The Discovery of the Existence of a Jewish Queen
In 1886, on a mission to research Afghani songs in India, a Jewish orientalist by the name of James Darmesteter discovered a manuscript written in the Pahlavi language, also known as Middle Persian, which discusses a Jewish queen of the Sasanian Empire. Her name was Shushandukht, and she was married to the Sasanian (non-Jewish) King Yazdegerd I, who ruled from 399-420 CE.
The manuscript, entitled “Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr” (“The Provincial Capitals of the Iranian Domain”), mentions that this queen was the daughter of a reish gaulsa, but does not name him. It is the only major surviving Middle Persian text on geography, enumerating the empire’s cities, who built them, and their significance in Persian history.
In 1889, at the Eighth Congress of International Orientalists in Stockholm, James Darmesteter delivered a paper that was published several years later and entitled “La Reine Shaysan Dukhat” (“Queen Shushandukht”). “Duchat” in Pahlavi means daughter, and “Shushan” in Hebrew may refer to the name of the city mentioned in the Megillah or to a shoshanah, a rose or lily. According to the manuscript Darmesteter found, this Jewish queen established large and prosperous Jewish neighborhoods in Esfahan, Susa, Hamadan and Shushtar,
One of Shushandukht’s sons, Bahram the V, was the 15th king of the Sasanian Empire and the most famous and popular ruler in its history. Her other two sons were Shahpur IV and Narseh. Narseh is known to have established the city of Khwarzem, which was later affiliated with the Kuzarim who converted to Judaism.
Shushandukht’s Yichus
Although the name of the reish galusa isn’t mentioned, Professor Darmesteter believed that Shushandukht’s father was Kahane ben Abba Mari, who lived during this period. Also known as Ameimar, he learned in the yeshivah of Surah and later became the rosh yeshivah of Pumbedita. Ameimar reestablished the yeshivah in Nehardea and restored it to its original reputable position, after its destruction over a century before. He was also the head of the beis din of Nehardea. In addition to his daughter Shushandukht he had three sons, Nathan, Huna IV and Mar Zutra. Mar Zutra ben Kahana, also known as Ravina I, was a rabbi and Talmudist and is considered part of the fifth and sixth generations of the Amoraim. He began the process of compiling the Talmud with Rav Ashi. According to the Gemara (Kesubos 61a), Ameimar, Rav Ashi and Mar Zutra would sit in the courtyard of Yazdegerd I, Shushandukht’s husband.
In his paper, Darmesteter quoted the Gemara in Zevachim illustrating the wonderful relationship the Jews had with Yazdegerd. It seems that on one occasion, Rav Huna ben Nasan was among the assembled dignitaries when the king happened to notice that Huna’s belt was crooked. The king adjusted it and remarked, “It is written, ‘You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,’ and you must therefore wear the belt as the priests do.” When Ameimar heard about this he said to Huna, “The prophetic promise [Yeshayahu 19:23] ‘Kings shall be your attendants’ has been realized in you.”
Ameimar’s erudition was continued in his son Mar, who often quoted him to Rav Ashi, as mentioned in the Talmud in Pesachim 74b; Sukkah 32b and 41b; Bava Metzia 68a and Bava Basra 174a.
The Background of James Darmesteter
James Darmesteter was born in Lorraine, France, to an Orthodox Jewish bookbinder and bookseller by the name of Cerf Darmesteter. His mother, Rosalie née Brandeis, was the daughter of one of Napoleon’s officers who was descended from a long line of Polish rabbis and physicians. Cerf Darmesteter’s grandfather had chosen the name Darmstadt in 1791, when the French were required to choose surnames. His intention was to commemorate the Darmstadt German Ghetto, where the family had originated. The French registrar changed it to Darmesteter.
Cerf Darmesteter moved to Paris with his family to be near his widowed mother. He had a hard time making a living, and as a result James was very malnourished. He never grew to a proper height and he was slightly deformed and quite frail. But his brilliant mind made up for his weak body.
James Darmesteter, who received a Torah and secular education, became a professor of Oriental studies at the prestigious École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He taught Persian there and translated the Avesta, the “bible” of the Zoroastrian religion, from the Zend language into French and English, together with a philological and historical commentary of his own. He wrote convincingly about the influence of Judaism on Zoroastrianism when most scholars believed that it was the other way around, i.e., that the Zoroastrian religion had influenced Judaism.
Incidentally, Professor James Darmesteter’s brother, Arsene Darmesteter, was a professor of French at the Sorbonne in Paris and the co-author of a French language dictionary. Thanks to the French glosses in Rashi’s commentary, he was able to incorporate many of these words into his dictionary that were no longer in use.
