Artystone

Artystone (Old Persian: *R̥tastūnā;¹ Ancient Greek: Ἀρτυστώνη Artustṓnē; Elamite Ir-taš-du-na, Ir-da-iš-du-na) also known as Irtašduna in the Fortification tablets, was an Achaemenid princess, daughter of king Cyrus the Great, and sister of Cambyses II, Atossa and Smerdis.² Along with Atossa and her niece Parmys, Artystone married king Darius I.³ 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,⁴ since Darius himself was not of royal blood.⁵

Artystone and Darius had at least two sons, Arsames and Gobryas, and a daughter, Artazostre. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Artystone was Darius' favourite wife.⁶

According to James Ussher, Artystone may have been another name for the biblical queen Esther, since Herodotus also called her Artystone the Virgin.⁷ While Esther is commonly known as the wife of Xerxes or Artaxerxes, the Book of Esther lists her cousin Mordecai as present during Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jeconiah⁸ in 599 BC, and Josephus referencing him as a contemporary of Darius,⁹ making it impossible for Mordecai to be alive during Xerxes' or Artexerxes' reigns.

Primary sources

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

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 [1999]): "Artystone Archived 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine", in https://www.livius.org/
• Schmitt, R (1987): "Artystone", in E. Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. II.
• James Ussher (1650): Annals of the World.
• Josephus, F: Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11

Notes

Footnotes

1. Smith 1849, p 368; Schmitt 1987, p. 665. ↩

2. Schmitt 1987. ↩

3. Herodotus (1921). The Histories. Vol. 2. Translated by Godley, A. D. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 3.88.2–3. ISBN 978-0674991309. Retrieved 2023-06-15. ↩

4. Brosius 1998, pp. 60, 62. ↩

5. Ussher, 1650, Annals of the World, 1007 ↩

6. Herodotus (1921). The Histories. Vol. 2. Translated by Godley, A. D. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 7.69–72. ISBN 978-0674991316. Retrieved 2023-06-15. ...Artystone daughter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved best of his wives; he had an image made of her of hammered gold. ↩

7. Ussher, 1650, Annals of the World, 1036 ↩

8. Esther 2:5-6 ↩

9. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11:4:9 ↩