Fonndation
laid of the
second
Temple.
The Samaritans
interrupt
the work, and
influence the
court of Persia,
The Medes
and Persians
become one
people under
Cyrus.
Doubts regarding
the
manner of
Cyrus’ death.
offerings, was the first object1 of those who returned, and the
contracts for the reconstruction of the building, as well as the
preparation of materials having been completed, the foundation
of the Temple was laid with great solemnity, soon-after the commencement
of the second year.8
The size, and even'the plan itself, were the same as those of
the former structure, but the means at command were greatly
inferior, and this disadvantage was increased by an unexpected
circumstance, which interrupted the progress of the work. The
mixed people of Samaria, who were Cutheans intermixed with
a remnant of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and claiming
descent from the two last, proposed to assist in the great national
work; but from a jealous and exclusive spirit, the new comers
indignantly rejected the proposal. The ancient feud between
the rival people was thus revived, and assumed a character of
fierce and implacable hatred, from which the Jews immediately
suffered. Samaritan influence and intrigue were successfully
exerted at the court of Persia to stop the work. The Jews,
however, hoping for a change, continued to collect and prepare
materials during the remaining five years of Cyrus’ life, as well
as the life of his successor.
With Cyrus, the sovereignty had passed from the Medes to
the Persians, and the two became henceforth one people in
dress, manners, and religion; the customs of the latter nation,
being naturally adopted by the sovereign, in compliment to the
place of his birth; and as a matter of course they were also introduced
amongst the Babylonians. Cyrus likewise first established
the custom of removing the court from Babylon at the
expiration of the winter months; two months, in the spring,
were spent at Shushan, and the warmest season, at Ecbatana.3
According to Xenophon,4 the subsequent years of Cyrus’
reign were spent in peaceable pursuits. But Herodotus and
Diodorus Siculus, give a very different account of the manner
in which the days of this conqueror terminated; and though
the tomb of this monarch, on the plains of Murgh’-ab, N.N.E.
of Persepolis, seems to favour the statement of Xenophon,
1 Ezra, chap. I I I . , v. 3. s Ibid., v. 8, 10.
3 Cyropaedia, lib. V I I I ., p. 233. 4 Ibid., cap. vii., p. 551.
it is unlikely that the circumstances related by the historians
concerning his expedition to a distant country, and the manner
of his death, should be altogether fabulous. They expressly
state that Cyrus, having invaded the country eastward of the
Caspian Sea,1 perished in a great and bloody battle against
Tomyris, queen of the Massagetæ,8 after constructing a city
to which he gave the name of Cyropolis.3
Cambyses, his second son, who had been appointed his suc- Cambyses
cessor, ascended the throne about 529 b . c . , and manifested all throngthe
his father’s love for war, but without a shadow of prudence. This
prince, one of those who bore the scriptural title of Ahasuerus,
having taken some offence against Egypt, made extensive preparations
by sea and land throughout his vast empire, in the
very commencement of his reign, for the conquest of that
country. More than three years were employed in engaging prepares to
the Cypriots and Phoenicians to assist him with their fleets, and1a“™desEsypt’
in collecting the Greek auxiliaries.
The subjugation of the growing colony of Carthage had been
contemplated also, but in consequence of the Phoenicians having
refused to assist against those with whom they were connected,
(the Carthaginians being originally from Tyre), this part of the
project was abandoned : the intended operations were therefore to
be confined to Egypt, and the upper portion of the Nile. Accordingly,
leaving Patizithes, a chief of the Magians, as his crosses the
deputy at Susa, Cambyses took the field in the fourth year of desert"1
his reign, and agreeably to the arrangements already made for
the friendly passage of his army through Arabia, he marched at
the head of an overwhelming force in a direct line across the 526 to 525 B .c.
latter country, instead of taking the more circuitous and ordinary
route, through Upper Mesopotamia and Syria. At the suggestion
of Phanes of Halicarnassus4 contracts were made with
the Arabs for the necessary supplies of water ; and, faithful to
his engagements, the king of Arabia collected all the camels
in his dominions, and having loaded them with large skins,
chiefly those of camels, filled with water, he sent them to the
1 Herod., lib. I ., cap. cciv. ! Ibid., cap. ccv., ccxiv.
a Strabo, lib. X Y I. See Appendix (A.) to this volume.
4 Herod., lib- I I I . , oaps. iv., vii., ix.