Was the Bible Right?
c. 539 BCE·Exile & Return·Artifact

Cyrus Cylinder

Scripture: Ezra 1:1–4; Isaiah 44:28–45:1

The barrel-shaped clay Cyrus Cylinder covered in cuneiform, British Museum
The barrel-shaped clay Cyrus Cylinder covered in cuneiform, British Museum · Photo: Mike Peel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

The claim

Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Babylon and lets exiled Judeans return to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

What archaeology found

A clay cylinder found at Babylon in 1879 by Hormuzd Rassam, now in the British Museum. Cyrus describes taking Babylon and returning displaced peoples and their gods to their home sanctuaries.

Sources

  1. Irving Finkel (ed.), The Cyrus Cylinder: The King of Persia's Proclamation from Ancient Babylon, I.B. Tauris (2013)

Verdict history

  • SupportedInitial verdict.