Ayatollah As NOT Part of Empire of Cyrus II of Persia

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

                           Ayatollah Ali Khamenei;  Supreme leader of Iran                                         (born April 19, 1939 in Mashad, Iran-86 years old)

                           Cyrus II The Great  of Persia in 559 BCE

Somebody said that the problem is that Iran's Ayatollah wants the greatness that Cyrus II the Great had.  He thinks they are part of the ancient empire, even at this late date.  He doesn't know about Cyrus, evidently.  

Cyrus the Great II was the Persian king who died in 529 BCE.  He was a conqueror, as many were back then.  He overran the Babylonian Empire, and this included Eretz Yisrael.  The thing about Cyrus is that we Jews thought he was related to Queen Esther and King Ahasueros.  Why?

    Returnees rebuilding 2nd Temple being released by Cyrus

The story I am about to tell is said to have happened later in the Persian Period and before 330 BCE, however.  Why?  In 2nd Temple times, the scroll of Esther was already apparently included in the canon.  Its reading on Purim was made obligatory, and a special talmudic tractate was written on the relevant regulations.  it became one of the favorite objects of Jewish folk-art.  So it could have happened before 529 BCE.  

Babylonians had attacked Judah and took away people in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE.  Nebuchadnezzar II  had taken over the holdings of the Assyrians.  They went to the river in Babylon where they met up with Jews from a previous raid by the Assyrians.  This meant that that there were members of the 10 Tribes of Jacob along with the newer Jewish hostages and constituted a large Israelite (Jewish)  population.    

Cyrus followed  very enlightened policy towards his subject peoples, so in 538 BCE, about 60 years later, had granted permission to the exiles of Judah in Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple.  This is recorded in (Ezra 1:1-44) and II Chron.36:22-23).  For this kind act, so out of place, the Jewish exiles regarded Cyrus as a Divine agent (someone selected by G-d to help them). This thought is found in (Is.44:28;45:I)

Many of the exiles remained in Babylon even after Cyrus permitted a return to their homeland, Judah. There were Persian towns made up entirely of Jewish populations such as Nehardea, Nisibis, and Mahoza.  The Jews of Babylon remained in constant touch with the Jews of Judah  and even supplied some of their leaders, such as Hillel.                                        

In fact, during the Roman occupation, the Babylonian Jews rose against the emperor Trajan (98-117), the revolt being bloodily suppressed by his commander, Lucius Quietus in 116.  Under both Persian and Parthian rule, the Jews of Babylon enjoyed an extensive measure of internal autonomy, being headed by an EXILARCH of Davidic descent who was the king's representative, while the community was governed by a council of elders.  

The great literary creation of the Jews of Babylon, the Babylonian TALMUD, reflects a society preponderantly based on agriculture and crafts.  They were learned in Jewish studies and had produced works of literary merit, such as Ezekiel, Daniel and Tobit.  

                             Queen Esther and her son, Darius

King Darius I reigned from 522-486 BCE and had inherited the throne from Cyrus !!!  At the beginning of his reign, he permitted Zerubbabel and the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to resume reconstruction of the Temple.  

Now, Esther (Hadassah) was the daughter of Abihail (father) and written about in Megillat Esther) of the Bible. According to the biblical book of Esther, Esther was the daughter of Abihail. She was raised by her cousin, Mordecai, who adopted her as his own daughter after her parents died. Persian Queen Esther (492 B.C.–c. 460 B.C.), born as a Jewish exile named Hadasseh, eventually became the queen of Persia, which during her lifetime was the greatest empire in the known world.

This book is about the deliverance of the Jews of Persia in the time of King Ahasuerus. It's why people in the synagogues read from the Scroll of Esther and when we have the festival of Purim and eat hamentaschen (3 cornered filled cookies).  We are happy, wear costumes, and get a little shicker (tipsy).

 Esther herself finds out that Haman, (possibly related later to Hitler....same goals in life) wants to kill all the Jews in the world and the king is emperor over a huge part of their continent.  She is in good with her husband, so she tells him of the plot and figures it's a good time to tell him that she is also Jewish.  He has Haman hung along with his sons so puts an end to the goal of that family.  

