Editing Purim (section)

===Traditional historians===
[[File:Haman defeated.png|thumb|Haman defeated (1578 engraving)]]
The 1st-century CE historian [[Josephus]] recounts the origins of Purim in Book 11 of his ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]''. He follows the Hebrew Book of Esther but shows awareness of some of the additional material found in the [[Greek (language)|Greek]] version (the [[Septuagint]]) in that he too identifies Ahasuerus as [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes]] and provides the text of the king's letter. He also provides additional information on the dating of events relative to Ezra and Nehemiah.<ref name="Whiston"/> Josephus also records the Persian persecution of Jews and mentions Jews being forced to worship at Persian-erected shrines.<ref name="Whiston">William Whiston, ''The Works of Flavius Josephus, the Learned and Authentic Jewish Historian'', Milner and Sowerby, 1864, online edition Harvard University 2004. Cited in ''[[Contra Apionem]]'' which quotes a work referred to as ''Peri Ioudaion'' (''On the Jews''), which is credited to [[Hecataeus of Abdera]] (late fourth century BCE).</ref><ref name="Hosch">{{cite book |last1=Hoschander |first1=Jacob |title=The Book of Esther in the Light of History |date=1923 |publisher=[[Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning]] |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofestherinli00hosc |access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref>

The [[Josippon]], a 10th-century CE compilation of Jewish history, includes an account of the origins of Purim in its chapter 4. It too follows the original biblical account and includes additional traditions matching those found in the Greek version and Josephus (whom the author claims as a source) with the exception of the details of the letters found in the latter works. It also provides other contextual information relating to Jewish and Persian history such as the identification of [[Darius the Mede]] as the uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus.<ref>David Flusser, ''Josephus Goridines (The Josippon) (Vols. 1–2)'', The Bialik Institute, 1978</ref>

A brief Persian account of events is provided by Islamic historian [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari]] in his ''[[History of the Prophets and Kings]]'' (completed 915 CE).<ref name="Yar">Ehsan Yar-Shater, ''The History of al-Tabari : An Annotated Translation'', SUNY Press, 1989</ref> Basing his account on Jewish and Christian sources, al-Tabari provides additional details such as the original Persian form "Asturya" for "Esther".<ref name="Perlmann">Moshe Perlmann trans., ''The Ancient Kingdoms'', SUNY Press, 1985</ref> He places events during the rule of Ardashir Bahman ([[Artaxerxes II]]),<ref name="Arjomand">Said Amir Arjomand, ''Artaxerxes, Ardasir and Bahman'', The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, 1998</ref> but confuses him with Ardashir al-Tawil al-Ba ([[Artaxerxes I]]), while assuming Ahasuerus to be the name of a co-ruler.<ref name="Perlmann"/> Another brief Persian account is recorded by [[Masudi]] in ''[[The Meadows of Gold]]'' (completed 947 CE).<ref>''The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition'' article ''Abd al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn Masudi'', Columbia University Press, 2007</ref> He refers to a Jewish woman who had married the Persian King Bahman (Artaxerxes II), and delivered her people,<ref name="Arjomand"/><ref>[[Lewis B. Paton|Lewis Bayles Paton]], ''Esther: Critical Exegetical Commentary'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000</ref><ref>Abd al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn Masudi, ''Murūj al-dhahab (Meadows of Gold)'', ed. and French transl. by F. Barbier de Meynard and Pavet du Courteille, Paris, 1861</ref> thus corroborating this identification of Ahasuerus. He also mentions the woman's daughter, Khumay, who is not known in Jewish tradition but is well remembered in Persian folklore. Al-Tabari calls her ''Khumani'' and tells how her father (Ardashir Bahman) married her. [[Ferdowsi]] in his ''[[Shahnameh]]'' ({{circa|1000}} CE) also tells of King Bahman marrying Khumay.<ref>Richard James Horatio Gottheil ed., ''Persian Literature, Volume 1, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan'', Colonial Press, 1900</ref>

Modern Biblical scholarship generally identifies [[Ahasuerus]] with [[Xerxes I of Persia]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Book of Esther between Judaism and Christianity |last=Kalimi |first=Isaac |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-009-26612-3 |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvnAEAAAQBAJ |access-date=28 January 2024 |archive-date=29 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029150447/https://books.google.com/books?id=HvnAEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>