=Evidence That There Was No General Return of Exiles in 536 B.C.= The overthrow of the Chaldean Empire by Cyrus in 538 B.C. gave the Jews of Babylon an opportunity to return, for the Persian king reversed the policy of the Assyrians and the Babylonians and aimed to develop the resources and loyalty of each of the many peoples in his great empire. There is no evidence, however, that more than a handful of the Jews in the east improved this opportunity. Cyrus also adopted the policy of appointing native princes as local governors. A scion of the royal house of David was placed over the little sub-province of Judah. This appointment gave the Jews a local government that undoubtedly attracted to the homeland many refugees from Ammon and Moab and especially from the land of Egypt. But the sermons of the contemporary prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, indicate clearly that those who constituted the rank and file of the Judean community and rebuilt the temple were the people of the land and that a general return of the exiles was an event, still in the future, for which they ardently longed. =The Rebuilding of the Temple.= Even during the Babylonian period sacrifices were offered at the great altar of native rock that had stood in front of Solomon's temple. Perhaps even before Cyrus gave full permission to the native peoples to rebuild their cities and temples a few had come back to find homes among the desolate ruins of Jerusalem. It was a small, struggling, and discouraged community to whom Haggai in 520 B.C. addressed his stirring message. His call to rise and rebuild the temple met with an immediate response. He was also seconded by the encouraging words of his contemporary, Zechariah. The rebellions that were then shaking the great Persian Empire to its foundations encouraged the Jews to hope that the opportune moment had arrived to reinstate Zerubbabel. Inspired by these hopes, the temple-building progressed rapidly. The stones for the repair of the walls were apparently found on the temple hill. The timbers for the gates were cut from the hills about Jerusalem, which at this time were, at least in part, covered with trees. By 516 B.C. the work was completed and the Jewish race again had a common religious sanctuary at which to worship.