Seeking Shushan

Seeking ShushanIt didn’t take very long after the destruction of the First Temple for a few Jews in the service of the Babylonian government to reach the city of Shushan (Susa), located in present-day south-western Iran. Daniel 8:2 identifies Shushan as the capital of Elam, whose king, Kedarla’omer, was involved in the War of the Kings back in the times of Avraham, as described in Bereshis 14. Indeed, archaeological evidence shows that by the time these few Jews reached Shushan after the Churban it had long been a commercial and administrative center. It was first conquered by Ashur (Assyria), after which it briefly regained its independence after the fall of Assyria to Babylonia. It was then swallowed up by the newly emerging Persian Empire of Koresh (Cyrus the Great), who overthrew the Babylonian Empire.

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