The "Old Greek" Septuagint version of Esther translates the name Ahasuerus as "Artaxerxes", a Greek name derived from the Persian "Artaxšaϑra". Josephus too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks, and the Midrashic text "Esther Rabba" also makes the identification. Bar-Hebraeus identified Ahasuerus explicitly as Artaxerxes II; however, the names are not necessarily equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name "Artaxerxes" distinct from "Ahasuerus", and a direct Greek rendering of "Ahasuerus" is used by both Josephus and the Septuagint for occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also "Aršu", understood as a shortening of "Aḫšiyaršu" the Babylonian rendering of the Persian "Xšayārša" (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew "ʔaḥašwērōš" (Ahasuerus) is derived. Ctesias related that Artaxerxes II was also called "Arsicas" which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix "-ke" that is applied to shortened names. Deinon related that Artaxerxes II was also called "Oarses" which is also understood to be derived from "Xšayārša".