The New Student's Reference Work/Susa

Susa (so͞o′sȧ), a city of Persia, the Shushan of Daniel and Esther, the modern Sus and one of the most important cities of the Old World. Its name and ground-plan are traced on Assyrian monuments of the reign of Asur-banipal about 600 B. C. At the time of Daniel's vision “at Shushan in the palace” it belonged to Babylon, but it was brought by Cyrus under Persian rule, and the later kings made it the capital and winter residence of the Persian empire, building a strong citadel and a treasure-house. Alexander is said to have found vast treasures here, and, though Babylon soon became the chief city, Susa still was very rich when it fell into the hands of Antigonus (315 B. C.). Later, its fortifications were destroyed by the Arabs. Its ruins, among them the palace described in Esther, cover about three square miles.