the opening of this gigantic palace that the enormous and magnificent
feast of which we read in Esther i., was given by the Persian monarch,
who was its founder.

This new palace was built on a high platform of stone and brick, and the
view from its windows of the green plain, of the shining rivers, of the
gardens filled with fruit trees and flowers, and of the snow-clad
mountains in the distance, was magnificent in the extreme. In the centre
of the palace was a large hall filled with pillars, one of the finest
buildings in the world, and round this hall were built the grand
reception rooms of the king.

The ruins of Shushan, the City of Lilies, were discovered by Sir Fenwick
Williams in the year 1851, and the bases of the very pillars which
supported the roof of the great Rab-shakeh's splendid home may be seen
this very day on the plain between the two rivers.

But who was this Rab-shakeh, and how came he to live in the most
glorious palace in the world? He was a Jew, a foreigner, a descendant of
those Jews whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive, and carried into Assyria.
Yet, although one of an alien race, we find him in one of the highest
offices of the Persian court, namely, the office of Rab-shakeh.

This word Rab, so often found in the Bible, is a Chaldean word which
means Master. Thus, in the New Testament, we find the Jewish teachers
often addressed by the title Rabbi, Master. But the title Rab was also
used in speaking of the highest officials in an Eastern court. Three
such titles we find in the Bible:

Jer. xxxix. 13. RAB-SARIS, Master of the Eunuchs.