Artaxerxes

📖 About Artaxerxes

Artaxerxes is the Hellenized form of the Old Persian name Artaxšaçā, composed of the elements arta ("truth, righteousness, holy order") and xšaça ("kingdom, dominion"), thus meaning "whose reign is through truth" or "righteous ruler." The name is indelibly associated with the Achaemenid Empire, borne by several Persian kings who shaped the ancient world. Artaxerxes I (r. 465–424 BCE) presided over a period of relative stability and is noted in biblical history for authorizing Ezra's mission to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes II (r. 404–358 BCE) ruled the longest of any Achaemenid monarch and oversaw the Peace of Antalcidas. The name passed into Greek, Latin, and biblical literature, ensuring its survival long after the fall of Persia. Though never a common given name in the modern era, Artaxerxes endures as a symbol of ancient Persian kingship and the Zoroastrian concept of asha (cosmic order). In modern Iran, the equivalent Ardeshir remains in use, while Artaxerxes itself appears primarily in historical and scholarly contexts across the West.