Post-Exilic Israel and the Persian Empire

The Post-Exilic Period and the Rise of the Persian Empire

Second Isaiah and the Monotheistic God

• Monotheistic God as Universal: Second Isaiah presents a monotheistic God who is not merely the God of the nation of Israel, but is regarded as a universal, supreme God of all people.
• Return to Jerusalem and Cyrus: This text promises God would return His people to Jerusalem, with Cyrus, the King of Persia, serving as God's agent for this task.
• Dating the Text: The reference to Cyrus allows the text to be dated to circa 539-538 BCE (referred to as "March to January" in the transcript for dating the Isaiah scroll, but the Cyrus reference dates the text itself to when he allowed the return). In $539 \text{ BCE}$, Cyrus allowed the Hebrew people to return to Jerusalem with Persian assistance and supported the building of a new temple.

The Post-Exilic Period: A Transformed Israel

• Radical Shift for Israel: The Israel of the post-exilic period is radically different from the Israel that preceded it.
  • Loss of State Structures: There are no structures of state: no king, no independent administration, no independent armies.
  • Temple State Status: Politically, Israel is reduced to an insignificant temple state within the vast Persian Empire, and later, the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great.
• Emergence of "Jews" and "Judaism": Historians refer to the Hebrews living after the completion of the Second Temple as "Jews." From this point, the terms "Jews" and "Judaism" are used for their religion.
  • Loose Term: Judaism was, and still is, a very loose term covering many different interpretations, theology, and law.
• Editing and Compiling Texts: This period is crucial for the development of Hebrew biblical texts, characterized by extensive editing and compiling.
  • Priests as Central Figures: Priests are central figures in the community, interpreting these texts.
  • Emphasis on Law: Religious thinkers argued that God destroyed the kingdoms of Israel and Judah before the Babylonian exile because the people failed to observe religious laws. Therefore, a precise adherence to the law became paramount.

The Isaiah Scroll and Textual Preservation

• Discovery and Dating: The Isaiah scroll, discovered in a Dead Sea cave in $1947$, dates from roughly $150-100 \text{ BCE}$ (the transcript mentions "March to January" which is likely a slip for a date range, the Dead Sea Scrolls overall are dated from third century BCE to first century CE, with Isaiah from second to first century BCE).
• Earliest Surviving Hebrew Bible Text: It is the earliest surviving textual fragment of the Hebrew Bible and is $1,000$ years older than the next surviving copy.
• Textual Fidelity: Remarkably, subsequent copies of the Hebrew Bible, even those $1,000$ years later, are almost textually identical, differing only in minor details.
  • Implication: This indicates meticulous copying and careful redaction, reflecting a period where getting the text right was crucial; it was no longer being modified but precisely copied.
• Age of Editors and Theologians: The post-exilic period was not an age of prophets but of editors, theologians, scholars, and lawyers who interpreted and precisely recorded the text.
• Maintaining Identity Abroad: With Jewish communities living in Jerusalem, Egypt, and elsewhere, standardizing both texts and practices helped maintain a common identity.

Shifting Role of Women in Post-Exilic Judaism

• Priestly Influence: Priests made influential decisions, such as determining Jewish identity through the mother (matrilineal descent).
  • Crucial Role for Women: This decision gave women a crucial role in defining who belongs to the community.
• Restricted Public Role: At the same time, the public role of women in organized worship became restricted.
  • Temple Entry Restrictions: Women were not allowed to enter the most sacred portions of the Temple during major sacrifices, and other restrictions on their religious life emerged.
• Enduring Attitudes: Many of these attitudes regarding women's place in religious and family life, rooted in the Hebrew Bible, have survived in religious traditions to this day.

The Purpose of the Hebrew Bible

• Not a Historical Narration: The Hebrew Bible is not intended to provide a historical narration of events or establish a history of Hebrew civilization.
  • Compiled from Diverse Sources: It is a text drawn from various oral and written sources, many composed centuries after the events they describe, thus condensing and simplifying.
• Religious and Moral Vision: Its primary aim is to lay out a religious and moral vision of human existence.

Introduction to Classical Persia

• Intersection with Hebrew Civilization: Classical Persia intersects with Hebrew civilization through the return of the Hebrew people to Jerusalem.
• Misrepresentation in Western Narratives: Traditional Western textbooks often mention Persians only when they are defeated by the Greeks.
  • Greek Bias: The Greeks characterized Persian civilization as decadent and weak, an image that has unfairly persisted.
  • Vibrant Civilization: Persia was a thriving, enormous, and powerful civilization in its own right.
• Guiding Questions for Studying Persia:
  1. How did Persian kings build and maintain their enormous empire (the largest up to its time)?
  2. Why do Persians have such a bad reputation?

