

      Boy Wonders
    • 1875 CE :

      The Many Faces of Maurycy Gottlieb Shtreimel Variations: The History of a Hat
    • 1877 CE :

      Off the Boat
    • 1880 CE :

      Fastest Jew in the West
  • 1880
    • 1880 CE :

      Fastest Jew in the West
    • 1881 CE :

      The Jewish Girl who Set the Wild West Ablaze
    • 1882 CE :

      When Etrogim Briefly Grew on Trees
    • 1883 CE :

      Kafka – Too Short A Story
    • 1884 CE :

      The Original Zionist Congress
    • 1886 CE :

      Place in the Sun
    • 1887 CE :

      Marc Chagall – the Surrealist Jew
    • 1889 CE :

      New York – A Community in Flux
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
  • 1890
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
    • 1892 CE :

      When Shakespeare Spoke Yiddish
    • 1894 CE :

      Herzl’s Psychodrama Egypt’s Jewish Molière The Too Jewish Missionary
    • 1895 CE :

      Zionist with Cello
    • 1897 CE :

      The Jewish Father of French Impressionism The Congress that Founded the Jewish State The Pied Piper of Yom Kippur
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
  • 1900
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
    • 1906 CE :

      The Saga of a Budapest Family Sukka
    • 1908 CE :

      The Jewish American Secret Police
    • 1909 CE :

      black wedding
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
  • 1910
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
    • 1913 CE :

      Planting Seedlings Mark Gertler – Nothing but Art
    • 1914 CE :

      Did Jew Know? Tomorrow’s War Ticket to Riches
    • 1915 CE :

      Albert Einstein’s Quantum Leap Forgotten Jews of Bisan
    • 1916 CE :

      Amedeo Modigliani – Jewish Expressionism
    • 1917 CE :

      The Gateway The Viscount of Megiddo Return of the Spies Guard Down Long Before Balfour
    • 1918 CE :

      Luboml City Post Dying in Vain
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
  • 1920
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
    • 1921 CE :

      Make Art, Not War
    • 1924 CE :

      God Save the Dutch Queen It Takes a (Hasidic) Village
    • 1927 CE :

      Painter of Jerusalem Breaking the Sound Barrier No Business Like Show Business
    • 1929 CE :

      Painting Propaganda
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
  • 1930
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
    • 1933 CE :

      Haifa and Salonika – the Jewish Ports
    • 1935 CE :

      Gefilte Jazz
    • 1936 CE :

      Megilla with a Secular Twist
    • 1940 CE :

      A Beautiful Mind 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedy Lamarr
Age of Reason
  • 1880
    • 1880 CE :

      Fastest Jew in the West
    • 1881 CE :

      The Jewish Girl who Set the Wild West Ablaze
    • 1882 CE :

      When Etrogim Briefly Grew on Trees
    • 1883 CE :

      Kafka – Too Short A Story
    • 1884 CE :

      The Original Zionist Congress
    • 1886 CE :

      Place in the Sun
    • 1887 CE :

      Marc Chagall – the Surrealist Jew
    • 1889 CE :

      New York – A Community in Flux
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
  • 1890
    • 1890 CE :

      PIONEER POET
    • 1892 CE :

      When Shakespeare Spoke Yiddish
    • 1894 CE :

      Herzl’s Psychodrama Egypt’s Jewish Molière The Too Jewish Missionary
    • 1895 CE :

      Zionist with Cello
    • 1897 CE :

      The Jewish Father of French Impressionism The Congress that Founded the Jewish State The Pied Piper of Yom Kippur
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
  • 1900
    • 1900 CE :

      Healing Minds with Sigmund Freud
    • 1906 CE :

      The Saga of a Budapest Family Sukka
    • 1908 CE :

      The Jewish American Secret Police
    • 1909 CE :

      black wedding
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
  • 1910
    • 1910 CE :

      One Hundred Good Years
    • 1913 CE :

      Planting Seedlings Mark Gertler – Nothing but Art
    • 1914 CE :

      Did Jew Know? Tomorrow’s War Ticket to Riches
    • 1915 CE :

