Editing Artaxerxes I

{{Short description|King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 465 to 424 BC}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Artaxerxes I<br>𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂
| title        = 
| image        = Relief of Artaxerxes I, from his tomb in Naqsh-e Rustam.jpg
| image_size   = 
| caption      = Relief of Artaxerxes I, from his tomb in [[Naqsh-e Rustam]]
| succession   = [[King of Kings]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire]],<br>[[List of pharaohs|Pharaoh of Egypt]]
| reign        = 465–December 424 BC
| predecessor  = [[Xerxes I]]
| successor    = [[Xerxes II]]
{{Ancient Egyptian royal titulary case|nomen=Artaxerxes<ref>[[Henri Gauthier]], ''Le Livre des rois d'Égypte'', IV, Cairo 1916 (=''MIFAO'' 20), p. 152.</ref> |nomen_hiero=
<hiero>G1-E23:N17-Aa1-M8-M8-s</hiero>}}
| birth_date   = Unknown
| death_date   = 424 BC, Susa
| place of burial = [[Naqsh-e Rustam]], [[Persepolis]]
| spouse       = [[Damaspia]]<br/>Alogyne of [[Babylon]]<br/>Cosmartidene of Babylon<br/>Andia of Babylon
| dynasty      = [[Achaemenid dynasty|Achaemenid]]
| father       = [[Xerxes I]]
| mother       = [[Amestris]]
| religion     = [[Zoroastrianism]]
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Xerxes II of Persia|Xerxes II]]
* [[Sogdianus of Persia|Sogdianus]]
* [[Darius II]]
* [[Arsites (son of Artaxerxes I)|Arsites]]
* [[Parysatis]]
}}
}}

'''Artaxerxes&nbsp;I''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɑr|t|ə|ˈ|z|ɜr|k|s|iː|z}}, {{langx|peo|<small>[[wiktionary:𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠|𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠]]</small>}} {{Transliteration|peo|Artaxšaçāʰ}};<ref>{{cite book|last=Ghias Abadi|first=R. M.|title=Achaemenid Inscriptions (کتیبه‌های هخامنشی)&lrm;|edition=2nd|publisher=Shiraz Navid Publications|year=2004|location=Tehran|isbn=964-358-015-6|pages=129|language=fa}}</ref><ref>{{iranica|artaxerxes-throne-name-of-several-persian-kings-of-the-achaemenid-dynasty|Artaxerxes}}</ref> {{langx|grc|[[wiktionary:Ἀρταξέρξης|Ἀρταξέρξης]]}})<ref>The Greek form of the name is influenced by ''[[Xerxes I|Xerxes]]'', {{iranica|artaxerxes-throne-name-of-several-persian-kings-of-the-achaemenid-dynasty|Artaxerxes}}</ref> was the fifth King of Kings of the [[Achaemenid Empire]], from 465 to December 424&nbsp;BC.<ref name="DunnRogerson2003">{{cite book|author1=James D. G. Dunn|author2=John William Rogerson|title=Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA321|date=19 November 2003|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-3711-0|page=321}}</ref><ref name="Stolper1983">{{cite book|author1=Matthew W. Stolper|title=The Death of Artaxerxes I in Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran N.F. 16 (1983)|publisher=Dietrich Reimer Verlag Berlin|page=231}}</ref> He was the third son of [[Xerxes I]].

In Greek sources he is also surnamed "Long-handed" ({{langx|grc|μακρόχειρ}} ''Makrókheir''; {{langx|la|Longimanus}}), allegedly because his right hand was longer than his left.<ref>Plutarch, Artaxerxes, l. 1. c. 1. 11:129 - cited by Ussher, Annals, para.&nbsp;1179</ref>

[[Josephus]], and several ancient traditions identify him as [[Ahasuerus#Identification of "Ahasuerus" as Artaxerxes I|King Ahasuerus]], from the [[Book of Esther]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Josephus |first1=Flavius |title=The Antiquities of the Jews |pages=Book XI, Chapter 6}}</ref>

