Yehud Medinata

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Yehud Medinata
Subdivision of the Achaemenid Empire
c. 539 BCE–c. 332 BCE
 Coat of arms

Yehud Medinata (in pink) under the Persian Empire

Capital Jerusalem
Languages Aramaic, Hebrew, Old Persian
Religion Second Temple Judaism
Political structure Subdivision of the Achaemenid Empire
Historical era Achaemenid Empire
• Cyrus' invasion of Babylonia c. 539 BCE
• Wars of Alexander the Great c. 332 BCE
Currency Daric, siglos
Preceded by Succeeded by
Yehud (Babylonian province) Coele-Syria
Today part of Israel
Palestine

Yehud Medinata (Aramaic for "the province of Judah"), or Part of a series on

simply Yehud, was an autonomous province of the
Persian Achaemenid Empire, roughly equivalent to the
Jews and Judaism
older kingdom of Judah but covering a smaller area, within
the satrapy of Eber-Nari. The area of Yehud Medinata
corresponded to the previous Babylonian province of
Yehud, which was formed after the fall of the kingdom of
Judah to the Neo-Babylonian Empire (c.597 after its
conquest of the Mediterranean east coast, and again in EtymologyWho is a Jew?
585/6 BCE after suppressing an unsuccessful Judean Jewish peoplehoodJewish identity
revolt). Yehud Medinata continued to exist for two
Religion
centuries, until being incorporated into the Hellenistic
empires following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Texts
Communities

Sources and chronology Population

There is not complete agreement on the chronology of the Denominations

Babylonian and Persian periods: the following table is used Culture
in this article, but alternative dates for many events are
plausible. That is especially true of the chronological Languages
sequence of Ezra and Nehemiah, with Ezra 7:6-8 stating History
that Ezra came to Jerusalem "in the seventh year of
Artaxerxes the King," without specifying whether he Politics
was Artaxerxes I (465-424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (404-359
BCE). The probable date for his mission is 458 BCE, but it Category: Jews and Judaism
is possible that it took place in 397 BCE.[non-primary source needed] Portal: Judaism

Year Event
587 BCE Conquest of Jerusalem by Babylonians; second
deportation (first deportation in 597); Gedaliah
installed as governor in Mizpah
582? BCE Assassination of Gedaliah; refugees flee to
 Egypt; third deportation to Babylon
562 BCE Jeconiah, king of Judah deported and
imprisoned in Babylon in 597, released;
remains in Babylon
539 BCE Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II, ruled c.550-530
BCE) conquers Babylon
538 BCE "Declaration of Cyrus" allowing Jews to return
to Jerusalem
530 BCE Cambyses II (ruled 530-522 BCE) succeeds
Cyrus
525 BCE Cambyses conquers Egypt
522 BCE Darius I (ruled 522-486 BCE) succeeds
Cambyses
521 BCE Negotiations in Babylon between Darius and
the exiled Jews
520 BCE[1] Return to Jerusalem of Zerubbabel as governor
of Yehud and Joshua as High Priest
520- Rebuilding of the Temple (Second Temple)
515 BCE [1]

458? BCE Arrival in Jerusalem of Ezra (7th year of the

reign of Artaxerxes I, king 465-424 BCE)
445/444 BCE Arrival in Jerusalem of Nehemiah (20th year of
the reign of Artaxerxes I)
397? BCE Arrival in Jerusalem of Ezra (7th year of the
(possible) reign of Artaxerxes II, king 404-358 BCE)
333/332 BCE Alexander the Great conquers the
Mediterranean provinces of Persian Empire -
beginning of Hellenistic age

Background
Main article: Yehud (Babylonian province)

In the late 7th century BCE Judah became a vassal-kingdom of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, but there were
rival factions at the court in Jerusalem, some supporting loyalty to Babylon and others urging rebellion. In
the early years of the 6th century, despite the strong remonstrances of the prophet Jeremiah and others,
King Zedekiah revolted against Nebuchadrezzar and entered into an alliance with pharaoh Hophra of Egypt.
The revolt failed, and in 597 BCE, many Judahites, including the prophet Ezekiel, were exiled to Babylon. A
few years later, Judah revolted yet again. In 589 Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem, and many Jews
fled to Moab, Ammon, Edom and other countries to seek refuge. The city fell after an 18-month siege and
Nebuchadnezzar again pillaged and destroyed Jerusalem and burned the 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.[2]

