Tattenai (or Tatnai or Sisinnes; ''Tattǝnay''; ''Tâttannu'' or 𒋺𒄨𒉡 ''Tattannu'') was a

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

character and was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the province west of the

Euphrates River The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

during the time of

Zerubbabel Zerubbabel ( from ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province of Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. He is not documented in extra-biblical documents, and is considered ...

and the reign of

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

. He is best known for questioning King Darius in regard to the rebuilding of a temple for the Lord, God of

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. He was generally friendly to the

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. The rebuilding was being led by Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and

, son of

Shealtiel Shealtiel (, ), transliterated in Greek as Salathiel (, ), was the son of Jehoiachin, king of Judah (1 Chronicles, ). The Gospel of Matthew 1:12 also list Shealtiel as the son of Jeconiah (line of Solomon). Jeconiah, Shealtiel, as well as most ...

, and had been issued by King

Cyrus I Cyrus I (Old Persian language, Old Persian: ''Kuruš'') or Cyrus I of Anshan or Cyrus I of Persia, was King of Anshan (Persia), Anshan in Persia from to 580 BC or, according to others, from to 600 BC. Cyrus I of Anshan is the grandfather of C ...

. Tattenai wrote a letter to King Darius to ask if these statements were true, and then King Darius wrote a letter confirming that the statements were true. In the letter, Darius asked that the people do everything they can to support this rebuilding financially, and that they do nothing to impede it lest they suffer harsh punishment.

Babylonian Cuneiform inscriptions

A number of cuneiform tablets bearing the name Tattenai have survived as part of what may have been a family archive. The tablet that links one member of this family to the Bible character is a promissory note dated to the 20th year of Darius I, 502 BC. It identifies a witness to the transaction as a servant of “''Tattannu, governor of Across-the-River''”. The

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian language, Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay t ...

can be dated to June 5, 502 B.C. exactly.Mykytiuk, Lawrence, Archaeology Confirms 3 More Bible People ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' (

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

)43.3 (May/June 2017): 48.

Notes and references

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Babylonian Cuneiform inscriptions

See also

Notes and references

Further reading