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Cover; Stone relief of Persian and Medean guards, from the stairway of the Tripylon at Persepolis. From The
Arts of Iran by R. Ghirshman, fig. 236. Source; Antonello Perissinotto.
CONTENTS
Archaeology and the Book of Esther, by Carey A. Moore
Archaeology at the Albright Institute, by Philip J. King
Domestic Architecture and the New Testament, by H. Keith Beebe
The "New" Archaeology, by G. Ernest Wright
Early Christians and the Anchor, by Charles A. Kennedy

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. 89
104
115

Archaeology and the Book of Esther

CAREY A. M O O R E
Gettysburg College

Some biblical books, by their very nature, demand that the biblical ar
chaeologist supply whatever information and insights his particular
discipline can provide. Discussions of stories in Genesis, such as the Garden
of Eden (Gen. 2:4-3:24), the Flood (6:1-8:18), or the rather strange
inheritance and marriage practices of the Hebrew patriarchs (15:1-6; 16:1-6;
30:1-13), usually prompt the archaeologist to observe that the much older
Sumerian, Babylonian, and Nuzi documents have illuminated these
biblical stories, shedding new light on their origins and context. Or, consider
the Book of Joshua, with its fascinating story of the fall of Jericho and the

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subsequent conquest and distribution of the Land of Canaan among the

tribes of Israel. The book inevitably raises the question of what light archaeology can shed on all this, i.e., when did Jericho fall, and to whom; what
other Canaanite cities do or do not show clear evidence of being destroyed in
or around that time? And certainly if our insight into the national and international situation of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel were
based solely on the content of I and II Kings and the prophetic books, with
no archaeological evidence from Palestinian tells or from the records of the
Babylonians, Assyrians, or Egyptians themselves, then our knowledge ofthat
particular biblical period would be almost skeletal.
Some other books of the Hebrew Bible also fairly cry out for all the help
that the archaeologist can provide; but such is not the case with the Book of
Esther. At least, not at first glance. Even though the Book of Esther claims to
be a strictly historical account, ever since the work of J. S. Semler in 1773,
that claim has increasingly been rejected, to the point that in the twentieth
century only a handful of critical scholars have strenuously argued for the
book's historical accuracy.1
Ancient Misgivings about the Religious Authority of Esther

Moreover, the book's sacred character and canonicity, as well as its

religious value, have been matters of considerable dispute among both Jews
and Christians. Whereas, for instance, the great Jewish medieval scholar
Maimonides (1135-1204) ranked Esther immediately after the Pentateuch in
importance, Martin Luther, another medieval scholar, declared, "I am so
hostile to this book [II Maccabees] and to Esther that I would wish they did
not exist at all; for they judaize too greatly and have much pagan impropriety" (Table Talk, XXIV). Such a polarization of view point was not $
medieval phenomenon alone but has been characteristic of the book almost
from its beginnings.
The festival of Purim was definitely not celebrated by the Jewish sect of
Qumran as part of their sacred calendar; and so, not surprisingly, the Book
of Esther, which had as its raison a" tre the establishment of Purim, has not
been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Moreover, according to the
Talmud, some Jews continued to reject the book as late as the third or fourth
century A.D. (Megilla 7a; Sanhdrin II).
In the first five centuries of the Christian Church, Christians were even
more sharply divided over the question of Esther's canonicity, as can be seen
from an examination of the Lists of Canonical Books according to various
Church Fathers (see Fig. 1).
1. For example, J. Hoschander, The Book of Esther in the Light of History (1923) ; and J.B. Schildenberfe
Das Buch Esther (1941).

