The Cyrus Cylinder and Ezra

March 1879, among the ruins of Babylon. Archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam is about to find a broken clay cylinder bearing a Persian king's name.

Scripture: Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra chapter one reports a proclamation by Cyrus, king of Persia, about Jerusalem and rebuilding the house of God. Does Cyrus appear outside the Bible?

Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC, adding it to his Persian Empire.

It was a foundation deposit: an object buried deliberately beneath a building, here the Ésagila, Babylon's main temple. Rassam gave conflicting accounts of the exact spot, so the precise findspot is uncertain.

The text praises Cyrus and his royal line. It says Marduk, the chief Babylonian god, chose him, and that Cyrus restored temples and repatriated displaced people.

Biblical scholars have traditionally seen this as supporting the policy of sending exiles home, which Ezra attributes to Cyrus.

Scripture: Neil MacGregor, a former director of the British Museum, put its significance this way.

Today it is held by the British Museum. In 1971 it went on display in Tehran, where it was promoted as the first charter of human rights, a reading most historians call rather anachronistic.

Not proof of Ezra, but a real king whose policy fits the setting. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today. Follow for more.