The Bible is true: the edict of Cyrus
- Albert Benhamou
- Mar 2
- 4 min read
After the capture of Babylon, the Persian king Cyrus issued an edict that restored religious freedom to all people who had been subjected in the Babylonian empire. This proclamation of religious freedom, the first in the world according to the UN, is confirmed by the biblical account and by archaeological evidence.
Let us look at the continuation of the historical and biblical chronologies (for earlier dates, refer to the previous articles since Adam):
(539 BCE): fall of Babylon and death of Belshazzar
(539 BCE): Edict of Cyrus the Great
(537 BCE): return to Zion (i.e. Jerusalem) of a first wave of Judeans
The biblical text speaks of this proclamation as follows:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying: "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and He has charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Whosoever there is among you of all His people -- his God be with him -- let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, He is the God who is in Jerusalem. And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem." (Ezra, 1:1-4)
There was a proclamation that was inscribed on a clay cylinder discovered in the ruins of Babylon in 1878. This archaeological artifact is now in the British Museum. The text is a eulogy to Cyrus for his conquest of the Chaldean Empire and the great city of Babylon. But, more importantly, the cylinder also details how the conqueror restored peace and justice to the empire and abolished forced labor. It also praises Cyrus as a benefactor of the citizens of Babylon who improved their lives, repatriated displaced (exiled) peoples, and restored temples and shrines of worship throughout Mesopotamia and elsewhere in the empire. In other words, Cyrus is presented more as a liberator of peoples than as a conqueror of kingdoms. The cylinder is also considered the first declaration of human rights, some 2,000 years before the French Revolution. In 1971, his text was translated into all official languages of the United Nations, where a replica is on display.
Following this proclamation, there were certainly specific decrees for the displaced peoples who were freed, including the people of Judea who had been in exile in the Babylonian empire for 70 years. This is what the book of Ezra was referring to. And in fact, 2-3 years after this proclamation, part of the Judean people returned to Judea to settle there and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
Was there any historical evidence of this Return to Zion? Yes, and here is how. The central Persian power established "satrapies", that is to say regions each managed by a "satrap" (usually a prince or aristocrat close to power), to divide its new large empire. At its height, this vast empire was divided into 12 satrapies, a list of which was detailed by Herodotus in his Histories (Book 3, Chapters 90-94). Each satrapy was fragmented into provinces or "nations". For example, all of Egypt was the 6th satrapy, divided into only two provinces. The 5th satrapy was called "beyond the river" (Euphrates) and included the entire Levant. And so, this satrapy of the Levant was much more fragmented into many nations. One of these was Yehud, which bordered Idumea to the south (the ancient Judean city of Lachish was part of it), Samaria to the north, the province of Ashdod to the west (ancient Philistia), as well as the province of Sharon given to the Sidonians (Phoenicians) to build ports to defend themselves, and the Persian empire, against the Greek maritime power. And, to the east, Yehud was bordered by the provinces of Ammon and Moab. The province of Yehud was therefore small compared to what was once the kingdom of Judea. However, its capital remained Jerusalem. A province with such a name "Yehud" (which means Judea in Persian) would not have taken place without a return of the Judeans to their land! So a return to Zion had indeed been necessary, especially since the temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt there after a few years. Each province was led by a governor who reported to the satrap superior to him.
But the province of Yehud had something specific that was not implemented elsewhere in other provinces of the Persian Empire: the creation of a currency! Indeed, a coin of the drachma type issued by the Persian province of Yehud was discovered on a hill near Hebron. It represents a lion (symbol of Judea) killing a cow, as well as three letters in Aramaic (Yod-Heh-Dalet) forming the word YeHuD (there is no vowel in Hebrew). This is probably the first coin struck after the return to Zion. The most astonishing thing is that coins were issued in the small province of Yehud while the use of a currency had only begun in the Persian Empire a few years earlier after the conquest of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, because this kingdom had been credited by Herodotus (the "father of History") as having been the first nation to introduce a currency. After its conquest by the Persians, the concept of coinage was introduced in the Persian Empire, but Yehud was one of the first provinces to adopt it. The existence of a coin marked "Yehud" is also archaeological evidence of the existence of a province of that name at the time of the establishment of the Persian Empire.
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Albert Benhamou
Private tour guide in Israel
March 2025