If ever there was a piece of poetry that spoke to the longings of Jewish people to return to their homeland it is found in Psalm 137:
‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst we hung up our harps.
For there they that led us captive asked of us for words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’
How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember you not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.’
It is no surprise that the activity of the Babylonians in Israel and Judah, as to dates and what actually happened, is a matter of debate. The debate is informed by the point of view of those debating, be it political, theological or archaeological. The important point is in regard to the evidence of the occupation of the land by the Jewish people. In this there is complete agreement. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a great desire to spread his kingdom across the Near and Middle East. To this end, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were brought into his orbit. He entered their lands and the greatest tragedy of his invasion was the destruction of Jerusalem in c.597 BCE. Tablets discovered in Iraq gave the evidence of Nebuchadnezzar’s actions:
The sixth year, in the month of Kislev, the king of Akkad mustered his troops and marched on Haiti. From Hatti, he dispatched his troops, and they went in the direction of the desert. They carried away astonishing riches, cattle and the gods of the many Arabs. In the month of Adar the king returned to his country.
The seventh year, in the month of Kislev, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched on Hatti, and set up his quarters facing the city of Yehud [Judah] in the month of Adar, the second day, lie took the city and captured the king. He installed there a king of his choice. He colle[cted] its massive tribute and went back to Babylon.
[The eighth] year [in the mon]th of Tebeth, the king of Akkad [marched] on Hatti as far as Carchemis. […] he […] not […]. In the month of Sebat, [the king] we[nt back to] his own country.’1
This, along with the excavation of ruins in Jerusalem, gives outstanding evidence of this period. Not for the first or the last time, the Jewish people were subjected to humiliation and suffered the brutality of an oppressor, their existence and way of life threatened. There is some dispute about whether the country was completely emptied of all the inhabitants. The records would indicate that there was a deportation of a sizeable number of the citizens to Babylon and Egypt but in the rural areas many did in fact remain. This remnant of the Jewish people continued the presence of the Jewish people in the area until their fellow Israelites returned to rebuild their homeland. The great Babylonian Empire went the way of all empires as eventually a greater one and its ruler arose. This was Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire. The Cyrus Cylinder held by the British Museum records details of his exploits. The pagan god Marduk was said to have called him to greatness:
‘Marduk surveyed and looked throughout the lands, searching for a righteous king, his favourite, He called out his name: Cyrus, king of Anšan; he pronounced his name to be king all over the world.’
The Cylinder records his version of the taking of Babylon by Cyrus and his relative Gubaru the Mede, thought to be Darius the Mede mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures, incorporating it into his Empire. Cyrus was kindly disposed to other religions and the record notes:
‘Agade, Ešnunna, Zamban, Me-Turnu, Der, as far as the region of Gutium, the sacred centers on the other side of the Tigris, whose sanctuaries had been abandoned for a long time, I returned the images of the gods, who had resided there, note to their places and I let them dwell in eternal abodes. I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings. In addition, at the command of Marduk, the great lord, I settled in their habitations, in pleasing abodes, the gods of Sumer and Akkad, whom Nabonidus, to the anger of the lord of the gods, had brought into Babylon.’
It was this generosity of spirit that allowed the exiles from Israel and Judah to return home to rebuild their Temple and once more settle in the land. The historic story and evidence accords closely to the Jews’ own Scriptural accounts. Over this period, the Jewish people experienced deportation and returns to their land three times. The first return to Judah for the Jews came shortly after the Persian conquest of Babylon in 538 BCE, led by Sheshbazzar. The second came 80 years later, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes I, 458 BCE led by Ezra. And the third came thirteen years after the second, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I, 444 BCE, led by Nehemiah. The yearning of these exiles to return home has been the yearning of the Jewish diaspora throughout the ages. Their return to the land allowed them to reconstruct the Temple and once more to establish themselves in the land where they belonged. When one considers the size of their territory and their lack of power in the wider strategy of the vast empires and countries around them, the question of why they suffered so much has to be asked. Jacob Hoschander wrote:
‘It was always the aim of intolerant rulers to compel the Jews to abandon their exclusive position, and this task could not be accomplished except by means of persecution.’
In the book of Esther found in the Jewish Scriptures, the Jewish scribe wrote of an enemy of his people:
‘And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus: ‘There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws; therefore it profiteth not the king to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.’
