In the summer of 484 BCE Babylonia revolted against Xerxes, king of
Persia. In recent years, a debate has crystallized around the nature of
Xerxes’ response to this challenge. This volume continues and expands
this debate. It collects nine essays on the cuneiform text corpus dated
to the period before, during and after the revolts. This material
enables the authors to evaluate the nature of Xerxes’ policies in the
sphere of society, science, religion, law, administration and economy
against the long-term history of the region. The contributions are by
Paul-Alain Beaulieu, Johannes Hackl, Michael Jursa, Karlheinz Kessler,
Mathieu Ossendrijver, Reinhard Pirngruber, Małgorzata Sandowicz and
Caroline Waerzeggers.