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1. Sketch m a p illustrating the canonical s t a t u s of E s t h e r in the early Christian Church. F r o m the book
Esther: Introduction. Translation, and Notes. Copyright, 1971. by C.A. Moore. Published by Doubleda.s
and Company, Inc.
Resum of the Story of Esther

King Xerxes (the one who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven
provinces from India to Ethiopia [see Fig. 2]) in the third year of his reign
held for the important people of his realm a lavish celebration (lasting 180
days!) at his magnificent palace at Susa. Right after that, when Queen
Vashti refused the king's command to appear before the male revelers to
show off her much-rumored beauty (this particular party had been going on
for seven hard-drinking days), the king dethroned her on the spot and sent a
formal dispatch throughout his empire, commanding every man to be master
of his own house. (Chap. 1.)
Some time later, at the suggestion of his pages, an empire-wide search was
undertaken for a new queen. Among the many beautiful maidens brought to
the court was the Jewess Esther (or Hadassah), the adopted daughter of
Mordecai, a Jewish exile who sat at the King's Gate at the acropolis of Susa.
In the seventh year of Xerxes' reign, Esther became his queen, but without
revealing to him that she was Jewish. Just about that time Mordecai foiled an

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assassination plot against the king, and this sendee to Xerxes was duly
recorded and promptly forgotten by the officials. (Chap. 2.)
Being a Jew, Mordecai refused to do obeisance to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, Xerxes' favorite noble. Haman, however, determined
to get his revenge against Mordecai and his people. By maligning the Jews as
disrespectful and disobedient to the king, Haman persuaded Xerxes to let
him announce an empire-wide pogrom against the Jews, to take place eleven
months from then, namely, to annihilate all Jews, regardless of sex or age, on
the 13th of the month of Adar. and to plunder their possessions. (Haman had
established the particular date by casting pur, or "lot", as the Jews call it.)
(Chap. 3.)

Fig. 2. Sketch map illustrating extent o the Achaemenian Empire. From the book Esther: Introduction,
Translation, and Notes. Copyright, 1971. by C.A. Moore. Published by Doubleday and Company, Inc.
According to Esther 1:1, King Xerxes reigned from India to Ethiopia.

Dressing himself in sack cloth and ashes after he had learned of this royal
edict, Mordecai sent a copy of the dispatch to Queen Esther, demanding that
she intercede with the king for her people. Reluctant to do so at first because
anyone who approached the royal throne unannounced was immediately put
to death (unless the king granted him immunity by elevating his scepter),
Esther was finally persuaded to take the risk [see Fig. 4.]. At her request, the
Jews were to fast for the next three days. (Chap. 4.)

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Fig. 3. Stone relief showing a Chorasmian with a horse wearing a crown, from the last stairway of the
apadana at Persepolis. From The Arts of Ancient Iran by R. Ghirshman (1964). fig. 231. Source:
Antonello Perissinotto.

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On the third day, Esther, dressed in her finest, appeared before the king
unsummoned, and was immediately granted immunity. All she asked,
however, was for him and Haman to be her dinner guests later that day. And
even at the dinner itself, when Xerxes asked her what favor he could do lor
her, Esther demurred, promising that she would do so at their dinner
together the next day. Leaving the palace alter dinner, Haman was jubilant
until he saw Mordecai the Jew at the King's Gate, still refusing to do
obeisance or even acknowledge him! When H a m a n got home and told his
wife, she suggested that he build an enormous gallows (75 feet high) and then
early the next morning go to ask the king lor permission to hang Mordecai on
it. (Chap. 5.)
That night, because the king couldn't sleep, his daily record book was read
aloud to him, and so Xerxes learned of how Mordecai had saved his life. Just
at that point Haman arrived to ask Xerxes' permission to hang Mordecai.
" W h a t honor," asked the king of Haman, "should be done for the man
whom the king especially wants to honor?" Thinking that Xerxes was really
referring to him, Haman answered, "Give that man a royal robe and a
crowned horse [see Fig. 3) on which the king himself has ridden, and have
one of the most noble princes personally lead that man through the city."
Whereupon, the king said, " D o exactly as you have advised to Mordecai the
Jew!" With heavy heart Haman did as the king had commanded. (Chap. 6.)
Later that day, as the king and Haman were dining with Esther, Xerxes
again asked her what her petition was. "My people and I," she cried, "we've
been sold, not into slavery but for total destruction and annihilation!" When
Xerxes learned that the villain in all this was Haman, he was furious and
bolted into the adjoining garden. Whereupon Haman, prostrating himself on
Esther's couch, begged her to intercede for him with the king. Re-entering
the room and seeing this violation of harem prohibitions, Xerxes ordered
Haman's immediate execution. And so Haman was hanged on the very
gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. (Chap. 7.)
After the king had already given Esther Haman's estate and had invested
Mordecai with the powers previously conferred on Haman. Esther again
appeared unsummoned before the king, begging him to revoke the edict
authorizing the pogrom against the Jews. Unable to do that because of the
irrevocable character of the Law of the Medes and Persians (see cover).
Xerxes did the next best thing, that is, he allowed Mordecai to issue a new
empire-wide edict, permitting the Jews on the 13th of Adar to defend
themselves against their enemies and to plunder their possessions. Not
surprisingly, a lot of pagans soon befriended the Jews, and some even
converted to Judaism. (Chap. 8.)
Thus, on the 13th of Adar the Jews ably defended themselves, killing
75,000 enemies throughout the empire, as well as 500 in Susa itself, plus the