Shushandukht’s Husband, King Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I (“Izdegerdes” in Persian means “made by G-d”) was the 14th Sasanian King of Persia. He was the son of Shahpuhr III and assumed the throne upon the assassination of his brother Bahram IV. The Persian soldiers who had murdered Bahram IV didn’t harm Yezdgered on account of his excellent character and fine disposition. He ruled 21 years, from 399 CE to 420 CE, and has often been compared to Constantine I. Like him, he was very powerful and was also tolerant of the religious minorities living in his kingdom. He put a stop to the persecution of Jews and Christians, and even punished nobles and priests who persecuted them. The years of his reign were relatively peaceful, and he was considered a wise, astute and benevolent ruler. His refusal to initiate military expeditions earned him the epithet “Ramashtras,” “the Most Quiet.”
Yazdegerd lived in peace with the Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius as well as the Western Roman Emperor Honorius. In the ninth year of Yazdegerd I’s reign Arcadius passed away, leaving his seven-year-old son, Prince Theodosius II, to inherit his kingdom, the eastern half of the Roman Empire. He was the youngest person in Roman history ever to bear the title of emperor. It was very unusual that Arcadius had chosen neither his younger brother Honorius nor any of his subjects to raise his only son, choosing instead the Sasanian King Yazdegerd and his wife, the Jewish Shushandukht. They treated him as their own child and he played with the rest of their children.
It is believed that Arcadius gifted Yazdegerd a thousand pounds of gold in return for promising to raise him.
Darmesteter wrote that he believed Yazdegerd was good to the Jews because his paternal grandmother, whose name was Ifra Hormuz, had always spoken highly of them. Although Yazdegerd never met her because she passed away before he was worn, he’d heard many stories about her. In fact, Darmesteter quoted a story in the Talmud about how she once protected Rava, the Amora.
Darmesteter drew a parallel between Shushandukht and Queen Esther, who were both married to Persian kings and both descended from Jewish royalty—Esther from Shaul Hamelech, and Shushandukht from David Hamelech, through the chain of reish galusas.
Bahram V, Shashanduchat’s Son
Bahram V is remembered as one of the most benevolent kings in Persian history due to his cancellation of taxes and public debt. His encouragement of musicians and enjoyment of hunting were well documented. He is an important figure not just in Iran but in Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India and even Islamic literature. Coins bearing Bahram’s likeness have been found across Asia. He is revered in many historical tales and is the main character in many famous works of Persian literature.
According to a popular legend that appears in the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), Bahram suggested that the royal crown and attire be placed between two lions. Whoever succeeded in retrieving them by killing the two beasts would be recognized as the ruler of Iran. Bahram was successful and was crowned king.
The Burial Place of Queen Shushandukht and King Bahram V
Queen Shushandukht and King Bahram V are believed to be buried in the Tomb of Mordechai and Esther in Hamadan, which Persian Jews identify as Shushan.
Hamadan was the site of the summer residence of the Persian kings, to which the biblical Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai retired after the death of Ahasueros. It is the most important Jewish pilgrimage site in Iran.
The first documentary evidence of Jews visiting their graves is found in the diary of Benjamin of Tudela. who visited Hamadan in 1067 CE. He wrote that there were 50,000 Jews living there, and visitors would read the Megillah at the gravesite on Purim.
It is interesting to note that because of a safek that Hamadan is really Shushan and had a wall surrounding it, the Jews of Hamadan would read the Megillah on the 14th as well as the 15th of Adar. On the 15th they would read it without a brachah.
Today, the tomb of Mordechai and Esther consists of a simple brick structure crowned with a dome that was built some five to seven centuries ago.
Historian Ernst Herzfeld (1879–1948), whose mother was Jewish, was a professor of archaeology at the University of Berlin and later at Princeton University in New Jersey. Considered the leading authority on Persian history and archeology at the time, he discovered the burial site of King Cyrus the Great in the course of conducting excavations in Iran and Iraq.
Herzfeld dated the current structure marking the Tomb of Mordechai and Esther to the year 1602 CE, partly on account of its traditional Persian architectural style known as Emamzadeh. Herzfeld did not believe that Mordechai and Esther are interred there, and insisted that the burial site contains the bodies of Shushandukht and Bahram the V.
Until the 1970s, the shrine was surrounded by houses and accessible only via a narrow dirt alley. But in 1971, in honor of the national celebration of 2,500 years of the Iranian monarchy, the Iranian Jewish Society commissioned architect Yassi (Elias) Gabbay to undertake renovations.
After the houses around the tomb were purchased they were demolished, making the shrine more accessible from the main street. A subterranean chapel with a skylight in the shape of a Star of David was also built. Several rabbis are buried in the outer chamber, and there is access to a tunnel that is supposed to lead to Jerusalem. According to tradition, this tunnel will be used to reach Eretz Yisrael when Moshiach comes.
Some people believe that only Mordechai is buried in Hamadan and Esther is buried in a town called Baram in the Galil, as Esther had asked her son Darius to bury her there. There are also some who believe that Mordechai is buried with her.
While we do not know for sure which Jewish queen of Persia is interred in Hamadan, there is no question that a descendant of Jewish royalty, whether from King Shaul or King David, rests there.
Pull quote:
Both Shushandukht and Queen Esther were married to Persian kings and descended from Jewish royalty: Esther from Shaul Hamelech, and Shushandukht from David Hamelech.