1 jan 489 ano antes da era comum - Esther (Amestris) Married Xerxes, Yr 7

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Queen Esther wife of Xerxes Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence by Gerard Gertoux

As seen, presumptions to identify Queen Amestris with Queen Esther (who lived in Susa) are strong, but the ultimate proof is chronology. According to Plutarch, a Greek historian: he [Artaxerxes] proclaimed Darius, then 50 years of age, his successor to the throne, and gave him permission to wear the upright "kitaris," as the tiara was called (Life of Artaxerxes 26:1-30:5). Several commentators have corrected the number 50 into 30, because Plutarch says a little later that Darius (B) was a young man at his enthronement (less than 25 according to Cyropaedia I:2:13), which is confirmed by Justinus (Epitome of the Philippic History X:1- 3). In fact, the number 50 refers to Artaxerxes’ age, not to Darius’ age, consequently, given that Artaxerxes enthroned his son Darius B during his 41st year (Murashu tablets) in 434 BCE, he was born in 485 BCE (= 435 + 50). According to Ctesias: Xerxes married the daughter of Onophas, Amestris. He was born a son Darius° [in 488 BCE], a second, 2 years later [in 486 BCE], Hystaspes, then Artaxerxes [in 485 BCE] and two daughters Amytis, who took the name of his grandmother, and Rhodogune (Persica F13§24). Consequently Artaxerxes was 10 years old when Xerxes died in 475 BCE, 50 in 435 BCE when Darius B was enthroned, and nearly 62 when he died in 424 BCE (Plutarch says Artaxerxes reigned 62 years!). According to Justinius (History III:1), Artaxerxes was barely out of childhood (10 years old) and Darius° was already in adolescence (13 years old) when Xerxes was murdered. If Amestris had her first child in 488 BCE her wedding occurred in 489 BCE. According to Esther 2:16-18, king Xerxes married Esther in his 7th year of reign (489 BCE). As a result, Queen Amestris, the sole wife of Xerxes (The Histories VII:61), got married in 489 BCE, at the same moment that Queen Esther got married, consequently Amestris (510-425) is Esther and when she was chosen in the 3rd year of Xerxes (493 BCE) she was a beautiful young girl, 17 years old (Est 1:3; 2:2-4), thus 21 when she got married.

...unique statue of a queen unearthed at Persepolis (see figure). However, mainstream historians are unable to identify it64. The lack of a beard, the shape of the eyebrows and the very thin mouth indicate that it is a woman, the royal crown and the beautiful blue enamel indicate that this is a queen. Some assume that this statue was a young crown prince, but it contradicts the conventional representations of kings who are still bearded, including crown princes as was the case of Xerxes (he was 25 years old when he became crown prince). Others assume that it was Atossa (550?-475? BCE), one of the six wives of Darius, but the only memorable political activity of this royal wife was to advise her husband to choose Xerxes as crown prince (she was around 55 years old at that time), in addition according to Herodotus, Darius had made a statue of gold of his favourite wife: Artystone (The Histories VII:69). Amestris who was the wife of Xerxes was also the mother of King Artaxerxes I. According to Ctesias65, Amestris, now very old, died just before Artaxerxes I (Persica F14§46). Given that Artaxerxes died in February 424 BCE, Amestris had to have died around 425 BCE. Theexpression “very old” means more than the age of Darius I, 72 years old (Persica F13§23) and likely around 85 years old (Luke 2:36-37), because we know66, for example, that some philosophers like Xenophanes (570-478) died when he was 92, Sophocles (490-406) when he was 90 and Georgias (487-380) when he was 107. As Amestris (510-425) was a famous queen, it is likely that the king Artaxerxes buried his mother with royal honours67. Once again, official historians are unable to identify this unique Achaemenid tomb of a queen discovered in 1901 on the acropolis of Susa68 (which remains a unique case). This tomb is sober and anonymous (bronze coffin 1.65 m long, 0.56 wide and 1.29 m deep) as are all the Achaemenid tombs (Cyrus’ tomb at Pasargadae and those in the necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam, northwest of Persepolis, for other Achaemenid kings). Dating this tomb has been controversial (350-330 BCE was a scholarly guess) but it is now fixed in the late 5th century BCE69 (425-400 BCE). Unfortunately, subsequent excavations at Susa have completely removed all traces of this exceptional tomb.

Fortunately, Jacques de Morgan kept a very accurate picture of this tomb by means of a water colour painting (below). He surmised that it was a woman because the bones were small and there were no weapons in the sarcophagus, in addition, she was elderly because of the worn state of the teeth. Achaemenid rulers had weapons in their tombs, because Quintus Curtius asserts after Cleitarchus, that when Alexander visited the tomb of Cyrus on his return from India, he only found the shield of Cyrus, then rotten, two Scythian bows, and a sword in the sepulchre (History of Alexander X:1).

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