Artystone

{{Short description|A daughter of Cyrus the Great}}

{{For|the isopod genus|Cymothoidae}}

Artystone ({{langx|peo|*R̥tastūnā}};Smith 1849, p 368; Schmitt 1987, p. 665. {{langx|grc|Ἀρτυστώνη}} {{Transliteration|grc|Artustṓnē}}; Elamite {{Transliteration|elx|Ir-taš-du-na}}, {{Transliteration|elx|Ir-da-iš-du-na}}) also known as Irtašduna in the Fortification tablets, was a Achaemenid princess, daughter of king Cyrus the Great, and sister of Cambyses II, Atossa and Smerdis.Schmitt 1987. Along with Atossa and her niece Parmys, Artystone married king Darius I.{{Cite book |last=Herodotus |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.88.2 |title=The Histories |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1921 |isbn=978-0674991309 |volume=2 |location=Cambridge |pages=3.88.2–3 |translator-last=Godley |translator-first=A. D |access-date=2023-06-15 }} It is argued that by marrying the female offspring of Cyrus, the founder of the empire, the new king aimed to prevent his rule from being contested,Brosius 1998, pp. 60, 62. since Darius himself was not of royal blood.Ussher, 1650, Annals of the World, 1007

Artystone and Darius had at least two sons, Arsames and Gobryas, and a daughter, Artazostre. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Artystone was Darius' favourite wife.{{Cite book |last=Herodotus |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0028%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D89%3Asection%3D1 |title=The Histories |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1921 |isbn=978-0674991316 |volume=2 |location=Cambridge |pages=7.69–72 |translator-last=Godley |translator-first=A. D |quote="...Artystone daughter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved best of his wives; he had an image made of her of hammered gold. " |access-date=2023-06-15}}

According to James Ussher, Artystone may have been another name for the biblical queen Esther, since Herodotus also called her Artystone the Virgin.Ussher, 1650, Annals of the World, 1036 While Esther is commonly known as the wife of Xerxes or Artaxerxes, the Book of Esther lists her cousin Mordecai as present during Nebuchadnezzar's capture of JeconiahEsther 2:5-6 in 599 BC, and Josephus referencing him as a contemporary of Darius,[http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-11.htm Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11:4:9] making it impossible for Mordecai to be alive during Xerxes' or Artexerxes' reigns.