Babylonian Empire Archives - Page 2 of 3

Atossa II Shahbanu and Amestris III Shahbanu – The Princesses who were forced to marry their father and became Persian Queens

Monday, 15 September 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Atossa II Shahbanu and Amestris III Shahbanu were the daughters of King Artaxerxes II of the Achaemenid Empire. They were forced to marry their royal father and became queens.[1] The father-daughter marriage was highly unusual in the Achaemenid Empire.[2] However, King Artaxerxes II married them himself to ensure that his imperial bloodline would remain pure and [read more]

Stateira I Shahbanu – The powerful Queen of the Achaemenid Empire who was murdered by her mother-in-law

Monday, 14 July 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Stateira I Shahbanu was queen consort to King Artaxerxes II of the Achaemenid Empire. She was also the mother of Artaxerxes III of the Achaemenid Empire. She was very popular and influential during King Artaxerxes II’s reign. Stateira I Shahbanu was locked in a bitter power struggle with her mother-in-law, Parysatis I Shahbanu. This conflict [read more]

Parysatis I Shahbanu – The Babylonian Queen who had a large spy network

Monday, 9 June 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Parysatis I Shahbanu was one of the most powerful queens of the Achaemenid Empire.[1] She was the daughter of King Artaxerxes I. She was also the queen consort to her half-brother, King Darius II Ochus. She was the mother of King Artaxerxes II. Parysatis I Shahbanu received vast land holdings.[2] She also had a large spy [read more]

Damaspia Shahbanu – King Artaxerxes I of the Babylonian Empire’s elusive but powerful Persian Queen who was mentioned in the Bible

Wednesday, 19 March 2025, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Damaspia Shahbanu was the queen consort of King Artaxerxes I of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. She was also the mother of King Xerxes II. However, very little information is known about her. Her origins are elusive. The most famous reference to Damaspia Shahbanu comes from the Bible in Nehemiah 2:6.[1] While very little known facts about [read more]

Amestris Shahbanu – The tarnished reputation of King Xerxes I of the Babylonian Empire’s Queen

Saturday, 12 October 2024, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Amestris Shahbanu was one of the most powerful Persian Queens during the Babylonian Empire.[1] She was Queen to King Xerxes I and the mother of King Artaxerxes I. Greek historians, Herodotus and Ctesias, have portrayed her to be as a ruthless Queen who has an unquenchable thirst for blood.[2] However, modern historians believe this depiction of [read more]

Atossa Shahbanu – Princess, thrice a Queen, and Queen Mother of the first Persian Empire

Monday, 9 September 2024, 6:00 Lauralee Swann 0

Queen Atossa Shahbanu was the daughter of King Cyrus the Great. She was Queen to three Persian Kings: King Cambyses II, the False Smerdis, and King Darius the Great. She was also Queen Mother of King Xerxes I. Queen Atossa Shahbanu wielded immense political influence in the first Persian Empire. Thus, Queen Atossa Shahbanu played an [read more]