Artaxerxes I was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from August 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I.
In Greek sources he is also surnamed "Long-handed" (Ancient Greek: μακρόχειρ Makrókheir; Latin: Longimanus), allegedly because his right hand was longer than his left.
Darius II (Old Persian: 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavaʰuš; Ancient Greek: Δαρεῖος Dareios), also known by his given name Ochus (Greek: Ὦχος Ochos), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405 or 404 BC.
Following the death of Artaxerxes I, in 424 BC or 423 BC, there was a struggle for power between his sons. The victor, Ochus, adopted the name Darius (Greek sources often call him Darius Nothos, "Bastard"), in reference to his unattested lineage. His reign was marked by a series of revolts by various satraps and involvement in the Greek Peloponnesian War.It seems that Darius II was quite dependent on his wife Parysatis. In excerpts from Ctesias, some harem intrigues are recorded, in which he played a disreputable part. The Elephantine papyri mention Darius II as a contemporary of the high priest Johanan of Ezra 6:10. Darius II is potentially mentioned in the books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra–Nehemiah of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). There is some debate on whether these books refer to Darius the Great though.
Ezra–Nehemiah (Hebrew: עזרא נחמיה, 'Ezrā-Nəḥemyā) is a book in the Hebrew Bible found in the Ketuvim section, originally with the Hebrew title of Ezra (Hebrew: עזרא, 'Ezrā), called Esdras B (Ἔσδρας Βʹ) in the Septuagint. The book covers the period from the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE to the second half of the 5th century BCE, and tells of the successive missions to Jerusalem of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and their efforts to restore the worship of the God of Israel and to create a purified Jewish community. It is the only part of the Bible that narrates the Persian period of biblical history.
There is no historical consensus on Ezra’s existence or mission due to a lack of extrabiblical evidence and conflicting scholarly interpretations, ranging from viewing him as a historical Aramean official to a literary figure, with debates hinging on the authenticity of the Artaxerxes rescript and its dating.
Atossa (Old Persian: Utauθa, or Old Iranian: Hutauθa; 550–475 BC) was an Achaemenid empress. She was the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the sister of Cambyses II, the wife of Darius the Great, the mother of Xerxes the Great and the grandmother of Artaxerxes I.
Purim (Hebrew: פּוּרִים , lit. 'lots') is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther.
According to the Book of Esther, Haman was the royal vizier to the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I; Khshayarsha and Artakhsher in Old Persian, respectively). His plans were foiled by Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin, who previously warned the king about an assassination attempt, and Esther, Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter who had become queen of Persia after her marriage to Ahasuerus. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing among Jews. Although traditionally viewed as a historical document, modern scholarship generally regards the Book of Esther as a historical novel with legendary elements, not a reliable account of Purim’s origins.
Nehemiah (/ˌniːəˈmaɪə/; Biblical Hebrew: נְחֶמְיָה, romanized: Nəḥemyā, lit. 'Yahweh comforts') is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, the autonomous province of Judea within the Achaemenid Empire, under Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC).
The historicity of Nehemiah, his mission, and the Nehemiah Memoir have recently become very controversial in academic scholarship, with maximalists viewing it as a historical account and minimalists doubting whether Nehemiah existed. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is commemorated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers.