General Notes

Cyrus the Great (circa 600-529 BC), king of Persia (550-529 BC). He was
the son of Cambyses I, a descendant of Achaemenes (Hakhamanish)
(flourished 7th century BC), and a member of the Achaemenid dynasty.
When Cyrus became (558 BC) ruler of the Persian district of Anshan, the
district was subject to the Medes; five years later he led a rebellion
against the Medes that resulted in the capture of King Astyages (reigned
about 584-c. 550 BC) and the overthrow (550 BC) of the Median Empire.
Thereafter Cyrus called himself king of Persia and ruled a territory
extending from the Halys River in Asia Minor, eastern border of Lydia, to
the Babylonian Empire on the south and east.
Babylon, Egypt, Lydia, and the city-state of Sparta in Greece combined to
curb the power of Cyrus, but in 546 BC the Persians added Lydia to their
realm, and in 539 BC the kingdom of Babylon fell to Cyrus. The Persian
Empire was the most powerful state in the world until its conquest two
centuries later by Alexander the Great.
Cyrus was an able and merciful ruler. Significant among his deeds was his
granting of permission to the Jews to return from their exile in Babylon
to their native Israel to rebuild the Temple of Solomon.
Cyrus died while leading an expedition against the eastern tribe, the
Massagetae, and was succeeded by his son, who became Cambyses II.
Source: "Cyrus the Great," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c)
1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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In 538 BC, Cyrus granted the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem to
Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel, subsequently halted by Cambyses II.
The second reconstruction was completed in 515 BC under Darius I.