Yehud Medinata

Province of the Achaemenid Empire

Province of Judah Yêhūd Mêdīnāta ( Aramaic )
c. 539 BCE–c. 332 BCE
Standard of Cyrus the Great
Map of Palestine under the Persians:   Jews (Judea)   Samaritans (Samaria)
Status	Province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Capital	Jerusalem 31°47′N 35°13′E / 31.783°N 35.217°E / 31.783; 35.217
Common languages	Aramaic, Hebrew, Old Persian
Religion	Judaism, Samaritanism
Demonym(s)	Jewish, Judean, Judahite, or Israelite
Historical era	Axial Age
• Battle of Opis	c. 539 BCE
• Persian conquest of Babylon	539 BCE
• Edict of Cyrus ends Babylonian captivity	538 BCE
• Return to Zion	538 BCE
• Construction of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem	520–515 BCE
• Greek conquest of Persia	c. 332 BCE
Currency	Daric siglos
Preceded by Succeeded by Babylonian Yehud Coele-Syria
Today part of	Israel State of Palestine

Yehud Medinata,^{[1][2][3][4][5]} also called Yehud Medinta^[a] or simply Yehud, was an autonomous administrative division of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It constituted a part of Eber-Nari and was bounded by Arabia to the south, lying along the frontier of the two satrapies. Spanning most of Judea—from the Shephelah in the west to the Dead Sea in the east—it was one of several Persian provinces in Palestine, together with Moab, Ammon, Gilead, Samaria, Ashdod, and Idumea, among others.^[10] It existed for just over two centuries before the Greek conquest of Persia resulted in it being incorporated into the Hellenistic empires.

Following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, the Persian province of Yehud was established to absorb the Babylonian province of Yehud, which, in turn, had been established to absorb the Kingdom of Judah after the Jewish–Babylonian War. Upon the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issued the so-called Edict of Cyrus, which is described in the Hebrew Bible as his authorization and encouragement of the return to Zion, thereby ending the Babylonian captivity. Despite Cyrus' rehabilitation of the Jews, the Persian province's overall population is gauged as having been considerably smaller than that of the fallen Israelite kingdom. The name "Yehud Medinata" is originally Aramaic and was first introduced after the Babylonian conquest of Judah.^[1]

Background

Main article: History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel

Kingdom of Judah v. Neo-Babylonian Empire

Further information:

Jewish–Babylonian War and Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)

In the late-7th century BCE,

Temple. Thus, by 586 BCE, much of Judah was devastated, the royal family, the priesthood, and the scribes, the country's elite, were in exile in Babylon, and the former kingdom suffered a steep decline of both economy and population.^[15]

Jewish exile to Babylon

Further information: Babylonian captivity

The numbers deported to Babylon or who made their way to Egypt and the remnant that remained in Yehud province and in surrounding countries are subject to academic debate. The Book of Jeremiah reports that a total of 4,600 were exiled to Babylon. To such numbers must be added those deported by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE after the first siege to Jerusalem, when he deported the king of Judah, Jeconiah, and his court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen along with a sizable portion of the Jewish population of Judah, numbering about 10,000. The Book of Kings also suggests that it was 8,000.

Babylonian province of Judah

Further information: Yehud (Babylonian province)

The former kingdom of Judah then became a Babylonian province

En-Gedi in the south.^[16] The administrative centre of the province was Mizpah.^[17] On hearing of the appointment, the Jews who had taken refuge in surrounding countries returned to Judah.^{[18][unreliable source?]} However, before long, Gedaliah was assassinated by a member of the former royal house, and the Babylonian garrison was killed, triggering a mass movement of refugees to Egypt.^[16] In Egypt, the refugees settled in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph, and Pathros,^{[19][unreliable source?}

] and Jeremiah went with them as moral guardian.

Neo-Babylonian Empire v. Achaemenid Empire

Although a significant number of Judeans were deported by the Babylonians and Jerusalem was left in ruins, a small but far from negligible population of Judeans continued to live in their native land during this period.[20] The population of Persian-period Jerusalem has been estimated at 1,500 inhabitants.^[20] By the late sixth century, the temple in Jerusalem had been restored and its body of worship and practice and sacrificial cult re-established.^[20]

Jewish return to Zion

Further information: Edict of Cyrus and Return to Zion

The Edict of Cyrus, which was issued by the Persian king Cyrus the Great shortly after the fall of Babylon, was a royal proclamation by which he ended the Babylonian captivity. In the Hebrew Bible, this decree is accredited as having enabled the return to Zion—an event in which the exiled populace of Judah returned to their homeland after it had been restructured as a self-governing Jewish province within the Achaemenid Empire. To replace Solomon's Temple, work began on the Second Temple after the region was conquered by the Persians.