      Albert Einstein’s Quantum Leap Forgotten Jews of Bisan
    • 1916 CE :

      Amedeo Modigliani – Jewish Expressionism
    • 1917 CE :

      The Gateway The Viscount of Megiddo Return of the Spies Guard Down Long Before Balfour
    • 1918 CE :

      Luboml City Post Dying in Vain
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
  • 1920
    • 1920 CE :

      Isidor Kaufmann – Jewish Ritual Beauty My Son, the Gangster The Fourth Commandment and the Eighteenth Amendment
    • 1921 CE :

      Make Art, Not War
    • 1924 CE :

      God Save the Dutch Queen It Takes a (Hasidic) Village
    • 1927 CE :

      Painter of Jerusalem Breaking the Sound Barrier No Business Like Show Business
    • 1929 CE :

      Painting Propaganda
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
  • 1930
    • 1930 CE :

      The Wedding That Wasn’t
    • 1933 CE :

      Haifa and Salonika – the Jewish Ports
    • 1935 CE :

      Gefilte Jazz
    • 1936 CE :

      Megilla with a Secular Twist
    • 1940 CE :

      A Beautiful Mind 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedy Lamarr
  • 1940
    • 1940 CE :

      A Beautiful Mind 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hedy Lamarr
    • 1942 CE :

      Flowing But Not Forgotten All-American Rebbe
    • 1943 CE :

      Fight for the Spirit Spark of Rebellion Drawing for Dear Life
    • 1945 CE :

      Damned If You Do Lights, Camera, Zionism!
    • 1946 CE :

      Escape Room
    • 1947 CE :

      United Nations Vote – 29 November 1947
    • 1948 CE :

      Posting Independence The Battle on the Hill Sky-Heist Scent of Freedom The Best Defense Cable Car to Jerusalem
    • 1949 CE :

      Shmuel Zanwil Kahane and the Legend of the Holy Ashes
    • 1950 CE :

      Lost in Eilat Eilat’s Treasures Strength in Numbers The Shrine on the Mountain Voice Behind the Iron Curtain
  • 1950
    • 1950 CE :

      Lost in Eilat Eilat’s Treasures Strength in Numbers The Shrine on the Mountain Voice Behind the Iron Curtain
    • 1951 CE :

      Curator or Creator
    • 1952 CE :

      The Night of the Murdered Poets
    • 1955 CE :

      The Hitchhikers’ Guide to Jew York
    • 1957 CE :

      Shmuel Zanwil Kahane’s Map of Holy Sites
    • 1960 CE :

      Jewish as Can Be
  • 1960
    • 1960 CE :

      Jewish as Can Be
    • 1967 CE :

      1967 Declassified Comments Through Lions’ Gate De-Classified Comments New Life in Jerusalem’s Old City
  • 1970
    • 1973 CE :

      Faith Under Fire
  • 1980
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Esther – the Persian Version

India to Ethiopia
Foolish Monarch?
No Recourse
What’s in a Name?
The Birth of Darius
Did It Really Happen?
By: תמר עילם גינדין

Is the story of Esther a myth, or were its dramatic heroes and villains real people on the stage of Persian history? Iranian sources paint a complex but fascinating picture, which could – like the book of Esther – go either way // Thamar Eilam Gindin

The book of Esther is a strange bird in the biblical zoo: God is totally absent, at least in name; assimilation is never vilified, and much of the story takes place around Passover, though the festival isn’t even mentioned. These and other oddities made the Talmudic sages think twice before including Esther in the biblical canon (Megilla 7b).

Another of the book’s fascinating aspects is its historicity, which is both compelling – and questionable. So is Esther a historical document or a reworked pagan myth? Here’s the evidence as we see it.

India to Ethiopia

Chapter 1 of the book of Esther is the historical linchpin of the entire narrative. Here we meet Ahasuerus, who also appears in the biblical histories of Ezra and Nehemiah and is identified with the Achaemenid king Xerxes (r. 486–465 BCE).

