1 jan 425 ano antes da era comum - Queen Esther's Death

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

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. The expression “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 (see below) 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 (see pic). 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).

This is a woman for another reason: the tomb contains many jewels (now exhibited in the Louvre), which are typically feminine like pearl necklaces and huge earrings (opposite figure). Clues to identify this important character are few: it was a royal figure given that this woman was buried in the royal enclosure of Susa (at the end of the reign of Artaxerxes I), which is a case absolutely unique. The only inscription near this tomb is the name "Xerxes" at the bottom of a column70. Thus, Amestris is the best candidate.

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SUMMIT MEETING BETWEEN QUEEN ESTHER AND GENERAL THEMISTOCLES by Gerard Gertoux

As Jacques de Morgan rightly remarked, the character of the tomb was female because the pelvic edge is clearly feminine and she was elderly which can be deduced by the state of wear of the teeth.

The presence of two Phoenician silver shekels from Aradus (Arwad), a city which strongly supported Xerxes in his war against the Greeks, in the “Achaemenid tomb of the Acropolis” is an enigma because the currency used in the Persian Empire, from Darius I, was the famous daric (Ezr 8:27) and the presence of two Aradian shekels of insignificant value in a royal Achaemenid tomb is inexplicable (Curtis/ Tallis: 2005, 179). In fact, several numismatic studies have partially solved this puzzle. A closer examination of these two coins (picture right) has given a date towards the end of
the 5th century BCE (Elayi/ Elayi: 1992, 265-270) instead of 350 BCE. As the powerful Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon and Aradus, which belonged to the province of Beyond the River, had supported Xerxes in his war against the Greeks, after 450 BCE, their currencies became the norm in this western Persian province (Elayi: 1994, 289-309).

A thorough investigation into the metallic composition of Aradian silver made it possible to date the minting of the two shekels between 440 and 404 BCE (Elayi/ Blet-Lemarquand/ Elayi/ Duval: 2012, 129-140) and a new investigation has narrowed the coinage period to 440–420 BCE (Elayi/ Elayi: 2015, 202-207).

Although the large silver cup in the Acropolis tomb did not interest the archaeologists, it allows us to know which king buried the anonymous royal person. On the inside a lotus flower, which was a royal symbol, and a bud garland encircle the centre of the silver cup (see pic).

The presence of this large silver cup (generally used by cupbearers) without any inscription in a royal tomb is difficult to explain. Fortunately, three other similar large silver cups have been found of which one with the following inscription in cuneiform:
Artaxerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of lands, son of Xerxes the king, of Xerxes (who was) son of Darius the king, the Achaemenian, in whose house the silver drinking-cup (was) made (Curtis/ Cowell/ Walker: 1995, 149-153).

All four drinking-cups have very similar compositions being silver-copper alloys with high silver contents and traces of gold and lead. This composition3, particularly the traces of gold and lead, is typical of ancient silver in general and similar to analyses of other pieces. The technical evidence therefore clearly indicates that the drinking-cup of Artaxerxes I is ancient and the epigraphic and art historical evidence are also in favour of its being genuine.

The tomb in Susa contained many jewels (now exhibited in the Louvre), and some of them are typically feminine such as pearl necklaces (there were many). Among the many precious objects from the tomb there is agolden crown which, consequently, must have belonged to a Persian queen. Indeed, on some bas reliefs the members of the royal family are shown wearing golden earrings and gold bracelets but never with pearl necklaces. We can add that it was a royal figure given that this woman was buried in the royal enclosure of Susa at the end of the reign of Artaxerxes I, which is an absolutely unique case5.

From Darius I, Persian kings all worshipped Ahura Mazda whose effigy appears regularly on their tombs, including on earrings, unlike Queen Esther who kept no representation of this Persian god even in the centre of her earrings (the little characters on the earrings are images of King Darius I). Given that the God of the Bible had forbidden the worshipping of images, there were none in the tomb.

The only inscription near this tomb is the name “Xerxes” at the bottom of a column (Vallat: 2003, 556), but the royal woman (about 1.6 m in height) in the tomb could not be Atossa (550-475) because she died at the beginning of Artaxerxes I's reign (475-425), not at the end.

Another element of the tomb confirms that this elderly queen, who must have been prestigious since King Artaxerxes chose to bury her in the royal city of Susa, had known King Xerxes. The two alabaster ointment vases found in the tomb were very expensive objects that were given as gifts by kings. The alabaster vases that have been found are in the names of Darius I and Xerxes, but the specimens belonging to Xerxes I represent the largest group in number. They consist of eight alabaster or dark hard rock vases and fragments (Qahéri/ Trehuedic: 2017, 1-10). Some vases with a hieroglyphic titling are dated to the year 2 of Xerxes (in 494 BCE) or the year 31 of Darius I, in 491 BCE (Qahéri: 2012, 317-348).

The two ointment vases (Louvre Sb 524, Sb 537) found in the tomb of the Acropolis belonged to Queen Esther and are connected with the preparations for her marriage to King Xerxes:
In those days when King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) was sitting on his royal throne in Shushan the citadel (Susa), in the 3rd year of his reign (493 BCE), he held a banquet for all his princes and his servants (...) When the king’s word and his law were proclaimed and when many young women were brought together at Shushan the citadel under the care of Hegai, Esther was also taken to the king’s house under the care of Hegai the guardian of the women. Now the young woman was pleasing to him and won his favour, so he promptly arranged for her beauty treatments and her diet, and he assigned to her seven selected young women from the king’s house. He also transferred her and her young attendants to the best place in the house of the women (...) Each young woman had her turn to go in to King Ahasuerus after completing the 12-month treatment that was prescribed for the women, for this was the way they had to fulfil their beauty treatment —6 months with oil of myrrh and 6 months with balsam oil and various ointments for beauty treatment (...) Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus at his royal house in the 10th month, that is, the month of Tebeth, in the 7th year of his reign (489 BCE). And the king came to love Esther more than all the other women, and she won his favour and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he put the royal crown (keter) on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti (Est 1:2-3; 2:8-17).

Another indication of the Jewishness of the anonymous queen is the absence of religious symbols in her tomb and also the presence of two cylinder-pendants of low value (see pic)... The two cylinder-pendants are not cylinder-seals because they are completely smooth (and therefore cannot seal anything), moreover they have only one hook which indicates that they were worn vertically whereas the two hooks of a cylinder seal forced its owner to wear it horizontally. There is no simple explanation, but for the Jews of that time these two cylinder-pendants were perceived as a symbol of the two rolls of the Torah. If King Artaxerxes encouraged so easily Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the city, which was without benefits for the Achaemenid empire, that was because he had been sensitive to the desire of his mother, Queen Esther.

If we examine Nehemiah's journey from Susa to Jerusalem, we can see that Jerusalem is exactly west of Susa (azimuth 264° west from north) and the tomb of Esther points westward with exactly the same value, which is not by chance (1Ki 8:44; Dn 6:10).

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