Persian King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) and Queen Esther

Immediately afterward, Haman joined the King for a second banquet by invitation of Queen Esther. During the banquet, the King asked Esther what she desired, even offering her up to half of his kingdom. Esther 7:3Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request;Esther reveals her Jewish identity and exposes Haman's plan to annihilate the Jews. The furious king orders Haman to hang on the very gallows he himself prepared for Mordechai. Ahasuerus issues a counter edict allowing the Jews to defend themselves. On the appointed day of the edict, the Jews obtain a great victory over their enemies. To this day the Jews annually celebrate it as the festival of Purim.Josephus, Antiquities 11.6.13“Mordecai also wrote to the Jews…to observe these days, and celebrate them as festivals; … the Jews still keep the aforementioned days, and call them days of Purim.”