You should know. We talked about this before, maybe you forgot, here it goes.
Israelis are hailing Trump as Cyrus, the King of Persia, returned. You can see “Cyrus the Great is Alive!” billboards in Jerusalem, comparing Trump to Cyrus the Great. But, who was Cyrus the Great, anyway?
There are a few things we know, for instance, Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian empire (550 BCE to 330 BCE). Under Cyrus, the Persian empire stretched across a vast array of territories, beyond modern day Iran. We also know a key moment in this imperial expansion was Cyrus’ capture of Babylon and its surrounding territory, Babylonia, (mostly in modern-day Iraq) in 539 BCE. Soon after he defeated the Babylonian king, Nabonidus, Cyrus issued a decree freeing captive Israelites (and others) in Babylon. We know this from the surviving Nabonidus chronicle clay tablet. Cyrus, according to the version of the story in the Hebrew Bible (OT), had been supposedly commanded by God to rebuild a temple at Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar II had destroyed. Just like today Donald Trump was commanded to build the 3rd Temple. Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, proclaimed his heartfelt belief that the Third Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. The decree by Cyrus released the exiles from Babylon, known in the story as Israelites, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it. For this reason, Cyrus became (and remains) a legendary figure in Jewish history, though he was not Jewish himself and there were no Jews at that time. Only Israelites. He was more likely a devotee of Zoroastrianism embraced by his successors, including Darius I.
It was Persia's Cyrus the Great who invented the Jews. He needed to control the Levant because the Levant gave him access to Egypt, which is historically, the wealth part of the world. So what you do is you set up a group of people in the Levant that are only loyal to you. You set up people in the Levant that only exist because you, the empire, allow them to exist. If you, the empire, did not support them and the locals, everyone in that region would get rid of them right away. And that's why we have the Jews. So the Jews were invented by the Persians to control the Levant.
Important to note, alongside the Jews there were the Samaritans who are Israelites and have stayed in the Levant. So most people around them are, in fact, Israelites who adapted to local circumstances. And that means that they practice different religions. That also means that they married foreign women as well. You also have this small minority of exiles from Babylon who've come back and they're in conflict with everyone else. Over the next few decades is almost a civil war and this is exactly what the Persian Empire want in order to maintain stability in the Levant. This is the dividing rule strategy. So, Persia helped the Jews to reconstitute their nation and build their 2nd temple. Why did Cyrus do that? because when he conquered Babylon, he discovered that these exiled Israelites are really good administrators. They are literate intellectuals and they rise up very high in the Babylon administration. Another reason, the Persians encouraged cultural diversity. They saw the world as a cosmic struggle between good and evil, concepts that profoundly influenced Jewish and Christian theology. So the Jews were invented by the Persians to administer and control the Leavant. Before the Jews were of course the Israelites. Now we have the Jews. So Israel and the Jewish identity are constructs of the imperial imagination.
The irony was lost on you. You can't invent "Jews" and then have them return somewhere they were before. They were Jews (Judah) before the Achaemenid Persian empire began. Judah was a tribe of Israel and then became a separate kingdom in 930 BC. The 9th-century Tel Dan stele mentions the House of David, which is admittedly Judahite. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered it in 597 his chronicle calls it Iaahudu (Judah). He then annexed the region and called it the Province of Yehud. Israel Finkelstein estimates that 75% of Jews remained in the province during the diaspora, maybe 50,000 people. I understand that Cyrus subsidized the Jews for political purposes but he didn't invent them.
The irony was lost on you. You can't invent "Jews" and then have them return somewhere they were before
You didn't understand anything I said. And I made sure to end my long message with: "So the Jews were invented by the Persians to administer and control the Levant. Before the Jews were of course the Israelites. Now we have the Jews. So Israel and the Jewish identity are constructs of the imperial imagination.".
The Jews have been used by empires throughout history. Probably the first was Cyrus who discovered that these exiled Israelites in Babylon were really good administrators. And Cyrus used them, that's why I'm saying they were invented by the Persian Empire (before they were Israelites). Subsequently they were re-invented by the Greek Empire, and by the Roman Empire, and by the British Empire, and by the American Empire... But they have always been willing to serve the imperial interests, as long as they're in-charge and can administer and control the nations. "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws" - Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild (a Jew)
Why is so hard for you to understand what I'm really saying. As opposed to playing a game with words? I'll tell you what, you really try and make an effort to understand what I'm saying, or there's no point in communicating any further. It's a waste of time for both of us.
