The Jewish Diaspora

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Return from Babylon under Cyrus

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538–445 BCEBabylonia (Mesopotamia) → Land of Israel

Why it happened

After conquering Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great issued an order permitting the Judean exiles to return and the Jerusalem Temple to be rebuilt.1 The evidence does not establish a general empire-wide policy of repatriating all deported peoples.

The migration

Ezra reports that Cyrus released the Temple vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar and delivered an inventory of them to Sheshbazzar.2 Ezra 2 gives 42,360 as the sum of the returning community.3 Ezra 6 records that the Temple was completed in the sixth year of Darius.4 Later missions followed: Ezra the scribe in 458 BCE5 and Nehemiah in 445 BCE.5 Archaeologically based studies estimate the Persian province of Yehud at 20,000–30,000 people6 and Jerusalem at no more than a few hundred.6 Those low estimates challenge the idea of a massive return.6

Sources

  1. B1906. Cyrus. The Jewish Encyclopedia (Funk & Wagnalls) link
  2. BHebrew Bible. 2000. Ezra 1. Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), JPS translation via Sefaria link
  3. BSchipper BU. 2019. A Concise History of Ancient Israel: From the Beginnings Through the Hellenistic Era. Eisenbrauns (Penn State University Press)
  4. B-400. Ezra 6 (Hebrew Bible / Tanakh). Hebrew Bible Ezra 6:15. link
  5. BBlenkinsopp J. 1988. Ezra–Nehemiah: A Commentary. Westminster John Knox Press (Old Testament Library) link
  6. AFinkelstein I. 2010. The Territorial Extent and Demography of Yehud/Judea in the Persian and Early Hellenistic Periods. Revue Biblique 117 39–54. link