The Book of Esther is not without its own controversy among scholars from all schools of thought and indeed, from the Islamic point of view, Haman belongs to a very different time, if he existed at all, they would argue. Hoschander’s excellent work sets the book in its proper time and shows that the ‘intention of Haman was the destruction of an idea, not the individuals who adhered to it’. Hoschander rightly sets the issue in the context of a world in which the Jews were determined to remain steadfast to their religion and refused to accept the common practice of idolatry and pagan practice. Their Scriptures made the command of their God clear:
‘You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.’
The historic records show that Artaxerxes had attempted to enforce the worship of the Persian goddess Anahita throughout his kingdom. This was rejected by the Jewish people and indeed it has been the case throughout history for adherents to the Jewish faith, despite the fact that there were those who strayed from it and were rebuked by the religion’s prophets. Therefore, whilst the arguments about the book of Esther may rage, the book does bring out a reality. This is stated by Hoschander in his discussion on Purim, the festival that celebrates Esther:
‘This is exactly what our narrative meant to indicate and to impress upon the mind of the Jews that the danger they escaped is not a matter to be forgotten that their descendants and all such as joined themselves unto them, no matter what country they might live, would be exposed to the same danger [of persecution].’
As we will see, that danger was ever present down the ages and would be experienced in a horrific way in modern times.
Historically, the Jewish people now became a settled community after their return from exile. However, the tectonic plates of world power were shifting and there arose a new power, Alexander the Great. A young Macedonian, he was an unlikely conqueror of the world. Yet incredibly, his army marched forth to great triumph across the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering defeat. At the Battle of Gaugamela, in what is now northern Iraq, in 331 BCE, this youthful leader of the Greeks became master of Asia Minor and Pharaoh of Egypt and indeed King of Persia at the age of 25. Such an overwhelming crushing of his enemies could have signalled disaster for the tiny Jewish kingdom, yet he came and passed by Jerusalem and left the Jewish people untouched. He conquered across three continents and his power seemed invincible until in 323 BCE he was struck down with a fever and died aged 32. His death would be the beginning of a power struggle that would have the Jewish people at its centre until it would boil over in an attempt to destroy them.
The Empire that Alexander built was in danger of collapsing. But two generals emerged and agreed to divide it between them. The northern section of the empire was taken by Seleucus and became known as the Seleucid Dynasty. His centre of power was located in what is today Damascus. The southern section was in the hands of Ptolemy who centred himself in the city of Alexandria, which had been renamed in honour of Alexander. Judea stood on the frontier between them. For 130 years, the two new powers vied for influence over the territory. Finally, the Seleucid Empire became aggressive and invaded the Southern territory. Under Ptolemy’s rule, the Jewish people had full civil rights and they lived contentedly under that rule. They continued to practice their religion and worship in their Temple and were largely unaffected by Hellenism, which was thought to pollute traditional Judaism with Greek culture. However, this was all to change after the invasion. Antiochus Epiphanes, then king of the Seleucid Empire, styled himself a demi-god and sought to impose his Greek ideas on religion upon the Jews. This included the worship of Zeus. His aim was to destroy the Jewish people’s way of life and bring them more in line with Hellenism. This was complicated by a conflict between Hellenised Jews who embraced certain Greek ideas and the traditional Jews who resisted it. Antiochus was brutal and desecrated their holy Temple. Josephus captures the drama:
‘Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine’s flesh upon the altar.’
In Antiochus’ absence when he went to lead the Seleucid army against the Parthian empire, which was the most enduring of the empires of the ancient Near East, centred around modern Iran, he sent his general Lysias to deal with a revolt in Judea by the Maccabees. They were a Jewish band led by Judah Maccabee and his brothers for the liberation of Judea from foreign domination and the account of their exploits are found in the canon of Scripture in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic, and Russian Orthodox churches, but they are not recognized as canon by Protestants and Jews. Judah’s father, Matisyahu was the father of the Hasmonean dynasty to which the Macabees belonged. The rebels succeeded and eventually ended the oppression of Antiochus. He died in 167 BCE during his campaign and the Jewish people were left in peace to practice their religion. This allowed the victorious Hasmonean dynasty to rule semi-autonomously as an independent Jewish State. However, the Jewish people would not be left to remain in peace; another Empire would covet their territory and they once more would experience persecution and banishment from their own land.