If by "invented" you mean that the people were called Jews in various spellings for many centuries prior, as shown by archaeology, were then repurposed for an imperial end, well that makes sense. But you're acting like all the history I showed you means there were no Jews before about 522 BC, which is false. Your implication is not the meaning of "invented".
people were called Jews in various spellings for many centuries prior
But I said "Before the Jews were of course the Israelites. Now we have the Jews.". We can talk about the word "Jew" and even the letter J. For instance many argue the first time the word Jew was used was in 18th century CE, when Sheridan used it in his play "The Rivals". And that the letter J was only invented in the 15th century. Or, Judean or Judahite ("Yhuwdiy") of the bloodline of Judah, an Israelite.
But I don't think that's correct. "Jews" is a Persian term, let me explain. First let's talk about Jerusalem, the area. So, this area is only a very small part of the Levant. But this part is specifically for the Jews. And it's part of this Persian province called Beyond the River. And they call it the province of Yehud. That's why we have the term Jews. Okay? Because they are part of the province of Yehud. So Yehud was established by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. I don't know what you have against the word "invented", maybe I should have used the word "established" instead. My point, and to repeat myself, Jews is actually a Persian term. So, the Jews were created/established (not invented) by the Persians to control the Levant.
Anyway, they are surrounded by enemies. The Samaritans are Israelites, like I said, who have stayed in the land. So most people around them are in fact Israelitess who adapted to local circumstances and that means that they practice different religions. So what happens is that these exiles from Babylon, they come back and they say, "No, we're the true Israelites. You guys are the false Israelites. The reason why we're true is we have stayed loyal to our religion.". So what's going to happen over the next few decades is almost a civil war between Israelites who've stayed and Israelites who left but came back. And this is exactly what the Persian Empire wants in order to maintain stability in the Levant. Because you have this small minority of exiles from Babylon who've come back and they're in conflict with everyone else. This is divide & conquer rule and strategy. Worked then and works now.
You should know. We talked about this before, maybe you forgot, here it goes.
Israelis are hailing Trump as Cyrus, the King of Persia, returned. You can see “Cyrus the Great is Alive!” billboards in Jerusalem, comparing Trump to Cyrus the Great. But, who was Cyrus the Great, anyway?
There are a few things we know, for instance, Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian empire (550 BCE to 330 BCE). Under Cyrus, the Persian empire stretched across a vast array of territories, beyond modern day Iran. We also know a key moment in this imperial expansion was Cyrus’ capture of Babylon and its surrounding territory, Babylonia, (mostly in modern-day Iraq) in 539 BCE. Soon after he defeated the Babylonian king, Nabonidus, Cyrus issued a decree freeing captive Israelites (and others) in Babylon. We know this from the surviving Nabonidus chronicle clay tablet. Cyrus, according to the version of the story in the Hebrew Bible (OT), had been supposedly commanded by God to rebuild a temple at Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar II had destroyed. Just like today Donald Trump was commanded to build the 3rd Temple. Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, proclaimed his heartfelt belief that the Third Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. The decree by Cyrus released the exiles from Babylon, known in the story as Israelites, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it. For this reason, Cyrus became (and remains) a legendary figure in Jewish history, though he was not Jewish himself and there were no Jews at that time. Only Israelites. He was more likely a devotee of Zoroastrianism embraced by his successors, including Darius I.
It was Persia's Cyrus the Great who invented the Jews. He needed to control the Levant because the Levant gave him access to Egypt, which is historically, the wealth part of the world. So what you do is you set up a group of people in the Levant that are only loyal to you. You set up people in the Levant that only exist because you, the empire, allow them to exist. If you, the empire, did not support them and the locals, everyone in that region would get rid of them right away. And that's why we have the Jews. So the Jews were invented by the Persians to control the Levant.
Important to note, alongside the Jews there were the Samaritans who are Israelites and have stayed in the Levant. So most people around them are, in fact, Israelites who adapted to local circumstances. And that means that they practice different religions. That also means that they married foreign women as well. You also have this small minority of exiles from Babylon who've come back and they're in conflict with everyone else. Over the next few decades is almost a civil war and this is exactly what the Persian Empire want in order to maintain stability in the Levant. This is the dividing rule strategy. So, Persia helped the Jews to reconstitute their nation and build their 2nd temple. Why did Cyrus do that? because when he conquered Babylon, he discovered that these exiled Israelites are really good administrators. They are literate intellectuals and they rise up very high in the Babylon administration. Another reason, the Persians encouraged cultural diversity. They saw the world as a cosmic struggle between good and evil, concepts that profoundly influenced Jewish and Christian theology. So the Jews were invented by the Persians to administer and control the Leavant. Before the Jews were of course the Israelites. Now we have the Jews. So Israel and the Jewish identity are constructs of the imperial imagination.
The irony was lost on you. You can't invent "Jews" and then have them return somewhere they were before. They were Jews (Judah) before the Achaemenid Persian empire began. Judah was a tribe of Israel and then became a separate kingdom in 930 BC. The 9th-century Tel Dan stele mentions the House of David, which is admittedly Judahite. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered it in 597 his chronicle calls it Iaahudu (Judah). He then annexed the region and called it the Province of Yehud. Israel Finkelstein estimates that 75% of Jews remained in the province during the diaspora, maybe 50,000 people. I understand that Cyrus subsidized the Jews for political purposes but he didn't invent them.
You didn't understand anything I said. And I made sure to end my long message with: "So the Jews were invented by the Persians to administer and control the Levant. Before the Jews were of course the Israelites. Now we have the Jews. So Israel and the Jewish identity are constructs of the imperial imagination.".
The Jews have been used by empires throughout history. Probably the first was Cyrus who discovered that these exiled Israelites in Babylon were really good administrators. And Cyrus used them, that's why I'm saying they were invented by the Persian Empire (before they were Israelites). Subsequently they were re-invented by the Greek Empire, and by the Roman Empire, and by the British Empire, and by the American Empire... But they have always been willing to serve the imperial interests, as long as they're in-charge and can administer and control the nations. "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws" - Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild (a Jew)
Why is so hard for you to understand what I'm really saying. As opposed to playing a game with words? I'll tell you what, you really try and make an effort to understand what I'm saying, or there's no point in communicating any further. It's a waste of time for both of us.
If by "invented" you mean that the people were called Jews in various spellings for many centuries prior, as shown by archaeology, were then repurposed for an imperial end, well that makes sense. But you're acting like all the history I showed you means there were no Jews before about 522 BC, which is false. Your implication is not the meaning of "invented".
But I said "Before the Jews were of course the Israelites. Now we have the Jews.". We can talk about the word "Jew" and even the letter J. For instance many argue the first time the word Jew was used was in 18th century CE, when Sheridan used it in his play "The Rivals". And that the letter J was only invented in the 15th century. Or, Judean or Judahite ("Yhuwdiy") of the bloodline of Judah, an Israelite.
But I don't think that's correct. "Jews" is a Persian term, let me explain. First let's talk about Jerusalem, the area. So, this area is only a very small part of the Levant. But this part is specifically for the Jews. And it's part of this Persian province called Beyond the River. And they call it the province of Yehud. That's why we have the term Jews. Okay? Because they are part of the province of Yehud. So Yehud was established by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. I don't know what you have against the word "invented", maybe I should have used the word "established" instead. My point, and to repeat myself, Jews is actually a Persian term. So, the Jews were created/established (not invented) by the Persians to control the Levant.
Anyway, they are surrounded by enemies. The Samaritans are Israelites, like I said, who have stayed in the land. So most people around them are in fact Israelitess who adapted to local circumstances and that means that they practice different religions. So what happens is that these exiles from Babylon, they come back and they say, "No, we're the true Israelites. You guys are the false Israelites. The reason why we're true is we have stayed loyal to our religion.". So what's going to happen over the next few decades is almost a civil war between Israelites who've stayed and Israelites who left but came back. And this is exactly what the Persian Empire wants in order to maintain stability in the Levant. Because you have this small minority of exiles from Babylon who've come back and they're in conflict with everyone else. This is divide & conquer rule and strategy. Worked then and works now.