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Stone relief showing Darius and his son Xerxes giving audience at Persepolis. Courtesy of the Oriental
Institute. University of Chicago.
"All the king's courtiers, and even the people of the king's provinces, are well aware that there is one
penalty for every man or woman who approaches the king inside the inner court without having been
summoned: to be put to death, the one exception being that person to whom the king extends the gold
scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for the past thirty
days'" (Esth.4:ll

ten sons of Haman. (They did not, however, plunder.) Later that same day,
at Esther's request the king granted that the ten sons of Haman be exposed
on the gallows and that the 14th of Adar be also used by the Jews in Susa for
eliminating the remaining pockets of resistance to them. Consequently, while
on the 14th of Adar the Jews elsewhere in the empire were celebrating their
victory over their enemies, the Jews in Susa were still fighting and so had to
celebrate their victory the next day.
Thus, at the instigation of Mordecai and Queen Esther Jews throughout
the empire were encouraged to commemorate forever this great victory by
celebrating the Festival of Purim (the Festival of Lots), on both the 14th and
15th of Adar, making them days of feasting and rejoicing, for sending
delicacies to one another and giving alms to the poor. (Chap. 9.) As for
Xerxes, he continued to be a great king, thanks in no small pail to Mordecai,
who ranked second to the king and served well his sovereign and his people.
(Chap. 10.)
Is this story essentially true? It certainly could be. Apart from a few im
probable details, such as the irrevocability of the Law of the Medes and
Persians (Esth. 1:19; 8:8) or the king's willingness to have Jews wage civil war
within his own capital city (9:12-16), the story is believable enough. Unlike
some biblical books, Esther has no supernatural elements that might strain
the imagination of some of its modern readers. (In fact, while the Persian
king is mentioned 190 times in 167 verses, God is not mentioned at all. a fact
which has occasioned considerable debate among scholars.)

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Fig. 5. Achaemenian gold drinking cup in the form of a winged lion (fifth century B.C.). Courtesy of the
Metropolitan Museum, New York. According to Esth. 1:7, at the king's drinking party "the drinks were
served in gold goblets, with no two alike."
Evidence of the Ancient Classical Writers

But to say that the story is believable does not necessarily mean that it is
true or that most of it actually happened. The best way to establish the
essential historicity of the story would be, of course, to have extra-biblical
confirmation of it. Thus, since the time of the French Enlightenment, if not
before, students of Esther have been quick to point out that a number of
details in Esther find confirmation in, or essential agreement with, materials
of the ancient classical historians, especially Herodotus, History of the
Persian Wars; Ctesias, Persica; Xenophon, Cyropaedia;
and Strabo,
Geography.
Much of what the author of Esther says about King Xerxes corresponds
fairly well with what the classical writers had to say about such things, for
example, as to the extensiveness of Xerxes' empire (Esth. 1:1,20), his nasty
and at times irrational temper (1:12; 7:7-8), or his extravagant promises and
munificent gifts (5:3; 6:6-7). Moreover, there are a large number of incidental "details of fact" in the Esther story which also seem to find confirmation in the classical writers: the Persian kings did have rousing drinking

