The Intertestamental Period: From Babylon To The Birth Of Christ

Persian Period

Announcements

Intertestamental PeriodWeek Date Topic

1 05 Mar 14 Overview

2 12 Mar 14 Babylonian Period (605-539 BC)

3 19 Mar 14 Persian Period (539-332 BC)

4 26 Mar 14 Greek Period (332-323 BC)

5 02 Apr 14 Ptolemaic (323-198 BC)

6 09 Apr 14 Syrian (198-168 BC)

7 16 Apr 14 Maccabean Part 1 (168-153 BC)

8 23 Apr 14 Maccabean Part 2 (153-139 BC)

9 30 Apr 14 Independence (139-63 BC)

10 07 May 14 Rome Intervenes (63 – 37 BC)

11 14 May 14 Herod (37 BC – 4 BC)

12 21 May 14 The IT Period and Christianity (4 BC – 70 AD)

13 28 May 14 Review

Today’s Objectives• Review last week’s lesson

• Review the transition of power between Babylon and the Persians

• Review key Biblical scriptures

• Learn about the political, social, economic, cultural, and religious issues during the Persian rule over Israel

• Learn where and why all the Israelites did not return to Judah

• Learn about the fall of the Persian empire

Last week’s lesson• Reviewed the historical background from

which Babylon was formed

• Learned about he historical background behind the rise of Babylon– Sumerian city-states– Akkadians– Assyrians

• Learned about the fall of Judah and the captivity

• Learned about Babylon’s demise

Reference Material

• KJV (w/ Apocrypha)– 1st and 2nd Maccabbees

• Josephus – The Complete Works

• Herodotus – The History

• Intertestamental History – Mark Moore

• Ancient Rome – Simon Baker

• Harding University – BNEW 112 Course Notes – Dr. Thompson

Persian Rule

• 559-331 BC– Early Achaemenian kings– Late Achaemenian kings

• Cyrus, liberator of the exiled Jews, is considered to be the beginning of the line

• Policy was to show autonomy to those nations under their control

• Reverse policies of forced emigrations used by Assyrians and Babylonians

Persian Empire

Cyrus II The Great

• 559-530 BC

• Raised up by God to restore the Jews to the promised land (Isa 45:1-2 and Ezra 1:1-4)

• Policies confirmed in the Cyrus Cylinder

• Set the religious tone that would follow the Early Achaemenian dynasty

• Allows the Jews to return around 536 BC

• Yet, he places his faith in the god Marduk

Cyrus Cylinder

Marduk

Cambyses II• 530-522 BC• Son of Cyrus the Great• Before setting out on an expedition, he killed his

brother Bardiya (Smerdis), whom Cyrus had appointed governor of the eastern provinces

• Finished the expansion of the Persian empire into Egypt

• Forces invaded the Kingdom of Kush (Sudan) without any success

• Died in battle

Darius I, the Great

• 522-486 BC

• Organized the empire into satrapies

• Facilitated communications and travel

• Made an initial attack on Greece– Battle of Marathon in 490 BC

• Behistun Inscription honors him

• Darius was a Zoroastrian - monotheistic

Behistun Inscription

Xerxes I

• 486-465 BC

• Same as biblical Ahasuerus in the book of Esther

• Esther made Queen under Xerxes

• Feast of Purim established under him

• Massive invasion of Greece– Failed– Battle of Salamis in 480 BC

Artaxerxes I

• 465-424 BC• Last of the powerful rulers of the empire• Tradition of weakening the Athenians by funding

their enemies in Greece– Prompted formation of alliances within Greece

• Return of priest and scribe Ezra to Jerusalem – 458 BC (Ezra 7:13-28)

• Return of Nehemiah as Governor to Jerusalem – 445 BC

• Strengthening of Jerusalem to protect their western fringes

Later Achaemenian• Xerxes II (423 BC)

– Murdered in the first year of his reign– Marked the end of the legitimate line of kings

• Darius II (423-405 BC)– Illegitimate son of Artaxerxes I– Last Persian king mentioned in the OT (Read

Neh 12:22 – called Darius the Persian)– Elephantine Papyri written in 407 BC

• Artaxerxes III (358-338 BC)– Regained Eypt

• Arses (338-336 BC)– Youngest son of King Artaxerxes III – Increased hostilities with the Macedonians

• Darius III (336-331 BC)– Became king the same year as Alexander of

Macedon– Alexander defeats him in the critical battle of

Issus (333 BC)• Iskedurun, Turkey region

– Defeat at Gaugamela (331 BC)• Northern Iraq

Later Achaemenian

Jews Under Persian Rule• Some freedom

• Those who remained in Babylon later produced the Babylonian Talmud

• Remained a vassal state of Persia– Had to pay taxes– Had its’ own Governor– Own coinage

• Those in Jerusalem protected the approaches to Persia from the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Fall of Persia• Darius III was ill-experienced in governing

• 334 BC - wars of Alexander the Great begin

• Second Persian occupation of Egypt began in 343 BC and ended in 332 BC when Alexander the Great entered Egypt where he was welcomed as a liberator in Persian-occupied Egypt.

• Next, Alexander marched on Susa in Persia and forced a surrender

• Darius III was killed, Alexander declares himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V

Route of Alexander’s March

Review• Reviewed last week’s lesson

• Reviewed the transition of power between Babylon and the Persians

• Review key Biblical scriptures

• Learn about the background of Persian rule over the Jews

• Learn where and why all the Israelites did not return to Judah

• Learn about the fall of the Persian empire

• Next week – Greek Empire