Biblical Geography

Persia

Empire · Old Testament

Scripture first

Ezra 1:1-3 · WEBU

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Cyrus of Persia decrees the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the .

Cyrus took Babylon in 539 BC and reversed the imperial policy of deportation. Captive peoples were sent home with their gods, and Judah among them.

Under Persia was rebuilt, the walls restored under Nehemiah, and the law re-established under Ezra. Esther is set entirely inside the Persian court.

The empire of Cyrus that ended the exile and sent Judah home to rebuild the temple.

Biblical names
Persia, Paras, Elam (its older eastern neighbour, sometimes used for the region)

Identification note. The Persian empire stretched from Asia Minor to the Indus; its heartland overlaps modern Iran, but the empire included the lands of many modern states.

Persia ruled from the Iranian plateau, further east than any previous empire. Its road system, including the royal road from Susa to Sardis, held the largest empire the world had seen and carried Ezra's and Nehemiah's commissions to Jerusalem.

  • Cyrus of Persia decrees the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the house of the Lord.
  • Cyrus named as the Lord's anointed before he was born
  • Daniel prospers in the reign of Cyrus the Persian
  • The Persian court at Susa, setting of Esther
  • Nehemiah serves at Susa before rebuilding Jerusalem

What we know

Certain

  • Cyrus's conquest of Babylon and his policy of return are documented in the Cyrus Cylinder as well as in Ezra.
  • Scripture names Cyrus as the king who ended the exile, as Isaiah 44-45 foretold.