Salmiya

Cyrus II encouraged the Jews in Babylon to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, knowing well that imperial generosity will grant stability in the empire’s periphery. It is interesting to note that the Jews declined. Too comfortable had life been in the Diaspora, several generations under better circumstances than in Judah. It was Darius I (522-486 BCE) who ordered the construction of the temple, as a fortress, as a proper place for administration, and, of course, to worship Yahweh. Yehud was, after the conquest of Egypt, no longer a marginal province. Darius appointed Zerubbabel as local governor who was a Davidide. This period is covered in the Tanakh in the Books of Haggai, Zechariah 1-8, and Isaiah 56-66 (the Third Isaiah). Darius’ strong influence as a lawgiver who respected local laws (see, for instance, his carved-in-stone, multilingual inscriptions in Behistun ) expedited the canonization of Yehud’s religious texts, of course. For the short period between Cyrus and Darius, Cambyses ...

I have recently reported on my visit of Pir Bakran near Esfahan and its very old Jewish cemetery and a small but still active synagogue . Recent distressing strong rhetoric of the Iranian president but also the response of a highly-ranked Israeli politician (not to mention new remarks of outgoing Bush and presidential hopeful Obama ) augur badly . Remember, Jews and Persians have lived most of the time in harmony, even under Islamic rule. Presently, the Jewish community in Iran (of course less than 40'000) is the largest in the Middle East outside of Israel. Representing a minority (like Zoroastrians), a Jew is also a member of the Iranian Majlis. So, the abject rhetoric is definitely (and fortunately) not directed to Jews as a people or religious group. As a matter of fact the canonization of the Tanakh was accomplished under Persian rule, in particular in the first half of the two centuries of the Achaemenian Empire (539-330 BCE). Most interested in the millennia-old history of...