In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers’ houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian (Neh 12:22 ESV). There are five Persian kings specifically named in the Bible: Cyrus (2 Chr 36:22-23), Darius I (Ezra 4:5), Xerxes/Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1-3), Artaxerxes I (Ezra 7:1-22), and “Darius the … Continue reading Darius the Persian: An Archaeological Biography