I thought Darius I took the throne around 465 which would make Daniel VERY old if what I am reading is correct. I am wondering, are Daniel and Esther contemporaries? I find that Xerxes (also called Ahasuerus in Daniel and Esther) was given the throne in 485 B.C, but what’s really confusing is that Daniel mentions in Chapter 9 that during the first year of Darius the I son of Xerxes, he receives the revelation of the 70 year desolation of Jerusalem. When I research the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, I find that Daniel was brought to Babylon in 605 B.C and that Darius the Mede conquered Babylon in 539 B.C… but what I am confused about is the reign of Xerxes, the husband of Esther. I am confused about the dates from my research and was hoping for some clarity. I am studying the timelines in the Bible regarding the lifetime of both Daniel and Esther for a school project and I’m hoping to get all my facts straight.