mander, a skilful politician, and a wise statesman. Recognizing that he could hold in control the diverse and turbulent elements in his heterogeneous kingdom only as he kept them actively occupied, he at⚫ once entered upon a series of campaigns which in the end left him undisputed master of southwestern Asia. In 547 B.C., two years after he became king of Media, he crossed the Tigris and conquered Mesopotamia, which had been held for a time by the Babylonians. Apparently he did not assume the title King of Persia until 546. Appreciating the great strength of Babylon, he did not at first attempt its capture, but began at once by intrigue to pave the way for its ultimate overthrow. In 545 he set out on a western campaign against Croesus, the king of Lydia, the ancient rival of Media. After a quick and energetic campaign, Sardis, the rich Lydian capital, was captured, and Cyrus was free to advance against the opulent Greek colonies that lay along the eastern shores of the Ægean. These in rapid succession fell into his hands, so that by 538 B.C. he was in a position to advance with a large victorious army against the mistress of the lower Euphrates. VII. His Capture of Babylon. The campaigns of Cyrus were naturally watched with keen interest by the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. The songs in Isaiah 14, 15, and 211-10, and Jeremiah 5120-31, voice their joyous expectation of Babylon's impending humiliation. In a contemporary inscription Cyrus has given a vivid account of the fall of the capital. Early in October of the year 538 B.C. he assembled a large army on the northern borders of Babylonia. Here a battle was fought in which the Babylonians were completely defeated. The town of Sippar quickly surrendered to Cyrus's general, and two days later the Persian army entered Babylon. The record states that the gates of the mighty city were opened by its inhabitants, and Cyrus and his . followers were welcomed as deliverers. King Nabonidus was captured and banished to the distant province of Carmania, northeast of the Persian Gulf. In the words of Cyrus: "Peace he gave the town; peace he proclaimed to all the Babylonians." In the eyes of the conquered, he figured as the champion of their gods, whose images he restored to the capital city. The temples as well as the walls of Babylon were rebuilt, and the king publicly proclaimed himself a de- • voted worshipper of Marduk and Nebo, the chief gods of the Babylonians. Thus from the first the policy of Cyrus in treating conquered peoples was fundamentally different from that of the Babylonians and Assyrians. They had sought to establish their power by crushing the conquered rather than by furthering their well-being; but Cyrus, by his many acts of clemency, aimed to secure and hold their loyalty. VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under the harsh rule of Babylon. In one of his inscriptions he declares: "The gods whose sanctuaries from of old had lain in ruins I brought back again to their dwelling-places and caused them to reside there forever. All of the citizens of these lands I assembled and I restored them to their homes" (Cyrus Cyl., 31, 32). In the light of this statement it is clear that the Jews, in common with other captive peoples, were given full permission to return to their homes and to rebuild their ruined temple. The decree of Cyrus recorded in the Aramaic document preserved in Ezra 63-5 is apparently the Jewish version of the general decree which he issued. It is also possible that he aided the vassal peoples in rebuilding their sanctuaries; for such action was in perfect accord with his wise policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine. It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the early Jerusalem priestly , line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine. From Jeremiah 415 and Haggai 214 it appears that a rude altar had been built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586 B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 210-14). In the light, howof the oldest records it is elear that the revival of the Judean community in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins. ever, § XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE disap of the in re temple In the second year of Darius the king, in the first day of 1. Jethe sixth month, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the hovah's prophet: Speak to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor proval of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high delay priest, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, "This people buildsay: The time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of ing the Jehovah." Then this word of Jehovah came by Haggai (Hag. 11-6) the prophet: Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your own ceiled houses, while this temple lies in ruins? Now therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your past experiences. Ye sow much, but bring in little; ye eat, but ye do not have enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled; ye clothe yourselves, but not so as to be warm; and he who earneth wages, earneth wages in a bag with holes.' of the vailing ities Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your experiences. 2. The Go up to the mountains, and bring wood and rebuild the cause temple; then I will be pleased with it, and I will reveal my preglory,' saith Jehovah. Ye looked for much, and it came to calamlittle; and when ye brought it home, I blew upon it. Why?' (71) saith Jehovah of hosts. 'Because of my temple that lieth in ruins, while ye are running each to his own house. Therefore the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I have called forth a drought upon the land and upon the mountains, and upon the grain and the new wine and the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men and animals, and upon all the labor of the hands.' Initia work Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son 3. of Jehozadak the high priest, with all the rest of the people, tion of obeyed the command of Jehovah their God and the words the of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him (12-15) to them. The people also feared before Jehovah. And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so that they came and worked on the temple of Jehovah of hosts, their God, in the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. 4. Assurance of Jehovah's ap In the second year of Darius the king, on the twentyfirst day of the seventh month, this word from Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to Zerubbabel son of proval Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of (115b-25) Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying, 'Who is left among you that saw this temple in its former glory? and how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' is the oracle of Jehovah; 'and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land,' is the oracle of Jehovah, 'and work, for I am with you,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'and my spirit abideth in your midst; fear not.' 5. ises of 6. Past pollution of the nation (10-14) 7. Its cause For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Yet a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this temple with glory,' saith Jehovah of hosts. 'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. 'The later glory of this temple shall be greater than the former,' saith Jehovah of hosts; 'and in this place will I grant prosperity,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Ask of the priests a decision, saying, "If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy?" And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people and so is this nation before me, is the oracle of Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. And now, I pray you, think back from this day, before a the fail- stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah; how were ye? When ye came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when ye came to the wine vat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty. I smote with ure to rebuild the temple (15-19) blasting and with mildew and with hail all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, is the oracle of Jehovah. Think back from this day, think! Is the seed yet in the granary, yea, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you. World heaval This word of Jehovah came the second time to Haggai 8. in the twenty-fourth day of the month: Speak to Zerub- wide babel, governor of Judah, and say: 'I will shake the heavens upand the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of king- (20-22) doms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother. 'In that day,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'I will 9. Rôle take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' of Zeis Jehovah's oracle, 'and will make thee as a seal-ring, for bel I have chosen thee,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. (23) 10. In quiries the Persian officials At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them, and spoke thus to them, Who gave you permission to build this temple and to finish this wall? And (Ezra who are the builders who are carrying this through? But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they did not make them cease, until a report should come to Darius and a written decision concerning it be returned. 53-5) Result tigation Darius (61-5) Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was 11. made in the archives where the official documents from th Babylon had been deposited. And at Ecbatana, the royal invespalace in the province of Media, a roll was found, and in it by was thus written: A record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: 'Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire; its height shall be sixty cubits, and its breadth sixty cubits. It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber; and let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and |