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parties, with magnificent drinking goblets [see Fig. 5] and lavish en

tertainment (1:4-7), seven princely advisers (1:14), a very efficient postal
system (3:13; 8:10), to give but a few of a large number of examples. And
finally, there appears in Esther a score of words which are identified as
Persian by classical writers. 2
This confirmatory evidence from classical historians is, of course, still
secondary in character and far from being conclusive proof, especially since
one cannot discount the possibility that the author of Esther may have had
access to these classical histories and used them to make his own storv more
authentic. But so long as the ancient Near Eastern peoples could not speak
for themselves, the classical writers had to s e n e as the "objective" or im
partial witnesses in extra-biblical matters.
Some Persian Epigraphic Materials

Once the inscriptions and clay tablets of the ancient Babylonians and
Persians could be read, thanks to G. H. Rawlinson's decipherment of the
cuneiform inscriptions on the Behistun Rock in the Zagros Mountains in
1854, then these ancient peoples could speak for themselves; and biblical
scholars were Hooded by new evidence, although exactly where that tide of
archaeological evidence has carried them has been a matter of some dispute.
Though rather limited in number, the epigraphical materials immediately
relevant to Esther are instructive, 'hswnvs (Ahasuerus), the king in Esther,
is, linguistically speaking, the Hebraic equivalent of the Old Persian
Khshayarsha, i.e., Xerxes I (485-465 B.C.). the monarch so memorably
portrayed by Herodotus as the Persian king defeated by the Greeks at
Thermopylae and Salamis (480 B.C.) and at Plataea (479 B. C.) We know,
however, from cuneiform tablets and inscriptions of the Persians themselves
that the failures of Xerxes against the Greeks must be counterbalanced by his
great successes elsewhere, notably, by his wartime accomplishments against
Egypt and Babylon, and his peacetime efforts at Persepolis |see Fig. 6]. It
was at his magnificent palace at Persepolis, for instance, that archaeologists
discovered a foundation stone that, in effect, confirms, or agrees with,
Xerxes' titles and territorial claims in Esther:
I am Xerxes, the great king, the only king, the king of (all) countries
(which speak) all kinds of languages, the king of this (entire) big and
far-reaching earth the son of King Darius, the Achaemenian, a
Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan of Aryan descent.
Thus speaks king Xerxes: These are the countries in addition to
Persia over which I am king under the 'shadow' of Ahuramazda, over
which I hold sway, which are bringing their tribute to me whatever is
commanded them by me, that they do and they abide by my law(s) :
2. For m o r e detailed information on this, a s well as on m a n y other m a t t e r s in the present article, see the
w r i t e r ' s Esther: Introduction. Translation, and Notes < 1971 ) Anchor Bible)

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Media, Elam, Arachosia, Urartu, Drangiana, Parthia, (H)aria,

Bactria, Sogdia, Chorasmia, Babylonia. Assyria, Sattagydia, Sardis,
Egypt (Misir), the Ionians who live on the salty sea and (those) who live
beyond . . . the salty sea, Maka, Arabia, Gndara, India, Cappadocia,
Da'an, the Amyrgian Cimmerians . . . (wearing) pointed caps, the
Skudra, the Akupish, Libya, Banneshu (Carians) (and) Kush. (J.B.
Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts [1955], pp. 316-17; italics
added.)
It should perhaps be noted in passing that these territorial claims are
essentially confirmed also by Herodotus. Histoty 111.97, VI 1.9, 65, 69f.

Fig. (. Aerial view of Persepolis. From The Art o Ancient Iran, by K. Ghirshman. fig. 199. Source: Photo
Vahe.

Describing Xerxes' pavilion at Susa, the author of Esther wrote in 1:5-6:

Now when all that was over, the king gave a week-long party for all the
men staying in the acropolis of Susa, for both the important and the
unimportant alike, in the courtyard of the king's pavilion. The courtyard was decorated with white and violet cotton curtains, which were
fastened by linen and purple cords to silver rings and marble columns;
and couches of gold and silver were on a mosaic pavement of porphyry,
marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones.

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That pavilion, as well as its magnificent palace and acropolis, now lies in
ruin |see Fig. 7|, thanks to the ravages of war. time, the elements and. last
but not least, the primitive excavation techniques of early Near Eastern
archaeologists who, understandably for the times, were in those days concerned with finding objects and structures but not with rigorous attention to
stratigraphy; for example, see M.A. Dieulafoy. L'acropole de Suse, 4 vols.
(1893). The extravagance of the palace's architecture and the lavishness of its
appointments are tantili/ingly suggested to us by a foundation record found
there, dating from the time of Darius, Xerxes' father:

Fig. 7. Aerial view of Susa. Courtesy of the Orient al Institute. Fui versi t y of Chicago.

