Shushan: A lily, the Susa of Greek and Roman writers, once the capital of Elam.
It lay in the uplands of Susiana, on the east of the Tigris, about
150 miles to the north of the head of the Persian Gulf. It is the
modern Shush, on the northwest of Shuster. Once a magnificent city,
it is now an immense mass of ruins. Here Daniel saw one of his
visions
(Daniel 8:1) and here also Nehemiah
(Nehemiah 1:1)ff began his public
life. Most of the events recorded in the Book of Esther took place
here. Modern explorers have brought to light numerous relics, and the
ground-plan of the splendid palace of Shushan, one of the residences
of the great king, together with numerous specimens of ancient art,
which illustrate the statements of Scripture regarding it
(Daniel 8:2)
The great hall of this palace
(Esther 1:2)ff "consisted of several
magnificent groups of columns, together with a frontage of 343 feet 9
inches, and a depth of 244 feet. These groups were arranged into a
central phalanx of thirty-six columns (six rows of six each), flanked
on the west, north, and east by an equal number, disposed in double
rows of six each, and distant from them 64 feet 2 inches." The
inscriptions on the ruins represent that the palace was founded by
Darius and completed by Artaxerxes.