==Succession to the throne==
Artaxerxes was probably born in the reign of his grandfather [[Darius I]], to the emperor's son and heir, [[Xerxes I]]. In 465 BC, Xerxes I was murdered by ''Hazarapat'' ("commander of thousand") [[Artabanus of Persia|Artabanus]], the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court, with the help of a [[eunuch]], Aspamitres.<ref>[[#refkhshayayrsha|Pirnia, ''Iran-e-Bastan'' book 1, p 873]]</ref> Greek historians give contradicting accounts of events. According to [[Ctesias]] (in ''Persica'' 20), Artabanus then accused [[Darius (son of Xerxes I)|Crown Prince Darius]], Xerxes's eldest son, of the murder, and persuaded Artaxerxes to avenge the patricide by killing Darius. But according to [[Aristotle]] (in ''Politics'' 5.1311b), Artabanus killed Darius first and then killed Xerxes. After Artaxerxes discovered the murder, he killed Artabanus and his sons.<ref>[[#refartabanus-ei|Dandamayev]]</ref><ref>[[#refartaxerxes|Olmstead, ''History of the Persian Empire'', pp 289–290]]</ref>

==Egyptian revolt==
<!--Linked from [[Book of Ezra]]-->
[[File:Inarus, killed by Artaxerxes I.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Closeup of the [[Zvenigorodsky seal]], believed at least by one scholar to depict Artaxerxes seizing Inaros.<ref name="Ancient Seals of the Near East">{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Richard Arthur |title=Ancient seals of the Near East |date=1940 |publisher=Chicago: Field Museum Press |page=Plaque 17 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientsealsofne34marti/page/n45/mode/2up}}</ref>]]
[[File:Cartouche Artaxerxes I Lepsius.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The ancient Egyptian god [[Amun-Min]] in front of Artaxerxes' [[cartouche]].]]
Artaxerxes had to face a revolt in [[Egypt]] in 460–454 BC led by [[Inaros II]], who was the son of a [[Libya]]n prince named Psamtik, presumably descended from the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt]]. In 460 BC, Inaros II revolted against the Persians with the help of his [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] allies, and [[History of Persian Egypt|defeated the Persian army]] commanded by [[satrap]] [[Achaemenes (satrap)|Achaemenes]]. The Persians retreated to [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], and the Athenians were finally defeated in 454 BC, by the Persian army led by [[Megabyzus]], after a two-year siege. Inaros was captured and carried away to [[Susa]].

==Relations with Greece==
[[File:He stoods silent before King.jpg|thumb|[[Themistocles]] stands silently before Artaxerxes]]
After the [[Achaemenid Empire]] had been defeated at the [[Battle of the Eurymedon]] ({{circa}} 469 BC), military action between [[Greece]] and [[Persia]] was at a standstill. When Artaxerxes&nbsp;I took power, he introduced a new Persian strategy 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&nbsp;BC, where the Greeks attacked at the [[Wars of the Delian League#Battles of Salamis-in-Cyprus|Battle of Cyprus]]. After [[Cimon]]'s failure to attain much in this expedition, hostilities ceased. Later sources argue that the purported [[Peace of Callias]] was agreed among [[Athens]], [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and Persia in 449&nbsp;BC; however, the existence of a formal treaty between the Greek States and Persia is disputed.

Artaxerxes&nbsp;I offered [[Political asylum|asylum]] to [[Themistocles]], who was probably his father Xerxes's greatest enemy for his victory at the [[Battle of Salamis]], after Themistocles was [[ostracized]] from [[Athens]]. Also, Artaxerxes I gave him [[Magnesia on the Maeander|Magnesia]], [[Myus]], and [[Lampsacus]] to maintain him in bread, meat, and wine. In addition, Artaxerxes I gave him [[Skepsis]] to provide him with clothes, and he also gave him [[Percote]] with bedding for his house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://plutarch.classicauthors.net/PlutarchsLives/PlutarchsLives3.html|title=Themistocles, Part II |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001032753/http://plutarch.classicauthors.net/PlutarchsLives/PlutarchsLives3.html |archive-date=2015-10-01 |author=Plutarch|author-link=Plutarch}}</ref> Themistocles would go on to learn and adopt Persian customs, Persian language, and traditions.<ref name=TI137>Thucydides [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200;query=chapter%3D%23137;layout=;loc=1.136.1 I, 137]</ref><ref name=PT29>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23245;layout=;loc=Them.%2028.1 Themistocles, 29]</ref>

==Portrayal in the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah==
A King Artaxerxes ({{langx|he|אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתְּא}}, אַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא, {{IPA|he|artaχʃast(ǝ)|pron}}, or אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתָּא {{IPA|he|artaχʃasta|pron}}) is described in the Bible (Ezra 7) as having commissioned [[Ezra]], a [[kohen]] and [[sofer|scribe]], by means of a letter of decree to take charge of the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Jewish nation.

