Trustworthy History

 The Bible tells us that King Cyrus II freed the Jews held captive in Babylon, allowing them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild God's temple, which the Babylonians had destroyed in 607 B.C.E. (Ezra 1:1-7; 6:3-5) Corroborating this account is a clay document known as the Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879 in the ruins of ancient Babylon. The inscription identifies Cyrus by name and describes his policy of returning previously captured  peoples and their religious objects to their native lands.  The Bible writer Isaiah recorded Jehovah's prophetic words concerning Cyrus: '"All that I delight in he will completely carry out': even in my saying of Jerusalem, 'She will be rebuilt,' and of the temple, 'You will have your foundation laid."' -ISAIAH 44:28.

In fact, Cyrus ordered that funds for temple reconstruction "be given from the king's house," says Ezra 6:3, 4. This amazing statement harmonizes with secular history.  "It was a consistent policy of Persian kings to help restore sanctuaries in their empire," says the book Persia and the Bible. 

Next time: Trustworthy History- Conclusion

From the jw.org publications