Persian Origins and Early Expansion

• Iranian Plateau: The Persian backstory begins in the Iranian Plateau, where peoples like the Persians and Medes migrated from areas near the Caspian Sea.
• Iranian Language Family: Persians and Medes are part of a larger group of peoples identified by their language as Iranians, with related languages found in modern Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.
  • Sanskrit Affinity: Iranian languages also share affinities with Sanskrit, the classical language of India.
• Cyrus the Great (circa $\mathbf{559-530 \text{ BCE}}$)
  • Vast Empire: Cyrus established an empire that stretched across parts of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, ruling a multi-ethnic empire in an organized fashion.
  • Mythical Status: Cyrus became a mythical figure even during his lifetime, similar to Alexander the Great.
  • Reputation for Leadership: A legend recounts Cyrus motivating tribal leaders by contrasting a day of hard labor with a magnificent banquet, promising a life of luxury through warfare.
  • Conquering Career: Cyrus had a $21$-year career of conquests, primarily relying on an elite imperial bodyguard known as the Immortals.
    • Elite Core: This core of trustworthy elites was involved in both military affairs and imperial governance, answering the question of how the empire was built and maintained.
  • Stages of Imperial Expansion:
    1. Asia Minor: Conquered Asia Minor, bringing Persians into contact with Greeks, and installed loyal Greek administrators.
    2. Babylonia: Defeated the kingdom of Babylonia, gaining control of Mesopotamia.
    3. Eastward Expansion: Conquered Afghanistan and expanded in that direction.
    4. Heartland Development: Later in life, Cyrus focused on his empire's heartland, building a new capital city, Pasargadae, using builders, craftsmen, artists, and merchants from across the empire.
• Cambyses II (Cyrus's Son and Successor)
  • Continued Expansion: Cambyses continued his father's expansionist policies.
  • Key Conquests:
    1. Phoenician Cities: Conquered Phoenician cities along the coast, gaining control of naval trade and sea access.
       • Naval Power: Unlike the landlocked Hittite Empire, Persia now had a navy, crucial for trade and military campaigns (e.g., the invasion of Greece).
    2. Egypt: Conquered Egypt, further expanding the empire's reach.
  • Extent of Empire: Under Cambyses II, the Persian Empire reached its greatest extent.

Persian Governance and Zoroastrianism

• Zoroastrianism: The state religion of the Persian kings.
  • Monotheistic: Believes in one most powerful God, Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom, representing wisdom and truth.
  • Dualism: Belief in the forces of good versus evil, culminating in a last day of judgment where the ethical are rewarded and the unethical are punished.
  • Founder: The prophet Zoroaster, who lived during the International Bronze Age.
  • Codified Text: Zoroaster's message spread orally for $1,000$ years before being codified in the Avesta around the $6 \text{th} \text{ century BCE}$ (around Cyrus's time), recording older oral traditions.
  • Fire Temples: Zoroastrianism was practiced at grand fire temples, closely associated with Persian rule and symbols of Persian authority.
• State-Supported Religion with Tolerance: Persian kings and elites adhered to Zoroastrianism, but they allowed conquered peoples to follow their own gods. This is often described as unique "tolerance" for the time.
  • Kings as Divine Representatives: Persian kings presented themselves as representatives of the divine (Ahura Mazda/Lord of Wisdom), as seen in reliefs from Persepolis.

Cyrus's Cylinder: A New Model of Conquest

• Artifact: The Cyrus Cylinder is a small clay cylinder discovered buried in the walls of Babylon, not meant for public reading but for posterity/divine record.
• Narrative of Conquest (Babylonian Perspective):
  • Nabonidus's Downfall: It begins by criticizing Nabonidus, the Babylonian king, for incorrectly worshipping his own god (Marduk) and imposing forced labor on his people.
  • Marduk's Anger and Choice of Cyrus: The Babylonian gods (specifically Marduk) became angry with Nabonidus, abandoned him, and searched for a righteous leader, choosing Cyrus, the Persian king.
  • Cyrus as Liberator: Cyrus is presented as entering Babylon as a friend and liberator, sparing the city from calamity. He claims he rules because the Babylonian gods wanted him to, not through brute force.
• Contrast with Neo-Assyrian Kings: This narrative starkly contrasts with the self-presentation of Neo-Assyrian kings, who cultivated an image of brutality and widespread destruction.
• Promoting Other Gods: The Persians not only allowed subject peoples to worship their own gods but actively promoted their worship under the Persian Empire's umbrella.
• Later Inscription Details: An often-omitted part of the cylinder shows Cyrus taking credit for:
  • Supplying animals for food offerings to the temple of Babylon.
  • Strengthening and completing construction projects (walls, moats) that previous kings had left unfinished.
  • Mentioning finding an inscription of Ashurbanipal (an earlier Assyrian king), suggesting continuity with earlier royal traditions and placing himself in a line of legitimate rulers.
• Purpose of the Inscription:
  • Future Commemoration: Written for posterity, preserving Cyrus's image for future generations who might rediscover it.
  • Religious Function: Establishing his actions and legitimacy vis-à-vis the gods, even if humans didn't see it.

