Editing Babylonian captivity (section)

==Archaeological and other extra-biblical evidence==
{{anchor|Non-Biblical evidence}}

===First campaign (597 BCE)===
Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem, his capture of its king, his appointment of another in his place, and the plundering of the city in 597 BCE are corroborated by a passage in the [[Babylonian Chronicles]]:<ref name=Finkelstein>{{Cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |author-link1=Israel Finkelstein |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |author-link2=Neil Asher Silberman |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-684-86912-4}}</ref>{{rp|293}}<blockquote>In the seventh year, in the month of Kislev, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, and encamped against the City of Judah and on the ninth day of the month of Adar he seized the city and captured the king. He appointed there a king of his own choice and taking heavy tribute brought it back to Babylon.</blockquote>

[[Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets]], describing ration orders for a captive King of Judah, identified with King Jeconiah, have been discovered during excavations in Babylon, in the royal archives of Nebuchadnezzar.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=David Winton |author-link=David Winton Thomas |title=Documents from Old Testament Times |publisher=Thomas Nelson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cRBAQAAIAAJ&q=tablets&pg=PA84 |location=Edinburgh and London |year=1958 |edition=1961 |page=84|isbn=9780061300851 }}</ref><ref>Cf. {{Bibleverse||2Kings|24:12|kjv|}}, {{Bibleverse-nb||2Kings|24:15–24:16|kjv|}}, {{Bibleverse-nb||2Kings|25:27–25:30|kjv|}}; {{Bibleverse||2Chronicles|36:9–36:10|kjv|}}; {{Bibleverse||Jeremiah|22:24–22:6|kjv|}}, {{Bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|29:2|kjv|}}, {{Bibleverse-nb||Jeremiah|52:31–52:34|kjv|}}; {{Bibleverse||Ezekiel|17:12|kjv|}}.</ref> One of the tablets refers to food rations for "Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu" and five royal princes, his sons.<ref>{{cite web|author=COJS staff |url=http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Babylonian_Ration_List:_King_Jehoiakhin_in_Exile,_592/1_BCE |title=Babylonian Ration List: King Jehoiakhin in Exile, 592/1 BCE |website=COJS.org |publisher=The Center for Online Judaic Studies |access-date=23 August 2013 |quote=Ya’u-kīnu, king of the land of Yahudu |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616092557/http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Babylonian_Ration_List%3A_King_Jehoiakhin_in_Exile%2C_592/1_BCE |archive-date=16 June 2013}}</ref>

===Second campaign (589–587 BCE)===
Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian forces returned in 589 BCE and rampaged through Judah, leaving clear archaeological evidence of destruction in many towns and settlements there.<ref name=Finkelstein/>{{rp|294}} Clay [[ostraca]] from this period, referred to as the [[Lachish letters]], were discovered during excavations; one, which was probably written to the commander at [[Lachish]] from an outlying base, describes how the signal fires from nearby towns were disappearing: "And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azeqah."<ref>Translation from Aḥituv, Shmuel. ''Echoes from the Past.'' Jerusalem: CARTA Jerusalem, 2008, p. 70.</ref> Archaeological finds from Jerusalem testify that virtually the whole city within the walls was burnt to rubble in 587 BCE and utterly destroyed.<ref name=Finkelstein/>{{rp|295}}

===Aftermath in Judah===
Archaeological excavations and surveys have enabled the population of Judah before the Babylonian destruction to be estimated to have been approximately 75,000. Taking the different biblical numbers of exiles at their highest, 20,000, this would mean that perhaps 25% of the population had been deported to Babylon, with the remaining majority staying in Judah.<ref name=Finkelstein/>{{rp|306}} Although Jerusalem was destroyed, with large parts of the city remaining in ruins for 150 years, numerous other settlements in Judah continued to be inhabited, with no signs of disruption visible in archaeological studies.<ref name=Finkelstein/>{{rp|307}}

Archaeologist [[Avraham Faust]] suggests that between the deportations and executions caused by the Babylonians, plus the famines and epidemics that occurred during the war, the population of Judah may have been reduced to as little as 10% of what it had been in the time before deportations.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation |last=Faust |first=Avraham |publisher=Society of Biblical Lit. |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-58983-641-9 |pages=140–143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NcnPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA119}}</ref>

