Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read
Esther Before the King

Place

Susa (Shushan)

Gustave Dore, 19th century. Public domain.

Esther Before the King

Gustave Dore, 19th century. Public domain.

esthernehemiahpersia

Summary

The Persian winter capital where Esther was crowned, Haman built his gallows, and Nehemiah served the king's cup.

  • The whole book of Esther plays out at this one royal citadel, from Vashti's refusal to Purim's founding.
  • A Jewish orphan named Esther became queen here, and used that position to save her people from a planned genocide.
  • Haman built a gallows for Mordecai at Susa, and was hanged on it himself.
  • Nehemiah served as the king's cupbearer at this same citadel before he was sent to rebuild Jerusalem's walls.
  • Daniel places one of his visions here too, beside the Ulai Canal, generations before Esther's story.

On this page

In Scripture

Verses
20
Books
4
Open the Atlas→

Where it is

the country around it

Coordinates
32.1892° N, 48.2579° Eopen the Atlas →
Region
Persia
Kind of place
City
Susa (Shushan)30 km · 19 miN
  • Located: the gazetteer fixes one site
Susa (Shushan) and the country around it, about 110 km across. Every mark sits at the coordinates the gazetteer records for it.

Why Susa (Shushan) matters

Susa was a royal city of the Persian Empire, and its citadel is where the entire book of Esther takes place. The king held his throne there, and it was there that Queen Vashti refused to appear before him at a feast, costing her the crown. A Jewish orphan named Hadassah, raised by her cousin Mordecai and known by her Persian name Esther, was brought into the king's harem at Susa and made queen in Vashti's place. Neither the king nor his court knew she was Jewish. Haman, an official raised above every prince in the kingdom, secured a decree to destroy every Jew in the empire, and built a gallows at his own house meant for Mordecai. Mordecai sent Esther a charge that has outlived the book itself: "who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this." Esther answered by approaching the king unsummoned, at the risk of her life, and said, "if I perish, I perish." The king received her, and over two banquets Esther exposed Haman's plot. Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had built, and a counter-decree let the Jews defend themselves throughout the empire. The days of deliverance became Purim, a feast still kept every year, confirmed by both Mordecai's letters and Esther's own decree. Susa's citadel shows up twice more in Scripture, far from Esther's story. Nehemiah names it as the place he was serving as the king's cupbearer when news came of Jerusalem's broken walls, the moment that sent him to rebuild them. And Daniel places one of his visions here too, beside the Ulai Canal, generations before Esther ever lived.

What has been found

the evidence, and where it is disputed

The mound of Shush, identified with biblical Susa, was excavated by the French archaeologist Marcel Dieulafoy from 1884 to 1886. His dig uncovered the Apadana, the citadel's great columned audience hall built under Darius I, along with glazed brick friezes of royal archers and a bull-head column capital, pieces now held in the Louvre. The find confirmed the scale of the Achaemenid citadel behind the book of Esther's setting.

Esther, from Vashti's fall to the founding of Purim

Esther 1-9, in the order it happens

Read Esther 1-9, in the order it happens
  1. The king's throne, in the citadel of SusaEsther 1:2In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.
  2. Vashti refuses the king, and loses her crownEsther 1:12Queen Vashti, however, refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs. And the king became furious, and his anger burned within him.
  3. Esther is made queenEsther 2:17And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
  4. Haman secures a decree to destroy the JewsEsther 3:9If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out.
  5. "For such a time as this"Esther 4:14For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
  6. "If I perish, I perish"Esther 4:16Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!
  7. Esther approaches the king unsummonedEsther 5:2As soon as the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight. The king extended the gold scepter in his hand toward Esther, and she approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
  8. Haman is hanged on his own gallowsEsther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
  9. Purim is establishedEsther 9:32So Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, which were written into the record.

Every scene in this outline happens inside the same citadel at Susa: the throne room, the harem, the banquets, and the gallows Haman built for Mordecai and was hanged on himself.

