Artaxerxes I (Longimanus)
Achaemenid king (accession 465/464, died 424/423 BC). The Artaxerxes of Ezra 7 and Nehemiah 2 is identified with him by most interpreters consulted; an identification of Ezra's Artaxerxes with Artaxerxes II is noted by Newton (Funccius) and is not adopted here.
Kingdom: Achaemenid Persian Empire
Names and aliases
- Artaxerxes Longimanus (English (from Greek))
- Artaxerxes (Hebrew/Aramaic) — Ezra 7:1
Reign
| Chronology model | Began | Ended | Stated length | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No chronology model (model-independent) | 465 BC – 464 BC | 424 BC – 423 BC | — | Babylonian (Nisan) reckoning: year 1 began 1 Nisan = 13 Apr 464; year 7 began 8 Apr 458; year 20 began 13 Apr 445 (Parker & Dubberstein table, p. 30). A Tishri-based Judean count is discussed under the Nehemiah event.Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (SAOC 24) |
Reign dates are model-dependent reconstructions. They are shown per model and never merged.
Researched events
- Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem, Nisan of his twentieth year (Neh 2:1–8)
- Artaxerxes' decree to Ezra in his seventh year (Ezra 7)
- Accusations to Ahasuerus and the Rehum–Shimshai letter to Artaxerxes; the city's rebuilding stopped (Ezra 4:6–23)
- Ezra's caravan from the Ahava to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:7–10; 8)
- The mixed-marriages crisis: Ezra's confession, the assembly in the rain (20/IX) and the commission (Ezra 9–10)
- Nehemiah arrives, inspects the walls by night and calls for rebuilding (Neh 2:9–20)
- Hanani's report at Susa and Nehemiah's prayer (Chislev, Artaxerxes's 20th year)
- The debt crisis and the remission of pledges (Neh 5:1–13)
- Plots against Nehemiah: Ono, the open letter, Shemaiah (Neh 6:1–14)
- Nehemiah's first governorship: twelve years, 20th–32nd year of Artaxerxes (445–433 BC)
- The wall completed on 25 Elul after fifty-two days (Neh 6:15–19)
- Jerusalem guarded under Hanani and Hananiah; the registry of the first returnees found (Neh 7:1–5)
- Ezra reads the Law on the first day of the seventh month (Neh 7:73b–8:12)
- The Feast of Booths kept "as it is written" (Neh 8:13–18)
- The sealed covenant to keep the law and support the temple (Neh 9:38–10:39)
- The fast of the twenty-fourth day and the Levites' confession (Neh 9)
- Nehemiah's return and second-term reforms (Neh 13:4–31)
- Jerusalem repopulated: one in ten by lot (Neh 11)
- The dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27–13:3)
- The priestly and Levitical registers to the days of Jaddua (Neh 12:1–26)
- Malachi's disputations with priests and people (Mal 1–4; undated, mid-fifth century BC)
Name occurrences (search leads)
Verses where the name or alias occurs in the WEB. Several are other people with the same name. See the entity resolutions in the related dossier.
Artaxerxes (14): Ezra 4:7, Ezra 4:8, Ezra 4:11, Ezra 4:23, Ezra 6:14, Ezra 7:1, Ezra 7:7, Ezra 7:11, Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:21, Ezra 8:1, Nehemiah 2:1, Nehemiah 5:14, Nehemiah 13:6