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AHASUERUS
1. Persian king better known to Western readers as Xerxes I (486–465 BC); the son and successor of Darius I (Hystaspis). In Ezra 4:6 Ahasuerus is mentioned as receiving letters of accusation from enemies of the Jews about their rebuilding the temple.
Ahasuerus played a role in biblical history in the book of Esther. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, in the third year of his reign Xerxes (Ahasuerus) convoked an assembly of his leaders to plan an invasion of Greece. The book of Esther begins with a banquet scene probably reflecting that situation. The Greek campaign, begun in 480 BC, was unsuccessful. Afterward, Xerxes turned to private matters, such as the events recorded in Esther. The Jewish heroine of that book was the second wife of Xerxes (Ahasuerus). She and her cousin Mordecai influenced the king to reverse an edict condemning all Jews to death. Ahasuerus hanged Haman, his chief minister, who had asked for the edict.
Ahasuerus, who controlled an immense area “from India to Ethiopia” (Est 1:1), was celebrated for massive building projects at Susa and Persepolis. His rule ended in 465 BC when he was assassinated in his bedchamber. He is called the conqueror of Nineveh in Tobit 14:15, but this is manifestly impossible: Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC, over a century before Ahasuerus was born. See Persia, Persians; Esther, Book of; Israel, History of.
2. Father of Darius the Mede (Dn 9:1). The identity of this father and son in secular history is uncertain.