Bidspirit auction | PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. Time of

PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. Time of Darios I to Xerxes I, circa 505-480 BC. Silver plated (Fourrée) Siglos. Weight 5.17 grams, 16 mm long. - Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, drawing bow / Incuse punch. Xerxes I (pronounced ”Khashayarsha”) is also known by the Greek form of his name – Xerxes (Ξέρξης, Xerxes). He was the king of the Achaemenid Persian Empire from 485 to 465 BCE. According to a widely accepted theory, Xerxes is identified as King Ahasuerus from the Book of Esther. One piece of evidence supporting this identification is the spelling (though not necessarily the pronunciation) of the name ”Ahasuerus” at the end of the Book of Esther: ”And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.” During Xerxes' reign, the Persian Empire reached the height of its territorial expansion, encompassing Asia Minor, the entire Middle East, Persia, Bactria, Sogdiana, Parthia, parts of India, and parts of Thrace. This fact also supports the identification of Xerxes as the biblical Ahasuerus, as reflected in the opening verse of the Book of Esther: ”Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, this was the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces.”