19. What role did the Persian empire play in Jewish history?

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When the Neo-Babylonian Empire was in control of Mesopotamia, King Nebuchadnezzar II conquered the Phoenicians and the state of Judah. The king took Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, two kings of Judah, and held them in Babylon to keep control over the Jews, and he forced a large part of them to relocate to Babylon. However, with the rise of a king loyal to the Assyrians, the Babylonians welcomed Cyrus the Conqueror of Persia into their city (1). "Cyrus believed that religious freedom was important to keeping his empire together, and he wanted each area (satrapy) of his empire to rule itself, so he let the Jews go home from Babylon (BA-bi-lon), ending the Babylonian Captivity." However, not all of the Jews chose to leave Babylon because many of them had been born there. They kept their Jewish beliefs, though, and thus there was a big Jewish community in the land that was Babylon (2). It was also under the Persian rule that the Jewish story of Purim occurred.

Izzy Andrews

Sources:

1) Ancient Origins Manual pages 101-102

2) http://quatr.us/religion/jews/persians.htm

For further reading, go to http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2836114/jewish/Under-Babylonian-and-Persian-Rule.htm.