===Conditions in exile===
In Mesopotamia, the exiled Judeans were relocated to agricultural settlements, with one notable settlement being [[Tel Abib|Tel-Abib]] near the city of [[Nippur]]. Biblical scholar [[Niels Peter Lemche]] suggests that the exiled Judeans experienced a lifestyle scarcely less prosperous than what they were accustomed to in their homeland.<ref name=":02" /><!-- Overall, Jews were not enslaved in Babylon. Instead, they were comparable to [[serfs]] on agarian lands since Babylonian economy was not slave-based. In addition, they were not perceived as prisoners-of-war. Babylonian Jews were allowed to form their communities, contact with their co-ethnics in Judah and work in trade and banking, which were lucrative careers. Some worked in high-ranking political positions, which is attested by post-biblical exilic literature.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} --->

However, there is evidence for hardship. For example, exiled Jewish leaders were suspected of national disloyalty and were reduced to peasantry, where they worked in agriculture and building projects and performed simple tasks such as farming, shepherding and fishing. This ended when the Persians conquered Babylon. Exiled Jewish commoners were nostalgic about Judah and, due to circumstance, were forced to abandon temple-based worship. They mostly worshipped in private homes and kept some religious traditions such as circumcision, Sabbath observance, reading of the [[Psalms]] and [[Mosaic Law|Law]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Farisani |first=Elelwani |date=2004 |title=A sociological analysis of Israelites in Babylonian exile |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC85644 |journal=Old Testament Essays |pages=380–388 |via=Sabinet African Journals}}</ref>

===Persian restoration===
The [[Cyrus Cylinder]], an ancient tablet on which is written a declaration in the name of Cyrus referring to restoration of temples and repatriation of exiled peoples, has often been taken as corroboration of the authenticity of the biblical decrees attributed to Cyrus,<ref name=Becking>{{cite book |last=Becking |first=Bob |editor1-last=Lipschitz |editor1-first=Oded |editor2-last=Oeming |editor2-first=Manfred |chapter="We All Returned as One!": Critical Notes on the Myth of the Mass Return |title=Judah and the Judeans in the Persian Period |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1zi2i_C1aNkC&pg=PA8 |year=2006 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |location=Winona Lake, IN |page=8 |isbn=978-1-57506-104-7}}</ref> but other scholars point out that the cylinder's text is specific to Babylon and Mesopotamia and makes no mention of Judah or Jerusalem.<ref name=Becking /> [[Lester L. Grabbe|Professor Lester L. Grabbe]] asserted that the "alleged decree of Cyrus" regarding Judah, "cannot be considered authentic", but that there was a "general policy of allowing deportees to return and to re-establish cult sites". He also stated that archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle" taking place over decades, rather than a single event.<ref name=Grabbe355>{{cite book |last=Grabbe |first=Lester L. |title=A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud – A History of the Persian Province of Judah v. 1 |year=2004 |publisher=T & T Clark |isbn=978-0567089984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MnE5T_0RbMC&pg=PA355 |page=355}}</ref>

As part of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], the former Kingdom of Judah became the province of Judah (''[[Yehud Medinata]]''<ref>Yehud being the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew Yehuda, or "Judah", and "medinata" the word for province</ref>) with different borders, covering a smaller territory.<ref name="Grabbe355"/> The population of the province was greatly reduced from that of the kingdom; archaeological surveys suggesting a population of around 30,000 people in the 5th to 4th centuries BCE.<ref name=Finkelstein/>{{rp|308}}

A 2017 exhibition in Jerusalem displayed over 100 cuneiform tablets detailing trade in fruits and other commodities, taxes, debts, and credits accumulated between Jews forced or persuaded to move from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BCE. The tablets included details on one exiled Judean family over four generations, all with Hebrew names.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4622505,00.html|title=Ancient tablets on display in Jerusalem reveal Jewish life during Babylon exile|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=3 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-archaeology-babylon-idUSKBN0L71EK20150203|title=Ancient tablets reveal life of Jews in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon|date=3 February 2017|newspaper=Reuters|last1=Baker|first1=Luke}}</ref>

Most Jews who returned were poor Jews and either saw the exile as "spiritual regeneration" or "divine punishment for sins". One reason why wealthy Jews stayed in Mesopotamia includes economic opportunities, which were relatively uncommon in Judah.<ref name=":0" />