The Babylonian captivity or the Babylonian captivity ( Heb. גָּלוּת בָּבֶל , Galut Bavel ) - a period in the history of the Jewish people from 597 to 539 BC. e. The collective name of a series of forced relocations to Babylonia of a significant part of the Jewish population of the Jewish kingdom during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II .
These exiles took place over 16 years (598-582 BC) and were punitive measures in response to anti-Babylonian uprisings in Judea . This period ended with the return of some Jews to Judea after the conquest of Babylonia by the Persian king Cyrus the Great .
The Babylonian captivity led to the emergence of a large Jewish diaspora [1] and became a turning point in the development of Jewish religious-national consciousness [2] .
Content
- 1 Babylonian exile and Persian rule
- 1.1 Babylonian captivity
- 1.2 The reign of Cyrus the Great
- 1.3 Timeline
- 1.3.1 Historical hypotheses about Purim events
- 2 See also
- 3 notes
- 4 References
- 5 Literature
Babylonian exile and Persian rule
Babylonian captivity
In an effort to secure the land bordering with Egypt , in July 586 BC. e. After another rebellion of Judea, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II captured and destroyed Jerusalem . At the same time, the Yahweh Temple ( First Temple ) was destroyed. The Babylonians removed a huge number of prisoners from the country, which amounted to about a tenth of the total population of the country. Among the captives was the king of Judea Zedekiah (Tsidkiyahu), who was trying to escape. Jewish statehood was destroyed, and a great captivity began for the Jews, which lasted almost 70 years [3] . As part of the New Babylonian kingdom, Jewish immigrants formed clan groups that did not forget about their homeland and maintained ties with it.
In 556 BC e. as a result of the conspiracy the Babylonian king became the Aramaic dignitary Nabonidus . His rule was marked by an attempt to weaken the influence of the civil-temple communities of Babylonia and make their Aramaic fellow tribesmen the main pillar of the state. For this purpose, the Harran Sin , especially revered by the Aramaeans, was nominated as his supreme state deity in his reign. The important New Year religious ritual, requiring the personal participation of the king, was ignored, since the king was out of Babylon for a long time, in the Arabian Teim (in the absence of the king his eldest son, Tsarevich Belshazzar ruled the country), cult images of the gods were transported from their sanctuaries to Babylon, the priesthood of the Babylonian temples was replaced new, loyal to Nabonid. Such a policy met with general hostility, and when the Persian king Cyrus II invaded Babylonia, the Babylonians greeted him as a liberator. The Babylonian kingdom was subjugated to the Persians and became part of the Achaemenid state , retaining its autonomy.
The reign of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II patronized the peoples of the Babylonian kingdom, seeking to enlist their support. In particular, in the first year of his reign, he issued an edict allowing Jews deported to Babylonia to return to their homeland. As follows from the Book of Ezra , after the edict of Cyrus, 42,360 Jews went to Judea. This made possible the restoration of the Jerusalem Temple ( Second Temple ), which was completed in 516 BC. e. Many Jews chose to stay in Mesopotamia .
Timeline
The following table shows the main dates and events of this period for biblical and modern historical dating.
| Jewish tradition | Historical chronology | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | from Creation (BC) | BC e. | Event |
| Nebuchadnezzar II (Nevuhadnetsar) becomes king of the Babylonian empire. | 3318 (442) | 605 [4] | Nebuchadnezzar II (Nevuhadnetsar) becomes king of the Babylonian empire. |
| Nebuchadnezzar defeats the king of Judea, Jehoiakim (Jehoiakim). | 3319 (441) | 603 [4] | Nebuchadnezzar defeats the king of Judea, Jehoiakim (Jehoiakim). |
| Nebuchadnezzar leads King Jehonia (Yehoyahin) captive along with the nobility of Judea. | 3327 (433) | 597 [4] | Nebuchadnezzar leads King Jehonia (Yehoyahin) captive along with the nobility of Judea. |
| Nebuchadnezzar destroys the Temple of Jerusalem and expels the Jews from the Land of Israel . | 3338 (422) | 586 [5] | Nebuchadnezzar destroys the Temple of Jerusalem and expels the Jews from the Land of Israel . |
| The death of Nebuchadnezzar . The throne is occupied by his son Amal-Marduk (Evel Merodah). | 3364 (396) | 562 | The death of Nebuchadnezzar . The throne is occupied by his son Amel-Marduk (Evel Merodah). |
