Israel discovers 2,500-yr-old inscription of Persian king Darius

It is the first discovery of an inscription bearing Darius the Great's name in ancient Israel, the IAA noted on Wednesday.

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About the discovery:

A rare 2,500-year-old inscription, bearing the name of the Persian king Darius the Great, was found in southern Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said.

The inscription, which was found by visitors at the ancient major fortified city of Lachish, appears on a potsherd and reads "Year 24 of Darius," in the Aramaic language.

The king's name is recorded in the text as the father of Ahasuerus, who was the king written about in the book of Esther. Ahasuerus was persuaded by the evil Haman to issue a decree to kill the Jews in Persia. His Jewish wife, Hadassah or Esther, risked her life to uncover Haman's plot and the king reversed his decree, hanging Haman instead on gallows he had built to hang Esther's cousin, Mordechai. The biblical story is celebrated each year, as a directive of the Lord, by Jews around the world during the Feast of Purim.

The inscription may have been an administrative note, written by a storeroom official, similar to a receipt for goods or for their dispatching, providing evidence for the Persian royal administration at Lachish in the Achaemenid period, it added.

During his long reign, between 522 and 486 BC, the Persian Achaemenid Empire expanded, reaching its greatest extent under his son Ahasuerus, a news agency reported.

The pottery shard was found in the area of a Persian elaborate administrative structure, where taxes for the Persian king's treasuries were collected and dispatched.

According to the IAA, the building covered a large area and comprised halls and courtyards with a majestic columned portico entrance in Persian style.

A few months ago, Israeli President Isaac Herzog's Media Advisor, Eylon Levy, and a friend of his, Yakov Ashkenazi, were walking in Tel Lachish National Park in southern Israel when they came across a small pottery shard, a broken piece of pottery material, with some kind of inscription on it.