ATTENTION EDITORS – IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Israel Antiquities Authority after publication issued a statement that the inscription bearing the name Darius the Great is not authentic. "Following the publication, the expert who participated in the excavation expedition last August, contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority. She is one of the few researchers specializing in ancient Aramaic inscriptions, and admitted demonstrating to a group of students the manner in which sherds were inscribed in ancient times. She then left the sherd on the site, which led to the erroneous identification. She was questioned and said this was done unintentionally and without malice." Saar Ganor a senior archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) speaks about the discovery of a 2,500-year-old stone with the inscription of the name of the Persian king Darius the Great, who was the father of King Ahasuerus from the Book of Esther that is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim, is the first of its kind uncovered in Israel, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, in Tel Lachish archaeological site in southern Israel, March 1, 2023. The stone was used in ancient times as a confirmation of delivery of goods in a warehouse during the Persian period. REUTERS/Amir Cohen REFILE 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, holds on to a life-saver after being thrown into the water by co-workers, at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, climbs over a fence, after being thrown into the water by co-workers at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, reacts after being thrown into the water by co-workers, at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, reacts after being thrown into the water by co-workers, at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, reacts after being thrown into the water by co-workers, at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, is thrown into water by co-workers at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, poses with a Neanderthal skull at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, swims after being thrown into the water by co-workers, at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, reacts after being thrown into the water by co-workers, at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, poses with a Neanderthal skull at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, hugs a co-worker at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, celebrates at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, celebrates with co-workers at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors, attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that underpin our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors attends a news conference at the Max-Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner 

Giorgi Bidzinashvili, an archaeologist and the dig team's scientific leader, demonstrates a tooth belonging to an early species of human, which was recovered from rock layers presumably dated to 1.8 million years old, near an excavation site in Dmanisi outside the village of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The discovery of the tooth provides yet more evidence that the mountainous south Caucasus area was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating out of Africa, experts said. REUTERS/David Chkhikvishvili 

Archaeologists work at a dig site following the discovery of a tooth belonging to an early species of human, which was recovered from rock layers presumably dated to 1.8 million years old, near an excavation site in Dmanisi outside the village of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The discovery of the tooth provides yet more evidence that the mountainous south Caucasus area was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating out of Africa, experts said. REUTERS/David Chkhikvishvili 

Giorgi Bidzinashvili, an archaeologist and the dig team's scientific leader, demonstrates a tooth belonging to an early species of human, which was recovered from rock layers presumably dated to 1.8 million years old, near an excavation site in Dmanisi outside the village of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The discovery of the tooth provides yet more evidence that the mountainous south Caucasus area was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating out of Africa, experts said. REUTERS/David Chkhikvishvili 

Giorgi Bidzinashvili, an archaeologist and the dig team's scientific leader, demonstrates a tooth belonging to an early species of human, which was recovered from rock layers presumably dated to 1.8 million years old, near an excavation site in Dmanisi outside the village of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The discovery of the tooth provides yet more evidence that the mountainous south Caucasus area was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating out of Africa, experts said. REUTERS/David Chkhikvishvili 

Journalists and archaeologists gather at a dig site following the discovery of a tooth belonging to an early species of human, which was recovered from rock layers presumably dated to 1.8 million years old, near an excavation site in Dmanisi outside the village of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The discovery of the tooth provides yet more evidence that the mountainous south Caucasus area was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating out of Africa, experts said. REUTERS/David Chkhikvishvili 

Archaeologists work at a dig site following the discovery of a tooth belonging to an early species of human, which was recovered from rock layers presumably dated to 1.8 million years old, near an excavation site in Dmanisi outside the village of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The discovery of the tooth provides yet more evidence that the mountainous south Caucasus area was likely one of the first places early humans settled after migrating out of Africa, experts said. REUTERS/David Chkhikvishvili 

Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, founder and director of the paleontology department at the Museum of Natural History of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, shows fossil remains of crocodiles that inhabited the planet seven million years ago, giving scientists clues about how modern day crocodiles, who live in freshwater ecosystems, come from the sea, in Lima, Peru May 16, 2022. Picture taken May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda 

Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, founder and director of the paleontology department at the Museum of Natural History of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, shows the fossil remains of a crocodile that inhabited the planet seven million years ago, giving scientists clues about how modern day crocodiles, who live in freshwater ecosystems, come from the sea, in Lima, Peru May 16, 2022. Picture taken May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda 

Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, founder and director of the paleontology department at the Museum of Natural History of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, shows the fossil remains of a crocodile that inhabited the planet seven million years ago, giving scientists clues about how modern day crocodiles, who live in freshwater ecosystems, come from the sea, in Lima, Peru May 16, 2022. Picture taken May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda 

A Basilosaurus whale fossil dating back 36 million years is displayed at the Museum of Natural History after its discovery in the Ocucaje desert, in Lima, Peru March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda 

A Basilosaurus whale fossil dating back 36 million years is displayed at the Museum of Natural History after its discovery in the Ocucaje desert, in Lima, Peru March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda 

A Basilosaurus whale fossil dating back 36 million years is displayed at the Museum of Natural History after its discovery in the Ocucaje desert, in Lima, Peru March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda 

Toy figures of people are seen in front of the displayed Discovery + logo, in this illustration taken January 20, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration