Cheyne and Winckler have lately advocated theories which almost revolutionize the history of Israel. The grounds of these theories are largely as follows: The cuneiform inscriptions mention a kingdom of _Musri_ in Northwestern Arabia. For this reason, and for various technical considerations of textual and historical criticism, it is proposed in many passages to substitute _Musri_ for Egypt, _Geshur_ for Assyria (Asshur) and to restore very numerous references to _Jerahmeel_--according to our present text an obscure tribe to the south of Palestine.[27] With such alternatives and resources at the critic's disposal, history would seem to become anything that a taste or fancy may dictate; so far these views[28] have not met with much acceptance. In the later history the more recent developments are chiefly concerned with the interval between the Return and the Maccabees. Some time since Prof. Kosters denied that the account of the Return in _Ezra_ was historical. According to him there was no Return in 538 B. C., and the Temple was rebuilt by the remnant of Jews left behind in Judea at the time of the Captivity. Kosters has had many followers and many adverse critics, but opinion inclines to accept the substantial historicity of the account of the Return.[29] It is also maintained that various sections of _Ezra-Nehemiah_ do not stand in correct chronological order, and that the first mission of Nehemiah preceded that of Ezra. Another interesting discussion has arisen in connection with Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Zechariah.[30] Zerubbabel is supposed, at the instigation of Haggai and Zechariah, to have declared Judah independent of Persia, and to have ascended the throne as the promised Messiah. He was promptly crushed and put to death by the Persian government, and--according to this view--he is the "Servant of Jehovah" whose fate is described in Isaiah LIII. There may be a measure of truth in all this, but these views are not likely to be adopted in their entirety. [27] Only mentioned I Samuel xxvii. 10, xxx. 29 and I Chron. ii. 9-42. [28] See Cheyne's _Critica Biblica_, and his articles in the _Encyclopædia Biblica_. [29] See discussion in G. A. Smith's _Book of the Twelve Prophets_ (Expositor's Bible). [30] See Sellin, _Serubbabel_, etc. Another important suggestion as to the history of Israel after the Exile comes from Prof. Cheyne, following to some extent in the footsteps of Robertson Smith and earlier scholars. It is that the Jews took part in the great rebellion against Artaxerxes III, Ochus _circa_ B. C. 350; that their rising was caused by religious enthusiasm, and led to the desecration of the Temple. This calamity is supposed to have been the occasion of the composition of certain Psalms and other passages,[31] which most scholars either connect with the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar or refer to the Maccabean period. [31] Especially Psalms XLIV, LXXIV, and LXXIX.