Jewish Persia

Assume that the Book of Esther is (somewhat) accurate, and there was a Persian king with a Jewish queen. What if Esther and Mordechai convinced Achashverosh (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes II, take your pick) to convert to Judaism?* What effect would a Jewish Persia have on Judaism as practiced at the Temple in Jerusalem? (Imagine it as similar to Khazaria, with mainly the royal family, nobility, and upper classes converting)
Would there be conflicts with the Zoroastrian priesthood? Would a Jewish-Zoroastrian syncretism develop? Would Judaism spread into India?
What happens when Alexander comes along?


*Alternatively, what if Cyrus converts, starting this much earlier? He could take advantage of the virtually unconditional support of the Jews to create a Jewish-Persian empire (based in Jerusalem?)
 
Assume that the Book of Esther is (somewhat) accurate, and there was a Persian king with a Jewish queen. What if Esther and Mordechai convinced Achashverosh (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes II, take your pick) to convert to Judaism?* What effect would a Jewish Persia have on Judaism as practiced at the Temple in Jerusalem? (Imagine it as similar to Khazaria, with mainly the royal family, nobility, and upper classes converting)
Would there be conflicts with the Zoroastrian priesthood? Would a Jewish-Zoroastrian syncretism develop? Would Judaism spread into India?
What happens when Alexander comes along?


*Alternatively, what if Cyrus converts, starting this much earlier? He could take advantage of the virtually unconditional support of the Jews to create a Jewish-Persian empire (based in Jerusalem?)


I’m not sure that there is anything historically accurate at all about the Book of Esther, which makes it difficult to justify your premise here, my friend ;)
 
The Book of Esther contradicts Herodotus in almost every way possible. Herodotus himself is the father of lies, of course, but it's something to think about.

There's also a big possibility that it's actually a story about Babylonians being oppressed under Persian rule, which the Jews adopted for their own religious traditions. "Mordechai" is etymologically linked to the Babylonian supreme god Marduk. And consider how uncannily similar "Esthar" is to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar...
 
Probably see Judaism take on Zoroastrian aspects and festivals. Just look at what happened to the European pagan religions and Christianity.
 
Whatever G-d and his rightly-guided prophets command is what would happen, since the premise relies on Jewish scriptures being historical fact and G-d being a real deity which intervenes in the affairs of the Israelites and those around them.
 
It doesnt. The premise is what if a Persian Shah had a Jewish wife and in various court intrigues ended up with a de facto alliance with the Jews and eventually converted to Judaism.

Some pretty small minded responses so far today.
 
Alternative POD, albeit one somewhat later on.

The Jewish Himyarite Kingdom in Southwestern Arabia and unites the peninsula instead of Mohammed. The Arab conquests still happen under a politically united entity, and are at least as successful in the east as they were IOTL. Persian ruling class converts to Judaism as they did with Islam IOTL.
 
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