Cyrus' Relationship with the History
of Jerusalem
Cyrus the Great is related to the history of Jerusalem.
He was the King of Persia from 557 - 529 B.C.E. During part of his reign,
he held the Jews
in Babylon until 537 B.C.E. Then, he let about 42,000 Jews return to Jerusalem,
for which he was admired. Also in 537 B.C.E., he allowed them to
rebuild the sacred Jerusalem Temple, which was a major monument in Jerusalem
that was destroyed in 586 B.C.E., along with the rest of the city.
When the building of the Temple was complete, the Second Temple Period
began. The reason this all happened, was because Cyrus let the Jews
return to Jerusalem. He, therefore, had a huge impact on Jerusalem.