A hiker in southern Israel recently stumbled upon a rare inscription bearing the name of the Persian king widely believed to be the father of King Achashveirosh, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced today.
The 2,500-year-old potsherd was found in December by visitors at Tel Lachish National Park, and bears the name of King Darius the Great, the father of King Achashveirosh, the state-run archaeological body said.
This is the first discovery of an inscription bearing Darius the Great’s name anywhere in Israel.
The rare ostracon, or inscribed sherd, may be a note acknowledging the dispatching or receipt of goods, and is evidence for the Persian royal administration at Lachish in the Achaemenid period, at the turn of the fifth century BCE, the Antiquities Authority said.
The Aramaic inscription reads “Year 24 of Darius,” dating it to 498 BCE. The short text thus records the name of the Persian king Darius I, the father of Achashveirosh.
During his long reign (522-486 BCE), the Persian Achaemenid Empire expanded, reaching its greatest extent under his son Hishrash (Achashveirosh, Xerxes in Greek), who ruled most of the ancient world.
“When I picked up the ostracon and saw the inscription, my hands shook,” said Eylon Levy, international media adviser to President Isaac Herzog, who discovered the artifact. “I looked left and right for the cameras, because I was sure someone was playing an elaborate prank on me.”
The site of the find, the ancient city of Lachish, was a prosperous city and a major administrative hub 2,500 years ago.
The British Archaeological Expedition that carried out excavations at Tel Lachish in the 1930s uncovered an elaborate administrative building from the Persian period, built on top of the podium of the destroyed palace-fort of the Judean kings, according to Saar Ganor of the IAA and Haggai Misgav of the Hebrew University of Yerushalayim.
The Persian-era residence extended over a large area and comprised elaborate halls and courtyards, with a majestic columned portico entrance in Persian style. Today, only the pillar bases remain in place on the mound, as the British expedition dismantled the remains of the elaborate Persian building in order to excavate the underlying Judean palace, the researchers said.
“It’s amazing that visitors to the site come across such a rare inscription ‘reviving’ the Persian King Darius known to us from the sources!” said IAA director Eli Escuzido. “His son King Achashveirosh, who ruled ‘from India to Cush,’ could never have imagined that we would find evidence of his father in Israel 2,500 years after the dramatic events in his royal court!” JNS
Rather Darius II c.335bce according to our tradition.
And as remarkably recently proven by Chaldean/Babylonian tablets that recorded lunar eclipses
Wow! Amazing! Punkt now, right before Purim! What a fascinating story! Who is going to get the book rights? Rabbi Krohn, Spero, Pruzansky, Ashear, Seltzer, etc…..? I am so excited, I can’t wait!
Why would a Persian king (or his staff) sign the king’s name in letters bearing a great resemblance those of the Hebrew Alphabet?
You have to believe it blindly or rather dumbly. They always “find” things just at the right time. A Rebbe in Cheder translated “lo signov – men toor nisht gefinen.”
After 9/11 when the WWC turning into Ground Zero in 1.5 hours there was no airplane wreckage or debris at the site, and yet the only item they were able to “find” was the passport of the pilot! You have to be a first-class meshugene to believe this, let alone the entire 9/11 False Flag.
You’ve got your first question for your first Purim kos yayin. Now, come up with 3 more Q’s for the other 3 cups.
if you would read the article, not just the headline, you wouldnt have the question. the king didnt sign his name. someone wrote a receipt and dated it as “year 24 of Darius”. this was how things were dated in ancient times. see the first mishne in maseches rosh hashana, among other places.
Dear Anonymous,
It isn’t a signature; it’s a way of writing the year. We call this year 5783, or 2023 lemisparam. The ancients dated by the reigns of kings, a practice that will be familiar to anyone who studies Talmud, e.g., the beginning of tractate Rosh Hashanah.
This dating system would be used throughout the Persian Empire, but the alphabet used would be the local one. This idea is also found in the Megillah: מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה כִּכְתָבָהּ.
I thought achashveiros was a usurper who married the princess queen vashti? How can u say his father was a king?
And daryavesh was esthers son?
May this be a sign from Hashem that the Purim Geula and binyan Bet Hamikdash come quickly in this Mesugal year after Shemita close to the Month of Nisan.
Wow amazing. Unbelievable why do these things happen right before Yom Tov?
It’s amazing right before a Yom tov, we hear that something was found that pertains to that Yom tov.
I’m not sure why but Chanuka time and Parshas Mikaytz I was wondering why y’all didn’t publish the story that archaeologists in Egypt found the bones of the seven fat cows????
They always wait to release news, so it coincides with holidays.
Please correct this article.
Achashveirosh was the son of Coresh.
This is an open Rashi right in the beginning of the megillah, and what comes out of learning the gemara in Megillah daf 10.
Daryavesh was the king who took over after Belshatzar, at the age of 62.
See open verses, the last verses in Sefer Daniel chapter 5
It’s reported they found the name Darius Vaderous c.305bce and the inscription translates to ‘I am your father’
There were two archaeologists who made the discovery, but seeing it was just before Purim one remarked that’s hilarious, while the other said no, it’s Darius, so the latter got all the credit but both wished everyone happy purim.