Page 30 - bv19

30 Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks”

Eratosthenes, and certain vague, floating traditions, in accordance with which the period of
the Persian empire was mapped out as a period of 205 years.

Further proof that Ptolemy’s cannon is bogus can be found in a rather unusual way. There is
considerable research data now available that supports the fact that Xerxes AND Artaxerxes were
one and the same king! In the ruins of Persepolis can be found reliefs of the “three” kings of the Per-
sian dynasty who were involved with building the city -- Darius I, Xerxes and Artaxerxes. While
the faces on the reliefs have been chiseled off, other parts of the reliefs can be used to make our
point. It’s very subtle, but nonetheless conclusive -- it’s the famous hand of Artaxerxes! Artaxerxes
right hand was LONGER than his left one, and this was so unusual it became his trademark and
hence the name “Artaxerxes LONGIMANUS (longimanus is Latin for “long hand”).

A very famous relief at Persepolis showing Darius seated on the throne followed by his son
“Xerxes” shows Xerxes with his right hand turned vertically in order to show off his hand for all to
see. The hand was carved with great detail showing all the palm creases, etc. You will notice, by
comparison, that it is clearly LONGER THAN HIS LEFT! It is because of this unusual hand that
Xerxes later became known as “Artaxerxes Longimanus” -- after changing his name locally to
Artaxerxes upon becoming king of Persia. This was a common practice among the Persian kings.

Now WHY did Xerxes try to become two kings -- and how? Briefly, it commenced with a
conspiracy by the Persian Magi who put an imposter on the throne in place of Smerdis -- a son of
Cyrus and brother to Cambyses II. Following Cambyses death, this imposter was exposed and re-
moved from the throne by Darius I, who usurped the Persian throne. Darius was not a direct descen-
dant of Cyrus, but his younger son Xerxes (by way of his wife, Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus) was.
It took Darius two years to bring the empire under control -- but not without making Xerxes, the le-
gitimate heir to Cyrus, his own appointed successor and co-ruler.

One way Darius pulled this off was through massive building campaigns which promi-
nently displayed Xerxes in an EQUAL POSITION next to himself -- with some buildings specifi-
cally named after Xerxes. Darius apparently began building at Persepolis some four years after he
came to the throne -- displaying Xerxes prominently beside himself as usual -- but in his sixth year
was killed and beheaded by the Athenians in the Battle of Marathon (a fact the Greeks later tried to
suppress historically). Because of this insult, Xerxes invaded Greece with a vengeance and sacked
Athens, destroying many of their temples, but suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the
Athenians in the Battle of Salamis. After this he fled back to Persia, a king despised and in shame.
He conspired to evade this international shame and possible assassination attempts by the Greeks
by faking his death and assuming THE NEW IDENTITY OF “ARTAXERXES”!

Because of his untimely death, Darius was unable to finish his building work at Persepolis --
which was completed by his son Xerxes. However, because of the Persian custom of the Persian
kings assuming a new name upon becoming king, the city was finished under Xerxes’ new name:
Artaxerxes. Since Xerxes had already appeared in reliefs as “Xerxes” with Darius, it now appeared
that there were THREE KINGS at Persepolis -- when, in fact, there were only two. Xerxes’ dual
identity and those confusing reliefs (after cleverly changing some building inscriptions) helped
Xerxes/Artaxerxes pull off this conspiracy of claiming he was a different king.

The Berean Voice March-April 2003