10 kings ruled the Persian empire in its 200 yeas' history, from its inauguration under Cyrus in 539 to the fall of the empire to Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331. The events reported in the post-exilic books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, occurred in the reigns of the first five of them. The single chapter that names the most numbers of Persian kings is Ezr 4, referencing Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (vv3, 5, & 6).
1. Cyrus II the Great - 559-530 BC
Founder of the Persian Empire, who—upon his capture of Babylon and the demise of the Babylonian Empire in 538 BC—issued the edict permitting the Jews, and the other conquered peoples, to return to their homelands.
538 BC : Zerubbabel, Sheshbazzar, and others return to Jerusalem (Ezr 2:1f).
537 BC : Rebuilding of the Temple begins (Ezr 3:8).
2. Cambyses II - 530-522 BC.
3. Darius I - 522/1-486 BC.
(open article on Darius - concordance on Darius I)
520 BC : Haggai's sermon rouses the people to resume rebuilding of the Temple (Hag 1:1, 12).
516 BC : Rebuilding of the Temple is completed, 3 Adar/10 March (Ezr 6:14f).
492 BC : Started the Greco-Persian Wars, with the naval attack on Marathon.
4. Xerxes I (Ahasuerus) - 486-465 BC.
? : Esther is taken as queen (Est 1).
480 BC : Failed invasion of Greece, best remembered in the Battle of Thermopylae (simultaneously with the Battle of Artemisium) and the exploits of Leonides and the 300.
5. Artaxerxes I - 464-424/3 BC.
(See Artaxerxes)
460 BC : Malachi begins his preaching.
458 BC : Ezra returns to Jerusalem (Ezr 7:1, 6)
445 BC : Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem (Neh 2:1-11)
6. Darius II Nothus - 423-405 BC.
(see Darius)
7. Artaxerxes II Mnemon - 405-359 BC.
8. Artaxerxes III Ochus - 358-338 BC.
9. Artaxerxes IV Arses - 338-336 BC.
10. Darius III Codomanus - 336-330 BC ; Darius III was defeated at the battle of Gaugamela in 331, ending the Persian empire.
(see Darius)
Notes: Some histories list twelve Persian kings instead. The events surrounding the reigns of the other two—Bardiya (522) and Artaxerxes (330-329 BC)—if they can be called 'reign' at all, are so doubtful, they have been left out of reckoning here.
©ALBERITH
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