So we find that Cyrus was the grandson of Queen Esther.  This history will not be found in Islamic writings;  only Jewish ones.  Amazing, isn't it?  The empire he admired was led by a Jewish leader, and Cyrus had his father, Darius, to copy.  

Also amazing is that good relations continued between Israel and Iran with the Shah of Iran that the Ayatollah had overthrown.  

 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini "got rid of" or overthrew the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and this was known as the Iranian Revolution or the Islamic Revolution.  

It's important to note that while they acknowledge and respect Cyrus, the Islamic Republic of Iran's primary focus is on its Islamic heritage, and there is a distinction between respecting ancient Iranian history and promoting pre-Islamic nationalist movements. Some sources suggest that the Iranian government has taken steps to discourage excessive celebration of pre-Islamic figures like Cyrus, particularly when these celebrations are perceived as being linked to the former monarchy or as undermining the Islamic Republic. 

According to Iranian leaders, their desire is not to eliminate all Jews, but rather to see the demise of the State of Israel, which they refer to as the "Zionist regime". So they want to drop an Atom bomb on Israel and  destroy it.  

Here's why they hold this view:

• Ideological opposition to the state of Israel: Iranian leaders view Israel as an "illegitimate regime" and a "colonial outpost" established and supported by Western powers.
• Support for the Palestinian people: Iran's declared goal is to eliminate Israel's "imposed regime" and allow Palestinians to self-determine their fate and form a new government where Muslims, Christians, and Jews can coexist.  This is what Israel already has created until the Hamas under Iran came along.  
• Anti-Western sentiment: Israel is seen as a close ally of the United States, which the Iranian regime views as an obstacle to its goal of removing American influence from the Middle East.
• Strategic goals in the region: Iran seeks to assert its leadership within the Muslim world and expand its influence by positioning itself as a strong opponent of Israel. (war between Iran and Saudi Arabia--religion of shi'i,sunni)
• Internal political purposes: The Iranian government faces internal challenges such as economic difficulties and political unrest, and presenting Israel as an external enemy can serve to unite the population and distract from these internal issues.
• Historical context: Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran and Israel had friendly relations, but the revolution brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power, who viewed Israel as an enemy. 

It's important to note that many Iranians do not support their government's anti-Israel stance and desire a more peaceful approach. 

Iranians;  you have your chance now.  Step up.  Feel the fresh air.  The window is open for just a short time.  The mental disease characterized by a fear of going outside is called agoraphobia. It's an anxiety disorder where people fear situations where escape might be difficult or help might not be available, especially if they have a panic attack.  You may never get another chance.  

Resource:

https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/bible/old-testament/esther#:~:text=Persian%20Queen%20Esther%20(492%20B.C.,empire%20in%20the%20known%20world.

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Tanakh, Stone Edition; pages 1752 under writings

When Judah Was Captured By the Persian Empire and Who Was Living There

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                     

The Persian Empire took control of Judea in c.539 BCE when Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire, which had previously controlled the region; this event is often referred to as the "Persian conquest of Babylon" and marked the beginning of the Persian period in Judea, also known as the "Province of Yehud" within the Persian Empire.  

The Persian period in Judea lasted from 538–332 BCE or from 586 to 516 BCE by Gentile historians. During this time, the Persian Empire ruled the region, which included the province of Judah, now known as Yehud (land of Jews).                       

Judea was made up of the tribe of Judah and a few of the Benjamites andSimeonites who joined them at the time of the Assyrian attack in 721 BCE when 10 of the 12 tribes were captured and taken away. Judea contained the city of Jerusalem.                       

     The Triumph of Mordecai by Pieter Lastman, 1624, Esther's cousin and uncle.

One of the important Benjamites was a man named Mordecai who  lived  in the 400sBCE who was a palace official in Shushan, Persia, the capital, during the  reign of King Xerxes who we know as King Ahasueros,  husband of our famous Queen Esther.  

Mordecai is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described in Tanna Devei Eliyahu as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin and member of the Sanhedrin. Jair was an Israelite hero of the Exodus Period;  he captured a group of villages in Northern Gilead from the Amorites which were thence forward known as the "villages of Jair."  (Num. 32:41).  Another Jair was an Israelite judge known later originating from Gilead, probably a descendant.  

