Monday, January 10, 2011

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Tomb of Esther and Mordecai

Dr Mariottini posted a link to a news article that describes plans some people have in Iran to destroy the tomb of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai in response to “alleged Israeli plans to damage the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.” Dr Mariottini further quoted:

Iranians believe that Esther and Mordecai were responsible for the massacre of 75 thousand Iranians in a single day, an event which the Jews celebrate at Purim. According to Iranians “the annual Jewish festival of Purim is celebrated by Jews to commemorate this ‘Iranian Holocaust.’”


This is the most interesting part of the post to me because I didn't know that there was even such a viewpoint in Iran existed regarding Purim. According to the book of Esther, those 75,000 citizens of the Persian Empire dided because the Jews defended themselves the day that it was decreed that all Jews were supposed to be killed. This was in the Persian Empire and both the attempted extermination and the Jews' defending themselves were decreed by King Xerxes - emperor of the Persian Empire. Goes to show that people can view the same incident 100% opposite.

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Tomb of Esther and Mordecai
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