Purim (; Hebrew: ืคึผืึผืจึดืืโ Pûrîm "lots", from the word ืคืืจโ pur, translated as 'lot' in the Esther, perhaps related to Akkadian pลซru 'stone, urn'; also called the Festival of Lots) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an Achaemenid Persian Empire official who was planning to kill all the Jews, as recounted in the Book of Esther (ืืืืืช ืืกืชืจโ Megillat Ester in Hebrew; usually dated to the 5th century BC).
Haman was the royal vizier to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or Artaxerxes I of Persia, "Khshayarsha" and "Artakhsher" in Old Persian, respectively), and...