Babylonian captivity

The deportation of many inhabitants of Judah to Babylonia after Babylon conquered Jerusalem in the sixth century BCE. It ended as Persian rule allowed exiles to return.

Siege of Jerusalem (587/586 BCE): The Babylonian siege that ended with Jerusalem’s capture and destruction in 587 or 586 BCE. The siege brought the conquest that triggered the deportations.
Babylonian deportations: Forced removals of populations from conquered lands to Babylonia under Neo-Babylonian rule. These removals carried Judah’s people into exile in several waves.
Cyrus Cylinder: A Babylonian inscription in which Cyrus the Great describes restoring cults and populations after conquering Babylon. Its account illuminates the Persian policy associated with Judean return.
Book of Jeremiah: A prophetic book containing warnings about Jerusalem’s fall and messages addressed to Judean exiles. Its texts interpret the deportation and counsel the displaced community.
Fall of Jerusalem: The capture and destruction of Jerusalem by Babylonian forces in the sixth century BCE. The city’s fall was the immediate turning point in the exile’s history.
Jehoiachin's exile: The deportation of Judah’s King Jehoiachin and other leading inhabitants to Babylonia in 597 BCE. This earlier deportation began the exile before Jerusalem’s final destruction.
Edict of Cyrus: A biblical decree attributed to Cyrus permitting Judeans to return and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. The decree marks the traditional biblical beginning of return from exile.
Psalm 137: A biblical lament recalling Judean captives weeping beside Babylon’s rivers and longing for Jerusalem. It became a vivid poetic memory of exile and homesickness.
Kingdom of Judah: An ancient Israelite kingdom centered on Jerusalem that fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Its defeat turned a kingdom’s population and institutions into subjects of exile.
Al-Yahudu tablets: Babylonian cuneiform tablets documenting Judean families and communities in Babylonia. They provide administrative evidence for the deportees’ lives and settlements.

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