Following
the Babylonian exile an edict of King Cyprus of Persia in 538 BCE permits
a return to Zion where, in 516 BCE, the Temple is rebuilt. The period terminates
with the conquest of Alexander the Great. Judah is now part of the Persian
Empire and, in the official language Aramaic, is renamed Yehud which appears
on stamped storage jar handles and on silver coins struck in Jerusalem.
A flourishing international trade is indicated by the archaeological finds
which include many important artifacts from Greece, Egypt and Cyprus; however
curiously, little is imported from Persia itself.
Bone
plaque depicting a king or official
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