This is the hadish place which at Susa I built. From afar its ornamentation was brought. Deep down the earth was dug, until rock bottom I
reached. When the excavation was made, gravel was packed down, one
part sixty feet, the other part thirty feet in depth. On that gravel a palace
1 built. And that the earth was dug down and the gravel packed and the
mud brick formed in molds, thai the Babylonians did. The cedar timber
was brought from a mountain named Lebanon; the Assyrians brought it
to Susa. Teakwood was brought from Gndara and From Carmania.
The gold which was used here was brought from Sardis and Bactria. The
stone lapis lazuli and carnelian was brought from Sogdiana. The
turquoise was brought from Chorasmia. The silver and copper was

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brought from Egypt. The ornamentation with which the wall was
adorned was brought from Ionia. The ivory was brought from Ethiopia,
from India, and from Arachosia. The stone pillars were brought from a
place named Abiradush in Elam. The artisans who dressed the stone
were Ionians and Sardians. The goldsmiths who wrought the gold were
Medes and Egyptians. Those who worked the inlays were Sardians and
Egyptians. Those who worked the mud brick (with figures) were
Babylonians. At Susa here a splendid work was ordered; very splendid
did it turn out. Me may Ahuramazda protect, and Hystaspes, who is my
father, and my land. (A.T. Olmstead, The History of the Persian
Empire \\948], p. 168.)
Such inscriptions as the above, while interesting, do very little to "prove"
the essential historicity o the Esther story. After all, one would naturally
expect a great king like Darius or Xerxes to have an extensive empire,
complete with magnificent palaces at both Susa and Persepolis. If the Esther
story is to be accepted as fact, then more specific epigraphic material is
necessary, that is, something that would attest either to the existence of
pogroms against the Jews in the otherwise tolerant Achaemenian empire or,
better yet. to the actual existence of either Esther or Mordecai.
On the Historicity of Ksther and Mordecai

To date, there is no extra-biblical evidence for the persecution of Jews in

Susa in the time of Xerxes. That "fact", say some scholars, may only reflect
the incompleteness of our extant archaeological evidence. After all, they
argue, were it not for the chance discovery of the Elephantine papyri, we
would have known nothing about the strong Egyptian hostility to Jews living
in Elephantine, Egypt in the 5th century B.C. Needless to say, such an
argument from silence is not very persuasive.
The really crucial question is whether there is any extra-biblical evidence
for either Queen Esther or Mordecai. Concerning Esther, or Hadassah as she
is called in Esther 2:7, the answer is clear; not only is there no evidence for
her actual existence, but there is strong evidence against it; the queen of
Xerxes then was Amestris (so Herodotus, History III.84).
With respect to the historicity of Mordecai, however, the situation is,
archaeologically speaking, problematic, A priori, there is of course no
serious objection to Jews like Mordecai attaining positions of prominence
and wealth in the days of the Achaemenian empire, as is clear, for instance,
from the archives of the Murashu sons of Nippur, Babylonian bankers and
brokers during the reigns of Artaxerxes I (465-424 B.C.) and Darius 11 (423404 B.C.). 3 More importantly, Mordecai is an authentic personal name,
. For details, see S.U. Horn. Biblical Kesearch. 9 ( 1%4 . 22-2); and M.I). C'oogan, , 37 ( 1974, H-Ni.

