Shushandukht ( pal, 饜饜饜饜饜饜饜饜饜 <拧y拧yntw岣
, > ''艩墨拧墨nt奴岣'';
New Persian
New Persian ( fa, 賮丕乇爻蹖 賳賵), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...
: ''艩u拧anduxt'') was the wife of
Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; pal, 饜饜饜饜饜饜饜) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III (), he succeeded his brother Bahram IV () after the latter's assassination.
Yazde ...
and mother of
Bahram V
Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; pal, 饜饜饜饜饜瓲饜), also known as Bahram Gor (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager") was the Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') from 420 to 438.
The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah ...
. She was the daughter of a Jewish
exilarch
The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing ...
,
Huna bar Nathan
Rav Huna bar Natan ( he, 讛讜谞讗 讘专 谞转谉, read as Rav Huna bereih deRav Natan (专讘 讛讜谞讗 讘专讬讛 讚专讘 谞转谉) was a Babylonian rabbi and exilarch, of the fifth and sixth generations of amoraim.
Biography
Huna's father was also a known ...
. She created the Jewish neighborhood in the city of
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, 丕氐賮賴丕賳, Esfah芒n ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
. She also established Jewish colonies in the cities of
Shush (
Susa
Susa ( ; Middle elx, 饞葛拫楌拪吼拏, translit=艩u拧en; Middle and Neo- elx, 饞嫝饞嫝饞對, translit=艩u拧un; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 饞葛拫楌拹拣拃, translit=艩u拧谩n; Achaemenid elx, 饞葛拫楌拹, translit=艩u拧谩; fa, 卮賵卮 ...
) and
Shooshtar. The existence of a Jewish queen enhanced the life of
Persian Jews
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, 蹖賴賵丿蹖丕賳 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖, ''yahudi膩n-e-Ir膩ni''; he, 讬讛讜讚讬诐 驻专住讬诐 ''Y蓹h奴d墨m Pars墨m'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor ...
and during this period Jewish exilarchs had regular attendance to the Shah's court. The
Iranologist
Iranian studies ( fa, 丕賷乇丕賳鈥屫促嗀ж驰 '), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the research and study of the civilization, history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It ...
Ernst Herzfeld
Ernst Emil Herzfeld (23 July 1879 鈥 20 January 1948) was a German archaeologist and Iranologist.
Life
Herzfeld was born in Celle, Province of Hanover. He studied architecture in Munich and Berlin, while also taking classes in Assyriology, anc ...
(1879鈥1948) speculated that the
tomb of Esther and Mordechai
The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai ( fa, ''Buq士ah Ester w Murduxay'', he, 拽讘专 讗住转专 讜诪专讚讻讬 ''Qever Est膿r v'M贸rd菨岣礱y'') is a tomb located in Hamadan, Iran. Iranian Jews believe it houses the remains of the biblical Queen Esther a ...
in the city of
Hamedan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, 賴賲丿丕賳, ''Hamed膩n'') (Old Persian: Ha艐gmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
might be the tomb of Shushandukht.
In ''The Provincial Capitals of The Iranian Empire''
The
''Provincial Capitals of The Iranian Empire'' (Middle Persian: ''艩ahrest膩n墨h膩 墨 膾r膩n拧ahr'') is a late 8th century Middle Persian book that mentions Shushandukht as founder of Shush (Susa) and Shooshtar:
The book also mentions Narseh the son of the Jewish woman (who was probably Shushandukht) who founded
Khwarezm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hw芒razmiya''; fa, 禺賵丕乇夭賲, ''Xw芒razm'' or ''X芒razm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...
.
References
Further reading
*
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Sasanian queens
5th-century Iranian people
5th-century women
Jews in the Sasanian Empire
Jewish royalty
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