Persia and the Bible

Customer Reviews

• A great book!

  Persia and the Bible is a great book that is general and easy to read but yet very detailed and loaded with info. Another thing that makes this book so valuable is that not many books are written on this very subject in relation to the Bible. Overall I give it five stars. It is a must read and a very good study that will help you gain a better perspective of the region at the time and how it effected the writers of the Bible. Another good book that makes a good companion to this book is "Isaac's Empire: Ancient Persia's Forgotten Identity".

• Yamauchi is amazing!

  If one is working on exegesis or interpretation of the Biblical books of Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, Ezra, or on the later parts of Kings and Chronicles (or something around the captivity and beyond..like Isaiah or Jeremiah), this book is a definite "must have" for growing in your understanding of the Medes and Persians and their role in biblical history.
  
  Without simply giving a lengthy summary of the entire book, it simply looks at the people, places and religious context of the Medes and Persians in the ANE:
  
  The book is roughly broken into 3 sections, with the first section examining the life and events associated around Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes I, utilizing a full range of archeological and textual historical sources (including the Bible) to build a credible understanding of these individuals.
  
  The second section is a treatment of the places Susa, Exbatana, Parsargadae and Persepolis. The examination of these places happens in like manner to the previously addressed persons.
  
  The third section examines Persia's interaction with the Greek empire, Zoroastrianism, the identification of the Magi and Mithraism.
  
  Yamauchi's work is extremely scholarly, exemplifying a man who is an obvious expert in both the languages and historical sources in his respective field (a Christian who teaches at a secular institution and writes this kind of work HAS to be exceedingly competent). It's a far cry from much of the 'MA/PhD writing outside his area of expertise' historical/biblical hack-and-slash work that is popularly cited on many internet sources. Yamauchi actually reads the source works, knows the languages, teaches on these subjects in the academy and has studied these things to the point of being able to write authoritatively...and it comes out. I absolutely LOVED 'Persia and the Bible'; I've rarely had an academic book of this nature accompany me to both work and bed.
  
  Yamauchi writes as a 'no excuses' Christian scholar, working with a Bible that he considers to be a reputable historical source that can sit alongside, and often above, other less historically substantiated works. He also deals with many of the Biblical "problems" associated with the subject matter (like the identity of Darius the Mede, the question of Greek loan words in Daniel, the supposed influence of Zoroastrianism and/or Mithraism on early Judaism, the Magi's appearance at Christ's Birth, etc.) and comes out with very well documented and coherent defenses of his position, most of which are thoroughly supportive of the Biblical record.
  
  I would actually like to see Yamauchi address much more of the desperate revisionist history and militant atheist hack-and-slash-jobs on some of these subjects (like Mithraic influence on Judaism/Christianity), but he's not an apologist. Interestingly though, a guy who is a renowned expert on this stuff essentially dismisses such ideas as "overvalued" (466) and says straightly "Most scholars conclude that Mithraism, which developed at the earliest late in the first century A.D., could not have influence nascent Christianity" (518).
  
  Because of the historical helps to exegesis, the proposed solutions to various interpretive/problem issues, the wonderful pictures of places and artifacts, the decent writing style, the meticulous and painstaking scholarship and the apologetic assistance against much of the "internet intelligencia" that have somehow duped much of the adolescent world into believing that "Wikipedia is an acceptable substitute for a brain", "Persia and the Bible" is on the top of the "must have" book list.
  
  HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended. Fantastic work.

• In The Name of Iran

  This book begins by Mede tribes and their contribution to Iran, and begins to move toward founder of Iran Cyrus the Great that his father was a Persian King and mother was a Mede princess. Cyrus the Great incepted Achamenian or Hakhamaneshian dynasty, who absorbed Mighty Mede kingdom, as well as, ended tyranny of Babylonian king.
  
  Once, Cyrus the Great passed away, his kingdom was divided between his two sons, Cambyses and Badria. The author did a great job in illustrating how Cambyses was killed. Apparently when he went to Egypt to suppress the revolt, one bull which was an totem for Egyptian, Cambyses stepped the bull on thigh area, and Cambyses accidentally slit his own thigh and perhaps god seek vengeance against him. The author also explored possibility of suicide, but it failed. The author presented interesting view that yes he was accidentally slit his own thigh and it was gingering killed him because Daruis the Great successor of him never said anything about suicide. About the idea that he stabbed the bull on thigh would be false because Egyptian priest resented him and wanted to tarnish his reputation, so the priest fabricated a story about stabbing a bull. Cambyses was well advised to conduct himself like Cyrus the Great and respect others faith in order to gain respect among people.
  