The monarch who brought this dynasty from the relative obscurity of local kingship (rule by a shah under the thumb of the Empire of the Medes) to government by a “king of kings” (shahanshah in Persian) was Cyrus the Great (r. 559–530 BCE). Jewish history praises him as the author of the Cyrus Declaration, permitting the Babylonian exiles from Judea to return to Jerusalem. Yet that decree is probably a particularistic rewrite of the first-ever declaration of human rights, the Cyrus Cylinder, for which the emperor is best-known.

A pluralist, Cyrus allowed his subjects to worship whomever and however they liked, so long as they harmed no one. Though the cylinder – housed in the British Museum – thanks the Babylonian god Marduk for Cyrus’ achievements, it also credits the great king with restoring religious freedom and rebuilding the ruined temples of all the deities worshiped in his empire. In exchange, he asked these gods to beseech Marduk’s favor on his behalf.

Persian empire map 5th century BCE

 

Cyrus’ successor was his son Cambyses II (r. ~530–522 BCE), followed by a second son, Bardiya, or possibly someone impersonating him. Bardiya was murdered by his cousin Darius I (r. 522–486 BCE), who married Atossa, Cyrus’ daughter. Their son was ostensibly the royal Persian hero of our story – Xerxes, better known to us as Ahasuerus.

The family tree opposite includes a second, later Xerxes, but since he ruled only forty-five days, he can’t be the Persian king of the book of Esther, which spans several years. Ahasuerus’ empire extended from India to Ethiopia – as corroborated by maps dating from the Achaemenid Empire. On these maps, “India” refers to the Indus Valley – Hindush in ancient Persian – the easternmost satrapy of the empire. “Ethiopia” was its southernmost point, in today’s Sudan. The biblical text also states that Ahasuerus ruled 127 provinces. Yet that number is merely typological, used in the Bible and other ancient sources to denote a large sum, and thus doesn’t necessarily tally with the maps.

The book of Esther opens with a royal feast in Shushan, winter capital of the Achaemenid kings. Shushan corresponds to the city of Shush, in Iran’s Khuzestan Province. In antiquity, this area was dominated by the kingdom of Elam until the rise of the Persian Empire. When recounting the vassal states making up their empire, Achaemenid monarchs always started with Persia, Media, and Elam. The capitals of these provinces became Achaemenid capitals as well – Ecbatana (mentioned in Ezra 6:2 as Ahmeta, capital of Media and known today as Hamedan), Shushan or Susa (capital of Elam, appearing in Daniel 8:2), and Parsa (today’s Persepolis) the best known and most extensively excavated. Of all the ancient Persian capitals Shushan was apparently the most important and is the only one described by Greek historians.

The Cyrus Cylinder’s corroboration of the biblical narrative makes it one of history’s most sensational archaeological discoveries. Though the Bible claims only that Cyrus permitted the Jews to rebuild their Temple, the cylinder recounts that he allowed all his subjects to rebuild theirsPhoto: Mike Peel

The Cyrus Cylinder’s corroboration of the biblical narrative makes it one of history’s most sensational archaeological discoveries. Though the Bible claims only that Cyrus permitted the Jews to rebuild their Temple, the cylinder recounts that he allowed all his subjects to rebuild theirs

Foolish Monarch?

Achaemenid kings didn’t bother recording their feasts – perhaps they were too frequent to be noteworthy – but the biblical picture matches the ancient Greeks’ accounts of their enemy: the pomp and circumstance of the lavish palace with its marble pillars, silk-draped halls, gold and silver vessels, and excessive alcohol consumption.

Artifacts from the palaces discovered in Persepolis suggest how magnificent these structures originally were. Statue of a mythological beast from PersepolisPhoto: Arthur Simoes, Shutterstock

Artifacts from the palaces discovered in Persepolis suggest how magnificent these structures originally were. Statue of a mythological beast from Persepolis

Ctesias, a Greek physician and historian who lived in the Achaemenid palace, complained that he was never allowed to drink wine from a clay jug like a civilized human being. The Persians, he wrote, drank exclusively out of silver and gold goblets, insisting their guests do likewise. Famed Greek historian Herodotus recalled that after one of Xerxes’ (Ahasuerus’) ships sank off the Greek coast, a local noble’s coffers were greatly enriched by the silver and gold utensils that washed ashore.

