Xerxes I

Xerxes on a relief of Darius I the Great. Originally at the north stairs of the apadana of Persepolis, now in the National Archaeological Museum, Tehran (Iran)

Xerxes: Achaemenid king of the Persian Empire, ruled from 486 to 465.

Relatives:

Father: Darius I the Great
Mother: Atossa
Wife: Amestris
Sons: Darius, Artaxerxes, Hystaspes, Achaemenes
Daughters: Amytis (married to Megabyzus)

Main deeds:

Accession between 17 November and 1 December 486
484: Suppression of the revolts of Šamaš-eriba and Bêl-šimânni in Babylonia and a rebellion in Egypt
481: in Sardes
480: Greek war: victories at Thermopylae and Artemisium, sack of Athens, setback at Salamis
480/479: in Sardes (probably to keep an eye on unquiet Babylon)
479: Mardonius defeated at Plataea
On his return from the west, Xerxes captures Babylon again (?)
8 March 473: Date of Esther and Mordecai's saving of the Jews, according to Esther
Murdered between 4 and 8 August 465

Sources:

Gandj Nameh: XE
Ecbatana: XH
Halicarnassus: vase
Persepolis: XPa, XPb, XPc, XPd, XPe, XPf ("harem inscription"), XPg, XPh ("daiva inscription"), XPi, XPj, XPk, XPl, XPm
Susa: XSa, XSb, XSc, XSd, XSe
Van: XV
Seals, vase
Aeschylus, The Persians
Diodorus of Sicily, Library of World History, Book 11
Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Histories
Esther

Buildings:

Naqš-i Rustam: Tomb 4 (?)
Persepolis: Completion of Palace of Darius, north stairs of Apadana , Gate and Stairs of All Nations, Palace of Xerxes , Harem , Southern Buildings, Tripylon

Succeeded by: Artaxerxes I Makrocheir

Compare

Xerxes killing a Greek hoplite

Ancient-Warfare.com, the online home of Ancient Warfare magazine

Cartouche with Xerxes' name

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