For the source text click/tap here: Rosh Hashanah 4
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The defeat of Babylonians by Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE led to a (temporary) golden age of Jewish life under Persian rule. Cyrus allowed the Jewish people to return to the land of Israel and build the Temple. "And the elders of the Jews build and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the Prophet and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia" (Ezra 6:14).
No wonder the Gemara tells us that "Koresh (Cyrus) was a kosher (very good) king and therefore, they counted for him like they did for the kings of Israel" (Rosh Hashanah 3b). As mentioned in our last piece ancient documents were dated according to the year of the king, with the New Year for kings beginning on the first of Nissan for non-Jewish kings, and on the first of Tishrei for Jewish kings. Cyrus, however, was given the honour of being treated like a Jewish king.
We explore this historical figure and the ongoing saga of the Cyrus cylinder.