Artystone ( peo, *R̥tastūnā; grc, Ἀρτυστώνη ; Elamite , {{transl, elx, Ir-da-iš-du-na) was a Persian princess, daughter of king

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

, and sister or half-sister of

Cambyses II Cambyses II ( peo, 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 ''Kabūjiya'') was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great () and his mother was Cassandane. Before his accession, Cambyse ...

, Atossa and Smerdis (Bardiyā). Along with Atossa and her niece

Parmys Parmys (Old Persian ''(H)uparviyā'', Elamite ''Uparmiya'') was a Persian princess, the only daughter of Bardiya (Smerdis), son of Cyrus the Great.Herodotus, ''Histories'', book 3, chapter 88section 3 She was the granddaughter of Cyrus the Grea ...

, Artystone married king

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 ...

. It is argued that by marrying the female offspring of Cyrus, the founder of the empire, the new king aimed to prevent his rule from being contested, since Darius himself was not of royal blood. Artystone and Darius had at least two sons, Arsames and

Gobryas Gobryas ( grc, Γοβρύας; peo, 𐎥𐎢𐎲𐎽𐎢𐎺 g-u-b-ru-u-v, reads as ''Gaub(a)ruva''?; Elamite: ''Kambarma'') was a common name of several Persian noblemen. Gobryas (Cyrus the Great's general) This Gobryas is mentioned in the Cy ...

, and a daughter,

Artazostre Artazostre (or Artozostre) (Old Persian *''Artazauštrī'') was a Persian princess, daughter of king Darius the Great (521-485 BC) by Artystone, daughter of Cyrus the Great. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (VI, 43) Artazostre was given ...

. According to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

Artystone was Darius' favourite wife. She is also mentioned in the

Persepolis Fortification Tablets The Persepolis Fortification Archive and Persepolis Treasury Archive are two groups of clay administrative archives — sets of records physically stored together – found in Persepolis dating to the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The discove ...

, an administrative archive from

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

. According to James Ussher, Artystone may have been another name for the biblical queen

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

, since

also called her Artystone the Virgin. While Esther is commonly known as the wife of Xerxes or Artaxerxes, the Book of Esther lists her cousin Mordecai as present during Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jehconiah in 599 BC, and

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

referencing him as a contemporary of Darius,Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11:4:9
/ref> making it impossible for Mordecai to be alive during Xerxes' or Artexerxes' reigns.

Primary sources

, 3.88.2 bis; 7.69.2; 7.72.2. *The Persepolis Fortification Archive *Annals of the World by James Ussher, 797; 1036

Notes

References

*Brosius, M. (1998): ''Woman in Ancient Persia''.
Artystone
, in W. Smith (ed.), ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology''. *Lendering, J (2007 999:
Artystone
, in https://www.livius.org/ *Schmitt, R (1987): "Artystone", in E. Yarshater (ed.),

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...

, vol. II. *James Ussher (1650): ''Annals of the World''. *Josephus, F: ''Antiquities of the Jews,'' Book 11 6th-century BC women 5th-century BC women 6th-century BC births 5th-century BC deaths 6th-century BC Iranian people Achaemenid princesses Family of Darius the Great Teispids