Apharsachites

The Apharsachites appear in two verses of Ezra as one of the colonist peoples settled west of the Euphrates ("beyond the River") under the Persian provincial system. They are named alongside the regional governor Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai during the inquiry into the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple under Darius.

In the Persian Provincial Correspondence

The Apharsachites are first introduced in the heading of the official letter forwarded to Darius about the temple work: "The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and his fellow slaves the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king" (Ezra 5:6). The label "fellow slaves" places them as junior officers or associated colonists under the satrapal administration of the trans-Euphrates province.

When Darius answers, his decree addresses the same group directly: "Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your⁺ fellow slaves the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, be⁺ far from there" (Ezra 6:6). The royal order tells them to stand off from the temple site and let the Jewish elders complete the building.

In both passages they function as part of the local provincial apparatus that initially questions, then by royal command must underwrite and protect, the rebuilding work in Jerusalem.