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appearing in a 5th century Aramaic document as Mrdk, as well as in a

variety of forms in treasury tablets found at Persepolis (Mar-du-uk-ka,
Marduk-ka, and
Mar-du-kan-na-sir).*
Most relevant of all is an undated text, coming probably from either the
last years of Darius I or the early years of Xerxes I, where mention is made of
a man named M a r d u k a , who served as an accountant on an inspection tour
from Susa (A. Ungnad, Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft
58
[1940/41], 244). This M a r d u k a could be the biblical Mordecai because, in
all likelihood, Mordecai was an official of the king prior to his being invested
in 8:2 with the powers previously conferred on H a m a n (cf. also 8:15; 9:4; and
10:2). The reason for our saying this is that Mordecai is regularly described
as one who "sat at the King's G a t e " (2:19; 5:13; 6:10); and according to
Xenophon, Cyropaedia V I I I . 1 , 6 and Herodotus, History III,120, Persian
officials had to stay at the gate of the royal palace (see Fig. 8). O n this matter
the Greek version of Esther is even more explicit; for at the time Mordecai
learned of the conspiracy against the king, he was already "serving at the
court of the k i n g " (so A 2, 16 5 and 2:21 of the LXX).
While at first glance all of this seems rather persuasive, if not conclusive,
we must be careful not to draw too hasty a conclusion and, without some
reservations, identify the accountant M a r d u k a with Mordecai. There is, for
instance, no evidence that our M a r d u k a was a Jew; yet that ethnic/religious
designation was evidently a regular part of Mordecai's title, i.e., " M o r d e c a i
the Jew" (5:13; 6:10; 8:7; and 9:31). More importantly, the inscription
mentioning M a r d u k a is undated; and the possibility exists that it is erron
eously dated to the first twenty years of the 5th century B.C. And finally,
while Ungnad believes that "it is improbable that there are two M a r d u k a s as
high officials in S u s a " (ZAW 59 [1942/43], 219), the plain truth is that we
have no idea of how common the name M a r d u k a was at that particular time
and place. All in all, since the epigraphic evidence concerning M a r d u k a
certainly prevents us from categorically ruling out as pure fiction the
Mordecai episodes in the Book of Esther, it is safest for us to conclude that
the story of Modecai may very well have to it a kernel of truth.
Sources for the Story of Esther

As for whether Esther's role was originally a part of Mordecai's story, there
is no relevant archaeological data; but there is some literary evidence,
namely, the phenomenon of "twoness" two banquets (Esther 1:3,5); two
4. On Mrdk, see G.R. Driver, Aramaic Documents of the Fifth Century B.C. (1955), p. 10, n.2. On variations of
Marduka, see G.G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets (1948), p. 84.
5. A 2, 16 refers to verses 2 and 16 of Addition A of the Greek Esther. The Septuagint text of Esther has six
large additions ( Add's), which have no counterpart in the Hebrew text of Esther, namely, Add A (Mordecai's
dream and his discovery of a plot against the king) ; Add (Text of the king's first letter) ; Add C (The prayers
of Mordecai and Esther); Add D (Esther appears before the king unsummoned); Add E (Text of the king's
second letter ) ; and Add F ( The interpretation of Mordecai's dream ).

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Fig. 8. Gate of King Xerxes at Persepolis. From The Arts of Ancient Iran, by II. Ghirshman. fig. 2(W. Source:
Noel Ballif. Like other Perisan officials, Mordecai "sat at the King's G a t e " (Esth. 2:21 >.

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lists of seven names (1:10, 14); the 'second house" mentioned in 2:14; a
second contingent of virginal candidates in 2:19; Esther's two dinners with
the king (5:5; 7:1); and Esthers twice risking her life by appearing before the
king unsummoned (5:2, 8:3). This "twoness" is probably the result of the
union, or conflation, of several separate stories: 1) a historical story centering
around Mordecai and involving court inirigues and the persecution of Jews in
Susa; 2) a story about Hadassah, a Jewess who became a favorite of the king
and played an intercessory role in saving her people on a particular occasion;
and 3) the Vashti story, an apocryphal harem tale, such as is so common in A
Thousand and One Nights.
It is impossible to say from where the author of Esther took these stories;
but H. Bardtke (Das Buch Esther [1963], pp. 248-52) is probably correct in
thinking that they came from some Jewish midrashic source, possibly The
Annals of the Kings of Media and Persia, the work mentioned in Esther 10:2.
On the Origins of P u r i m