The former kingdom of Judah then became a Babylonian province Yehud, with Gedaliah, a native Judahite,
as governor (or possibly ruling as a puppet king). According to Miller and Hayes, the province included the
towns of Bethel in the north, Mizpah, Jericho in the east, Jerusalem, Beth-Zur in the west and En-Gediin the
south.[3] The administrative centre of the province was Mizpah.[4] On hearing of the appointment, the Jews
that had taken refuge in surrounding countries returned to Judah.[5][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.[3] In Egypt, the refugees settled in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph,
and Pathros,[6][unreliable source?] and Jeremiah went with them as moral guardian.
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 4600 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 Kingsalso suggests that it was 8000.[citation needed] Israel Finkelstein, a
prominent archaeologist, suggests that the 4600 represented the heads of households and 8000 was the total,
and 10,000 is a rounding upwards of the second number.[citation needed] Jeremiah also hints that an equivalent
number may have fled to Egypt. Given such figures, Finkelstein suggests that three fourths of the Judahite
population had remained in Judah.

Biblical version
In 539 BCE, Babylon fell to
the Persians. That event is dated
securely from non-biblical
sources. In his first year (538
BCE), Cyrus the Great decreed
that the deportees in Babylon
could return to Yehud and rebuild
the Temple.[8] Led by Zerubbabel,
42,360 exiles returned to Yehud,
[9] where he and Jeshua the priest,

although they were in fear of the

"people of the land", re-instituted
sacrifices.[10]

According to Book of Ezra,

Jeshua and Zerubbabel were
frustrated in their efforts to
rebuild the Temple by the enmity
of the "people of the land" and the
opposition of the governor of
"Beyond-the-River"
(the satrapy of which Yehud was a
smaller unit). (Ezra 3-4:4)
However, in the second year Coins bearing the inscription YHD, or Yehud. The coin at top shows the god YHWH,
of Darius (520 BCE), Darius the coin at bottom right has an image of the owl of Athena (Athenian coinage was the
discovered the Decree of Cyrus in standard for Mediterranean trade).[7]
the archives and directed the
satrap to support the work, which he did, and the Temple was completed in the sixth year of Darius (516/515
BCE). (Ezra 6:15)

The Book of Ezra dates Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem to the second year of Artaxerxes. Its position in the
narrative implies that he was Artaxerxes I in which case the year was 458 BCE. Ezra, a scholar of the
commandments of Yahweh, was commissioned by Artaxerxes to rebuild the Temple and enforce the laws
of Moses in Beyond-the-River. Ezra led a large party of exiles back to Yehud, where he found that Jews had
intermarried with the "peoples of the land" and immediately banned intermarriage. (Ezra 6-10)

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)
At then, the Book of Nehemiah abruptly switches back to Ezra, 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 Sabbath and
generally observe the Law. (Nehemiah 8-12)

Current scholarship
The Babylonians removed only a portion of the population Part of a series on the
of Jerusalem; of those exiles, only a small portion returned
to Jerusalem (539) after the Persian conquest of Babylon, History of Israel
and did so over several decades. The population of Persian-
period Jerusalem and the area was smaller than once
believed, only a few thousands. Much of the literature
which became the Hebrew bible was compiled during the
Persian period, and Persian Yehud saw considerable conflict Ancient Israel and Judah
over the construction and function of the Temple and
Natufian culturePrehistoryCanaanIsraelitesUnited
matters of cult (i.e., how God was to be worshiped). Persia
monarchyNorthern KingdomKingdom of
controlled Yehud using the same methods it used in other
JudahBabylonian rule
colonies, and the bible reflects this, and Yehud's status as a
Persian colony is crucial to understanding the society and Second Temple period (530 BCE–70 CE)
literature of the period. The restoration of the Davidic Persian ruleHellenistic periodHasmonean
kingdom under Persian royal patronage was clearly the dynastyHerodian dynastyKingdomTetrarchyRoman
project of the exile community in the early post-Exilic Judea
period. The returnees attempted to restore in Yehud the First
Middle Ages (70–1517)
Temple threefold leadership template of king (Sheshbazzar
and Zerubbabel), high priest (Joshua, descended from the Roman PalaestinaByzantine
priestly line), and prophets (Haggai, Zechariah). However, Palaestina PrimaSecundaRevolt against Constantius
by the middle of the next century, probably around 450 GallusSamaritan revoltsRevolt against
BCE, the kings and prophets had disappeared and only the HeracliusCaliphates FilastinUrdunnCrusadesAyyubid
high priest remained, joined by the scribe-sage (Ezra and dynastyMamluk Sultanate
the appointed aristocrat-governor Nehemiah). This new Modern history (1517–1948)
pattern provided the leadership model for Yehud for Ottoman rule EyaletMutasarrifateOld
centuries to come.[11] YishuvZionismOETABritish mandate
State of Israel (1948–present)

