Ahasuerus

Ahasuerus (/əˌhæzjuˈɪərəs/ ə-HAZ-ew-EER-əs; Hebrew: אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, Modern: ʾĂḥašverōš, Tiberian: ʾĂḥašwērōš, commonly Achashverosh;[a] Koine Greek: Ἀσουήρος, romanized: Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; Latin: Assuerus in the Vulgate) is a name applied in the Hebrew Bible to three rulers of Ancient Persia and to a Babylonian official (or Median king) first appearing in the Tanakh in the Book of Esther and later in the Book of Tobit.

The Hebrew form is believed to have derived from the Old Persian name of Xerxes I, Xšayāršā (< xšaya 'king' + aršan 'male' > 'king of all male; Hero among Kings').

That became Babylonian Aḫšiyâršu (𒄴𒅆𒐊𒅈𒋗, aḫ-ši-ia-ar-šu) and then Akšîwâršu (𒀝𒅆𒄿𒈠𒅈𒍪, ak-ši-i-wa6-ar-šu) and was borrowed as Hebrew: אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, romanized: Ăḥašwēroš and thence into Latin as Ahasuerus, the form traditionally used in English Bibles.

[4] Some consider the narrative of Esther was to provide an aetiology for Purim, and that the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer to Xerxes I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BC.

[7] In the Septuagint, the Book of Esther refers to the king as 'Artaxerxes', who was the younger son of Xerxes (Ancient Greek: Ἀρταξέρξης).

[17] These derive from the Persian name Khshayarsha as do "Ahasuerus" ("(Arta)Xerxes") and the hypocorism "Arshu" for Artaxerxes II found on a contemporary inscription (LBAT 162[18]).

Western scholars have proposed that Achiachar is a variant form of the name "Cyaxares I of Media", who historically did destroy Nineveh, in 612 BC.

[28] This is the name by which Immanuel Kant refers to the Wandering Jew in The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God.