Sheshbazzar and Nehemiah: local administrative authority during the Persian period

This article explores the roles of Sheshbazzar and Nehemiah in the Jerusalem Temple against the fabric of the Persian imperial rule and points to links between biblical and Mesopotamian temple portrayals. Within this context Sheshbazzar, the peḥā, characterizes a first phase, in which the empire accommodated and embraced local forms of leadership. In the second phase, Nehemiah, the royal cupbearer who initiated and coordinated the building of the Jerusalem wall, represents a form of leadership that was subject to more intensive imperial authority.