Herodotus also claimed that the Achaemenid monarchs set policy when drunk, then confirmed it while sober; or at the very least, if they happened to take a sober decision, it had to be ratified while they were inebriated. That might explain some of the book of Esther’s more unusual episodes, such as Ahasuerus’ drunken decree banishing Vashti (Esther 1:10–21) and his sitting down to drink after ordering all the Jews killed (ibid. 3:15).

Other incidents, too, become clear when Achaemenid language and customs are taken into account. For instance, the king orders the royal chronicles read before him (ibid. 6:1). How can the most powerful man in the Persian Empire not have known how to read? In ancient times, however, only professional scribes mastered the art of reading and writing. Royals were to stick to ruling and waging war.

Similarly, though he allows Haman to kill all the Jews and steal their property, Ahasuerus refuses payment for the favor. “The money is yours,” he says, “and the people, do with them as you please” (ibid. 3:11). Why this strange response?

Relief showing Darius I seated, with Xerxes I standing behind him, Persepolis, Iran.Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Relief showing Darius I seated, with Xerxes I standing behind him, Persepolis, Iran.

Herodotus takes a psychological approach. He describes how Xerxes and his troops were grandly hosted by a wealthy man who offered to donate all his riches to the Persian war effort against the Greeks. Not only did Xerxes decline the generous contribution, but he insisted on paying the fellow an astronomical sum rather than be indebted to anyone for his hospitality. Later, this would-be benefactor begged the emperor to exempt one of his five sons from the draft (so there’d be someone to tend to him in his old age). Not only did Xerxes rail at the man’s ingratitude, he had the son cut in two and marched his army between the halves of the corpse! Ahasuerus may have likewise preferred to owe Haman nothing and therefore refused his bribe.

Then there’s the linguistic explanation, which is less dramatic. In ancient Persian, “I did” was usually expressed as “done to me,” “you’ve eaten” as “eaten to you,” and “you’ve given” as “given to you.” Thus, when the book of Esther translates the king’s words from Persian into Hebrew, “the money is yours” – literally, “the money is given to you” – really meant “you’ve given the money,” and Achasuerus was accepting the gift, not refusing!

The squares in the foreground are the remains of the Persian royal palace in Shushan. Photo: Pentocelow

The squares in the foreground are the remains of the Persian royal palace in Shushan.

No Recourse

The book of Esther portrays Ahasuerus as easily manipulated by women. So too, Greek historians depict Xerxes as a shameless skirt-chaser, adding that women heavily influenced all the weighty decisions taken by the men of his day.

One of Herodotus’ most hair-raising anecdotes relates how the king’s first wife, Amestris (whom some identify with Esther), wove her husband a dazzling cloak. Delighted with the garment, Xerxes wore it for a rendezvous with his lover, Artaynte (who also happened to be both his daughter-in-law and his niece), during which he rashly promised her anything she pleased. Artaynte requested the cloak.

Knowing his wife would be insanely jealous if she saw another woman draped in her gift, Xerxes begged his mistress to choose something else. He offered gold, cities, even her own army, but she turned them all down. Defeated, Xerxes handed over the cloak, which his paramour then flaunted all over the palace.

This fortress, nicknamed "the chateau", was built by French archaeologist Jacques de Morgan in the late 19th century to house his staff during the extensive excavations of the vast, ancient city of Persepolis. Local lore later transformed it into the palace of the Persian kingsPhoto: Pentocelow

This fortress, nicknamed “the chateau”, was built by French archaeologist Jacques de Morgan in the late 19th century to house his staff during the extensive excavations of the vast, ancient city of Persepolis. Local lore later transformed it into the palace of the Persian kings

Amestris waited for the right moment to extract her revenge. Finally, at the king’s birthday party, when he was duty bound to grant all petitions, she asked that her husband place Artaynte’s mother in her power. This unnamed woman had also been pursued by Xerxes. To win her over, he’d even married off his son Darius to her daughter. Artaynte’s mother had rejected the king, however, so he’d transferred his affections to the daughter. Nonetheless, Queen Amestris blamed her original rival for the king’s infidelity and punished her with a fate worse than death, mutilating her beyond recognition (Herodotus, The Histories, trans. A. D. Godley [Loeb Classical Library, 1920], book IX, ch. 112).

