Friday, June 23, 2023

Esther as a Source for Achaemenian History?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: The Book of Esther as a Source for Achaemenian History (Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani).
In a recent article, I argue that a significant part of the historical material of the Book of Esther is in line with evidence that most of the classical sources are unaware of. This independence from the Greek sources makes the Book of Esther more important as a historical source for Achaemenian history than has traditionally been assumed. What follows is a brief discussion of some verses that contain historically relevant information, much of which is not found in the Classical sources.
There is a link to the underlying article in Persica Antiqua, but it is behind the subscription wall.

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