To date, archaeology has actually contributed very little to our understanding of the origins o f t h a t festival which is the raison d'tre of the
Book of Esther, the festival of Purim. While it is clear, for example, that the
word pur in Esther 3:7 and 9:24 represents the Babylonian word pTiru,
meaning "lot," and, secondarily, "fate" (J. Lewy, Revue Hittite et
Asianic/ue. 5 [1939|, 117-24), the explanation for the festival's name in
Esther 9:26 has struck many scholars as strained and unconvincing, namely,
"That is why these days are called 'Purim', from the word pur, 'purim being
the hebraized plural of pur.
There are at least three reasons why so many scholars think that Purim was
not actually the original name of the festival. First, in the earliest allusion to
the events of Purim outside the Book of Esther itself, the 13th of Adar is
identified, not as "the day befor Purim" but as "the day before Mordecai's
day" (II Mace. 15:36). This observation might have little weight were it not
for the second reason: in the Greek version of Esther, as well as in the Greek
text of Josephus, the festival in Esther 9:26 is called Phrourai. Inasmuch as
Josephus himself was a Palestinian Jew of the first century A.D., one would
certainly expect Josephus to know the name of the festival! Finally, the very
secular character of the Purim celebration suggests a pagan origin. Not only
is God not mentioned in the Esther story, but in their celebration of Purim
Jews were allowed, according to the Talmud, to drink to excess, i.e., until
they were unable to distinguish between "Blessed is Mordecai" and "Cursed is
H a m a n " (so Megilla 7b)! Many scholars believe, therefore, that the word
purim represents a later folk etymology for a judaized pagan festival, that is,
purim (the Heb. plural of pur, "lot") was a name supplied by Babylonian
Jews to a Jewish festival which had been initially pagan in both origin and
character.

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Just exactly what the pagan festival might have been we cannot say.
Virtually every imaginable Babylonian, Persian, and Greek festival has been
thought by someone or other to be the most likely pagan candidate.
Personal Names as Evidence

We have every reason to expect archaeological data to illuminate the origin

and meaning of the personal names in the Book of Esther, including such
minor characters as the seven eunuchs named in 1:10, the seven princely
advisers in 1:14, and the ten sons of Haman in 9:7-9. The likelihood of archaelogy being of direct and decisive help here is increased by the well-known
fact that, thanks to the countless personal names appearing on thousands of
clay tablets, inscriptions, papyri, and the like, scholars now know hundreds
and hundreds of good Babylonian, Persian, and Greek personal names.
Moreover, present-day scholars are sometimes able to assign certain names
to the particular half-millennium or century when they were especially
popular. When it comes to good, hard data about ancient names, there is for
the biblical archaeologist an embarrassment of riches.
Nonetheless, with respect to the Old Testament in general and to Esther in
particular, there are some formidable problems in even the matter of personal names. In the Old Testament, when the Hebrew spelling of a nonJewish name differs from the Greek spelling in either its consonants or
vocalization, scholars can not automatically assume, as they once did, that
the Hebrew has preserved more accurately the non-Jewish name. From their
studies of of Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian inscriptions, scholars know
for an incontestable fact that sometimes the rendering of the non-Hebrew
name has been more accurately preserved in the Greek version the
Septuagint than in the Masoretic text.
The nub of the problem in Esther, then, is that we are not always very
confident about the accuracy, or essential correctness, of the Hebrew spelling
of many of the non-Hebrew personal names. Consider, for example, the
names of our hero and heroine. While agreeing that the Hebrew Mordakay
represents a more corrupt spelling of Marduka than does the Greek Mardochaios, scholars do not agree on whether the Hebrew 'str, "Esther",
derives from the Persian stara, "star," or from the Babylonian Ishtar, the
goddess of love.
Just exactly how complicated and confusing all this can be is evident, for
example, from an examination of the name of Haman's son mentioned in
Esther 9:7, namely, Pharshandatha. The Hebrew form, pharshandata, is
variously rendered in the three most authoritative Greek manuscripts of the
Book of Esther: Sinaiticus has Pharsannestain; Alexandrinus has Pharsanestain; and Vaticanus, ordinarily the most authoritative of the three
manuscripts, divides the word into two names, Pharsan and Nestainl Nor are

