Babylonian Captivity

Exile of Jewish deportees to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II's capture of Jerusalem in 586 BC; it was the first diaspora of the Jewish people. According to tradition, the Captivity lasted 70 years, but Cyrus of Persia, who conquered Babylon, actually allowed them to go home in 536 BC. By analogy, the name has also been applied to the papal exile to Avignon, France, AD 1309-77.

Following the Exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews had settled in Israel and Judah. Worship centred on the Temple in Jerusalem, which housed the Ark of the Covenant containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments. When Palestine was incorporated into the Babylonian Empire at the beginning of the 6th century BC, the Judaeans revolted against Babylonian rule. In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar burned down the Temple, and many Jews were taken into slavery; 1,500 of the Judaean elite were exiled to Babylon. After the Persians consented to their return, the Temple was rebuilt, being completed by 515 BC.

The Babylonian Captivity was one of the first major incidences of anti-Semitism, a recurring problem for the Jews down the centuries. During their exile from their land, they were forced to find ways of maintaining their faith and practices in a foreign land with a different language.