'..when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace' Esther 1 v2

In Persia he had two names, Ahasuerus or Khshayarshan; the Greeks knew him as Xerxes I, ruler of Persia 485 - 465 BC. His empire stretched from India to Upper Egypt. He was the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great. Xerxes governed Babylonia before inheriting. In 484 BC he invaded Egypt to quell unrest, but while he was away a revolt destroyed Babylon. After dealing with it he styled himself King of the Medes and Persians.

His advisers persuaded him to invade Greece so for four years he organised a great army and a powerful navy. He invaded in 480 BC, occupied Attica and pillaged Athens. However, the Greeks defeated his army at Marathon and Plataea, and destroyed his navy at Salamis, so he withdrew. He retired to Susa and Persepolis.

The historian Herodotus described him as cruel and unpredictable. This is evident in the story of Esther. Shushan was Susa, and the magnificent palace had been built by Darious. Xerxes spent vast amounts of gold extending it.

Jacques de Morgan excavated it (early 20th century) and gorgeous tiles are in the Louvre Museum. Whoever wrote the story of Esther knew all about the Persian court. Her name was Hadassah; the king named her Esther, which comes from Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love. The story shows that the exiled Jews were all over Xerxes' empire. There is also an example of the laws of the Medes and Persians and how they worked.

Mordecai may have been a royal official working at the King's gate. A tablet found near Babylon names Marduka, a leading official during Xerxes' early years.

Xerxes became involved in harem intrigues in later life, and murdered his brother's entire family. He and his eldest son were eventually murdered in a palace revolt. His tomb is in a cliff-face at Nagsh-e Rostam. A monument at Persepolis reads; 'I am Xerxes, the great king, the only king, the king of all countries which speak all kinds of languages, the king of the big and far-reaching earth'.