A historical shift occurs at Zech 9:1. The earlier narrative material purportedly came from the days of Zechariah son of Iddo during the reign of Darius I, around 520–518 BCE. But the tensions with the neighboring cities on the coast of the Levant and to the north reflected in Zechariah 9:1–11:3 gesture at the struggles in the “middle territory” during the reign of Artaxerxes I, ca. 464–455 BCE. Persia to the north and east and Egypt to the south were engaged in conflict after Egypt rebelled against Artaxerxes following the assassination of Xerxes I. The scope of the conflict expanded as the Greeks from the West joined their naval forces in the battles along the coast.