Babylonian Captivity and the Judean Exile (597–538 BCE)

1. Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem; first major deportation

   Mar 16, 597 BCELabels: Nebuchadnezzar II, Jehoiachin, Jerusalem

   • BM Tablet
   • Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle

2. Zedekiah installed as Babylonian-backed king

   Mar 16, 597 BCELabels: Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar II, Judah

   • Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle
   • 2 Chronicles 36

3. Jehoiachin attested in Babylonian ration documents

   Jan 1, 592 BCELabels: Jehoiachin, Babylonian tablets, Al-Yahudu

   • Rations Tablets
   • Jeremiah 52

4. Siege of Jerusalem begins under Nebuchadnezzar

   Jan 1, 588 BCELabels: Nebuchadnezzar II, Siege of, Zedekiah

   • 2 Kings 25
   • Tenth of Tevet

5. Lamentations composed in response to Jerusalem’s fall

   Jan 1, 586 BCELabels: Book of, Jerusalem, 586 BCE

   • Lamentations

6. Jerusalem’s walls breached after extended siege

   Jul 1, 586 BCELabels: Jerusalem walls, Babylonian forces, Siege of

   • 2 Kings 25
   • Fall of Judah

7. First Temple burned and Jerusalem systematically destroyed

   Aug 1, 586 BCELabels: First Temple, Jerusalem, Neo-Babylonian army

   • 2 Kings 25
   • Fall of Judah

8. Gedaliah appointed governor over remaining Judahites

   Sep 1, 586 BCELabels: Gedaliah, Judah province, Babylonian administration

   • Zedekiah
   • JVL Gedaliah

9. Earliest Al-Yahudu archive texts document exiles’ lives

   Jan 1, 572 BCELabels: Al-Yahudu tablets, Judean exiles, Babylonia

   • Al Yahudu
   • Penn Katz

10. Amel-Marduk releases Jehoiachin from prison

    Oct 1, 562 BCELabels: Amel-Marduk, Jehoiachin, Babylonian court

    • Jeconiah
    • Jeremiah 52

11. Cyrus’s forces take Babylon from Nabonidus

    Oct 13, 539 BCELabels: Cyrus the, Babylon, Nabonidus

    • Nabonidus Chronicle
    • 539 BC

12. Cyrus enters Babylon and asserts new rule

    Oct 29, 539 BCELabels: Cyrus the, Babylon entry, Achaemenid rule

    • Nabonidus Chronicle
    • Cyrus Cylinder

13. Cyrus Cylinder produced as foundation deposit

    Jan 1, 538 BCELabels: Cyrus Cylinder, Akkadian inscription, Persian conquest

    • British Museum
    • Cyrus Cylinder

14. Cyrus issues proclamation permitting return and rebuilding

    Jan 1, 538 BCELabels: Cyrus proclamation, Return decree, Jerusalem Temple

    • Ezra 1
    • 2 Chronicles 36