Post Akkadian Mesopotamia civilisations Babylon, Persia

As is well-known, both of the aforementioned colossal polities exerted a profound influence upon the Israelite Kingdom, hence our present focus upon them.

The two civilisations most intimately intertwined with the subsequent history of the Israelite (Judah) Kingdom fundamentally shaped its political structure, economic framework, religious observances, and indeed, its very system of metrology.

Herein, we shall endeavour to furnish a preliminary survey of the manner in which their influences were superimposed upon the destiny of Israel, whereafter we shall delve into the specific attributes of each civilisation, considering them as the deterministic backdrop against which their respective systems of metrology evolved (in accordance with our customary practice).

🏰 Babylon — The Conqueror and Imposer of Cultural Norms

The temporal span under scrutiny extends from approximately 620 to 539 BCE, encompassing the reigns of figures familiar to us from our scholastic pursuits — Nebuchadnezzar II and Nabonidus (should the latter be unfamiliar, vide infra for further elucidation: Nebuchadnezzar II, Nabonidus — vide infra).

The land of Israel was subjugated under the aegis of these two redoubtable personages, attended by Babylonian ruthlessness, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BCE), the razing of the First Temple, and the deportation of Judah’s elite. This cataclysm not merely shattered the edifice of statehood, but also served to standardise Israelite knowledge through the medium of Babylonian scribal practices and metric systems.

Furthermore, certain innovations were imposed upon the Israelite polity (or, more accurately, its remnants). During this epoch, administrative standardisation was implemented, with Aramaic script and Babylonian accounting tablets permeating Judean practices; ‼️ units of measurement, such as the shekel, mina, and talent, underwent formalisation in accordance with Babylonian ratio structures (premised upon the sexagesimal logic inherent in the base-60 system).

Doubtless, it is within the purview of your knowledge that the Israelites operate with two distinct calendrical systems — the modern iteration (as employed universally in quotidian affairs) and their own national calendar (more intimately associated with Judaic religious tradition). Strictly speaking, this dualism originates from the Babylonian lunisolar time-reckoning system, which supplanted local calendars and thereby moulded the evolution of the Hebrew calendar.

🏰 Persia — The Organiser and Restorer

The temporal parameters of this period are roughly 539–332 BCE. The rulers of the Achaemenid Persian period, which shall be the subject of our discourse, include: Cyrus the Great, Darius I, Artaxerxes I.

Impact: the conquest may be assessed as predominantly beneficial for the indigenous populace, including their social stratification (which, incidentally, was reinstated). Cyrus’s decree (539 BCE) authorised the return of Jewish exiles and the reconstruction of the Temple — thus rendering Persia the inaugural “liberator” power.

Remarkably, one may discern certain positive socio-evolutionary developments. Under the Achaemenid satrapal system, Judah (as Yehud Medinata) was relegated to the status of a semi-autonomous province — politically subservient, yet culturally reinvigorated.

Inevitably, standardisation with the metropolitan measurement system was unavoidable under centralised authority; as a corollary, Persia unified weights and measures — the Persian daric, siglos, and royal cubit — which were subsequently absorbed into post-exilic Judean systems.

✏️ Whilst not unequivocally demonstrable, it is permissible, in the spirit of circumspect conjecture, to posit that Zoroastrian dualism subtly influenced later Jewish theological developments, particularly in the realm of eschatology (the dichotomy between good and evil, the concept of an afterlife).

✏️ Thus, the confluence of these influences precipitates certain conclusions that warrant our present consideration. The Judean world that emerged post-exile was a hybrid entity: characterised by Babylonian precision in matters of metrics, astronomy, and commerce; Persian bureaucratic order in governance and taxation; and Judean theological resilience, albeit transformed but unbroken — a culture that surmounted conquest through the agency of adaptation.

And this delineation significantly enriches the chapter pertaining to the Jewish Kingdom — and, to be sure, this is not the entirety of the matter; therefore, your continued engagement is most cordially solicited!