**Cyrus the Great ** (c. 600 or 576 – 530 BC) figures in the Hebrew Bible as the patron and deliverer of the Jews. He is mentioned 23 times by name and alluded to several times more. According to the Bible, Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, was the monarch under whom the Babylonian captivity ended, (as was decreed by God in the Book of Isaiah, in the 45th chapter, about 100 years prior to the captivity of the Jews.) In the first year of his reign he was prompted by God to decree that the Temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt and that such Jews as cared to might return to their land for this purpose. Not much is known about the early life of Cyrus. The various oral traditions relating to his birth and youth are preserved only in the works of Greek authors like Herodotus, Ctesias, and Xenophon, of a mostly legendary nature except that Cyrus was the son of the Persian king Cambyses (c. 580-559 BCE) and the Median princess Mandane, daughter of the Median king Astyages (585-550 Not long after the conquest of Babylon, Cyrus commissioned a building inscription to be written in his name. This building inscription, better known as the Cyrus Cylinder, served to explain and justify Cyrus’ conquest of Babylon to a Babylonian audience. The document appeals heavily to the Babylonian ideals of kingship. Nabonidus is described as an incompetent, godless king, while Cyrus is described as a divinely appointed saviour. King Cyrus the great has counquered many other countries besides Babylon and is mentioned in further accounts of his history. However, he is the second part of the statue mentioned in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar that the Prophet Daniel interpreted for him. Each consecutive part of that statue representing a conquering nation was weaker than the preceding oneof which Babylon was the head of Gold. Read the book of Daniel for further details of this story.
