Fall of Babylon
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The fall of Babylon was the decisive event that marked the total defeat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 539 BCE.
Cyrus the Great defeating the Babylonian army by John Martin (1831)
Engraving of Isaiah's vision concerning the destruction of Babylon by Gustave Doré
Achaemenid Empire
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The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the First Persian Empire, was the ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the largest empire by that point in history, spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres. The empire spanned from the Balkans and Egypt in the west, West Asia as the base, the majority of Central Asia to the northeast, and the Indus Valley to the southeast.
The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial extent, under the rule of Darius the Great (522–486 BC)
Family tree of the Achaemenid rulers.
The Bible recounts Cyrus's liberation of the Israelites held captive in Babylon, allowing them to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem
Cyrus the Great's tomb, located at Pasargadae