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539 BC

Babylon, under Chaldean rule since 612BC, fell to the Persians. Cyrus the Persian captured Babylon after the New Babylonian leader, Belshazaar, failed to read "the handwriting on the wall." The Persian Empire under Cyrus lasted to 331BC, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great. Cyrus returned some of the exiled Jews to Palestine, while other Jews preferred to stay and establish a 2nd Jewish center, the first being in Jerusalem. The Cyrus Cylinder was created following the Persian conquest of Babylon, when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian king Nabonidus and replaced him as ruler, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It was discovered in 1879 and became considered as the world's first declaration of human rights.

Source:(NG, Aug., 1974, p.174)(eawc, p.8,9)(http://tinyurl.com/lma678)(AFP, 2/7/10)

Cyrus the Persian captured Babylon after the New Babylonian leader, Belshazaar, failed to read “the handwriting on the wall.” The Persian Empire under Cyrus lasted to 331BC, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great. Cyrus returned some of the exiled Jews to Palestine, while other Jews preferred to stay and establish a 2nd Jewish center, the first being in Jerusalem.