The House of Aršāma, Persian Satrap in Egypt
Satraps (“governors”) did the everyday work of maintaining Persian imperial rule across its vast empire. Ancient texts from Egypt allow us to understand how this arrangement wo
The Meaning(s) of Achaemenid Silver
A silver drinking cup given by the Achaemenid Persian king was worth more than its weight in metal — but exactly how much more?
How Did Cyrus the Great Die?
April 2024 | Vol. 12.4 By Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani As far as we know, Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, probably died around 530 BCE at the age of seven
The Book of Esther as a Source for Achaemenian History
June 2023 | Vol. 11.6 By Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani The Book of Esther (Fig. 1) is set in the Persian capital of Susa during the reign of Xerxes (Ahasuerus in Hebrew) and tells th
Visions from the Middle Territory: The Books of Haggai and Zechariah in their Persian Context
January 2022 | Vol. 10.1 By Robert L. Foster When we think of prophets and empires in the Hebrew Bible, we likely think of First Isaiah’s message in the light of the Assyrian Emp
Multi-Dimensional Yahwism: The Case of the Persian Period Judaean Community in Elephantine
Post-exilic period theology centers on Nehemiah and the returnees to Jerusalem. But what about the Judean soldiers serving on the southern borders of Egypt and their religion?