Persia and the Bible.

• Author: Skjaervo, P. Oktor

The purpose of this book is stated implicitly in the preface: "... to inform readers of the Bible about [the] important Persian background" of "the exilic and postexilic Old Testament books ..." (p. 11), so "that readers of such books as Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah may better appreciate their historical and cultural backgrounds" (p. 12).

As I shall be criticizing numerous details below, I would like to say first that I am impressed by the clarity of the exposition and the breadth of the author's knowledge of the sources and secondary literature. The book is also well illustrated. It is difficult for Iranian scholars to command the whole field covered in this book, and we should be grateful to Yamauchi for having undertaken the task. I have used the book myself with much profit and shall no doubt return to it again and again.

In the introduction the author surveys the demography, geography, history, and archaeology (including an account of the decipherment of the Old Persian inscriptions) of the area inhabited by the Iranian peoples from the earliest appearance of names for Iranian population groups (the Medes and the Persians) through the Islamic period and up to the present day.

The fourteen chapters of the book then deal with the history of the Medes and the Achaemenids (from Cyrus to Artaxerxes I), the capitals (Susa, Ecbatana, Pasargadae, Persepolis), Persia and the Greeks, and religions (Zoroastrianism, the Magi, Mithraism, and - in the appendix - the spread of Egyptian religion).

Information about the historical and linguistic background of the Iranian tribes is included in the first chapter, on the Medes. The chapter opens with a list of Biblical references to the Medes, but then continues with an excursus on Iranian languages, Indo-Europeans, and a survey of the various opinions regarding Iranian migrations and the correlation of the migrations with the development of pottery types. The questions of the Median homeland and Median archaeology are given a broad treatment (Median objects and tombs are discussed at the end of the chapter). Next, Yamauchi surveys concisely the evidence for the Medes in Assyrian literature and goes on to discuss the four kings of the Median "dynasty": Herodotus' Deioces, Phraortes, Cyaxares, and Astyages, including a review of the much-debated questions of Daiukka and Kashtaritu of the Assyrian sources and the "Scythian interregnum." The problems of the Book of Daniel and Darius the Mede, as well as the use of "Mede" to designate both Persians and Medes in the Bible, are then discussed.

The chapter on Cyrus opens with a discussion of the identity and location of the Parsumas/Parsuwas mentioned in Assyrian texts and that of the Elamite city of Ansan, now identified with Tepe Malyan not far from Persepolis. Yamauchi then surveys the problems connected with the reconstruction of the history of the early Achaemenids, including discussions of the Biblical references to Cyrus.

I will not detail the rest of the chapters on the Achaemenids and the capitals. Yamauchi surveys this whole, sometimes confusing, period, with great acumen and lucidity and touches upon the important problems of the reign of Cambyses II, what he did in Egypt, and how he died. He also deals well with Darius, his accession and his inscriptions, his involvement with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, the Greek wars, his organization of the empire, his tomb, and his family. Finally, he treats Xerxes and the references to him in the Bible and the classical sources, his accession, the revolts in Egypt and Babylon and his apparently harsh reactions to them, and his war with the Greeks (30 pages), and the Book of Esther and its Persian Background (12 pages).

With Artaxerxes I, we reenter the realm of the Bible, as the books of Ezra and Nehemiah date from his reign. After a survey of the sources - cuneiform (Old Persian; Babylonian: the archives of Murashu, a money-lending firm), Aramaic (the papyri and ostraca from Elephantine, Hermopolis, and Samaria), and classical - Yamauchi mentions the few political events known from this reign before going on to discuss in greater detail the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

After this historical survey, the author discusses in great detail most aspects of the capitals of the Persian Empire: Susa (the western capital, frequently mentioned in the Bible), Ecbatana (modern Hamadan, the northern capital), Pasargadae (the capital of Cyrus the Great), and Persepolis.

In the short chapter on Persia and the Greeks, Yamauchi discusses the Greek words in the Book of Daniel (reaffirming his position that "the presence of Greek words in an Old Testament book is not a proof of Hellenistic date, in view of the abundant opportunities for contacts between the Aegean and the Near East before Alexander" [p. 394]), the Greeks in the eastern Mediterranean, Greeks and the Neo-Assyrians, the Neo-Babylonians, and the Persians.

The last three chapters are devoted to surveys of Zornastrianism, the Magi, and Mithraism. After a brief survey of the history of Zoroastrianism, from the beginning to the present, and of the sources (Sanskrit, Old Persian, Elamite, Greek and Latin, other texts, archaeology), the Avesta is discussed in some detail. This discussion deals with the Gathas, the Younger Avesta, including the questions of the date of composition of the Young Avestan texts, when the Avestan texts were first committed to writing, and the invention of the Avestan alphabet (see also below). Next Yamauchi surveys the various parts of the Younger Avesta (Yasna, Vispered, Vendidad, Yashts), the (Book) Pahlavi texts (Pahlavi version of the Avesta, other Pahlavi texts), and finally the controversial questions of the origins of Zoroastrianism, the historical Zarathustra and his teachings as reflected in the Gathas, and whether the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians or not. In the section on Zoroastrian doctrines and practices, the principal doctrines are reviewed, as well as the question of monotheism versus dualism and influences of Zoroastrianism on Greek philosophy and, especially, on Judaism.

The chapter on the Magi includes a survey of the historical background of this religious group, their relationship to Zoroastrianism, their association with "magic" and astrology, the three Magi, and later aspects of the Magi.

The book is rounded off by a long bibliography and indices of subjects, places, authors, and scripture references.

Iranian etymologies of words in Biblical texts are discussed prominently in two connections, the sons of Haman (pp. 237-38) and Nehemiah the tirsata (pp. 258-64). A few comments on these issues are in order.

The...