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ARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol.38,

such uncertainties and contradictions peculiar to this particular name; such

puzzling variations are repeated time and time again for many, if not most,
of the non-Jewish names in Esther. It goes without saying that unless we can
be reasonably certain about the correctness of the spelling of a foreign name
in the Bible, we can hardly identify with confidence its counterpart or
cognate form in another language.
In light of all the uncertainties about the personal names in Esther, the
only safe statement to make is that there is a total absence of Greek names
and a number of names could very well be Persian or Iranian. 6
More Illumination of Detail and (onerai

Background

Regardless of whether the story of Esther is fiction or fact, the interpretation of archaeological data continues to clarify "details of fact." By
proving, for instance, that certain "incense" burners found at Hureida in
H a d r a m a u t and at Lachish and Gezer in Israel were actually secular
cosmetic burners, W . F . Albright showed that Hebrew hh'smym in Esther
2:12 really means "with cosmetic b u r n e r , " not "with perfumes." Thus, we
should now translate Esther 2:12b as "(for this was the prescribed length for
their treatment: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months fumigation
with other cosmetics for women)." Like the semi-nomadic Arab women of
the eastern Sudan in the last century, women like Esther long, long ago
fumigated themselves, saturating their hair, skin, and pores with fumes from
cosmetic burners.
One thing is indisputably clear: the more one learns about the setting and
general background for the story of Esther, the more fascinating and exciting
the story itself becomes. In so many, many ways Esther's world was different
from ours. Apart from visiting the national museum and the archaeological
sites of Iran itself, the present writer knows of no better way for the reader to
enter into Esther's world to see and "feel" the glory that was Xerxes' and
to understand Esther's fear of him than to peruse the superb volume by R.
Ghirshman, The Arts of Ancient Iran from Its Origins to the Time of
Alexander the Great (1964), p p . 129-274, which abounds in magnificent
photographs of Achaemenian art and architecture in general, and of Persepolis in particular.
In S u m m a r y

Where do all these lines of existing archaeological evidence take us with

respect to the historicity of the story of Esther? The answer seems clear
enough. The familiarity of the author of Esther with Persian history,
customs, government, personal names and vocabulary does not establish the
6. F o r details, see L.R. P a t o n . E s t h e r (1908), pp. 6f>-71 ; H.S. G e h m a n , J o u r n a l of Biblical L i t e r a t u r e , 43
(1924). 321-28; and J. Duchesne-Guillemin. Museon. 11953). 105-8. f o r a chart containing all the personal
n a m e s in E s t h e r , along with their v a r i a n t spellings in the Greek and other ancient versions, see the w r i t e r ' s
E s t h e r , pp. xlii-xhii.
7. H.N. B r e a m , R.D. Heim, and C.A. Moore, e d s . Light L'nto My P a t h ( 1974). pp. 25-32.

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essential historicity of the Esther story. After all, it is important to remember

that the writings of the Persians and the ancient classical historians also
contradict, or disagree with, various "details of fact" in Esther. According
to Herodotus' History, for example, there were only twenty satrapies in
Xerxes' empire (III.89), Amestris was queen between the 7th and 12th years
of Xerxes' reign (VII. 114; IX. 112), Persian queens could be picked from only
one of seven noble Persian families (111.84).
At the very least, then, the very pronounced Persian elements in the story
of Esther provide setting and local color, reflecting the background, or
setting, of the originally separate stories. And at the very most, the Persian
elements provide the very real possibility that some of the plot in the story of
Esther is true. The Book of Esther is an historical novel. Just as a beautiful
pearl results from successive layers of a colorful, lustrous substance being
added to a solid grain of sand, so the Book of Esther may very well have a
solid, historical core the story of Mordecai, and possibly even the story of
Esther to which have been added a number of legendary and fictional
elements, notably, the harem tale about Vashti and, quite possibly, the
"historical" basis for what was once a non-Jewish festival, the festival we now
call Purim.

Archaeology at the Albright Institute

PHILIP J. KING
Boston College

The former American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, now the

Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, is a landmark in that city.
Located just a short distance north of the Old City, the present threebuilding complex was erected as the permanent home of ASOR between 1925
and 1931. For the past fifty years it has served as the center of practically
every aspect of archaeology conducted under American auspices. The parent
organization, ASOR, actually came into existence at the turn of the century,
but twenty-five years passed before the School had a home of its own. During
those initial years the annual directors who administered the affairs of the

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