The Proof is in the Pottery
If you know me, you know that I love ancient history, particularly anything to do with Greece and Persia. I especially find Persian kings like Cyrus and Darius the Great to be fascinating. I mean, what is like to be the wealthiest, most powerful ruler in the ancient world??? Well, we don’t really know.
With a few exceptions like the Behistun Inscription and the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire wrote very little about themselves. Almost everything we know about these rulers comes from either Greek sources (e.g. Herodotus/Xenophon/Ctesias) or the Bible.
In the Bible, Cyrus is mentioned as the king who freed the Israelite slaves from captivity in Babylon, and some scholars believe that the king featured in the Book of Esther is Darius I. Well, imagine my delight when I read about a recent discovery made in Israel, one that confirms via archeological evidence that Darius I was indeed well-known to the Israelites!
In Tel Lachish National Park in Israel, a pottery shard with the words “Year 24 of Darius” was discovered lying on the ground. The shard was then sent to the Dead Sea Scroll Labs to confirm its authenticity, and the lab confirmed that the pottery was indeed from around the time of Darius the Great’s reign, which is super exciting!
To read more on this amazing discovery, check out the link below, and then leave a comment letting me know what you think!
Inscription Bearing Persian King Darius the Great’s Name Discovered