Cyrus the Messiah: The Return of the Hebrew People

• Biblical Account (Excerpt B): The Hebrew Bible excerpt presents Cyrus allowing the Hebrew people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple.
  • Divine Intervention: From the Hebrew perspective, it was God who stirred Cyrus's spirit to permit this return and temple rebuilding.
• Persian Perspective (Implied): Consistent with the Cyrus Cylinder, this act demonstrates the Persian policy of presenting themselves as supporters and saviors of other peoples and their gods.
  • Material Support: Persians even materially supported the construction of the Temple, further contrasting with earlier empires.
  • Self-Conscious Tolerance: This reflects a self-conscious effort by Persian rulers to appear tolerant of and supportive of other religions, unlike the deliberate brutality cultivated by Neo-Assyrian leaders.

Darius I and Persian Administration (Achaemenid Dynasty)

• Darius's Accession (circa $\mathbf{522 \text{ BCE}}$)
  • Seizure of Throne: Darius, a Persian nobleman, seized the imperial throne by assassinating one of Cyrus the Great's sons, inaugurating a new dynasty.
  • Achaemenid Dynasty: This dynasty lasted until Alexander the Great's conquests.
• Bisotun Inscription: A trilingual inscription (Old Persian, Akkadian, Elamite) high on a rock face along an old caravan route, describing Darius's accession.
  • Decipherment Key: This inscription was crucial for deciphering Old Persian.
  • Preservation Command: Darius explicitly commanded that the inscription not be destroyed, emphasizing its importance for posterity.
• Persepolis: New Capital: Darius established a new capital, Persepolis, a vast, cosmopolitan city built with resources, workmen, and artists from across the empire.
• Persepolis Clay Tablets: Most Persian texts come from Persepolis, providing insight into Persian administration.
  • Treasury Texts (approx. $100$ tablets): Records of silver payments to workers.
  • Fortification Tablets (much larger set): Authorizations for food rations to workers, cultic functionaries (priests for sacrifices), and high-ranking nobles (e.g., Darius's queen).
• Organized Bureaucracy: These tablets reveal the highly organized bureaucracy of the Persian Empire.
• Challenges in Understanding:
  • Specific Contexts: The texts represent specific contexts, making broader connections difficult.
  • Linguistic Diversity: The Persian Empire was multilingual, using four main administrative languages:
    1. Old Persian
    2. Elamite (most of the Persepolis tablets are in Elamite): An isolateted language, unrelated to any other known language, making translation and interpretation difficult where parts are unknown.
    3. Akkadian: Adopted from Babylonia.
    4. Aramaic: A Semitic language also used for administration.

Persian Infrastructure: Roads and Postal System

• State-Sponsored Work: Extensive state-sponsored work was common.
• Road System: Persians developed a major road system to link parts of their empire.
  • Well-Built: Roads were well-built.
  • State Travelers: Primarily used by state travelers, including military personnel.
  • Watchmen: Watchmen were stationed along roads to track travelers and goods.
• Postal System: Persians created the first sophisticated postal system, using relay runners and riders to transport messages quickly over long distances.
  • Imitation: This system was later imitated by the Greeks and perfected by the Romans.
  • Authorized Use: Only authorized individuals could use the postal system.
• Sealed Authorizations ("Passports"): Fascinating evidence includes papyrus documents (like one found in Egypt) serving as "passports" for authorized officials.
  • Instructions to Local Administrators: These documents provided instructions to local administrators in different regions.
    • Specific Rations: Mandated providing specific amounts of food (flour, wine, beer) for the traveler, their horses, and accompanying servants daily.
    • Timeliness Enforcement: Explicitly stated not to provide rations if the traveler overstayed their allotted time, ensuring officials kept to their business.
    • Detailed Description: Itemized details (e.g., $10$ servants), ensuring administrators only provided for legitimate personnel.
• Extensive Administration: This demonstrates the extensive and detailed Persian administration functioning throughout the empire, relying on official documents and a robust infrastructure.