The Cyrus Cylinder
'Just Stories?' #20
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The Persian emperor Cyrus defeated the empire of Babylon, and captured its capital city.
The book of Ezra in the Bible records a decree by Cyrus allowing the Jewish exiles in Babylon to return home and rebuild their temple (Ezra 1:1-3). This seemed a very unlikely decree for an ancient emperor to make. No king had ever done anything like it, and scholars were skeptical of its truth.
Then in 1879, archaeologist Hormuzd Rssam discovered the Cyrus cylinder. This records a decree that Cyrus issued allowing the displaced peoples of his empire to return to their homelands - exactly as the Bible said. They were to rebuild their temples and places of worship - so that the gods of the nations would bless him.
With Ian Cooper, pastor of Tollgate Evangelical Church in Reigate, UK.
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