Ezra maps & timelines

Geographic Context

Ezra spans the vast distance between Babylon and Jerusalem, the two poles of the exile and return. The exiles set out from Babylonia, in the heart of the Persian Empire on the Euphrates, and travel some nine hundred miles by the long northern arc of the Fertile Crescent up to Jerusalem in the hills of Judah — the journey Ezra makes in about four months, guarded by the hand of God rather than by soldiers.

In Jerusalem the focus narrows to the temple mount, where the altar is rebuilt and the second temple rises on the site of Solomon’s ruined house. The opposition comes from the surrounding peoples of the province “Beyond the River” — the region west of the Euphrates that included Samaria to the north, whose inhabitants resist the rebuilding. Persian authority reaches from distant capitals like Ecbatana and Susa, where the royal archives are searched and the decrees issued that shape the returnees’ fortunes.

Timeline of Major Events

• 539 BC - Babylon falls to Cyrus of Persia.
• 538 BC - Cyrus decrees the return of the exiles to rebuild the temple.
• c. 536 BC - The first return under Zerubbabel; the altar rebuilt and the temple foundation laid.
• c. 536-520 BC - Opposition halts the rebuilding for years.
• 520 BC - Haggai and Zechariah stir the people, and the work resumes.
• 515 BC - The second temple is completed and dedicated under Darius.
• 458 BC - Ezra leads the second return and the reform under Artaxerxes.