So there we have it: a king at the mercy of his court’s many women, and edicts that, “written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s signet ring, no one can revoke” (Esther 8:8). Even without a writ or official seal, Xerxes couldn’t break his word to either Artaynte or Amestris. Indeed, Greek history is full of kings’ misguided promises and the epic adventures they set in motion.

What’s in a Name?

We’ve made the case for the book of Esther as Persian history. Now, in true Purim style, we’ll turn everything upside down and argue the opposite.

Though it does sound like Esther, the name Amestris could almost as easily be construed as Vashti – the letters vav and mem are interchangeable in word-loans between languages, and an extra alef can always be explained away (think how Spanish – as well as Persian – speakers tend to add “eh” before and after the word “stress”). But Amestris was certainly not Vashti, Ahasuerus’ first wife, because she remained firmly in place until well after her husband’s death (Ctesias, fragment 15), holding sway during the reign of his son Artaxerxes (465–425/4 BCE). And apart from their vaguely similar names, nothing supports the assumption that Amestris was Esther either.

Historical references attest to Persian royalty’s love of golden tableware. Achaemenid gold vessel-

Historical references attest to Persian royalty’s love of golden tableware. Achaemenid gold vessel

Amestris was Persian, the daughter of Otanes (Hutāna in Persian). Far from being a Jewess elevated by winning a Miss World contest, she came from a family born to rule – one of six noble clans that had helped Darius save the Persians from reverting to Median domination. Oddly enough, her father and sister both figure prominently in that story, in roles not unlike those of Esther and Mordecai in the biblical narrative.

Speaking of Mordecai, the name Marduka – presumably derived from the chief deity in the Babylonian pantheon, Marduk – appears in Iranian sources from the time of Xerxes. Yet several royal officials were so called, and none occupied senior positions of the sort held by the biblical Mordecai. Most were minor clerks and tax collectors, their names featured on unexciting ostracons (inscribed clay fragments) issued as receipts for tribute in the form of grain or flour.

“Esther” too suggests a Babylonian deity: Ishtar, goddess of love and fertility. All over the ancient Near East, such female divinities were identified with the myrtle plant, hadas in Hebrew. Hence the queen’s other name – Hadassah (Esther 2:7). None of this, interesting though it is, makes Esther any more of an actual historical figure.

One of the most seemingly authentic elements in the story is the name of the king, Ahasuerus, and his identification with Xerxes. However, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Bible, dating from the third or second century BCE), the king around whom the book of Esther revolves is called Artaxerxes, Xerxes’ son and heir, who appears in the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah as Ahasuerus’ successor, Artahshasta. True, this rendering could just have been a mistranslation of Ahasuerus, which sounds more like Artaxerxes than like Xerxes. After all, the Septuagint was written not in Persia but in Egypt, and at least two hundred years after the events described in the book of Esther. Yet subsequent, Persian retellings of the narrative don’t mention Ahasuerus or Xerxes either. Take Ardashir-nāmah, a Judeo-Persian poem written by Mowlānā Shāhin-e-Shirāzi in the 14th century. This work refers to the king as Ardashir, a Middle Persian version of the ancient Persian name Artaxšaça, which is rendered in Hebrew as Artahshasta and in Greek as Artaxerxes. Ardashir was also the name of the founder of Persia’s Sassanid dynasty, which ruled from the third to seventh centuries – long after our story. Shirāzi’s poem thus interweaves Iranian myths and history with the biblical tale of Esther and Mordecai.

Furthermore, in the Judeo-Arabic translation of Esther, used in the Syrian community of Aleppo, the king is Alazdashiri – a name resembling Ardashir more than Xerxes.

In summation, later and non-Persian traditions seem to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes.

