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Artaxerxes I (Latin; Greek Ἀρταξέρξης; corruption of Old Persian Artaxšacā, "whose reign is through arta (truth)")[1]) was king of the Persian Empire from 465 BC to 424 BC. He is the son of Xerxes I of Persia.
He is also surnamed μακρόχειρ "Macrocheir (Latin =Longimanus)", allegedly because his right hand was longer than his left. [2] Via the Georgian house of Pahlavuni, the Russian Rurikid family Dolgoruki claimed descent from him.
After Persia had been defeated at Eurymedon, military action between Greece and Persia had come to a standstill. When Artaxerxes I took power, he began a new tradition of drawing off the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused the Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus. After Cimon's failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens, Argos and Persia in 449 BC.
Artaxerxes I offered asylum to Themistocles, who was the winner of the Battle of Salamis, after Themistocles was ostracized from Athens.
In the first month of the seventh year (~ 457 BC) of Artaxerxes' reign he left Babylon. He traveled to Jerusalem and arrived there in the first day of the fifth month of the seventh year (Hebrew Calendar). He went there to teach Israel statutes and judgments.
When Artaxerxes was in Jerusalem he gave Ezra, his priest and scribe, a letter of decree. A copy of that latter can be found in Ezra 7:13-28. It entailed sending all the people of Israel, priests, and Levites in the realm of Artaxerxes to Jerusalem. They were to bring all the silver and gold that could be found in all the province of Babylon and freewill-offering of the people and priests with them. This was to go for rebuilding the temple of God in Jerusalem. In addition, gold and silver that the king of Jerusalem and his counsellors had freely offered to God was to go for this as well.
The rebuilding of Jerusalem was begun by Nehemiah, Artaxerxes' cupbearer "in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes" (Nehemiah 2:1) or 445 B.C.
By queen Damaspia