Cyrus II (the Great)
Achaemenid king; conquered Babylon in 539 BC.
Kingdom: Achaemenid Persian Empire
Names and aliases
- Cyrus (Hebrew (English form)) — Daniel 1:21
Reign
| Chronology model | Began | Ended | Stated length | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No chronology model (model-independent) | 539 BC | 530 BC | — | Cyrus's reign as king of Persia began c. 559 BC; this record covers only his rule over Babylon, which the Babylonian documents date by.Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (SAOC 24)ABC 7 (Nabonidus Chronicle) — English translation on Livius.org |
Reign dates are model-dependent reconstructions. They are shown per model and never merged.
Researched events
- Belshazzar slain; Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (Dan 5:30–31)
- Daniel continues until the first year of King Cyrus (Dan 1:21)
- Fall of Babylon to Cyrus (October 539 BC)
- Darius appoints 120 satraps and three chief officials (Dan 6:1–3, 28)
- Cyrus's proclamation permitting the return and the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 1; 6:3–5)
- Daniel reads Jeremiah's seventy years and prays (Dan 9:1–19)
- Daniel's vision by the Tigris in the third year of Cyrus (Dan 10:1–11:1)
- Cyrus returns the Temple vessels to Sheshbazzar; the first return (Ezra 1:5–11)
- The altar rebuilt in Jerusalem and the Feast of Booths kept (Ezra 3:1–7)
- The return of the exiles with Zerubbabel and Jeshua; the list of returnees (Ezra 2)
- The foundation of the Second Temple laid (Ezra 3:8–13)
- Opposition from the people of the land; the Temple work ceases until Darius's second year (Ezra 4:1–5, 24)