# Tattenai

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'''Tattenai''' (or '''Tatnai''' or '''Sisinnes''';<ref>[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=3584099 1 Esdras 7 in the Revised Standard Version], accessed on 19 July 2025</ref> {{langx|he|תַּתְּנַי}} ''Tattǝnay''; {{langx|akk|𒋫𒀜𒄨𒉡}} ''Tâttannu'' or 𒋺𒄨𒉡 ''Tattannu'') was a [biblical](/source/biblical) character named as the [Persian](/source/Achaemenid_Empire) [governor](/source/Satrap) of the province west of the [Euphrates River](/source/Euphrates_River) during the time of [Zerubbabel](/source/Zerubbabel) and the reign of [Darius I](/source/Darius_I).<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9001332 "Tattenai", Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 4 September 2007]</ref>

In some English translations he was governor "on this side of the river";<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezra|5:3|KJ21}}: [21st Century King James Version](/source/21st_Century_King_James_Version)</ref> other translations place his province "beyond the river".<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezra|5:3|NKJV}}: [New King James Version](/source/New_King_James_Version)</ref> 

In the biblical narrative he questions King Darius in regard to the rebuilding of a temple for the Lord, God of [Israel](/source/Israel). He was generally friendly to the [Jews](/source/Jews). The rebuilding was being led by [Jeshua, son of Jozadak](/source/Joshua_the_High_Priest), and [Zerubbabel](/source/Zerubbabel), son of [Shealtiel](/source/Shealtiel), and had been issued by King [Cyrus I](/source/Cyrus_I). Tattenai wrote a letter to King Darius to ask if these statements were true, and then King Darius wrote a letter confirming the statements.<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezra|5:3,6}}, {{bibleverse-nb|Ezra|6:6,13}}</ref> In the letter, Darius asked that the people do everything they can to support this rebuilding financially, and that they do nothing to impede it, lest they suffer harsh punishment.

== Babylonian Cuneiform inscriptions ==
A number of cuneiform tablets bearing the name Tattenai have survived as part of what may have been a family archive. The tablet that links one member of this family to the Bible character is a promissory note dated to the 20th year of Darius I, 502 BC. It identifies a witness to the transaction as a servant of “''Tattannu, governor of Across-the-River''”.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/50-people-in-the-bible-confirmed-archaeologically/|title=53 People in the Bible Confirmed Archaeologically|last=Mykytiuk|first=Lawrence|date=4 December 2017|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref> The [clay tablet](/source/clay_tablet) can be dated to June 5, 502 [B.C.](/source/BCE)  exactly.<ref>Mykytiuk, Lawrence, Archaeology Confirms 3 More Bible People
''Biblical Archaeology Review'' ([Washington](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.)) 43.3 (May/June 2017): 48.</ref>

==See also==
*[List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources](/source/List_of_biblical_figures_identified_in_extra-biblical_sources)

==References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*David E. Suiter, "Tattenai," in David Noel Freedman, ed., Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), vol. 6, p. 336
*A. T. Olmstead, "Tattenai, Governor of ‘Beyond the River’", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 3 (1944): p. 46. 
*A drawing of the cuneiform text appears in [Arthur Ungnad](/source/Arthur_Ungnad), ''Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler Der Königlichen Museen Zu Berlin'' (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1907), vol. IV, p. 48, no. 152 (Vorderasiatische Abteilung Tontafel/VAT 43560). 

Category:Ancient Israel and Judah
Category:Hebrew Bible people
Category:Satraps of the Achaemenid Empire
Category:Ezra–Nehemiah
Category:6th-century BC Iranian people

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