Part 2 — NOTE A. DARIUS, OR CYAXARES. [DANIEL V. 31.]

“And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.” In the first verse of the 9th chapter we are told that Darius was the son of Ahasuerus, the same Assuerus spoken of in the 15th verse of the 14th chapter of Tobit, the Astyages of Median history. Astyages was king of the Medes and reigned for 35 years from B.C. 593-558. His son Cyaxares [Josephus X. 11, 4.] succeeded him on the throne and his daughter Mandané married Cambyses of Persia. Their offspring was Cyrus the Great, who thus represented the Royal houses of both Media and Persia. Cyaxares therefore was the uncle of Cyrus. As a boy Cyrus was brought up by his grandfather and accompanied his uncle on shooting expeditions. A very strong attachment was formed with the latter so that in after years when Cyrus deposed his grandfather, in B.C. 558, he made his uncle the king of Media. Still later when Cyrus took Babylon and pacified the inhabitants he made his uncle Cyaxares king pro tem, who occupied the throne from B.C. 538-536. Cyrus of course continued to be, as the annalistic tablet relates, “the powerful king, the king of Babylon, ‘the king of Sumar and Akkad’—the king of the four zones.” But the laws of Persia as outlined by Herodotus [VII. 1. 2. and III. 66] made it necessary for him to appoint a successor before starting out to war, who would govern during his absence. So we find, “after Gobryas the governor of the country of Ararat and the soldiers of Cyrus, without fighting entered Babylon,” the country became submissive and attention could be directed elsewhere; that “when in the course of their march they arrived in the Median territory Cyrus turned off to visit Cyaxares; and after they had embraced each other, Cyrus first told Cyaxares that there were domestics and palaces set apart for him in Babylon, that when he came thither he might have what was his own to come to.” [Xenophon VIII.] It is hard to imagine how Cyrus could have paved the way more perfectly for the reign of his uncle Cyaxares in Babylon, whom we believe was Darius the Mede of Scripture. His reign was of short duration, but it came at a critical period in the history of the Jews. Only two years remained to complete the Babylonian captivity and Divine influences were at work for the return of the chosen people. [Daniel X. 13.] More than a century previous to that time the Scriptures had named Cyrus as the “shepherd,” [Isaiah XLV. 1, 3.] and when Cyrus placed his uncle temporarily on the throne of Babylon, a heavenly messenger was sent to Darius who “stood to confirm and strengthen him.” [Daniel XI. 1.] This gave the Jews a friend at court who paved the way for that celebrated emancipation proclamation which Cyrus issued on his return to Babylon. Naturally such a document belonged among the state papers and should have been found “in the house of the rolls where the treasures were laid up in Babylon,” but diligent search proved of no avail. [Ezra VI. 1.] However, as the document was dated in the time of Darius the Mede, official attention was next directed to “the palace that is in the province of the Medes,” where a careful search proved successful. [Ezra VI. 2.] There they found the original “roll” stowed away among the royal documents and forwarded it to King Darius Hystaspes. The king promptly ratified the decree of Cyrus and added, “Let it be done with speed.” The history of Darius the Mede is therefore one of peculiar interest in the life of the Jewish people.