114 
AHASUERUS. 
the founder of one particular dynasty. Ardashir Dirodaste 
otherwise Artaxerxes Longimanus, is spoken of by several na¬ 
tive writers, as having been extremely favourable to the Jewish 
people; and they give as a reason, his having married a princess 
of that race. He is called Ahasuerus, in the canonical book of 
Esther, and Artaxerxes in that of the Apocrypha. Ezra and 
Nehemiah also, mention the great benefactor of their nation, by 
the name of Artaxerxes. Sir John Malcolm makes an observa¬ 
tion which may tend to establishing the fact. He mentions, that 
no other prince of the direct Kaianian line, named Ardashir, or 
Artaxerxes, has ever been noticed by Oriental writers. And hence, 
the Persian historians make no small confusion, by omitting the 
distinctive reigns of his successors, Artaxerxes Mnemon, and 
Artaxerxes Ochus; and amassing the events of all three into 
the one of Artaxerxes Longimanus, or Ardashir Dirodaste: who, 
in that case, they might well designate as the sovereign with 
long hands ; since they had made him grasp so much more than 
his share. He reigned, however, according to Greek historians, 
full forty years. The rabbi, who attended me in the tomb, said, 
that according to his calculation, Esther and Mordecai had been 
dead about twenty-two centuries ; which certainly agrees better 
with the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus, than with that of his 
father Xerxes. Having seen the transcriptions made to my sa¬ 
tisfaction, I took my leave of the sepulchre and its venerable 
guardian, with due acknowledgment of thanks for the favour he 
had done me; but the favour seemed rather conferred on him : 
so much, to the desolate, does the appearance of sympathy over¬ 
balance the trouble of any service. 
On quitting the tomb, I traversed various other parts of the 
town in the same quarter, in search of some traces of its primeval 