  The author did not go in detail to explain how Cambyses plotted to murder his brother. However, it was apparent that a magi imposer to his place. It was Daruis the Great found-out that Cambyses passed away, and the person was an imposer and was not the king and Daruis from a royal family staged a coup with other military officers and rushed to bed room while he was napping, and finished him on spot which he deserved. The imposer was a horrible man who was committing injustice to people.
  
  Eventually, Daruis became the king and expanded domain of Persia. However, he failed in Greece during Marathon war which is well known for everyone. After him Xerxes ascended the throne. Eventually, it was Artaxerxes who became king of Iran. The last few chapter of the book discussed Zoroastrian, and Mithra faiths.
  
  The author used archeology, as well as, holy Bible to prepare this book, it is well recommended to others to read it.
  

• Reference shelf - must have

  This is an excellant book for Old Testament background that involves the Persian empire, its leaders and geographic locations. Also Persian involvement with the Medes, Babylonians, and Greeks. Includes Subject Index, Places Index, Scripture Verse Index. Very helpful.

• Scholarly Histarcheologic Treatise & Lively Biblical Account

  "Yamauchi attempts to explain Persian history and culture in the context of biblical accounts, enlarging upon this connection in brief discussions of numerous topics." Paula Nielson, Loyola Marymount Univ.,CA
  
  Persia in the TaNaKh:
  Of all of the empires that affected the people of Israel, the Persians performed a rather unique act by permitting the return of the people of the kingdom of Judah to Israel, 70 years after their exile by the Babylonians. At its peak, the Persian empire reached from the India Ocean to Greece, and from the Caspian Sea to Aswan south of Egypt. The Persians are believed to have originated in Media, today's western Iran and southern Azerbaijan, settling on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf. From a Biblical perspective, the Persians were a link in the chain of human empires that molded Bible History - the Ancient Egyptians from which the Exodus occurred, the Assyrians who conquered the "Lost Ten Tribes," the Babylonians who conquered the southern Kingdom of Judah , the Persians who permitted the return to Jerusalem,
  
  Ancient Persians:
  The Persians are Aryans, who spoke one of Indo-European languages. Two lines developed from an early leader, in the time of the decline of the Assyrian Empire - one line continued in Persia. Cyrus II, united the nation, and conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylonia. His son, Cambyses, took Egypt, which was later ruled by Darius. Persepolis (where Shah M. R. Bahlevy gave a great banquet, to world dignitary thirty years ago), was an ancient city of Persia that served as a ceremonial capital for Darius and his successors.
  
  Book Plan:
  Professor Yamauchi's approach in writings on archaeology and the Bible furnishes us with a carefully documented study, exposing out clearly the controversial points where OT scholars differ in interpretation. Dr. Yamauchi maintained a well balanced presentation of the evidence, for which he is accredited by experts to "has rightly earned an international reputation." The author introduction to the Persian people who made up the old cosmopolitan federation and the rulers, Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes, who played a dominant role in the history of those days.
  
  Criteria of excellence:
  Yamauchi is so thorough in his study, applying few criteria has proven the point. After a thorough and orderly exposition that he logically pursued on the Medes Cyrus, all the way to Susa, he covered the geography of Ecbatana, Pasargadae, and Persepolis.
  Zoroastrianism, the Magi, and Mithraicism are very informative. Even subjects that cause lots of doubt like the Jewish temple, and military settlement in Aswan, is very well treated.
  
  Expert Evaluation:
  "Dr. Yamauchi has followed the methods outlined in his The Stones and the Scriptures [1972] and is fully aware of the limitation of the evidence at places in a history that has close links also with his Greece and Babylon [1976]. Archaeology provides vital, if sometimes scanty, clues that enable the reader and teacher to understand the background of the relevant biblical passages with their distinctive theological viewpoint. This book will enable us all to relate the appropriate and abiding message of the Bible to our own world with its similar problems. ...No authoritative and dependable survey of the whole subject has been written especially for students of the Bible in recent years, so Dr. Yamauchi's book is to be welcomed.
  (D. WISEMAN, Emeritus Professor of Assyriology, U. of London)
  
  "In scholarship relating to ancient Iran one must derive to control all the sources as well as secondary literature, since in the field of ancient Iran the paucity of written sources is so great... Because of the lack of sources in this area speculation is rife, and if two specialists on ancient Iran agree it is a rare occurrence. (R. N. Frye, "Remarks on Kingship in Ancient Iran,")