Golden drinking krater from Darius’ palace, such as might have been used at royal feasts-

Golden drinking krater from Darius palace, such as might have been used at royal feasts

Haman’s ethnic identity varies too in the different accounts. In the Bible he’s the Agagite (Esther 3:1), a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag, whom the first Israelite monarch, Saul, failed to eliminate as commanded (I Samuel 15). Accordingly, the story comes full circle when Mordecai, from the direct line of Saul, finishes the job by bringing down Haman and his sons.

The Greek renditions of the book of Esther – both the Septuagint and the more or less contemporaneous but less famous Alpha translation – call Haman Bougaios, possibly derived from baga, the ancient Persian word for “god.” One additional passage appearing in the Septuagint (which has its own embellishments of the story of the Megilla) even describes him as Macedonian, i.e., Greek in origin.

The Birth of Darius

Remarkably, there are no early Judeo-Persian versions of the book of Esther. Jews begin appearing in Iranian literature only from the third century CE, and an Iranian adaptation of the Megilla was composed only in the 20th century after the Islamic Revolution, when it went viral in the country’s anti-Semitic circles. The unscrupulous Mordecai of this story persuades Ahasuerus to depose the innocent Vashti and replace her with Esther. The Jewish couple then conspires to bring about an “Iranian Holocaust,” in memory of which the Jews celebrate an annual “Persian genocide” festival!

Yet one early Iranian work does bear striking similarities to the book of Esther. In this brief tale, Darius himself narrates how he became king after ousting a usurper of the throne following the death of Cambyses.

Herodotus’ longer Greek version is much richer in detail and in parallels to the Megilla. The author recounts how Cambyses son of Cyrus – or Kanbuzi son of Koresh in Hebrew – sent an assassin to dispose of his brother Smerdis (Bardiya in Persian) while the king was busy crushing a revolt in Egypt. A dream had foretold that “Smerdis” was to dislodge Cambyses from his throne. Unfortunately, this villain wasn’t the faithful brother of Cambyses, but Smerdis the Mede. The king realized as much only on his deathbed. Gathering the Persian chieftains around him, he swore them to prevent the Medes from regaining power.

-

The book of Esther’s drama inspired countless artists over the generations. Ahasuerus extends his scepter to Esther, Jacopo da Sellaio, tempera on wood panel, 15th century, Italy

Meanwhile, the messenger sent to assassinate Smerdis had done his job, and the throne fell into the clutches of Smerdis the Magus – the Mede – masquerading as Cambyses’ deceased brother. Only the assassin knew the real Smerdis was dead, and he had no reason to incriminate himself by revealing the truth. Smerdis exploited his fleeting reign to inflict enormous damage on Persian rule, even triggering an imperial crisis by granting exemptions from the draft and tax breaks to his non-Persian subjects (just as Ahasuerus gives his provinces a discount in celebration of Esther’s coronation).

It was a Persian nobleman named Otanes who first suspected that the king was an imposter. After all, from the moment he’d ascended the throne, Smerdis had never left the palace or allowed himself to be seen by any Persian (who might have known what the real Smerdis, son of Cyrus and brother of Cambyses, looked like). Otanes decided to put things to the test.

By coincidence, Otanes’ daughter Phaedyme had been married to Cambyses; therefore, together with his other wives, she passed to his successor. Otanes sent a messenger to Phaedyme asking whether it was really Smerdis son of Cyrus sleeping beside her in the royal bedchamber.Much as the hero and heroine of the book of Esther communicated extensively by messenger in chapter 4, Phaedyme sent a message back: Inasmuch as she’d never actually laid eyes on Smerdis prior to her husband’s death, she couldn’t confirm the new king’s identity.

Otanes then asked her to consult Atossa, daughter of Cyrus and sister of Cambyses and Smerdis-Bardiya, who would later become the wife of Darius and the mother of Ahasuerus. Surely Atossa would recognize her own brother. But Phaedyme couldn’t contact her, as the king had scattered his harem, setting up each wife in a separate abode.

Otanes’ suspicions grew, and his next message to his daughter echoed Mordecai’s warning to Esther:

Daughter, it is due to your noble birth that you should run any risks that your father bids you face. (Herodotus, book III, ch. 69, p. 89)

Otanes instructed Phaedyme to wait until her husband was sleeping at her side, then check whether he had ears. If he was the wrong Smerdis, the Magus, his ears would be missing, having been lopped off by Cyrus as punishment for some crime.

