Customer Reviews

Persia and the Bible

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Edwin Yamaucht is true to his usual excellence in delivering to the lay reader an intelligent and thoroughly researched treatise of a highly academic topic. Those who would disapprove of this book seem to be incensed that it is not written with the slant or emphasis that they desire. The book's success lies in the fact that it is not another tendentious portrayal of some assumed relationship between Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Such a relationship will likely never be scientifically proven, and therefore does not deserve a place among critical scholastic works. Nor does Dr. Yamaucht's book seek to advance this or that theory on biblical authorship or some other such spurious conjecture.

The primary aim of the work is to describe the nation of Persia of the biblical era, focusing almost exclusively on the Archaemenid kings of the late biblical period with which the vast majority of Persia-focused biblical literature concerns itself. The method of description is basically historical, with most of the chapters of the book devoted to one particular Archaemenid king, or a particular Persian city described mainly as it existed in the Archaemenid period. There are final chapters on Zoroastrianism, the Magi, and Mithraism that are intended to give a basic introduction to these subjects that are often of interest to the biblical enthusiasts. Though these final chapters are extensive and thorough, anyone desiring more on these subjects would be best advised to buy books devoted exclusively to them.

As a historian, Dr. Yamaucht makes extensive use of biblical and Greek sources, though he refers consistently to the occasional Syriac source as well. Dr. Yamaucht's choice of sources is certainly the result of their higher quality as historical references. One of the most impressive qualities of his treatement is a near complete lack of bias concerning the bible. If one pays close attention, one might be able to discern a secular perspective, but Dr. Yamaucht treats the bible as the excellent source of history that it is, and the book should be entirely inoffensive to religious or secular readers, excepting perhaps those minimalist readers who dare not challenge their fabulous impression of the bible as a grand deception.

My hat is off to Edwin Yamaucht for his achievement. His writing is intelligent, yet clear and concise, and he has truly succeeded in informing the lay reader about what the sources have to say about the Persian empire that they have read about in the bible.

The author thoroughly covers the subject, with a willingness to deal with liberal view points that would undermine the Bible. The book is well-researched, and has many illustrations. The author appeals to the facts of history and not emotional arguments to support the Bible. His representation of view-points that would undermine the Bible is masterfully done, with no rancour or appeal to "blind faith." As a reader who is just getting familiar with Greek and Persian history, this book was easy to follow. My compliments to the author.

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.

"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,")

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.

"Persia and the Bible" could more accurately be retitled, "Ancient Persia: Its Development and Relations With Its Neighbors," since it spends a lot of space on Egypt and Greece, and more particularly on the writings of Herodotus. You may find out more than you ever wanted to know about the battles between Persians and Greeks!

As far as the Bible is concerned, the authors seem primarily interested in the historicity of Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel. There is also a minimalist analysis of Zoroastrianism, which concentrates on scholarly disputes about when Zoroaster lived and the lateness of the texts we now have. All in all, the approach on this argument reminds me very much of the line taken on the Bible by recent minimalists/revisionists! A chapter on the Magi closes the book out, focusing on Matthew's Infancy narrative.

I was really hoping for more information on Persian cultural and literary traditions and how they interacted with the traditions of the exiled Judeans, but larger questions are not really dealt with.

All this being said, however, the book contains information you won't find elsewhere, the many photographs are fascinating, and the book as book is of excellent quality.

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.

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".

I got this book in hopes of learning more about the influence that ancient Persian culture (e.g., Zoroastrianism) may have had on postexilic Judaism -- unfortunately, I was quickly disappointed.

While the author does a decent job of covering ancient Persian history, a surprisingly small portion of the book is actually devoted to discussing what religious/philosophical views may have passed from Persian culture into Judaism, and therefore the Bible. I was especially surprised at how sparse the (-single-) chapter on Zoroastrianism was!

Since this book does not thoroughly address the subject that most people would be getting it for, based on its title, I wouldn't recommend spending money on it. It's a shame too. This is a very important topic and there is a real deficiency of serious books on the subject... I can only hope that someone will soon produce a book that does it justice.

Extreemely prjudicial view is projected in this book, unscholarly and nonfactual. Waste of time to read it.
Books like this one make trees cry