Persian province of Judah

Further information: Second Temple period

Much of the literature which became the Hebrew Bible was compiled in the early

Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel), high priest (Joshua, descended from the priestly line), and prophet (Haggai, Zechariah). However, by the middle of the next century, probably around 450 BCE, the kings and prophets had disappeared and only the high priest remained, joined by the scribe-sage (Ezra) and the appointed aristocrat-governor (Nehemiah). This new pattern provided the leadership model for Yehud for centuries to come.^[21]

History

Part of a series on the
History of Israel
Early history Prehistoric Levant Kebaran Mushabian Natufian Harifian Yarmukian Lodian Nizzanim Ghassulian Canaan Retjenu Habiru Shasu Late Bronze Age collapse
Ancient Israel and Judah Iron Age I Israelites, Philistines 12th–10th centuries BCE United Monarchy 10th century BCE Kingdom of Israel 10th century BCE–720 BCE Kingdom of Judah 10th century BCE–587 BCE Babylonian rule 587–538 BCE
Persian Yehud	538–333 BCE
Hellenistic period	333–164 BCE
Hasmonean dynasty	164–37 BCE
Herodian dynasty Kingdom Tetrarchy	37 BCE–6 CE
Roman Judaea ( Jewish-Roman Wars )	6 CE–136 CE

Yehud was considerably smaller than the old kingdom of Judah, stretching from around Bethel in the north to about Hebron in the south (although Hebron itself was unpopulated throughout the Persian period), and from the Jordan River and Dead Sea in the east to, but not including, the Shephelah (the slopes between the Judean highlands and the coastal plains) in the west. After the destruction of Jerusalem the centre of gravity shifted northward to Benjamin; this region, once a part of the kingdom of Israel, was far more densely populated than Judah itself, and now held both the administrative capital, Mizpah, and the major religious centre of Bethel.^[23] Mizpah continued as the provincial capital for over a century. The position of Jerusalem before the administration moved back from Mizpah is not clear, but from 445 BCE onwards it was once more the main city of Yehud, with walls, a temple (the Second Temple) and other facilities needed to function as a provincial capital, including, from 420 BCE, a local mint striking silver coins.^[24] Nevertheless, Persian-era Jerusalem was modest: about 1,500 inhabitants.^[20][25] It was the only true urban site in Yehud, as the bulk of the province's population lived in small unwalled villages. This picture did not much change throughout the entire Persian period. The entire population of the province remained around 30,000. There is no sign in the archaeological record of massive inwards migration from Babylon,^[26] in contradiction to the biblical account where Zerubbabel's band of returning Israelite exiles alone numbered 42,360.^[27]

The Persians seem to have experimented with ruling Yehud as a client-kingdom, but this time under the descendants of Jehoiachin, who had kept his royal status even in captivity.^[28] Sheshbazzar, the governor of Yehud appointed by Cyrus in 538, was of Davidic origin, as was his successor (and nephew) Zerubbabel; Zerubbabel in turn was succeeded by his second son and then by his son-in-law, all of them hereditary Davidic governors of Yehud, a state of affairs that ended only around 500 BCE.^[28] This hypothesis—that Zerubbabel and his immediate successors represented a restoration of the Davidic kingdom under Persian overlordship—cannot be verified, but it would be in keeping with the situation in some other parts of the Persian Empire, such as Phoenicia.^[28]

The second and third pillars of the early period of Persian rule in Yehud, copying the pattern of the old Davidic kingdom destroyed by the Babylonians, were the institutions of High Priest and Prophet. Both are described and preserved in the Hebrew Bible in the histories of Ezra–Nehemiah–Chronicles and in the books of Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi, but by the mid-5th century BCE the prophets and Davidic kings had disappeared, leaving only the High Priest.^[21] The practical result was that after c.500 BCE Yehud became a theocracy, ruled by a line of hereditary High Priests.^[29]

The governor of Yehud would have been charged primarily with keeping order and seeing that tribute was paid. He would have been assisted by various officials and a body of scribes, but there is no evidence that a popular "assembly" existed, and he would have had little discretion over his core duties.^[30] Evidence from seals and coins suggests that most, if not all, of the governors of Persian Yehud were Jewish, a situation which conforms with the general Persian practice of governing through local leaders.^[21]

Governors

The succession order and dates of most of the governors of the Achemenid province of Yehud cannot be recreated with any degree of certainty.

• Sheshbazzar
  (either identical with, or governor before, Zerubbabel)
• Zerubbabel (second half of the sixth century BCE). Led the first wave of Jewish exiles back to Judea after the fall of Babylonian Empire to Cyrus the Great. His family, however, remained behind in Nehardea.
• Ezra ben Seraiah (mid-fifth or early fourth century BCE, depending on whether Artaxerxes I or II was king in his time), the subject of the Hebrew Bible's Book of Ezra
  .
• Nehemiah ben Hachaliah (second half of the fifth century BCE), the subject of the Hebrew Bible's Book of Nehemiah
  .
• Beth Zur^[34][35] The inscription is also rendered in English as "the governor Hezekiah".^[36]

