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In last month's issue, we saw an example of what archaeologists have found of Sargon's legacy. This week we want to notice an example of what Xerxes, King of Persia, left for posterity. It is generally thought that Xerxes is the same man known in the Bible as Ahasuerus, who married Esther.
The limestone foundation slab pictured below was one of seven discovered in a room of the garrison quarters at Persepolis, a city about 350 miles southeast of the Shushan mentioned in Esther 1:2. These documents had never been used for their intended purpose, namely, to be deposited in the corners of Xerxes' buildings. They had been employed as a facing of a much bench, lined up on edge like a row of bricks.
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The cuneiform inscription contains a list of the subject nations of Xerxes' empire and thus reveals the time during which the foundation slabs were wrought, between 486 and 480 B.C. It tells of the uprisings of nations against the king after he had ascended the throne. It also shows Xerxes' zeal in suppressing the cult of the Daivas and in spreading the religion of Ahura Mazda and his prophet Zoroaster.