Jews under Persian rule

In 536 BC, the Babylonian Empire was taken over by Cyrus, the king of the Persians. Cyrus believed that religious freedom was important to keeping his empire together, and he wanted each area (satrapy) of his empire to rule itself, so he let the Jews go home from Babylon (BA-bi-lon), ending the Babylonian Captivity. Of course the Jews were very happy. Not all the Jews chose to leave Babylon: by this time a lot of the Babylonian Jews had been born in Babylon, and people had businesses and houses and their kids were in school, so many of them decided to stay. Many of them continued to be Jewish, though, and for hundreds of years there was a big Jewish community in Babylon.

The remains of the Second Temple in Jerusalem

But other Jews, including Nehemiah (neh-huh-MY-uh), did choose to go back to Israel. When Nehemiah and his followers got back to Israel, they were upset to find that the many Jews who were still living in Israel were not following the Law strictly. Even worse, many of these Jews had married Canaanites or Ammonites or Arabians! So the Babylonian Jews worked hard to force all these other Jews to obey the Law better, because they were afraid God would be angry with them. And they rebuilt their Temple in Jerusalem (the Second Temple).

This was the time of Esther (ESS-ter), a Jewish woman from Babylon who married a Persian king and was able to save the other Babylonian Jews from being killed by Haman (HEY-man), the king's advisor. This is the basis of the Jewish holiday called Purim (POOH-rim).

At this time also was Jonah. God told Jonah (according to the Bible) to go and preach about Judaism in the Persian city of Nineveh, but Jonah didn't want to go there. Instead he got on a ship going from Joppa (in Israel) to Tarshish. After God got mad at him, Jonah did go preach in Nineveh (near Babylon). This shows that Jews travelled all around Western Asia at this time.

To buy an excellent Child's Bible, click on the picture (this is the one
I learned from, and the one I give my own kids):

Alexander and the Maccabees
Main Judaism page
Main religion page

Educating children is a tough job – let Kidipede make education easier with free online homework help. Homeschooling? Kidipede will also fit right into your homeschool material. And Kidipede’s great for unschoolers, who can surf independently. With Kidipede’s homework or homeschool material, education can be fun instead of a chore!

Teachers - check out our social studies lesson plans for middle school ancient history! Kidipede covers Egyptian Art, the Middle Ages, Ancient Rome, Native Americans and much more. Instant museum in your classroom.

Parents and grandparents – find the perfect gift for your middle school kid in Kidipede’s store! Kidipede has history books and other educational gifts for kids, from Halloween costumes to CD’s and DVD’s to art supplies. Now that’s good parenting! Pay securely through Amazon.

Teens – Kidipede has the best homework help around. Find out about ancient Greek music, medieval clothing fashions, and Native American technology trends. What was trendy clothing in ancient China? Who were the most popular girls in ancient Rome? How did teens decorate their rooms in ancient India?