Darius the Mede in Daniel
There’s some mystery surrounding who took over Babylon after defeating the Empire.
The ‘Old Greek’ version of Daniel adds to the mystery:
- 5:31 says it was a Mede named ArtaXerxes (not the famous Persian king who came much later).
- Events in chapter 6 and 9:1-2 says it was a Mede named Darius.
- 1:21, 6:28, 10:1, 11:1 says it was a Persian named Cyrus.
Also, the Hebrew Masoretic version of Daniel (and Theodotion’s Greek translation of it) says it was a Mede named Darius and then Cyrus the Persian.
Secular history doesn’t know of any Mede called ArtaXerxes or Darius, and says it was only Cyrus (Cyrus the Great) who took over Babylon.
Can we explain this discrepancy?
Yes, possibly.
There is a compelling argument that the Medes were not a conquered people, but joint partners, sometimes senior partners, with the Persians in the Empire. It is argued that when Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, he was co-ruling with the last Median king (his own father-in-law), an elderly man named Cyaxares II.
If this old Median king was also known as Darius and, as the ‘Old Greek’ version of Daniel says, was also called ArtaXerxes, then this would explain the discrepancy. Indeed, Daniel 6:1 says he was ‘advanced in years’.
It was common for kings to have many names, including official ‘throne names’ as well as their real birth names. Darius means ‘posessing goodness’, while ArtaXerxes means something like ‘reign through truth’. He may have had other names in different languages, such as Cyaxares.
The problem is that some historical records include Cyaxeres but others do not. This had led some to argue that Cyaxeres may not have existed. However, if he was merely an elderly co-ruler with Cyrus of Persia, then he may have been downplayed or even removed from some records for propaganda purposes to make Cyrus look more powerful and to make the Medes look weaker.
You can read more about this theory from the book Darius the Mede: A Reappraisal, discussed at this blog post.