Mordecai was also the cousin, uncle and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Mordecai's loyalty and bravery are highlighted in the story as he helps Esther foil the plot of Haman, the king's vizier, to exterminate the Jewish people. His story is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates his victory.

Mordecai discovered that the Jewish extermination was fixed by lot for the month of Adar 13, but the Jews escaped, resisting their persecutions on that date and in Shushan, also on the next day.  Purim, the holiday, is celebrated then on Adar 14.   Adar is the 12th month of the Jewish religious year, 6th of the civil;  falling in February to March.  Adar is an Assyrian origin name.  

Xerxes I commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BCE until his assassination in 465 BCE. Darius I was thought to be his father. He is known to us as Ahasueros.   

He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great. Jewish history has Darius and Cyrus related as father and son.  We might assume that Darius was the son or grandson of Esther and Ahasueros with the connection to the tribe of Benjamin through Esther.  

The tribe of Benjamin was considered to be quite special, stemming from the 12th and youngest son of Jacob and 2nd son of Rachel who died in childbirth, raised by her sister and handmaidens.  They had land between Ephraim and Judah which included Jerusalem.  Saul, 1st king of Israel, was a Benjamite.  Their territory was a bone of contention between Israel and Judah after the division  of the kingdom and eventually, was partitioned between the two, mostly with Judah.  

Cyrus II died in 529 BCE as king of Persia.  He had overrun the Babylonian Empire which included Eretz Yisrael.  In 538 he was known to grant permission  to the exiles of Judah in Babylon  to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-44;  II Chronl. 36-22-23)  The Jewish exiles regarded Cyrus II as a Divine agent (Is.44:28:45:1).

Darius ((son of Xerxes I)-He was the eldest son of the Persian king Xerxes I and his wife Amestris. His younger brothers were Hystaspes and Artaxerxes, and his younger sisters were Rhodogune and Amytis.) reigned from (522-486 BCE) and had inherited the throne of Cyrus. In 465 BC, Darius may have ascended to the throne as King of Persia after his father was murdered in a conspiracy carried out by Artabanus and Aspamitres the eunuch, who were confidential advisers of Xerxes. Afterwards, they deceived Artaxerxes into believing that it was his older brother, Darius, who murdered his father. Darius was then taken to the palace of Artaxerxes and put to death.

  At the beginning of his reign, Xerxes/Ahasueros permitted Zerubbabel, grandson of king Jehoiachin (598-597 BCE) and the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to resume reconstruction of the Temple.  It seems the Jews had their own views of Darius and Cyrus II from other history records.  

Mordecai with his niece and cousin, Hadassah AKA Esther of the scroll of (Megillat Esther).  

Hadassah was a young Jewish woman, niece and cousin of Mordecai, the Benjamite, so she was no doubt also of his tribe of Benjamin. She was the daughter of Abihail.   Abihail was the father of Queen Esther and uncle of Mordecai (Esther 2:15; Esther 9:29).   

 It's the Jewish name for Esther, who became Queen Esther, wife of king Ahasueros, who learned of Haman's plot to kill all Jews in the kingdom through his wife, Esther.  He also learned that he himself was also to be assassinated along with the Jews.  Ahasueros saw to it that Haman was hanged and his position as Chief Minister was filled by Mordecai.  According to the Book of Esther, Esther entered the beauty contest not out of personal desire to be queen, but because she was "taken" into the king's harem, meaning she was essentially forced to participate as part of a royal decree, with the goal of ultimately using her position to protect her Jewish people from a potential threat; she did not reveal her Jewish identity to the king during the contest, following her uncle Mordecai's instructions to conceal her heritage.  Evidently things were that bad !                     

Ahasueros's 1st wife and Persian Queen was Vashti.According to the Aggadah (or Haggadah), a book of Jewish tradition and folklore, Vashti was the daughter of the  Babylonian king Belshazzar. The night that Belshazzar was killed (Daniel 5), Vashti was captured by the conquering Persians and given to Xerxes as a wife. According to various legends, Vashti’s refusal to appear before the king was due to modesty (she was told to appear nude), fear for her husband’s life (she figured she would be mobbed by the drunken crowd and the king would be killed), loathing for her husband (whom she considered to have non-royal blood), or the fact that she herself had leprosy. Another tradition says that Vashti was not simply banished from the king’s presence but was executed. It’s important to note that none of these details are in the biblical account, and there is no way to confirm their veracity.  According to Babylonian records, the last king of Babylon was Nabonidus who reigned from 556 to 539 BCE whose eldest son, Belshazar, acted as viceroy during his fathers lengthy stays in Arabia.  Belshazzar is also mentioned in Herodotus and Xenophon that Babylon fell on a feast-day.  

