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And it came to
pass in the days of Achashverosh... who ruled from
Hodu to Cush, one hundred and twenty-seven
provinces...when Achashverosh sat on his royal
throne, which was in Shushan (Susa) the capital, in
the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all
his ministers and servants; the army of Persia and
Media, the nobles and all the ministers of the
provinces in his service.
After these events, King Achashverosh promoted Haman,
son of Hamdata, the Agagite and placed his seat
above all his fellow ministers... All the king's
servants...bowed before Haman, for so had the king
commanded...but Mordechai would not kneel or
bow...he had told them that he (would never bow
)because he was a Jew.
When Haman saw that Mordechai would not kneel or bow
before him, Haman was filled with wrath. But he
thought it contemptible to kill only Mordechai, for
they had informed him of Mordechai's nationality.
Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews, Mordechai's
people, throughout Achashverosh's entire kingdom...
Haman said to King Achashverosh, 'There is one
nation scattered and dispersed among the nations
throughout the provinces of your kingdom, whose laws
are unlike those of any other nation and who do not
obey the laws of the King. It is not in the King's
interest to tolerate them. If it please the King,
let [an edict] be issued for their destruction...'
Jews have had to deal with many Hamans over the
course of their long history--including those who
walk Planet Earth right now. At least one, indeed,
currently lives in the same place where Haman lived.
Corroboration is very important to historians. I
have written about ancient corroboration, by other
peoples, of Hebraic accounts in earlier years. One
example, also involving ancient Iran and the Jews,
is worth mentioning again given what's happening
these days with the Iran of Ahmadinejad and the
mullahs vis-a-vis Israel.
Here are some excerpts from the Kurash Prism, the
decree of Cyrus the Great for the return of the Jews
to the current nation of Israel in 539 BCE. This
version is found in the CAIS website, the Circle Of
Ancient Iranian Studies...
I am Kurash, King of the World, Great
King,...King of Babilani, King of Kiengir and Akkade,
King of the four rims of the earth, Son of Kanbujiya...to
the region from as far as Assura and Susa, Akkade,
Eshnunna, the towns Zamban, Me-turnu, Der as well as
the region of the Gutians, I returned to these
sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris the
sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long
time, the images which used to live therein and
established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also
gathered all their former inhabitants and returned
them to their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled
upon the command of Marduk, the great lord, all the
gods of Kiengir and Akkade whom Nabonidus had
brought into Babilani to the anger of the lord of
the gods, unharmed, in their former temples, the
places which make them happy.
Now, follow these events in the Jews' own writings
in the Hebrew Bible, Ezra 1:1-8 :
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in
order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by
Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus of Persia to
issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom...:
"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: "All the kingdoms
of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given
to me, and he has also charged me to build him a
house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever
belongs to any part of his people, let him go up,
and may his God be with him! Then the family heads
of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and
Levites---everyone, that is, whom God had inspired
to do so---prepared to go up to build the house of
the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors gave them
help in every way, with silver, gold, goods, and
cattle, and with many precious gifts besides all
their free-will offerings. King Cyrus, too, had the
utensils of the house of the Lord brought forth
which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from Jerusalem
and placed in the house of his god.
Okay...now let's return to Hamma's book...
I will never hear The Megillah being read again
during Purim without thinking about my Kurdish
friends...Remember King Achashverosh in the Book of
Esther?
Check out these excerpts and paraphrases from
Hamma's Story # 10, "Emperor Cyaxares I Plan To
Liberate the Medians from the Scythians"...
Cyaxares invited Madius (the Scythian ruler and
subjugator of Medes) and a large number of his
warriors to a festival...many laid down their arms
and became drunk, but no Median warriors did
so...When Cyaxares called out "Ahashverosh," the
code word for the attack, the Medes attacked...Most
Scythians were killed, some seized and arrested.
Cyaxares became known as the liberator of the
Median people and was reinstated as the King of
Kings of the Median Empire. He was nicknamed
Ahashverosh, or Ahasuerus, for his attack on the
Scythians. Aha means "now" and shverosh means
"revolution" or "revolt."
Subsequent chapters or "stories" discuss Cyrus,
Queen Vashti, Assyria, Babylonia, Esther, and so
forth...all important to the history of the Jews as
well. Since I have not completed the book yet, I am
sure that there will be other revelations yet to
come.
The search for historical truth is tedious,
exciting, and often leads us in directions unknown
before. An open mind is always essential if truth is
indeed what is sought.
Despite our best efforts, lots of "facts" will
remain forever missing or open to various
interpretations. And, as the saying goes, behind
every myth, there is usually an element of truth.
Among other things, the study of history involves an
exploration of this latter relationship. It is
especially exhilarating when the pieces all start to
come together--hence,www.ekurd.netthe
importance of corroborative evidence. So, as just
one last example for now, while scholars may debate
the exact relationship between the Habiru / Apiru of
ancient Egyptian and other peoples' correspondence
with vassals in the very area where the Hebrews were
invading (and at about the same time) after the
Exodus, such discoveries as those in the above Tel
el-Amarna tablets and elsewhere are valuable indeed.
I am thankful to Hamma for opening yet another one
of those doors for me in the study of my own
people's history as well as that of his own.
The stories of his new book, The Return of the
Medes--An Analysis of Iranian History and that of my
own, The Quest For Justice In The Middle East--The
Arab-Israeli Conflict in Greater Perspective, focus
on the plight of two ancient peoples for a slice of
the justice pie which history had/has long denied
them. Both aim for a future in which the relative
rights of all peoples in the region can at last be
achieved--for the benefit of the Middle East and
beyond... http://q4j-middle-east.com
Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has
done extensive doctoral studies in Middle Eastern
Affairs. He has created and conducted counter-Arab
propaganda programs for college youth, has lectured
on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has
publicly debated many Arab spokesmen. His articles
and op-eds have been published in dozens of
newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites all around the world. Visit his
website at
http://www.geraldahonigman.com/
Gerald A. Honigman, a longtime contributing writer
for ekurd.net. Honigman has published a major book,
"The
Quest For Justice In The Middle East--The
Arab-Israeli Conflict In Greater Perspective."
By Gerald A. Honigman for eKurd.net,
July 6, 2010. You may reach the
author via email at: honigman6 (at) msn.com.
Copyright © 2010 ekurd.net.
All rights reserved
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