In 537 B. C., Cyrus the Great became monarch of the Persian Empire. He
issued an edict in 536 B. C., by which the Jews were allowed to return
to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. Nearly fifty thousand Jews,
chiefly of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, went to the old home of
their race under the command of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, taking with them
many of the vessels of silver and gold carried away by Nebuchadnezzar.
Zerubbabel was appointed governor of the land, now a dependency of the
Persian Empire. In 519 B. C., the Persian king Darius Hystaspis
confirmed the edict of Cyrus, and in 515 the Temple was completed and
dedicated. The ten tribes disappeared at this time from history, such of
them as returned to their land having united themselves with the tribe
of Judah, and henceforth the Hebrews are called Jews and their country
Judea.