The Cyrus Cylinder
The Persian repatriation policy behind the return from exile is documented in Cyrus's own words — the general policy, independently attested; the specific decree for Judah, only in the Bible.
Fakapapau'i 'e he keliTohi tongi makac. 539 BC
A clay barrel inscribed after Cyrus took Babylon, announcing his policy: restore the sanctuaries, and send displaced peoples home with their gods. Judah is not named on it — but the policy it states is precisely the one Ezra credits Cyrus with applying to the exiles from Jerusalem.
I returned the images of the gods to their sanctuaries… and I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings.
- Na'e 'ilo'i
- Babylon, Iraq, 1879 — Hormuzd Rassam
- 'Oku tauhi 'i
- British Museum, London (BM 90920)
- Lea
- Akkadian
Hono lahi 'o 'ene fakamo'oni
The cylinder does not mention Jews, Judah or Jerusalem. It corroborates the policy and the king, not the specific decree — and saying otherwise is a common overreach.
Founga hono ngāue'aki 'e he kau hisitōlia
A major primary source for Achaemenid imperial policy, studied entirely apart from biblical questions.
'I he Folofola
Fekau'aki mo
Ngaahi ma'u'anga fakamatala
'Oku 'i he lea faka-Pilitānia 'a e ngaahi fakamatala ko 'eni he taimi ni. 'E muimui mai 'a e liliu.