King Yazdgird and the Exilarch’s Daughter
The city of Susa and Šūštar were built by Šīšīnduxt, the wife of Yazdgird, the son of Šābuhr, since she was the daughter of Reš Galut [exilarch, lit., head of the diaspora—Ed.], the king of the Jews and also was the mother of Wahrām Gōr. [ . . . ]
The city of Gay was built by the accursed Alexander, the son of Philip. The dwelling of the Jews was there. During the reign of Yazdgird, the son of Šābuhr, [the Jews] were led there by the request of Šīšīnduxt who was his wife.
Notes
Words in brackets appear in the original translation unless otherwise noted.
Credits
Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr 47, 53, from Šahrestānīhā-ī Ērānšahr: A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic and History, trans. and commentary by Touraj Daryaee (Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 2002), p. 20. Used with permission of the publisher.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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In addition to numerous appearances in rabbinic literature, the exilarch and his family are mentioned in a short Middle Persian compilation called Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr (The Provincial Capitals of Iran), a geography organized according to a set of four regions. The work is dated to the sixth-century CE reign of King Khosrow I and preserves a tradition that the early fifth-century king Yazdgird’s queen was none other than the Jewish exilarch’s daughter, who is also, anachronistically, credited with founding the ancient Iranian cities of Susa and Šūštar. The tradition of a Sasanian king marrying a Jewish “princess” is almost certainly manufactured, although the reason for the invented tradition is difficult to determine. Also notable is the mention of an ancient community of Jews dwelling in the city of Isfahan, referred to in the passage by its ancient name, Gay.
