Shushandukht


Shushandukht was the wife of Yazdegerd I and mother of Bahram V. She was the daughter of a Jewish exilarch, Huna bar Nathan. She created the Jewish neighborhood in the city of Isfahan. She also established Jewish colonies in the cities of Shush and Shooshtar. The existence of a Jewish queen enhanced the life of Persian Jews and during this period Jewish exilarchs had regular attendance to the Shah's court. Some authors such as Ernst Herzfeld have speculated that the tomb of Esther and Mordecai in the city of Hamedan might be the tomb of Shushandukht.

In ''The Provincial Capitals of The Iranian Empire''

The Provincial Capitals of The Iranian Empire is a late 8th century Middle Persian book that mentions Shushandukht as founder of Shush and Shooshtar:
The book also mentions Narseh the son of the Jewish woman who founded Khwarezm.