The king divorced her after she had refused to dance at his banquet for the entertainment of his guests.  This is when, after being a divorced king, he realized the need for another spouse, so held a beauty contest where Esther competed and won. Vashti was a hard act to follow, but Esther was supposed to be very beautiful.    

Resource:

https://bible-history.com/map-babylonian-captivity/susa

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abihail#:~:text=Abihail%20was%20the%20daughter%20of,Esther%20and%20uncle%20of%20Mordecai.

How Persia First Took Over Jewish Land

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

    The faravahar is the best-known symbol from ancient Persia of the winged sun disk with a seated male figure in the center. It is thought to represent Ahura Mazda, the god of Zoroastrianism, (the belief in light and righteousness, shown by fire) but has also been interpreted to signify other concepts.  Persia influenced  ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.  

Today Persias/Iran  is immersed in the Ayatollas extremism of Islam, men who refuted the Shah's eagerness to join the 20th and 21st centuries with electricity and department stores.  The shah was great in time of peace, being a friend of Israel, but weaker from cancer to fight the Ayatollah.  

Persia, historic region of southwestern Asia associated with the area that is now modern Iran. The term Persia was used for centuries and originated from a region of southern Iran formerly known as Persis, alternatively as Pārs or Parsa, modern Fārs, people who speak Farsi.   The use of the name was gradually extended by the ancient Greeks and other peoples to apply to the whole Iranian plateau. The people of that region have traditionally called their country Iran, “Land of the Aryans.” That name was officially adopted in  1935 by  Reza Shah Pahlavi, the  Iranian army officer who rose through army ranks to become shah of Iran (1925–41) and began the regeneration of his country.

Ancient Iran, historically known as Persia, was the dominant nation of western Asia for over a millennium (about 550 BC– 650 CE), with 3 native dynasties controlling an empire of unprecedented size and complexity.                       

    Persia covered most of the Middle East;  Egypt, Arabia, Mediterranean Sea and in pink-Medea and Parthia, Israel is in Pink, a connecting piece of land to Egypt and land. Jews lived in 127 of its provinces, mostly in Susa (Shushan, the capital). Shushan was the capital of Elam and subsequently capital of Persia.  Excavations of late reveals the royal palace mentioned  in the book of Esther. (Est 2:18:3-9)                               

Esther's uncle Mordecai wouldn't bow to Haman, irking him immensely.  Haman, the vice under the king, hated Jews and started an attack on them all, plotting to kill all.  He was like a first Hitler.  Esther told her husband and he had Haman and his 7 sons all hung.  

This Achaemenid Empire was  founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. It reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I (486-465 BCE), son of Darius Ist, who conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece. At its greatest territorial extent, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east. The empire was larger than any previous empire in history, spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles).  Darius reigned from 522-486 BCE.  At the beginning of his reign, he permitted Zerubbabel and the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to resume reconstruction of the Temple since it was the Persians who had destroyed it in the first place.   

Iran "Persia" and land to the west of it as well as to the east.  Mediterranean Sea is on the left edge. Iran or Persia, is in the center of it all, though Jerusalem was said to be the center.  

A thirteenth -century crusader map places Jerusalem at the center of the earth. Heinrich Bunting's world map in his Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae, Helmstadt, 1581, of which the Library has a copy, depicts the earth as a three-leaf clover, each leaf being a continent: Europe, Asia, and Africa. The three are drawn together by a ring encircling a single city; that city is Jerusalem. Three times daily the Jew turns in his devotions towards the Holy City. The Passover seder ritual and the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) liturgy conclude with the pledge and prayer, "Next year in Jerusalem."   

                               

    King David was able to be king over this land first, reigning from 1010 to 970 BCE.  