Persian Zoroastrianism certainly influenced Judaism. Although the exact extent of that influence continues to be debated, they shared the concept of God as creator, as the one who guarantees justice and as the God of heaven. The experience of exile and restoration itself brought about a new worldview in which Jerusalem and the House of David continued to be central ingredients, and the destruction of the Temple came to be regarded as a demonstration of Yahweh's strength.^[39]

Possibly the single most important development in the post-Exilic period was the promotion and eventual dominance of the idea and practice of Jewish exclusivity, the idea that the Jews (meaning descendants of Jacob, followers of the God of Israel and of the law of Moses) were or should be an ethnic group apart from all others. According to Levine, that was a new idea, originating with the party of the golah, those who returned from the Babylonian exile.^[40] Despite Ezra's and Nehemiah's intolerance of non-Yahwist gentiles and Samaritans, Jewish relations with the Samaritans and other neighbours were otherwise close and cordial.^[40] Comparison of Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles bears this out: Chronicles opens participation in Yahweh-worship to all twelve tribes and even to foreigners, but for Ezra-Nehemiah, "Israel" means the tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone as well as the holy tribe of Levi.^[41]

Despite Yehud being consistently monotheistic, some pockets of polytheistic Yahwism still appeared to exist in the Persian period: the Elephantine papyri (usually dated to the 5th century BCE) shows that a small community of Jews living on the Egyptian island of Elephantine, while being devout supporters of Yaweh, also venerated the Egyptian goddess Anat and even had their own temple on the island. This community had probably been founded before the Babylonian Exile and had, therefore, remained cut off from religious reforms on the mainland.^[42] While it appears that the Elephantine community had some contact with the Second Temple (as evidenced by the fact that they had written a letter to the High Priest Johanan of Jerusalem^[43]), the exact relationship between the two is currently unclear.^[44] Following the expulsion of the Persians from Egypt by Pharaoh Amyrtaeus (404 BCE), the Jewish temple in Elephantine was abandoned.^[42]

Language and literature

Scholars believe that in the Persian period the

Only a small amount of Hebrew-written epigraphic material from the Persian period has survived, including some coins from Tell Jemmeh and Beth-zur using the Paleo-Hebrew script, two seal impressions on bullae from a cave in Wadi Daliyeh, a seal from Tell Michal, etc. In contrast, Aramaic-written epigraphic material is much more prevalent.^[46]

Biblical narrative

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In 539 BCE, Babylon fell to the

In the 20th year of Artaxerxes (almost definitely Artaxerxes I, whose twentieth year was 445/444 BCE) Nehemiah, the cup-bearer to the king and in a high official post, was informed that the wall of Jerusalem had been destroyed and was granted permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it. He succeeded in doing so but encountered strong resistance from the "people of the land", the officials of Samaria (the province immediately to the north of Yehud, the former kingdom of Israel) and other provinces and peoples around Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1–7)

In chapter 8, the Book of Nehemiah abruptly switches back to Ezra,^[49] apparently with no change in the chronology, but the year is not specified. The Book of Nehemiah says that Ezra gathered the Jews together to read and enforce the law (his original commission from Darius but put into effect only now, 14 years after his arrival). Ezra argued to the people that failure to keep the law had caused the Exile. The Jews then agreed to separate themselves from the "peoples of the land" (once again, intermarriage was banned), keep the Sabbath and generally observe the Law. (Nehemiah 8–12)

Attempt at matching with historical chronology

There is no complete agreement on the chronology of the Babylonian and Persian periods: the following table is used in this article, but alternative dates for many events are plausible. That is especially true of the chronological sequence of Ezra and Nehemiah, with Ezra 7:6–8 stating that Ezra came to Jerusalem "in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the King," without specifying whether he was Artaxerxes I (465–424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (404–358 BCE). The probable date for his mission is 458 BCE, but it is possible that it took place in 398 BCE.^[50]

Archaeology

The results of archaeological excavations and surveys suggest that in comparison to late Iron Age Judah, late Persian period Yehud was a rural province with no more than half as many settlements as the late Iron Age, and a much smaller population. Jerusalem had shrunk to its pre-eighth century proportions, and also had a much smaller population, which now concentrated in the Temple Mount and in the City of David, especially near the Pool of Siloam. The most impressive building plan of the period was discovered at Ein Gedi.^[52]

Throughout the fourth century BCE, the province of Yehud was home to a network of strongholds. One of these is Hurvat Eres, a little rectangular fort that was discovered atop Har HaRuach, north of Kiryat Ye'arim.^[53] Other noteworthy non-urban sites from the time period include a fortress and agricultural estate found in Har Adar, as well as an agricultural estate in Qalandia.^[52]

See also

• History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel
  • Jew (word)
  • Zion
  • Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle
• Second Temple period
  • Second Temple Judaism
  • Yehud coinage
  • Cyrus the Great in the Bible
  • Timeline of Second Temple period Judaism#Persian Empire (538 BCE – 332 BCE)
• History of Israel and Judah

References

Notes

Citations