Susa, the capital city of the Persian Empire, where Esther lived and the events of her book took place (Esth. 1:2; Dan. 8:2).
Also known as Shushan · Susanchite
Susa, also known as Shushan, was the capital city of the Persian Empire during the reigns of Darius I, Xerxes I (Ahasuerus), and Artaxerxes I. It is mentioned in the books of Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, and Ezra. Nehemiah served as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in Susa (Neh. 1:1). The events of the Book of Esther took place primarily in Susa, where Esther became queen and saved her people from Haman's plot (Esth. 1-9). Daniel's vision of the ram and the goat took place while he was in Susa (Dan. 8:2). Susa is also mentioned in Ezra 4:9 among the places from which people were sent to hinder the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The city was located in modern-day southwestern Iran and served as a royal residence and administrative center for the Persian kings.
Approximate location: 32.189, 48.258 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
(a lily), 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. (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. 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. (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. (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.”—ED.)
(Esther 11:3; 16:18) [Shushan, Or Susa].
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
20 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H7800
From 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,
These 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,
In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.
At the end of this time, in the garden court of the royal palace, the king held a seven-day feast for all the people in the citadel of Susa, from the least to the greatest.
and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the kingʼs eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments.
Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.
When the kingʼs command and edict had been proclaimed, many young women gathered at the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. Esther was also taken to the palace and placed under the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.
The couriers left, spurred on by the kingʼs command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.
“Go 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!”
The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,
On that day the number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king,
who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Hamanʼs ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”
Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out todayʼs edict, and may the bodies of Hamanʼs ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.
On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
The 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.
And 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.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.