WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -The captivity formally ended in 538 bce, when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to Palestine.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the Bible (e.g., Ezra 1:1–4), Cyrus is famous for freeing the Jewish captives in Babylonia and allowing them to return to their homeland.

Detailed explanation-3: -After his army vanquished territories east of Persia, Cyrus set his sights on conquering the last remaining major power in the west of Asia-the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In 539 B.C., Persian forces invaded the wealthy, fertile empire and routed the Babylonian army to seize the strategic city of Opis on the Tigris River.

Detailed explanation-4: -Cyrus describes how he conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.-without a fight, or so he alleges-and then took its king, Nabonidus, prisoner, all with the aid of Marduk, the most important Babylonian god. Cyrus claims that Marduk deserted the Babylonians because Nabonidus had reduced the citizenry to servile status. Q.