[[Ezra]] thereby left Babylon in the first month of the seventh year<ref>''The Book of Daniel''. Montex Publish Company, By Jim McGuiggan 1978, p. 147.</ref> 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 according to the [[Hebrew calendar]]. The text does not specify whether the king in the passage refers to Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC) or to [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]] (404–359 BC).<ref name="igb">{{cite book |title=The Illustrated Guide to the Bible|last=Porter|first=J.R. |year= 2000|publisher=Barnes & Noble Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7607-2278-7 |pages=115–16}}</ref><ref name="Toynbee1961">{{cite book|first=Arnold|last=Toynbee|title=A Study of History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dglXAAAAYAAJ|volume=12|year=1961|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=485|quote=Ever since the beginning of the Babilonish Captivity, the diaspora has been Jewry's citadel and the Artaxerxes in question is Artaxerxes I (''imperabat'' 465-424 B.C.) or Artaxerxes II (''imperabat'' 404-359 B.C.) So we do not know whether the date of Ezra's mission was 458 B.C. or 397 B.C., or whether the date of Nehemia's mission was 445 B.C. or 384 B.C. (see G.F. Moore: ''Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era'', vol. i, p. 5). Nehemiah may have preceded Ezra}}</ref> Most scholars hold that Ezra lived during the rule of Artaxerxes I, though some have difficulties with this assumption:<ref name="Britannica">"Ezra". ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. 2007.</ref> Nehemiah and Ezra "seem to have no knowledge of each other; their missions do not overlap", however, in Nehemiah 12, both are leading processions on the wall as part of the wall dedication ceremony. So, they clearly were contemporaries working together in [[Jerusalem]] at the time the wall and the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt in contrast to the previously stated viewpoint.<ref name="MaryJ2">{{cite book |last=Winn Leith |first=Mary Joan |editor=Michael David Coogan |title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFhvECwNQD0C&q=The+Oxford+History+of+the+Biblical+World |format=[[Google Books]] |access-date=13 December 2007 |orig-year=1998 |year=2001 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]]; [[New York City|New York]] |isbn=978-0-19-513937-2 |oclc=44650958 |pages=281 |chapter=Israel among the Nations: The Persian Period |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFhvECwNQD0C&q=The+Oxford+History+of+the+Biblical+World |lccn=98016042}}</ref> These difficulties have led many scholars to assume that Ezra arrived in the seventh year of the rule of Artaxerxes II, i.e. some 50 years after Nehemiah. This assumption would imply that the biblical account is not chronological. The last group of scholars regard "the seventh year" as a scribal error and hold that the two men were contemporaries.<ref name="Britannica" /><ref>John Boederman, ''The Cambridge Ancient History'', 2002, p. 272</ref> However, Ezra appears for the first time in Nehemiah 8, having probably been at the court for twelve years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/nehemiah/8.htm|title=Nehemiah 8 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers}}</ref>

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 [[Solomon's Temple]]. Consequently, a number of Jews returned to Jerusalem in 538 BC, and the foundation of this "[[Second Temple]]" was laid in 536 BC, in the second year of their return (Ezra 3:8). After a period of strife, the temple was finally completed in the sixth year of Darius, 516 BC (Ezra 6:15).

