In April of this year, a Bible king was in the news. Not a king of Judah or Israel, but rather a king of Persia named Darius I, who ruled from 522 to 486 BC, during the time the Temple was being rebuilt (536–516 BC), when the prophets Haggai (ca. 520 BC) and Zechariah (ca. 520–480 BC) were active. Darius was the most powerful of the Persian kings, having expanded the empire to include the entire Middle East and regions beyond. He reorganized the kingdom into 36 administrative districts called “satrapies,” connected by land and sea routes. He carried out many building projects, including two royal cities, Persepolis and Susa, where he had palaces. Persepolis, located in southern Iran, 525 miles (845 km) south of Tehran, was the main capital, while Susa in southwestern Iran, 425 miles (684 km) southwest of Tehran, was the winter capital. The publicity in April was regarding Darius’s “First Decree” inscription, ca. 519 BC, located at Persepolis. It was reported to be in poor condition due to neglect and exposure to the elements. Authorities at the Persepolis World Heritage Site announced on April 6 that they were initiating a restoration project that would consist of “reinforcement, installation of protective coverings, protection of the back of the inscription, and designing a public visiting path.”1
Similar to using Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, to free the Jews from captivity in Babylon,2 the Lord used Darius to bring about the completion of the Second Temple. Cyrus previously had decreed that a temple for the Lord should be built in Jerusalem:
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. (Ezr 1:2–3, ESV)
Work began in 536 BC (Ezr 3:8–13) but soon met opposition, which continued throughout the reigns of Cyrus, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes I, until the second year of Darius, 520 BC (Ezr 4). At that time, local officials sent an inquiry to Darius concerning the legality of the construction (Ezr 5). Darius ordered that a search be made of the archive of the treasury at Babylon. By God’s providence, Cyrus’s original decree concerning the building of the Temple was found. Not only did it order the building of the Temple, but it also stipulated that the costs were to be paid out of the royal treasury (Ezr 6:1–4)! Work resumed and the Temple was completed four years later, in the sixth year of Darius, 516 BC (Ezr 6:15).
Construction of Persepolis and Susa started in 519 BC, three years before the Second Temple was completed, and was carried on simultaneously at both sites. The first phase was the erection of platforms or terraces upon which the royal, administrative, and religious buildings were built. The Persepolis platform is 1,476 feet (450 m) north–south by 984 feet (300 m) east–west. The inscription of interest is located on the top course of stones in the south retaining wall of the terrace, to the right of the main gate to the citadel. It is inscribed on an enormous block measuring 6.73 feet (2.05 m) high by 23.6 feet (7.2 m) long and comprises four sections, labeled DPd, DPe, DPf, and DPg (with the initial D and P standing for Darius, Persepolis). The first section of the inscription, DPd, begins by Darius thanking the god Ahura Mazda (“lord of wisdom”) for his kingdom, “a good country, full of good horses, full of good men.”3 Ahura Mazda was the supreme deity of the Persian religion, and some of the beliefs about him are similar to the attributes of Yahweh—he was the god of heaven, the only creator, and all-wise, and no representations were made of him. Many times in the Old Testament, Yahweh is referred to as the “God of heaven.” It is interesting that in the proclamations of both Cyrus and Darius, they use this title in referring to the God of the Jews (Ezr 1:2, 6:9, 6:10). It is possible that they equated Yahweh with Ahura Mazda and as a result generously supported the Jews’ efforts to rebuild the Temple. Artaxerxes I, grandson of Darius, used the same title for Yahweh in a later letter to Ezra (Ezr 7:12, 7:21, 7:23). At the end of section DPd, Darius asks for Ahura Mazda’s protection. In the next section, DPe, Darius lists 24 nations that made up his kingdom, “by the favor of Ahura Mazda.” The Elamite panel, DPf, records Darius’s construction of his palace at Persepolis, “by the grace of Ahura Mazda.” In the Babylonian section, DPg, Darius gives thanks to Ahura Mazda for his many blessings and asks for his continued protection. Little did Darius realize that it was not Ahura Mazda, but Yahweh, the true creator God of the universe, that orchestrated events in his life to make him the most powerful and richest man in the world at that time, so that he could be God’s instrument to complete the building of the Second Temple.
The large, topmost block pictured here is inscribed with Darius’s “First Inscription,” which is now being restored and protected by the Persepolis World Heritage Site. Inscription DPd, written in Old Persian cuneiform, is on the left side of the block, followed by a continuation, DPe, to the right, then DPf in Elamite, and DPg in Babylonian. Photo: © Jona Lendering, Marco Prins.
Endnotes
1 “The First Decree of Darius the Great in Persepolis Is on the Verge of Serious Destruction,” IranGate, April 6, 2025, https://en.irangate.news/the-first-decree-of-darius-the-great-in-persepolis-is-on-the-verge-of-serious-destruction/.
2 For more on Cyrus, see Bryant G. Wood, “The Death and Legacy of Cyrus the Great,” Associates for Biblical Research, July 13, 2024, https://biblearchaeology.org/research/chronological-categories/babylonian-exile-persian-period/5165.
3 Translations of the different sections of this inscription are found at “Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions,” Livius, last modified September 24, 2020, https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions.
