Was Cyrus the Great Jewish??

Ezra 1:2

Who was Cyrus the Great and how did he become so beloved in the bible, even named ‘God’s anointed messiah’ by the prophet Isaiah? There’s even an obscure tradition that he claims he was born to a very famous Jewish queen.

The Book of Ezra begins today with a bow to the Persian King who lived between 600 – 530 BC and is incredibly claimed by many cultures as a founding father - considered as one of the first founders of global human rights, the Zoroastrian religion - and the concept of Zionism.

It seems impossible to imagine that in the current enmity between Iran and Israel a common hero can be celebrated but Cyrus is that kind of loved leader - although it’s rarely publicly recognized these days.

We shift from the Book of Daniel to the Book of Ezra and from a vague mix of myth and fact to a much more solid foundation of recorded history. Ezra won’t show up in the book named for him for a few more chapters - but the book begins with the most dramatic and celebrated moment for which Cyrus is known in Jewish history, setting the tone for Ezra’s project. During the first year of his reign, Cyrus allows the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple:

כֹּה אָמַר כֹּרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס כֹּל מַמְלְכוֹת הָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמָיִם וְהוּא־פָקַד עָלַי לִבְנוֹת־לוֹ בַיִת בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם אֲשֶׁר בִּיהוּדָה׃

“Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: The ETERNAL God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has charged me with building a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Ezra.1.2

The rest of this first chapter details the frantic responses to this declaration, which includes the king’s command to return a total of 5,400 stolen gold and silver vessels from the temple, back to Jerusalem, along with those who will travel there and rebuild.

The very specific number of vessels mentioned here might be fact and may be fiction but the context for Cyrus’ command has been verified by archeological proof - although still somewhat contested.

The Cyrus Cylinder, on display in the British Museum, was discovered in the ruins of a Bayblonian Temple in what is nowadays Iraq.

The small clay cylinder, written in Akkadian cuneiform script details Cyrus’ policies of repatriating displaced peoples and restoring religious sanctuaries, reflecting a governance style that emphasized tolerance and respect for diverse cultures. This approach has led to the Cylinder being dubbed the "world's first charter of human rights."

Back in the early 1970’s, just a few years before he was deposed by the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian Shah, seeking to restore the glory of Cyrus and his progressive politics, claimed that

"The history of our empire began with the famous declaration of Cyrus, which, for its advocacy of humane principles, justice and liberty, must be considered one of the most remarkable documents in the history of mankind."

The cylinder does not mention Jews or Jerusalem, but as Robert Alter

Robert Alter and other biblical scholars claim - it does set the stage for the political context in which the return to Zion was permitted:

״This statement by Cyrus accords with the general content of the Cyrus Cylinder, issued in 538 B.C.E. and on view in the British Museum. In it, Cyrus authorizes the rebuilding of local sanctuaries throughout his empire. In the opening lines of Ezra this is presented as a special dictate from God for the Jerusalem Temple, but the cylinder clearly indicates that the authorization was part of a general imperial policy, perhaps devised to win the loyalty of the many different subjects of the empire.״

Whether the cylinder proves the biblical story as accurate or not - it nevertheless establishes Cyrus’ relatively enlightened approach towards cultural and religious diversity. Neil MacGregor, a former director of the British Museum, said that the cylinder was "the first attempt we know about running a society, a state with different nationalities and faiths – a new kind of statecraft".

One of the most creative responses to the Cyrus legacy is the 14th Century CE Ezra-Nama, a book of legends composed by the Judeo-Persian Shahin, embellishing the book of Ezra and claiming that Cyrus was not just kind to the Jews- but Jewish himself. According to the Ezra-nama, Cyrus was the son of Queen Esther and King Ahaseurus, a rightful heir to both the Persian throne and the royal seat of Solomon.

Most scholars suggest that the book’s imaginative narrative, not adopted wholeheartedly by either Persians or Jews, was written in response to the question that still intrigues scholars today:

Why did Cyrus initiate the return of Jews to their homeland? Was it part of wider plans to govern a growing empire with kinder and wiser ways - and/or also a unique favor granted by the king of Jewish blood to his people?

The command has been made, and the preparation begins. The Book of Ezra honors the benevolent king as it charts the chronology of one of the most compelling moments in biblical and Jewish history - the return to the homeland.

Perhaps one day, when peace dawns again upon this homeland and all other homelands, Cyrus will be celebrated by all people, together, for being the benign example of a leader who embraces complexities and promotes peace and tolerance over territorial and tribal claims.

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