Artystone ( peo, *R̥tastūnā; grc, Ἀρτυστώνη ;

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record a ...

, {{transl, elx, Ir-da-iš-du-na) was a Persian princess, daughter of king

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

, and sister or half-sister of

Cambyses II Cambyses II ( peo, 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 ''Kabūjiya'') was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great () and his mother was Cassandane. Before his accession, Cambyse ...

Atossa Atossa (Old Persian: ''Utauθa'', or Old Iranian: ''Hutauθa''; 550–475 BC) was an Achaemenid empress. She was a daughter of Cyrus the Great, and a wife of Darius I. Name The name "Atossa" (or "Atusa") means "bestowing very richly" or "well ...

and

Smerdis Bardiya or Smerdis ( peo, 𐎲𐎼𐎮𐎡𐎹 ; grc, Σμέρδις ; possibly died 522 BC), also named as Tanyoxarces ( grc, Τανυοξάρκης ) by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both P ...

(Bardiyā). Along with Atossa and her niece

Parmys Parmys (Old Persian ''(H)uparviyā'', Elamite ''Uparmiya'') was a Persian princess, the only daughter of Bardiya (Smerdis), son of Cyrus the Great.Herodotus, ''Histories'', book 3, chapter 88section 3 She was the granddaughter of Cyrus the Grea ...

, Artystone married king

Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...

. It is argued that by marrying the female offspring of Cyrus, the founder of the empire, the new king aimed to prevent his rule from being contested, since Darius himself was not of royal blood. Artystone and Darius had at least two sons, Arsames and Gobryas, and a daughter,

Artazostre Artazostre (or Artozostre) (Old Persian *''Artazauštrī'') was a Persian princess, daughter of king Darius the Great (521-485 BC) by Artystone, daughter of Cyrus the Great. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (VI, 43) Artazostre was given ...

. According to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

Artystone was Darius' favourite wife. She is also mentioned in the

Persepolis Fortification Tablets The Persepolis Fortification Archive and Persepolis Treasury Archive are two groups of clay administrative archives — sets of records physically stored together – found in Persepolis dating to the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The discov ...

, an administrative archive from

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

. According to

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his iden ...

, Artystone may have been another name for the biblical queen

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chose ...

, since

also called her Artystone the Virgin. While Esther is commonly known as the wife of Xerxes or

Artaxerxes Artaxerxes may refer to: The throne name of several Achaemenid rulers of the 1st Persian Empire: * Artaxerxes I of Persia (died 425 BC), Artaxerxes I Longimanus, ''r.'' 466–425 BC, son and successor of Xerxes I * Artaxerxes II of Persia (436 ...

, the Book of Esther lists her cousin

Mordecai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was promoted to Vizier after Haman was killed. Biblical acc ...

as present during Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jehconiah in 599 BC, and

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

referencing him as a contemporary of Darius,Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11:4:9
/ref> making it impossible for Mordecai to be alive during Xerxes' or Artexerxes' reigns.

Primary sources

, 3.88.2 bis; 7.69.2; 7.72.2. *The Persepolis Fortification Archive *Annals of the World by James Ussher, 797; 1036

Notes

References

*Brosius, M. (1998): ''Woman in Ancient Persia''.
Artystone
, in W. Smith (ed.), ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology''. *Lendering, J (2007 999:
Artystone
, in https://www.livius.org/ *Schmitt, R (1987): "Artystone", in E. Yarshater (ed.),

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

, vol. II. *James Ussher (1650): ''Annals of the World''. *Josephus, F: ''Antiquities of the Jews,'' Book 11 6th-century BC women 5th-century BC women 6th-century BC births 5th-century BC deaths 6th-century BC Iranian people Achaemenid princesses Family of Darius the Great Teispids