538 BC–-515 · Middle East · Faith
Persian policy permitted Judean exiles to return and rebuild the Temple; work associated with Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel and Jeshua culminated in its dedication under Darius I.
Atlas dossier · Biblical & ClassicalFree device narration · synchronized English captions · transcript available
Why it matters
‘Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices.’ — Ezra 6:3 (KJV)
Persian policy permitted Judean exiles to return and rebuild the Temple; work associated with Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel and Jeshua culminated in its dedication under Darius I.
Cyrus II · Zerubbabel · Jeshua · Haggai · Zechariah · Darius I
Restoration re-established Jerusalem as a center of worship while the province of Yehud remained within the Persian Empire.
Supplemental archival visual
Cyrus Cylinder, detail is presented as a period visual interpretation or documentary record. It does not independently establish the dossier’s chronology; use the linked item page and source trail for its provenance and reuse terms.
Open the item page and rights record ↗Cyrus Cylinder, detail — Mike Peel; CC BY-SA 4.0; via British Museum
Interpretation note
This dossier distinguishes the event’s basic chronology from later arguments about meaning, responsibility and legacy. When comparing religious, national, Indigenous or scholarly interpretations, consult the primary and institutional sources above alongside peer-reviewed historical work.
Elsewhere in the world
490 BC–-479 · EuropeGreco-Persian WarsGreek coalitions resisted Achaemenid invasions in campaigns remembered at Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.
431 BC–-404 · EuropePeloponnesian WarAthens, Sparta and their alliances fought across the Greek world in a prolonged conflict marked by plague, revolt, naval warfare and the Sicilian disaster.
334 BC–-323 · GlobalWars of Alexander the GreatAlexander’s Macedonian army defeated Achaemenid Persia, besieged Tyre, entered Egypt and campaigned through Central Asia to the Indus.