Kurash (Cyrus) the Great, The Decree of Return for the Jews 539 BC
Kurash (Cyrus) the Great
The Decree of Return for the Jews
539 BC
From The Kurash Prism:
I am Kurash [ "Cyrus" ], King of the World, Great King, Legitimate King, King
of Babilani, King of Kiengir and Akkade, King of the four rims of the earth, Son
of Kanbujiya, Great King, King of Hakhamanish, Grandson of Kurash, Great king,
King of Hakhamanish, descendant of Chishpish, Great king, King of Hakhamanish,
of a family which always exercised kingship; whose rule Bel and Nebo love, whom
they want as king to please their hearts. When I entered Babilani as a friend
and when I established the seat of the government in the palace of the ruler under
jubilation and rejoicing, Marduk, the great lord, induced the magnanimous inhabitants
of Babilani to love me, and I was daily endeavoring to worship him.... As to the
region from as far as Assura and Susa, Akkade, Eshnunna, the towns Zamban, Me-turnu,
Der as well as the region of the Gutians, I returned to these sacred cities on
the other side of the Tigris the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long
time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent
sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned them to
their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the command of Marduk, the great
lord, all the gods of Kiengir and Akkade whom Nabonidus had brought into Babilani
to the anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former temples, the places
which make them happy.
From The Hebrew Bible, Ezra 1:1-8:
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of
the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this
proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: "Thus
says Cyrus, king of Persia: "All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of
heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem,
which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people,
let him go up, and may his God be with him! Let everyone who has survived, in
whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with
silver, gold, and goods, together with free will offerings for the house of God
in Jerusalem.' Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and
Levites---everyone, that is, whom God had inspired to do so---prepared to go up
to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors gave them help
in every way, with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, and with many precious gifts
besides all their free-will offerings. King Cyrus, too, had the utensils of the
house of the Lord brought forth which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from Jerusalem
and placed in the house of his god. Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought forth
by the treasurer Mithredath, and counted out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
Source:
From: Charles F. Horne, ed., The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East,
(New York: Parke, Austin, & Lipscomb, 1917), Vol. I: Babylonia and Assyria, pp.
460-462; The Bible (Douai-Rheims Version), (Baltimore: John Murphy Co., 1914).
