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Steven Anderson on Darius the Mede

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  • Steven Anderson on Darius the Mede

    The book is here.

    To sum it up, Dr. Anderson argues that Darius the Mede is Cyaxares II and against and he gives a summary of his arguments as follows.

    Major Supporting Arguments Made in This Work

    1. The historical reliability of Xenophon’s Cyropaedia was found to be much higher than
    scholarly consensus currently holds. (One scholar of Xenophon, Steven W. Hirsch, also
    argues for a much higher view of the historical reliability of the Cyropaedia.) Xenophon
    was found to be historically credible, and superior to Herodotus, with regard to his
    accounts of the royal upbringing of Cyrus, the existence of Belshazzar, the existence of
    Gobryas, and the marriage of Cyrus to Cyaxares’ daughter.

    2. The Behistun inscription of Darius Hystaspes states that two Medians who launched
    rebellions against Darius at separate times did so on the basis of (allegedly) false claims
    to be of the family of Cyaxares. The fact that they claimed a relation to Cyaxares, rather
    than to Astyages, is evidence that Cyaxares II did indeed exist and was the last Median
    king.

    3. The adoption of “Darius” and “Ahasuerus” (= Xerxes) as throne names of the first two
    Persian kings in the dynasty which followed that of Cyrus is evidence that they were used
    as throne names by kings of an earlier dynasty. This is indirect evidence that there indeed
    was a Median king named “Darius,” and another named “Ahasuerus,” as the book of
    Daniel presents them (Dan 9:1). The use of throne names by Persian kings also gives
    plausibility to the suggestion that the given name of Darius the Mede was “Cyaxares.”

    4. There are strong historical evidences that the Medes and the Persians had formed a
    confederated government, and that Herodotus’ story of Cyrus subjugating the Medes and
    deposing the last Median king is therefore historically inaccurate. Xenophon and
    Herodotus agree that the Median king Astyages gave his daughter Mandane in marriage
    to Cambyses I, who was king of the Persians. In the ancient Near Eastern context, such
    marriages signified the formation of political alliances, and it seems that Astyages made
    just such an alliance with Persia with a view toward checking Babylonian hegemony. A
    passage in the Persae of Aeschylus is noted in chapter 4 which presents Astyages as the
    founder of the alliance, though without naming him directly. Chapter 3 noted biblical
    texts which describe the Medes and Persians governing their empire jointly, and also
    noted abundant archeological evidence which presents the Medes as senior partners and
    equals with the Persians, rather than their vassals.

    5. The Harran Stele, which is an inscription of Nabonidus, mentions a certain “king of the
    land of the Medes” alongside the kings of Egypt and Arabia as Babylon’s leading
    enemies. This inscription was produced well after the supposed conquest of Media by
    Cyrus, and therefore seems to indicate that Cyrus did not depose the last Median king.

    6. The historian Berossus, whose history of Neo-Babylonia is well respected but poorly
    preserved, refers to the actions of an unspecified “King Darius” shortly after the fall of
    Babylon. The conventional version of the history of the period does not recognize any
    such “King Darius.”

    7. Valerius Harpocration, a professional researcher and lexicographer at the library of
    Alexandria, affirms in a lexical work that there was a king of the Medo-Persian Empire
    named “Darius” who reigned sometime before Darius Hystaspes. Once again, the
    conventional version of the history of the period has no explanation for this “Darius.”

    8. The Greek tragic dramatist Aeschylus, who wrote before Herodotus, describes two
    Median kings who preceded Cyrus as rulers of Medo-Persia. Although Aeschylus does
    not name these two kings, he presents the first as the founder of the dynasty, the second
    as his son and the king who was on the throne when Babylon fell, and the third, Cyrus, as
    the natural successor of the second king. The conventional history of the period does not
    recognize this second Median king
    Last edited by Quantum Weirdness; 04-26-2017, 06:12 PM.
    -The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine.
    Sir James Jeans

    -This most beautiful system (The Universe) could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.All variety of created objects which represent order and Life in the Universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, whom I call the Lord God.
    Sir Isaac Newton

  • #2
    I tend to go with Gobaru (=Gobyras), as per the Nabonidus Chronicle. Not Ugbaru, who died a few weeks after the conquest of Babylon.
    When I Survey....

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    • #3
      Interesting.
      Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

      Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
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      I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

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      • #4
        Link is down.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Leonhard View Post
          Link is down.
          It's still available on Academia.edu (I just downloaded it).
          Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

          Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
          sigpic
          I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

          Comment

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