| Belshazzar (Bachetzar), son of Amel-Marduk becomes king of the Babylonian empire. | 3386 (374) | OK. 550 | Belshazzar (Bel-sharr-utzur), the son of Nabonidus , becomes co-ruler of the Babylonian empire. |
| Belshazzar , who led the countdown “70 years of the reign of Babylon” from the ascension to the throne of Nebuchadnezzar, holds a celebration and dies. The Babylonian empire was destroyed by the Persians and Medes in the year of its seventieth anniversary. | 3389 (371) | 539 | The death of Belshazzar . |
| The beginning of the reign of Darius I. | 3389 (371) | ||
| 539 | Cyrus II the Great (Koresh) becomes king of the Babylonian Empire. Cyrus Declaration on the Restoration of the Temple of Jerusalem . The first caravan of immigrants, led by Zorubbabel (Zrubavel bin Shaltiel), reached the Land of Israel . The construction of the Second Temple has begun . However, work was soon suspended. | ||
| Cyrus II the Great (Koresh) becomes king of the Babylonian Empire. He orders the Jews to rebuild the Temple . The first caravan of immigrants, led by Zorubbabel (Zrubavel bin Shaltiel), reached the Land of Israel . This year 70 years have passed since the beginning of the exile that occurred during the reign of Joachim (Jehoiakim). The construction of the Second Temple has begun . However, work was soon suspended. | 3390 (370) | ||
| 522 | The beginning of the reign of Darius I. | ||
| 520 | Continuation of the restoration of the Second Temple . | ||
| 516 | The restoration of the Second Temple is completed . | ||
| Artaxerxes (Ahasuerus) becomes king. The restoration of the Jerusalem temple is suspended. | 3392 (368) | 486 | Xerxes I becomes king. |
| Ahasuerus in the third year of his reign decides that the appointed 70 years have already passed (since the exile of King Jehonia ; although, according to the calendar, only 67 years have passed, Ahasuerus, following an ancient custom, considers an incomplete year of reign for a whole year). | 3394 (366) | 483 | |
| Purim events. | 3405 (355) | 473 | |
| 465 | Artaxerxes I | ||
| 458 | The relocation of a large number of Babylonian Jews to Jerusalem, led by Ezra (Ezra). | ||
| 445 | The relocation of the Jews of Babylon to Jerusalem, led by Nehemiah (Nehemiah). | ||
| The construction of the fortress wall around Jerusalem is completed | |||
| Ahasuerus dies, and he is succeeded by Darius II , who in the Jewish tradition is considered the son of Esther . | 3406 (354) | 423 | Darius II becomes king. |
| Darius orders the renewal of the Temple. 70 years have passed since the destruction of Jerusalem. The prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled. | 3408 (352) | 420 | |
| The restoration of the Second Temple is completed | 3412 (348) | 416 | |
| The relocation of a large number of Babylonian Jews to Jerusalem, led by Ezra (Ezra). | 3413 (347) | ||
| The relocation of the Jews of Babylon to Jerusalem, led by Nehemiah (Nehemiah). | 3426 (334) | ||
| The construction of the fortress wall around Jerusalem is completed | 3428 (332) | ||
| 359 | Artaxerxes III | ||
| 336 | Darius III | ||
Historical Hypotheses on Purim Events
| Jewish tradition | Version I [6] | Version II [7] | Version III [8] | Version IV [9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artaxerxes ( Ahasuerus ) | 368 | Xerxes I | 486 | Artaxerxes I | 465 | Artaxerxes II | 404 | Artaxerxes III | 359 |
| Purim Events | 355 | 473 | 452 | 343 | |||||
| Darius | 354 | Darius II | 423 | Darius II | 423 | Darius III | 336 | ||
See also
- Assyrian captivity
- Mene, mene, tekel, uparsin
Notes
- ↑ Tyumenev, 1922 , p. 59-70.
- ↑ Shterenshis, 2008 , p. 116-117.
- ↑ Babylonian Captivity // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Shterenshis, 2008 , p. 111.
- ↑ Shterenshis, 2008 , p. 113.
- ↑ Julius Oppert (1825-1905) - the largest French assyrologist; Lopukhin A.P. , The Explanatory Bible . Stockholm, 1987, book 1, volume 3, p. 416; Dandamaev M. A., Lukonin V. G. "Culture and Economics of Ancient Iran." M .: Nauka, 1980, p. 22; Jewish Encyclopedia
- ↑ Greek translation of the Book of Esther in the Septuagint ; Josephus , “ Jewish Antiquities ” XI, 6: 1
- ↑ Abu l-Faraj bin Harun (Bar-Ebray); Jacob Hoschander is a modern researcher.
- ↑ Alexander Topaller, “The Mysteries of Biblical History.” Isradon Publishing House, 2006
Links
- The Babylonian captivity - article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
- Babylonian captivity
Literature
- Tyumenev A. I. Chapter 5. Babylonian captivity and the beginning of the diaspora // Jews in antiquity and the Middle Ages. - Petersburg: State Publishing House, 1922 .-- S. 59-70. - 400 p.
- Shterenshis M. Jews: the history of the nation. - Herzliya: Isradon, 2008 .-- 560 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-94467-064-9 .