Esther: the full study guide

What happened here, in order

in the order the canon tells it

  1. Xerxes reigns over 127 provinces from India to CushEsther 1:1This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
  2. Mordecai raises his orphaned cousin Hadassah, that is, EstherEsther 2:7And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her in as his own daughter.
  3. Haman is elevated above every prince in the kingdomEsther 3:1After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him to a position above all the princes who were with him.
  4. Haman builds a gallows for MordecaiEsther 5:14His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.
  5. Esther pleads for her life and her people'sEsther 7:4For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.
  6. Joy and gladness among the Jews in every provinceEsther 8:17In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
  7. The Jews in Susa keep the feast a day later than the provincesEsther 9:18The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.
  8. The feast is named PurimEsther 9:26Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,
  9. Nehemiah, serving in the citadel of Susa, hears of Jerusalem's wallsNehemiah 1:1These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
  10. Daniel's vision places him at the citadel of SusaDaniel 8:2And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.

Susa (Shushan) in Scripture

20 verses name it, or one of its other names (Susa), in 4 books

Open a book to read its mentions here. Text: Berean Standard Bible.

First namedEzra 4:9From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,Last namedDaniel 8:2And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.

Old TestamentNew Testamentsegment width = share of mentions

Old Testament4 books · 20 mentions

Ezra1 mention

All of Ezra→

Nehemiah1 mention

All of Nehemiah→

Esther17 mentions

9 further mentions in Esther, read them in the book.

All of Esther→

Daniel1 mention

All of Daniel→

Common questions

Why did Vashti's single refusal at a feast turn into an empire-wide decree?

The king's advisers argued that if word spread of a queen who defied the king openly, wives across the empire would use her as an example against their own husbands. The decree that followed was framed as a matter of order across all 127 provinces, not simply a punishment of one woman, which is why it was recorded in the laws of Persia and Media as unable to be repealed.

Why did Esther risk her life to approach the king rather than send a request through an official?

Persian law allowed anyone who approached the king unsummoned to be put to death unless he extended his scepter, and Esther had not been called to the king in thirty days. She judged the danger to her people too great to leave to an intermediary, and after three days of fasting she went herself, saying plainly that she would go even against the law and accept the risk.

What was Haman's plan against the Jews, and how did it come back on him?

Haman secured a decree to destroy every Jew in the empire on a single appointed day, and paid a large sum into the royal treasury to see it carried out. He also built a gallows at his own house meant for Mordecai. Esther exposed the plot to the king at a banquet, and Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had built, the same day the king's fury turned against him.

What does Purim celebrate, and why is it kept on different days in different places?

Purim celebrates the reversal recorded in Esther 9: the day set for the Jews' destruction became instead a day of victory and rest. The Jews in the outlying provinces fought on the thirteenth of the month and rested with feasting on the fourteenth, but the Jews in Susa itself were given a second day of fighting and so rested and feasted on the fifteenth, which is why the book records the feast confirmed for both days together.

Why do Nehemiah and Daniel each place a defining scene at this same citadel, decades apart from Esther and from each other?

Susa was a chief royal city of the Persian Empire, used by its kings as a residence, so any official or exile serving at the Persian court could find himself there. Nehemiah names it as the place he served as royal cupbearer when news of Jerusalem's broken walls reached him, and Daniel places a vision there beside the Ulai Canal, generations earlier. Scripture ties three different figures to the same citadel without treating that as a coincidence needing explanation.

Notable art

3 verified pieces depicting Susa (Shushan)

Queen Vashti Refuses to Obey Ahasuerus' Command
Queen Vashti Refuses to Obey Ahasuerus' CommandGustave Dore, 19th century. Public domain.
The Triumph of Mordecai
The Triumph of MordecaiGustave Dore, 19th century. Public domain.
Esther Accuses Haman
Esther Accuses HamanGustave Dore, 19th century. Public domain.

Sources cited

Every source behind MannaFest →

Keep studying

Keep this page