The Liberation
The Longest Lie — Part 1 of 11 eFireTemple.com In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon without a battle. The gates opened. The city fell. And the first thing the most powerful man on earth did with his power was something no conqueror had ever done before. He let people go home. The Edict of Cyrus, recorded in the Book of Ezra and corroborated by the Cyrus Cylinder — the oldest known declaration of human rights — did not merely tolerate the conquered peoples. It actively restored them. Temples were rebuilt.
What this resource contributes
The Longest Lie — Part 1 of 11 eFireTemple.com In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon without a battle. The gates opened. The city fell. And the first thing the most powerful man on earth did with his power was something no conqueror had ever done before. He let people go home. The Edict of Cyrus, recorded in the Book of Ezra and corroborated by the Cyrus Cylinder — the oldest known declaration of human rights — did not merely tolerate the conquered peoples. It actively restored them. Temples were rebuilt. Exiled communities were returned to their homelands. Religious practices were protected by imperial decree. For the Jewish community, this was not an abstract policy. This was salvation. The exile and the rescue The Jewish people had been in Babylon since 586 BCE, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, razed Solomon's Temple, and carried the population into captivity.
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Primary sources detected
Cyrus Cylinder · Behistun Inscription · Hebrew Bible