Tattenai (or Tatnai or Sisinnes; he, תַּתְּנַי ''Tattǝnay''; akk, 𒋫𒀜𒄨𒉡 ''Tâttannu'' or 𒋺𒄨𒉡 ''Tattannu'') was a

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

character and a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the province west of the

Euphrates River The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eu ...

during the time of

Zerubbabel According to the biblical narrative, Zerubbabel, ; la, Zorobabel; Akkadian: 𒆰𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 ''Zērubābili'' was a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. Zerubba ...

and the reign of

Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...

. He is best known for questioning King Darius in regard to the rebuilding of a temple for the Lord, God of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He was generally friendly to the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

. The rebuilding was being led by Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and

, son of

Shealtiel Shealtiel ( he, שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל, ''Shəʾaltīʾēl''), transliterated in Greek as Salathiel ( Greek: Σαλαθιηλ, ''Salăthiēl''), was the son of Jehoiachin, king of Judah. ( 1 Chronicles, ) The Gospel of Matthew 1:12 also list ...

, and had been issued by King Cyrus I. Tattenai wrote a letter to King Darius to ask of these statements were true, and then King Darius wrote a letter confirming that the statements were true. In the letter, Darius asked that the people do everything they can to support this rebuilding financially, and that they do nothing to impede it lest they suffer harsh punishment.

Babylonian Cuneiform inscriptions

A number of cuneiform tablets bearing the name Tattenai have survived as part of what may have been a family archive. The tablet that links one member of this family to the Bible character is a promissory note dated to the 20th year of Darius I, 502 BC. It identifies a witness to the transaction as a servant of “''Tattannu, governor of Across-the-River''”. The

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets ( Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a styl ...

can be dated to June 5, 502 B.C. exactly.Mykytiuk, Lawrence, Archaeology Confirms 3 More Bible People ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' ( Washington)43.3 (May/June 2017): 48.

Notes and references

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Babylonian Cuneiform inscriptions

See also

Notes and references

Further reading