Pastor R. Hammond

In Haggai 1:1, the Bible records that "word word of the LORD" came to Haggai "in the second year of Darius the king ..."

Darius is the Persian King who God used to protect his people and to fund the Temple restoration (Ezra 6:8).

I recently had the opportunity to view this artifact from the 5th century BC, dating to within 100 years of the reign of Darius, which is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It has an inscription that mentions Darius, his son, Xerxes I (called Ahasuerus in Ezra 4:6), and his grandson, Artaxerxes I (mentioned in Ezra 4:7).

We don't need archaeology to confirm the truth of the Bible. But be encouraged that archaelogy does indeed confirm the truth of the Bible!