Difference between revisions of "Shushan"

<p> Named from its abundant lilies. [[Capital]] of Elam, Cissia, or Susiana. Asshur-bani-pal, Esarhaddon's successor, in inscriptions says he took [[Shur]] and gives its ground plan sculptured ''(Layard Nin. 452)'' , 600 B.C. In Belshazzar's last year Daniel was at [[Shushan]] in the palace ''(Not Actually, But Transported In Spirit)'' when he saw the vision (&nbsp;Daniel 8:2). Cyrus' conquest transferred Shushan to Persia. [[Darius]] [[Hystaspes]] and the Achaemenian princes made it the capital. He founded the grand palace described in &nbsp;Esther 1:5-6. Near Persia, cooler than Babylon, and having excellent water, Shushan was a suitable metropolis of the [[Persian]] empire. The kings left it for [[Ecbatana]] or [[Persepolis]] only in the height of summer, and for [[Babylon]] in the depth of winter; here [[Alexander]] found twelve million and the regalia of the great king. After this it declined. Shushan lay between the two streams of the Eulaeus and the Shapur. [[Canals]] joined the two and so surrounded the citadel of Shushan. The Coprates or "river of Dizful" and the right branch of the Choaspes ("Kerkhah") flowed a few miles E. and W. of the city. Hence arose its famed fertility. </p> <p> The Kerkhah water was so excellent that it was carried about with the great king on his journeys. The ruins cover a space 6,000 ft. E. to W. by 4,500 from N. to S.; the circumference is about three miles. Spacious artificial mounds or platforms stand separated from one another. The western one, of earth, gravel, and sundried bricks, is smallest but loftiest, 119 ft. above the Shapur, an obtuse angled triangle, with corners rounded off and base facing E. The sides are so steep as to be unapproachable to horsemen except at three points; round the top is a space of 2,850 ft. This is probably the famous citadel ''(Herodot. 3:68; Polyb. 5:48, 14; [[Strabo]] 15:3, [[Section]] 2; Arrian Exp. Al. 3:16)'' . S.E. of this western platform is the great platform of 60 acres, the eastern face 3,000 ft. long. The third platform is N. of the other two, a square of 1,000 ft. each way. The three together form a lozenge pointing almost due N., 4,500 ft. long by 3,000 broad. E. of these is an irregular extensive but lower platform, as large as all the rest put together. Low mounds extend beyond to the Dizful river. </p> <p> Sir F. Williams of [[Kars]] discovered the bases of three columns of the palace in the E. of the lozenge, 27 ft. 6 in. from center to center, similar to the "great hall" (Chel Μinar ) at Persepolis. "Loftus" (Chaldaea Susiana ) ascertained next the position of all the 72 pillars of the original palace. On the bases of four columns were found trilingual inscriptions in the three languages used by the Achaemenian kings at Behistun. E. Norris deciphered the first part: "says Artaxerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of the country, king of the earth, son of king Darius ... Darius was the son of king [[Artaxerxes]] ... Artaxerxes was son of Xerxes ... Xerxes was son of king Darius ... Darius was the son of Hystaspes the Achaemenian ... Darius my ancestor anciently built the temple; afterward it was repaired by Artaxerxes my grandfather. By Ormuzd's aid I placed the effigies of Tanaites and [[Mithra]] in this temple. May Ormuzd, Tanaites, and Mithra protect me, with the other gods, and all that I have done ..." The dimensions correspond almost to the hall at Persepolis, Susa's palace, 345 by 244 ft. N. and S. </p> <p> As Darius Hystaspes commenced the [[Susa]] palace, so Xerxes built that at Persepolis. Both consisted of a central hall 200 ft. square, i.e. 40,000 square ft. in area, only inferior to the Karnak hall, 58,300 square ft.; with 36 columns more than 60 ft. high; the walls at Persepolis are 18 ft. thick; three great porches stood outside, 200 ft. wide by 65 deep, supported by 12 columns. These were the palace audience halls; the western porch for morning audience, the eastern for the afternoon. The principal porch, the throne room, was to the N. The central hall, called "temple" in the inscription as the king partook of the divine character, was used for such religious ceremonials as the king's coronation or enthroning, thanksgivings, and offerings to the gods for victories. It was unsuited for convivial festivities. "The king's gate" where [[Mordecai]] sat (&nbsp;Esther 2:21) was a square hall, 100 ft. each way, resting on four central pillars, 150 or 200 ft. in front of the northern portico. </p> <p> The inner court where Esther begged Ahasuerus' favor (&nbsp;Esther 5:1) was the space between the northern portico and "the king's gate"; the outer court was the space between the king's gate and the northern terrace wall. "The royal house" (&nbsp;Esther 1:9) and "the house of the women" (&nbsp;Esther 2:9; &nbsp;Esther 2:11) were behind the great hall toward the S. or between the great hall and the citadel, communicating with it by a bridge over the ravine. "In the court of the garden of the king's palace" in front of the eastern or western porch [[Ahasuerus]] "made a feast unto all the people ... seven days ... where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble" (&nbsp;Esther 1:5-6). The feast, was evidently out of doors, in tents put up in one of the palace courts. A tular or raised platform was above the palace roof, as at Persepolis, making the height above the artificial platform 120 ft., and above the plain, which was 60 ft. lower, 180 ft. The effect of such a stately central palace, elevated on a plateau, and rising above the outer subordinate buildings, interspersed with trees and shrubs, must have been magnificent. </p>

