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Artaxerxes I (Latin; Greek Ἀρταξέρξης; Persian اردشیر یکم (Ardeshir) corruption of Old Persian 𐎠𐎼𐎭𐎧𐎨𐏁𐎨1 Artaxšacā, "whose reign is through arta (truth)"; the name has nothing to do with Xerxes)2 was king of the Persian Empire from 465 BC to 424 BC, although other historians would place the beginning of his reign at 475 BC.3 4 He was the son of Xerxes I of Persia.
He is also surnamed μακρόχειρ "Macrocheir (Latin = Longimanus)", allegedly because his right hand was longer than his left. 5 The Russian Rurikid family Dolgoruki claimed descent from him via the Georgian house of Pahlavuni.
After Persia had been defeated at Eurymedon, military action between Greece and Persia was at a standstill. When Artaxerxes I took power, he began a new tradition of weakening the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused the Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus. After Cimon's failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens, Argos and Persia in 449 BC.
Artaxerxes I offered asylum to Themistocles, who was the winner of the Battle of Salamis, after Themistocles was ostracized from Athens.
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Portrayal in the Book of Ezra
Artaxerxes commissioned Ezra, a Jewish priest-scribe, by means of a letter of decree, to take charge of the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Jewish nation. A copy of this decree may be found in Ezra 7:13-28.
Ezra thereby left Babylon in the first month of the seventh year (~ 457 BC) of Artaxerxes' reign, at the head of a company of Jews that included priests and Levites. They arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month of the seventh year (Hebrew Calendar).
The rebuilding of the Jewish community in Jerusalem had begun under Cyrus the Great, who had permitted Jews held captive in Babylon, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of Solomon. A number of Jews had consequently returned back to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.
Offspring
By queen Damaspia
By Cosmartidene of Babylon
By Andia of Babylon
References
- ^ Ghias Abadi, R. M. (2004). Achaemenid Inscriptions (کتیبههای هخامنشی), 2nd edition (in Persian), Tehran: Shiraz Navid Publications, page 129. ISBN 964-358-015-6.
- ^ The Greek form of the name is influenced by Xerxes (Encyclopedia Iranica). The Biblical Hebrew form is ארתחשסתא Artakhshasta. In Modern Persian, he is called Ardeshir.
- ^ Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. I, Persia, Persians, The Reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes
- ^ Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de l’Institut Impérial de France, first series, Vol. VI, second part, Paris, 1864, p. 147.
- ^ Plutarch, Artaxerxes, l. 1. c. 1. 11:129 - cited by Ussher, Annals, para. 1179
See also
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Artaxerxes I of Persia
Born: ?? Died: 424 BC |
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| Preceded by Xerxes I |
Great King (Shah) of Persia 465 BC–424 BC |
Succeeded by Xerxes II |
| Pharaoh of Egypt 465 BC–424 BC |
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- This page was last modified on 22 November 2008, at 13:31.
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