Administration and IndependenceTimelineYearsArab–Israeli

conflictStart-up Nation
History of the Land of Israel by topic
demographics JudaismJerusalemZionismJewish leadersJewish
warfareNationality
Yehud was considerably smaller than the old kingdom of
Judah, stretching from around Bethel in the north to about Related
Hebron in the south (although Hebron itself was Jewish historyHebrew calendarArchaeologyMuseums
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 Israel portal
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.
[12] 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.[13] Nevertheless, Persian-era
Jerusalem was tiny: about 1500 inhabitants, even as low as 500 according to some estimates.[14] It was the
only true urban site in Yehud, 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,[15] in contradiction to the biblical account where Zerubbabel's band of returning Israelite exiles
alone numbered 42,360.[9]

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.[16]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.[17] 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.[18]

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
ended, leaving only the High Priest.[19] The practical result was that after c.500 BCE Yehud became in
practice a theocracy, ruled by a line of hereditary High Priests.[20]

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.[21] 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.[22]

Governors of Yehud Medinata

Sheshbazzar, circa 538
Zerubbabel, until 510. 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.
Elnathan
Jehoezer
Ahzai
Ezra ben Seraiah 458-430, the subject of the Old Testament Book of Ezra.
Nehemiah ben Hachaliah 445-433,
Bagoses the Persian late 400's
Yehezqiyah early 300's

Religion and community

There is a general consensus among biblical scholars that ancient Judah during the 9th and 8th centuries BCE
was basically polytheistic, with Yahweh as a national god in the same way that surrounding nations each had
their own national gods.[23]Monotheistic themes arose as early as the 8th century, in opposition to Assyrian
royal propaganda, which depicted the Assyrian king as "Lord of the Four Quarters" (the world), but the Exile
broke the competing fertility, ancestor and other cults and allowed it to emerge as the dominant theology of
Yehud.[24] The minor gods or "sons of Yahweh" of the old pantheon now turned into a hierarchy
of angels and demons in a process that continued to evolve throughout the time of Yehud and into the
Hellenistic age.[23]

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 world view 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.[25]

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 followers of the
god of Israel and of the law of Moses) were or should be a race 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.
[26] In spite of the reforming ex-Babylonian golah leader, Nehemiah, refusing the request of the Yahweh-

worshiping Samaritans to help rebuild the Temple, and Ezra's horror at learning that Yehudi Yahweh-
worshipers were intermarrying with non-Yehudis (possibly even non Yahweh-worshipers), the relations with
the Samaritans and other neighbours were, in fact, close and cordial.[26] 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.[27]

Literature and language

Scholars believe that in the Persian period the Torah assumed its final form, the history of ancient Israel and
Judah contained in the books from Joshua to Kings was revised and completed and the older prophetic books
were redacted.[25] New writing included the interpretation of older works, such as the Book of Chronicles, and
genuinely original work including Ben Sira, Tobit, Judith, 1 Enochand, much later, Maccabees. The literature
from Ben Sira onwards is increasingly permeated with references to the Hebrew Bible in the present form,
suggesting the slow development of the idea of a body of "scripture" in the sense of authoritative writings.[28]

One of the more important cultural shifts in the Persian period was the rise of Aramaic as the predominant
language of Yehud and the Jewish diaspora. Originally spoken by the Aramaeans, it was adopted by the
Persians and became the lingua franca of the empire, and already in the time of Ezra, it was necessary to
have the Torah readings translated into Aramaic for them to be understood by Jews.[29]

See also