In Artaxerxes' twentieth year, [[Nehemiah]], the king's [[cup-bearer]], apparently was also a friend of the king as in that year Artaxerxes inquired after Nehemiah's sadness. [[Nehemiah]] related to him the plight of the Jewish people and that the city of Jerusalem was undefended. The king sent [[Nehemiah]] to Jerusalem with letters of safe passage to the governors in Trans-Euphrates, and to [[Asaph (biblical figure)|Asaph]], keeper of the royal forests, to make beams for the citadel by the Temple and to rebuild the city walls.<ref>Nehemiah 2:1–9</ref>

==Interpretations of actions==
[[File:Naghsh-e rostam, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 18.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Artaxerxes I at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]].]]
[[File:Tomb of Artaxerxes I ethnicities with labels.jpg|thumb|300px|Ethnicities of the Empire on the tomb of Artaxerxes I at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]].]]
[[Roger Williams]], a 17th-century Christian minister and founder of [[Rhode Island]], interpreted several passages in the Old and New Testament to support limiting government interference in religious matters. Williams published ''[[The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience]],'' arguing for a [[separation of church and state]] based on biblical reasoning. Williams believed that Israel was a unique covenant kingdom and not an appropriate model for New Testament Christians who believed that the Old Testament covenant had been fulfilled. Therefore, the more informative Old Testament examples of civil government were "good" non-covenant kings such as Artaxerxes, who tolerated the Jews and did not insist that they follow his state religion.<ref>James P. Byrd, ''The challenges of Roger Williams: Religious Liberty, Violent Persecution, and the Bible'' (Mercer University Press, 2002)[https://books.google.com/books?id=M4FK-j35yFYC] (accessed on Google Books on July 20, 2009)</ref>

==Medical analysis==
According to a paper published in 2011,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ashrafian, Hutan. |title=Limb gigantism, neurofibromatosis and royal heredity in the Ancient World 2500 years ago: Achaemenids and Parthians |journal=J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg |volume=64 |year=2011 |pages=557 |doi=10.1016/j.bjps.2010.08.025 |url=http://www.jprasurg.com/article/S1748-6815(10)00521-8/pdf |pmid=20832372 |issue=4}}</ref> the discrepancy in Artaxerxes’ limb lengths may have arisen as a result of the inherited disease [[neurofibromatosis]].

==Children==
[[File:Quadrilingual inscription of Artaxerxes on an Egyptian alabaster vase.jpg|thumb|Quadrilingual inscription of Artaxerxes on an Egyptian alabaster vase (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian and Egyptian).<ref>{{cite book |title=Revue archéologique |date=1844 |publisher=Leleux |pages=444–450 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_CYGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA444 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>The vase is now in the [[Reza Abbasi Museum]] in Teheran ([https://antiquitebnf.hypotheses.org/11185 inv. 53]). [https://antiquitebnf.hypotheses.org/11185/fig_9-a image] [https://antiquitebnf.hypotheses.org/11185/fig_9-b inscription]</ref>]]
'''By queen [[Damaspia]]'''
*[[Xerxes II]]
'''By [[Alogyne]] of [[Babylon]]'''
*[[Sogdianus]]
'''By [[Cosmartidene]] of Babylon'''
*[[Darius II of Persia|Darius II]]
*[[Arsites (son of Artaxerxes I)|Arsites]]

'''By [[Andia of Babylon]]'''
*[[Bogapaeus]]
*[[Parysatis]], wife of [[Darius II Ochus]]
'''By another(?) unknown wife'''
*An unnamed daughter, wife of [[Hieramenes]], mother of [[Autoboesaces]] and [[Mitraeus]]<ref>Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', Book II, Chapter 1</ref>

'''By various wives'''
*Eleven other children

==See also==
* [[Artoxares]]
* [[List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Artaxerxes I}}
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/artaxerxes-throne-name-of-several-persian-kings-of-the-achaemenid-dynasty ''Encyclopedia Iranica'' ARTAXERXES]
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/artaxerxes-i ''Encyclopedia Iranica'' ARTAXERXES I a son of Xerxes I and Amestris]

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{{s-hou|[[Achaemenid dynasty]]||||424 BC}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Persia|King of Kings of Persia]]|years=464–424 BC}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Xerxes II of Persia|Xerxes II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of pharaohs|Pharaoh of Egypt]]|dynasty=[[Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt|XXVII Dynasty]]|years=465–424 BC}}
{{s-end}}

{{Median and Achaemenid kings}}
{{Achaemenid rulers}}
{{Persepolis}}
{{Pharaohs}}
{{Babylonian kings}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:5th-century BC Kings of the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:5th-century BC pharaohs]]
[[Category:Kings of the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:Pharaohs of the Achaemenid dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:424 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Babylonian captivity]]
[[Category:Artaxerxes I| ]]
[[Category:Kings of the Lands]]