Book: A History of Biblical Israel
Chapter: 7. From Nebuchadnezzar II to Xerxes I: Mizpah, Samaria, and Jerusalem’s First “Second Temple”
Blurb:
The integration of the last Levantine kingdoms and the transition from Neo-Babylonian to Persian rule foster the rise of new identities based on ancestry rather than on loyalty to a local ruler. In this framework, the various attempts to set up Jerusalem’s first ‘Second Temple’ appear as rearguard actions of little significance.