[593] The inscription of Cyrus is sometimes quoted to this effect: cf. P. Hay Hunter, _op. cit._, I. 35. But it would seem that the statement of Cyrus is limited to the restoration of Assyrian idols and their worshippers to Assur and Akkad. Still, what he did in this case furnishes a strong argument for the probability of his having done the same in the case of the Jews. [594] See above, p. 206, and especially n. 575. [595] Even Cheyne, after accepting Kosters’ conclusions as in the main points inevitable (_op. cit._, p. xxxv), considers (p. xxxviii) that “the earnestness of Haggai and Zechariah (who cannot have stood alone) implies the existence of a higher religious element at Jerusalem long before 432 B.C. Whence came this higher element but from its natural home among the more cultured Jews in Babylonia?” [596] Ezra iii. 8-13. [597] Schrader, “Ueber die Dauer des Tempelbaues,” in _Stud. u. Krit._, 1879, 460 ff.; Stade, _Gesch. des Volkes Israel_, II. 115 ff.; Kuenen, _op. cit._, p. 222; Kosters, _op. cit._, Chap. I., § 1. To this opinion others have adhered: König (_Einleit. in das A. T._), Ryssel (_op. cit._) and Marti (2nd edition of Kayser’s _Theol. des A. T._, p. 200). Schrader (p. 563) argues that Ezra iii. 8-13 was not founded on a historical document, but is an imitation of Neh. vii. 73—viii.; and Stade that the Aramaic document in Ezra which ascribes the laying of the foundation-stone to Sheshbazzar, the legate of Cyrus, was not earlier than 430. [598] Ryle, _op. cit._, p. xxx. [599] Stade, Wellhausen, etc. See below, Chap. XVIII. on Hag. ii. 18. [600] See above, pp. 210 f. [601] Ezra iv. 24, v. 1. [602] Ezra v. 6. [603] _Ib._ 13. [604] _Ib._ 16. [605] _Gesch._, II., p. 123. [606] See above, p. 213. [607] Ezra iv. 1-4. “That the relation of Ezra iv. 1-4 is historical seems to be established against objections which have been taken to it by the reference to Esarhaddon, which A. v. Gutschmid has vindicated by an ingenious historical combination with the aid of the Assyrian monuments (_Neue Beiträge_, p. 145).”—Robertson Smith, art. “Haggai,” _Encyc. Brit._ [608] Cf. _Hist. Geog._, pp. 317 ff. [609] Ezra iv. [610] There was a sharp skirmish at Rabbath-Ammon the night we spent there, and at least one Circassian was shot. [611] “Sheshbazzar presumably having taken up his task with the usual conscientiousness of an Oriental governor, that is having done nothing though the work was nominally in hand all along (Ezra v. 16).”—Robertson Smith, art. “Haggai,” _Encyc. Brit._ [612] See below, Chap. XVIII. [613] Herod., I. 130, III. 127. [614] 1 Chron. iii. 19 makes him a son of Pedaiah, brother of She’altî’el, son of Jehoiachin, the king who was carried away by Nebuchadrezzar in 597 and remained captive till 561, when King Evil-Merodach set him in honour. It has been supposed that, She’altî’el dying childless, Pedaiah by levirate marriage with his widow became father of Zerubbabel.