Esther shows the great change for those Jewish people who, after the decree of Cyrus (539 BC), had stayed in the land of exile. Esther's account takes place during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus, who is probably Xerxes I (486-465). Little is known about the life of the Jews in the Persian Empire beyond what the book of Esther tells us (and the reference to Ahasuerus in Ezra 4:6). The Greek historian Herodotus (about 480-430 BC) gave about half of his Histories to the reign of Xerxes. His work portrays the Persians as warlike, and their rulers as enjoying extreme luxury and the display of their wealth in huge banquets. His Histories are a source of information that was written at about the same time as that of Esther.Thanks to contributions from archaeology, we know that Herodotus' history is largely reliable, particularly in his use of Persian sources.
The book of Esther deals with a period of drastic changes in the history of the Jewish people who, after the decree of Cyrus (539 BC; see 2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–11; Ezra 6:1–5), had preferred not to return to the homeland, but to remain in the land of exile. Esther's account takes place during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus who –almost certainly– refers to Xerxes I (486-465).
Not much more is known about the life of the Jews in the Persian Empire than what the book of Esther tells us (and the reference to Ahasuerus in Ezra 4:6). The Greek historian Herodotus (circa 480-430 BC) devoted about half of his extensive Histories to the reign of Xerxes, focusing primarily on his invasion of Greece. 1 In this work, the Persians are portrayed as warlike, and we learn that their rulers indulged in extreme luxury and enjoyed displaying their great wealth at impressive feasts and banquets.
It is not unimportant that we have here a source of information that was written at about the same time as that of Esther.2 In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Herodotus' work was often criticized, partly because much of the information could not be verified due to a lack of archaeological data. However, thanks to contributions from archaeology, Herodotus' history appears to be largely reliable, particularly in regard to his use of Persian sources. 3,4
1 C'était du temps d'Assuérus, de cet Assuérus qui régnait depuis l'Inde jusqu'en Ethiopie sur cent vingt-sept provinces;