As Esther aficionados might expect, the dutiful daughter replied through her faithful messenger that this mission would  mean risking her life, but she’d do it anyway. When it was her turn to lie with the king, she waited until he was fast asleep, then inspected his head. Sure enough, no ears.

Do the biblical Haman and his conspiracy have any historical basis? Esther accusing Haman, Ernest Norman, oil on canvas, 1888 -

Do the biblical Haman and his conspiracy have any historical basis? Esther accusing Haman, Ernest Norman, oil on canvas, 1888

Otanes promptly recruited seven valiant Persians, and together they slaughtered Smerdis the Magus and all the other Medes in the palace. Although Darius was the last to join this strike force, he was crowned king. The other six warriors were granted substantial benefits, including the right to enter the king’s presence without permission (which we know was limited to a privileged few). Of all the king’s wives, only women from these six families could serve as main wife or queen. Darius wed his cousin Atossa, while his son Xerxes married Otanes’ other daughter, Amestris.

The Persians massacred the Medes on 10 Tishrei, 522 or 521 BCE, and celebrated the anniversary of this victory until at least the fourth century. Every year on that date, Zoroastrian priests (known as magi) were forbidden by tradition to leave their homes.

Both the book of Esther and the story of the rise of Darius borrow from ancient Near Eastern New Year myths associated with the equinoxes or the winter zenith. Like these legends, both narratives include an existential threat to the nation (or the entire world). In the Megilla, this danger takes the form of Haman’s plot against the Jews, and in the tale of Darius, it’s the Medes undermining the Persians. Then, in said myths, either a god or his representative on earth – the king – must be vanquished. But as civilizations are generally reluctant to encourage regicide, it’s the second in command (Haman the vizier) or an imposter (Smerdis the Magus) who is disposed of. The festival celebrating this defeat of evil is often accompanied by rituals overturning the social order, such as drunkenness.

Yet the Esther and Darius narratives uniquely revolve around a fair maiden who marries the king and saves her people with the help of a relative stationed at the king’s gate.

Gate of All Nations at Parsa (Persepolis), built by Xerxes I, easterns entrance guarded by two Lamassu creaturesPhoto: Westend61, Getty Images Israel

Gate of All Nations at Parsa (Persepolis), built by Xerxes I, eastern entrance guarded by two Lamassu creatures

Did It Really Happen?

The above historical parallels are both fascinating and confusing. All reflect the same Persian period, culture, customs, characters, and expressions. But there’s no hard evidence of the events of the biblical book of Esther in any contemporaneous Persian sources or later traditions. Instead, there are more than a few outright contradictions. Did the story of Esther and Mordecai happen as recounted, did the biblical author exaggerate, or is it complete fiction? Perhaps the question is irrelevant. Like all saturnalias, Purim is an opportunity for organized chaos, for defying social conventions for just one day – so why give up on that?

 

Further reading

Thamar Eilam Gindin, The Book of Esther Unmasked, Zeresh Books, 2016

Vera Basch Moreen, In Queen Esther’s Garden: An Anthology of Judeo-Persian Literature (Yale University Press, 2000)

“A Parsi, the son of a Parsi, an Aryan, of Aryan family": Nupistaš (Naqsh e-Rustam) – the royal Achaemenid necropolis near Persepolis, where king Xerxes I is believed to be buriedCourtesy of Zeresh Press

“A Parsi, the son of a Parsi, an Aryan, of Aryan family”: Nupistaš (Naqsh e-Rustam) – the royal Achaemenid necropolis near Persepolis, where king Xerxes I is believed to be buried

Antiquity

480
BCE

Tags

Achaemenid, Ahasuerus, Alazdashiri, Amestris, Ardashir Nahma, Babylon, Cyrus, Darius I, Ecbatana, Herodotus, Megillat Esther, Mordecai, Naqsh e Rustam, Parsa, Persepolis, Persian Empire, Purim, Shushan, Susa, Xerxes
By: תמר עילם גינדין

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