<p> 1. &nbsp;Psalm 60:1-12 , title; plural SHOSHANNIM, &nbsp;Psalm 45:1-14 &nbsp; 69:1-36 , titles; the name of a musical instrument. The word signifies a lily, or lilies; and if the instrument were so named from its similarity to this flower, we might understand the cymbal. Or it may denote a melody, so named for its pleasantness of the subject matter of the song, as in the title to &nbsp;Psalm 45:1-14 . </p> <p> 2. The capital city of Elam, or Persia, &nbsp;Genesis 14:1 &nbsp; Daniel 8:2 , on the river Ulai. It was the winter residence of the Persian kings, after Cyrus, &nbsp;Esther 1:5; and is deeply interesting as the scene of the wonderful events narrated in the book of Esther. Here Daniel had the vision of the ram and he-goat, in the third year of Belshazzar, &nbsp;Daniel 8:1-27 . Nehemiah was also at Shushan, when he obtained from Artaxerxes permission to return into Judea, and to repair the walls of Jerusalem, &nbsp;Nehemiah 1:1 . </p> <p> The present Shouster, the capital of Khusistan, in long. 49 East, lat. 32North, of the river Karun, a branch of the Shat-el-Arab, has been generally believed to be the ancient Shushan, the Susa of the Greeks; but Mr. Kinneir rather thinks the ruins about thirty-five miles west of Shouster are those of that ancient residence of royalty, "stretching not less, perhaps, then twelve miles from one extremity to the other. They occupy an immense space between the rivers Kerah and Abzal; and like the ruins of Ctesiphon, Babylon, and Kufa, consist of hillocks of earth and rubbish, covered with broken pieces of brick and colored tile. The largest is a mile in circumference, and nearly one hundred feet in height; another, not quite so high, is double the circuit. They are formed of clay and pieces of tile, with irregular layers of brick and mortar, five or six feet in thickness, to serve, as it should seem, as a kind of prop to the mass. Large blocks of marble, covered with hieroglyphics, are not unfrequently here discovered by the Arabs, when digging in search of hidden treasure; and at the foot of the most elevated of the pyramids (ruins) stands the tomb of Daniel, a small and apparently a modern building, erected on the spot where the relics of that prophet are believed to rest." Major Rennell coincides in the opinion that these ruins represent the ancient Susa. The desolation of the place, abandoned to beasts of prey, agrees with the prediction in &nbsp;Ezekiel 32:24 . </p> <p> The preceding statements are confirmed by Loftus, who with Col. Williams visited and in part explored these ruins in 1851-2. Shush, we say, abounds in lions, wolves, lynxes, jackals, boars, etc. During nine months of the year the country is burnt up by the most intense heat, though exceedingly rich and beautiful in the rainy season. His excavations in the great mound disclosed the ruins of a vast palace, commenced apparently by Darius, carried on by Xerxes, and finished by Artaxerxes Mnemon. It is altogether probable that this was the scene of the festival described in &nbsp;Esther 1:1-22 . The "pillars of marble" may perhaps be even now traced in the ruined colonnade forming a great central court; the huge columns were fluted and highly ornamented, and one of the capitals measured was twenty-eight feet high. </p>

<p> '''Shu'shan.''' ''(A Lily).'' [[Shushan]] , or [[Susa]] , is said to have received its name from the abundance of the lily, ('''shushan''' or '''shushanah''' ), in its neighborhood. It was originally the capital of the country called, in Scripture, [[Elam]] , and, by the classical writers, Susis or Susiana. In the time of Daniel, Susa was in the possession of the Babylonians, to whom Elam had probably passed at the division of the [[Assyrian]] empire, made by [[Cyaxares]] and Nabopolassar. &nbsp;Daniel 8:2. The conquest of Babylon by [[Cyrus]] transferred Susa to the Persian dominion; and it was not long before the Achaemenian princes determined to make it the capital of their whole empire, and the chief place of their own residence. </p> <p> According to some writers, the change was made by Cyrus; according to others, it had, at any rate, taken place before the death of Cambyses; but, according to the evidence of the place itself, and of the other Achaemenian monuments, it would seem, most probable, that the transfer was really the work of Darius Hystaspes. Nehemiah resided here. &nbsp;Nehemiah 1:1. Shushan was situated on the [[Ulai]] or Choaspes. It is identified with the modern ''Sus'' or ''Shush'' , its ruins are about three miles in circumference. </p> <p> (Here, have been found the remains of the great palace build by Darius, the father of Xerxes, in which, and the surrounding buildings, took place the scenes recorded in the life of Esther. The great central hall was 343 feet long by 244 feet wide. The king's gate, says Schaff, where Mordecai sat, "was probably a hall 100 feet square, 150 feet from the northern portico. Between these two was probably the inner court, where Esther appeared before the king." - Editor). </p>

<p> [[Shushan]] (''Shu'Shan'' ), ''A Lily.'' A celebrated city, called by the [[Greeks]] Susa, in the province of Elam. There are various accounts of its origin; it must have existed at an early period. The site of Shushan has been identified with the modern Shush or Sus, between the river Choaspes (''Kherkhah)'' and the Ulai (''Eulæus'' ). These are really two branches of the same river, which divides about 20 miles above Susa. Hence, Daniel might be standing on the "banks of the Ulai" and also "between Ulai." &nbsp;Daniel 8:2; &nbsp;Daniel 8:16. The site is nearly due east of Babylon and north of the Persian Gulf. The great central hall of the palace at Shushan was 343 feet long by 244 feet wide. The king's gate, where Mordecai sat, was probably a hall 100 feet square, 150 feet from the northern portico. Between these two was probably the inner court, where Esther appeared before the king. </p>