Cyrus played an important part in our Jewish history and is known as Cyrus II.  He overran the Babylonian Empire.  It was Nebuchadnezzar(605-562 BCE) that  in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE who had attacked Judah and carried away most of the population to Babylon to use as slaves. Nebuchadnezzar  was in the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance at Carchenish in 605 BCE.  The result was that he was the winner, and so had conquered all the lands from the Euphrates River to the Egyptian frontier which included the state of Judah.    

Queen Esther and Ahasueros, her husband. Darius I inherited the throne of Cyrus, reigning from 522-486 BCE, so could be her grandson.    Cyrus pursued and enlightened policy towards his subject peoples and in 538 BCE, granted permission to the exiles of Judah in Babylon to return to their homeland of Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.  It's considered that Cyrus happened to be Queen Esther's son and that Esther was actually Xerxes I's wife, better known to Jews as King Ahasuerus.  Thus, we have the story of our holiday of Purim.(Book of Esther and Ezra 4:6). Elam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of southern Iraq.

  Cyrus the Great, possibly was Jewish with Queen Esther as his mother.                                     

              Alexander the Great, (356-323 BCE)  king of Macedonia,  an ardent admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered most of the Achaemenid Empire by 330 BC. He had visited Jerusalem during Jaddua, the high priest's term, and praised him highly. according to Josephus, but this is questioned, though he did visit later.  Alexander is written about in talmudic, midrashic and medieval Jewish legends.  What we do know is that Jews loved him and named their children and businesses after him.  He made a good impression.    Upon Alexander's death, most of the former territory of the empire fell to the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire. 

Many movies have been made about him.  Alexander is a 2004 epic historical drama film based on the life of the ancient Macedonian general and king Alexander the Great. It was directed by Oliver Stone and starred Colin Farrell. The film's original screenplay derived in part from the book Alexander the Great, published in 1973 by the University of Oxford historian Robin Lane Fox. After release, while it performed well in Europe, the American critical reaction was negative. It grossed $167 million worldwide against a $155 million budget, thus making it a commercial failure.                                      

Seleucid Empire, the Hellenistic dynasty was founded by Nicator, one of Alexander's generals.  Antiochus III settled Babylonian Jews in Phrygia and Lydia.  He conquered Palestine in about 200 BCE and granted privileges to the Temple.  When Seleucus IV was in power, they owned a lot of money and this led to the Hasmonean revolt with Antiochus IV, called Epiphanes, a Syrian king.  Simon, one of the 5 sons of Mattathias of Modiin,  the Hasmonean, freed the Jews of his power in 138 BCE and even better in 134 BCE.  Antiochus died in 129 and the Jews revolted.  Simon's rule ended in 128.  The Hasmoneans were a priestly dynasty of Kings.  It was the 1st son, Judah, the Maccabee, who was the hero in our Purim history, called "the hammerer."                                          

This was during the Sassanid Dynasty and held authority over ancient centers of intensive Jewish populations in Mesopotamia.

 The Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power by the 2nd century BCE under the Parthian Empire.  Parthia was an empire of the 3rd century BCE to 226 CE.  It ruled over the vast populations of Jews  in Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Media.  They restored Antigonus Mattathias, who was the last Hasmonean king and ruled from 40 to 37 BCE on the throne of Judah.  The Jews in Rome looked on the Parthians as their future savior as they were enjoyed a greater autonomy under the exilarch. Now was the time of the famous rabbinic schools in Mesopotamia flourishing.    When General Pompey captured Jerusalem in 40.  He killed people in line for the throne, took it and the High Priest position.  The Romans drove the Parthians out of Syria in 39 and Herod attacked Antigonus.  who fled to Jerusalem and after a 5 month siege, was put to death before the destruction of Jerusalem.  

It appears that the Essenes who lived in caves during this period were frustrated politically by Antigonus Mattathias and the problems he was facing, causing them to change their social life and live in groups in caves.  They were trying to understand the confusion and changes in power.  We know that the Romans occupied Jerusalem and by 70 CE had burned down the 2nd Temple with the city itself. People were killed, captured for slavery and some had managed to escape.       

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.britannica.com/place/Persia

https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/persia/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_(2004_film)

https://www.worldhistory.org/Faravahar/