| Xerxes I (خشایارشاه), was a Persian king (reigned 485 - 465
BC) of the Achaemenid dynasty. "Xerxes" is the Greek attempt to spell the Persian throne name Khshayarsha or
Khsha-yar-shan, meaning "ruler of heroes.". In the Hebrew Bible, the
Persian king Ahasuerus probably corresponds to Xerxes I.
Political Career
A son of Darius I and Atossa, the
daughter of Cyrus the Great, he was appointed successor to his father
in preference to his eldest half-brothers, who were born before Darius had become king. After his accession in October 485 BC he suppressed the revolt in Egypt which had
broken out in 486 BC, appointed his brother Achaemenes as henchman (or khshathrapavan, satrap) bringing
Egypt under a very strict rule. His predecessors, especially Darius, had not been successful in their attempts to conciliate the
ancient civilizations. This probably was the reason why Xerxes in 484 BC abolished the
Kingdom of Babel and took
away the golden statue of Bel (Marduk, Merodach), the hands of which the legitimate
king of Babel had to seize on the first day of each year, and killed the priest who tried to hinder him. Therefore Xerxes does
not bear the title of King of Babel in the Babylonian documents dated from his reign, but King of Persia and Media or simply King of countries (i.e. of the world). This proceeding led to two rebellions,
probably in 484 BC and 479 BC.
Darius had left to his son the task of punishing the Greeks for their interference in the Ionian rebellion and the victory of Marathon. From
483 Xerxes prepared his expedition with great care: a channel was dug through the
isthmus of the peninsula of Mount
Athos; provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace; two
bridges were thrown across the Hellespont. Xerxes concluded an alliance with
Carthage, and thus deprived Greece of the
support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians,
especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. A large fleet and a numerous army (some have
claimed that there were over 2,000,000) were gathered. In the spring of 480 Xerxes set
out from Sardis. At first Xerxes was victorious everywhere. The Greek fleet was beaten
at Artemisium, Thermopylae stormed, Athens conquered, the Greeks driven
back to their last line of defence at the Isthmus of Corinth
and in the Saronic Gulf. But Xerxes was induced by the astute message of
Themistocles (against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet
under unfavourable conditions, instead of sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armament. The Battle of Salamis (September 28, 480) decided the war. Having lost his communication by sea with Asia, Xerxes was forced to retire to Sardis; the army which he left in Greece under Mardonius was in 479 beaten at Plataea. The defeat of the Persians at Mycale roused the Greek cities of Asia.
Missing Later Years
Of the later years of Xerxes little is known. He sent out Satapes to attempt the circumnavigation of Africa, but the victory
of the Greeks threw the empire into a state of slow apathy, from which it could not rise again. The king himself became involved
in intrigues of the harem and was much dependent upon courtiers and eunuchs. He left
inscriptions at Persepolis, where he added a new palace to that of Darius, at
Van in Armenia, and on Mount Elvend near Ecbatana. In these texts he
merely copies the words of his father. In 465 he was murdered by his vizier Artabanus who raised
Artaxerxes I to the throne.
In the Bible
In the Bible, in the Book of Esther, Xerxes I is mentioned by the name of Ahasuerus.Esther was chosen as his queen
after the failed invasion in Greece. The Bible tells how Haman,
feeling insulted by the Jew Mordecai, tries to
kill Mordecai and many Jews, but Mordecai, through Esther and Ahasuerus, manages to reverse their fate.
External link
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